The classic assessment-centre in-basket exercise. Each participant is a manager with 30 minutes before leaving for a full-day site visit, facing twenty items that all claim to matter. The exercise measures nothing about knowledge — only judgment: what deserves you, what deserves someone else, and what deserves nothing at all.
Everyone completes it alone, in silence, on their own phone or laptop. The clock inside is simulated — actions cost minutes — so people can think at their own pace while still feeling the squeeze of triage.
In pairs or tables: compare quadrant maps. Where two people took opposite actions on the same item, that conversation is the workshop. There is no perfect answer sheet — but there are expensive patterns.
Spends 25 minutes doing and 0 delegating, then runs out of time with critical items untouched. Ask: which of these items genuinely needed you?
Clears every loud item and never touches the two quiet, important ones — the strategy note and the person asking for a career conversation. The quiet items are always the ones that build the future.
Delegates the safety sign-off or the CEO's request. Delegation is a skill; dumping accountability is a different one. What can never be delegated?
Cannot let anything go — schedules the vendor spam "just in case". Ask what their real inbox looks like.