A visual check-in on how the team is really doing.
Using the metaphor of a rollercoaster, participants relate to the ups and downs, difficulties and achievements of their work at the moment and learn how other team members are getting on too.
This playful activity quickly creates a visual representation of the feelings in the group. Participants quickly see how they and others are experiencing their work in terms of challenges and momentum.
Draw an unlabelled rollercoaster on a flip chart before people arrive, then ask everyone to place themselves on it based on how their work feels right now. The metaphor normalises the ups and downs of work and gets honesty into the room.
Before people arrive, draw a wavy rollercoaster line on a large sheet of flip chart paper, with steep climbs, fast descents, and loops if you like, and leave it unlabelled so the visual does the work. Ask everyone to stand in a semi-circle around it and explain the task: place yourself on the rollercoaster based on how your work feels right now, the progress you are making, the challenges you are facing, and the overall momentum. Give people thirty seconds to think, then go around the group, each person placing a mark and saying a sentence or two about why. Encourage brevity, since this is a check-in.
Once everyone has placed themselves, open it up: is anyone surprised by where others have placed themselves; are there patterns you notice; and who wants to say more about where they are? With groups of more than eight, split into groups of three or four, each drawing their own rollercoaster and placing themselves before sharing back to the room.
Watch for clustering. If most of the group places themselves on a downward slope or at a low point, acknowledge it before moving on, because rushing past a room full of people who are struggling is a credibility mistake. Notice outliers too: one person placed high when everyone else is low, or the reverse, almost always prompts the most useful conversation of the session. Resist the urge to problem-solve, since the purpose here is awareness and honesty.
Use Rollercoaster Check-in when you want an honest read on how a team is really doing. Placing themselves on a rollercoaster line normalises the ups and downs of work and brings genuine candour into the room, where a standard check-in would stay too polite.
Using this tool with a skilled facilitator means that discussions are focused, time is used efficiently, and the group moves toward consensus, making the session productive and impactful.
