Pass the Blocks – Customer Service & Call Center Training Game

Category: Games & Activities
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Estimated Time: 10 minutes

🔍 Overview

This high-energy, competitive group activity is perfect for customer service or call center training. It vividly demonstrates the impact of teamwork and resource availability on service levels. Teams are challenged to pass blocks in a relay-style format, simulating how service can be slowed or strained when staffing is reduced.

📄 Tools/Items Required:

• 20 wooden blocks (approx. 5 x 2 cm) or 20 dominos per team
• Stopwatch
• Open space (approx. 3 to 5 meters in length for team lines)

🧰 Setup

1. Split the group into two equal teams. Each team lines up shoulder-to-shoulder.
2. Place 10 blocks beside the first player (closest to the starting point) of each team.

⚖️ Rules

• The first player picks up one block at a time from the floor.
• The block must be passed from one team member to the next using alternate hands (closest hand, then switch).
• Only one block may be held by a person at a time.
• If a block is dropped, the team must pause until the block is picked up.
• When the last person receives a block, they place it on the floor next to them, forming a new pile.
• All 10 blocks must be used. The team that finishes moving all their blocks first is the winner.
• Teams are given 5 minutes to plan their strategy before beginning.

👥 Activity Rounds

Round 1: Full Team Participation

Each team performs the task using all team members. Track completion time for both teams.

Round 2: Half Team Members Removed

Ask half the members of each team to sit out. The first and last participants in each line must remain in place to preserve the distance. Track the time and observe the change in speed and effort.

Round 3: Only Two Team Members Remain

Only the first and last team members stay. The rest are seated. Blocks remain at the start of the original line, and the two remaining members must manually move each block the entire length of the line. This round takes the most time and physical effort.

🔎 Discussion & Debrief

• Which round was fastest? Which required the most physical effort?
• What happened when fewer team members were available?
• How did this simulate real-world customer service or call center scenarios?
• What parallels can you draw to handling call queues or walk-in customers?
• What happens to customer wait times and staff stress levels when teams are under-resourced?

Key Takeaway: In Round 1, with all team members involved, the work was faster, more efficient, and smoother. As team size decreased in Rounds 2 and 3, the same task required more time and energy. This clearly mirrors how customer service teams function: the fewer the people, the harder and slower it becomes to maintain service levels.

Customers (represented by the blocks) must still be handled one at a time. If only a few team members are present, it significantly increases the load, stress, and delay.

🎯 Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrates the relationship between staffing and service speed.
• Reinforces the importance of every team member’s role.
• Shows how absence and workload imbalance affect performance.
• Encourages strategic thinking and smooth handoff in team workflows.

📚 Related Training Material Package:

Customer Service Skills Training Package

Good luck and enjoy the competition!