High–Low of the Week
Time for the team building activity: 10 minutes
Setup effort: Very easy (no materials required)
Estimated cost: Free
Business value: Strengthens team connection, improves emotional awareness, and builds a healthier team communication rhythm
What is High–Low of the Week?
High–Low of the Week is a reflective team building activity where each participant briefly shares:
one high point from their recent work week
one low point or challenge they experienced
The format is intentionally simple and human. It gives teams a structured moment to acknowledge both progress and friction, without turning the exercise into a heavy retrospective.
It is especially popular in weekly team meetings, agile rituals, and small team environments where maintaining strong interpersonal awareness is critical.
How do you run High–Low of the Week?
The facilitator introduces the prompt clearly:
“Let’s do a quick High–Low. Share one highlight from your week and one challenge.”
Give participants about 30 seconds to think.
Then run a quick round-robin where each person shares their High and their Low. Encourage concise answers — about 30 seconds per person is ideal.
If time is tight, you can also run a “High only” or “Low only” version.
In remote team building settings, you may first collect answers in chat and then invite a few volunteers to expand.
Why it’s great for a team
In many teams, work updates focus almost exclusively on tasks and deliverables. What gets lost is the human experience behind the work — where people are winning, struggling, or feeling stuck.
High–Low of the Week creates a lightweight but powerful team building moment that helps teams:
increase visibility into team morale
normalize discussion of challenges
celebrate small wins consistently
build empathy across roles
detect early signs of overload or friction
Over time, this simple ritual helps teams develop a more honest and supportive communication culture.
Teams that adopt regular High–Low check-ins often report smoother collaboration and fewer hidden frustrations surfacing too late.
How to organize it effectively
The key to success is keeping the exercise focused and psychologically safe.
Start by modeling the behavior yourself with a short, balanced example. Avoid overly heavy or overly trivial shares — your tone sets the norm.
Make it clear that this is not a problem-solving session. If someone raises a significant Low, acknowledge it but avoid diving into solutions unless the meeting is designed for that purpose.
Maintain a steady rhythm. If answers become too long, gently guide the group back to concise sharing.
For teams larger than about 12–15 people, consider:
running in breakout groups
or alternating who shares each week
In remote formats, chat-first participation often increases honesty and speed.
Used consistently in weekly or biweekly meetings, High–Low of the Week becomes a simple but highly effective team building habit that strengthens trust, awareness, and team cohesion over time.