Back-to-Back Drawing: A Communication Game for Teams

Back-to-back drawing is a 10-minute game that shows how differently people hear the same words. One person describes a simple picture; their partner, sitting back to back, draws it without seeing it. The results are usually hilarious, and the gap between the original and the drawing is a perfect starting point for a conversation about clear communication.

How to play back-to-back drawing

1. Put people into pairs and seat each pair back to back.
2. Give one person a simple image. Give the other a blank sheet and a pen.
3. The describer explains the image using words only: no gestures and no naming the object ("draw a house" is off limits).
4. The drawer can't ask questions in round one.
5. After three to five minutes, compare the drawing with the original.
6. Swap roles with a new image. In round two, allow questions and see what changes.

Image ideas

• A few overlapping shapes: a circle, a triangle and a square.
• A simple stick-figure scene.
• A basic floor plan or map.
• An abstract pattern of lines and dots.

Debrief questions

1. What instructions were clear, and which ones were ambiguous?
2. What assumptions did the describer make about what the drawer already knew?
3. How much difference did being allowed to ask questions make?
4. Where at work do we give instructions without checking understanding?
5. What's one thing we'll do differently when we brief each other?

Remote version

The describer shares nothing on screen and describes the image verbally; the drawer draws on paper and holds the result up to the camera at the end. It works just as well over video as in person.

Turn the lesson into a habit. The Team Conversation Deck gives your team regular, structured conversations about how you work together, so communication improves after the workshop, not just during it.

See the Deck

Back-to-back drawing FAQs

More team building activities

• The Marshmallow Challenge
• Two Truths and a Lie
• Human Bingo
• Speed Networking
• Human Knot
• All 30+ team building activities for work
• 100 icebreaker questions for work