Real Conversations
For Teams To Work Better
What happens on your team when someone disagrees?
Every team looks fine on paper. The real test is the hard conversation, whether anyone says the uncomfortable thing, whether disagreement stays about the work, whether the quiet person’s good idea ever makes it into the room. {THE AND} Team Building Edition builds the trust those moments run on, one real question at a time, so the team doesn’t just get along, it gets sharper at what it does together.
199 questions and prompts. One deck. Team building you feel in the work, not just the room.
A Deck Built for Teams To Perform
It Makes It Safe to Say the Hard Thing
The disagreement in the meeting, the mistake worth admitting, the half-formed idea nobody risks out loud. {THE AND} Team Building Edition builds the trust those moments need, the psychological safety every high-performing team runs on, one real question at a time.
Results That Outlast the Offsite
Most team-building days are a good afternoon everyone’s forgotten by Monday. These are questions a team keeps reaching for, before a hard decision, at the start of a meeting, so the trust keeps compounding instead of evaporating the second everyone’s back at their desks.
No Facilitator And No Prep
No coach or facilitator to bring in, nothing to set up. Draw a card, read it aloud, drop it into a meeting you’re already having. The simplest team-building tool on the list, and one of the few that actually changes how a team works.
Better, More
Effective Teams
Most of what slows a team down isn’t the work, it’s what goes unsaid. The assumption nobody checked, the tension no one named, the question people were too polite to ask. {THE AND} Team Building Edition surfaces it in the open, where a team can actually deal with it, instead of letting it quietly drag on every project.
Whether you’re forming a new team, sharpening one that’s already good, or just want a way to build real cohesion that isn’t another workshop, this is a tool you can put to work in your next meeting. No training required. Just better questions, and a team that’s better for having answered them.
WANT A BETTER WORK CULTURE?
ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
The right question in the room changes how a team talks to each other. {THE AND} Co-Workers Edition is built entirely out of those questions — the ones that get people past the status update and into an actual conversation.
They come from Topaz Adizes, founder of The Skin Deep and an Emmy Award–winning artist, drawn from more than 1,200 real conversations filmed around the world over the last decade. This isn’t a set of icebreakers someone wrote in an afternoon. It’s a decade of studying what makes people open up, distilled into a deck your team can use in five minutes.
Bring it to your next meeting, offsite, or onboarding — and find out what your team sounds like when the questions are better.
Booking: Topaz is also available for live experience design, keynotes, and speaking engagements.
FAQs
{THE AND} Team Building Edition is a team-building card game from The Skin Deep, made to help teams work better together. It’s a 199-card deck of questions that build the trust and openness high-performing teams run on, useful for offsites, new or changing teams, and the recurring meetings you already have.
Both decks get a team talking, but they’re aimed at different things. Co-Workers Edition is about interpersonal connection, getting to know the people you work beside. Team Building Edition is about team performance, the trust, candor, and psychological safety a team needs to do its best work. If you want colleagues to feel closer, start with Co-Workers; if you want a team to work better together, this is the one.
It’s built to do more than break the ice. The questions create the conditions high-performing teams depend on, people willing to disagree about the work, admit a mistake, or float a half-formed idea without fear. That’s the difference between a team that gets along and one that performs, and it’s what this deck is designed to build.
No. There’s no consultant to hire, no workshop to book, and no rules to learn. One person draws a card and reads it aloud, and the team answers, drop it into a meeting you’re already having, or run a full deck at an offsite. It works from a small team up to a large group, one conversation at a time.
Yes. {THE AND} Team Building Edition works just as well on a video call as in a room, one person reads a card, everyone answers, nothing to set up or ship. It’s one of the simpler ways to build real trust on a distributed team without getting everyone in the same place.
Not at all, {THE AND} Team Building Edition works for nearly any group that has to function as a team. Sports teams and coaches, clubs and student orgs, volunteer crews, nonprofit and community groups, church and ministry teams, bands, committees, if a set of people needs to trust each other and work well together, this deck is built for that. The questions aren’t about office work; they’re about becoming a real team, whatever it is you do together.
Yes, we offer bulk pricing for corporate and team orders. {THE AND} Co-Workers Edition makes a genuinely good gift for a management team, a department, or every employee in the company — a team-building tool people will actually use, not another branded water bottle. Reach out to our customer service team with what you’re looking for and they’ll be happy to put together an order that works for your team.
R
This is a review of an Amazon Vine item. That said, I try to be honest and open in all my reviews.(Please see the enclosed pictures.)This is a great activity to improve understanding and cooperation in a corporate setting.It is listed as a game, but it is not a game as there is no scoring and no winners or losers.What it is a guided activity that guides groups through increasing understanding of each other through clever questions.My team loved this set of cards. I think that you will too.
L
Got this team-building deck to use as writing prompts in my team-based HS senior class. There are loads of great team-building questions to generate good for thought and structured discussion. Some of the questions are clearly aimed at corporate settings, but can easily be adapted with minor changes to other scenarios. I have used a couple as pre-discussion writing prompts, and it has yielded far more focused discussion and a much better understanding of team needs, which has helped my students be more cohesive & respectful in their work together.This is a great resource for anyone trying to understand or build a collaborative culture in a group, but you should not depend on being able to grab-and-go on the fly.
F
This card deck is a fun tool for starting meaningful conversations and strengthening team connections. It’s really a guided activity with well-crafted questions that encourage thoughtful discussions amongst colleagues. The prompts are great for work teams or any group looking to improve communication and collaboration. Some questions are more suited for professional settings, but they can easily be adapted for any group. Overall, it’s a simple yet effective way to bring people together and build stronger working relationships.
S
I gave to my coworker who often leads team building activities. It looks like a good tool to help make team building more interesting and engaging vs the usual slog. They were appreciative of the gift and we'll try it at our next team retreat. It's an easy "game" where you can basically ask/do what's on the cards.
A
I would definitely recommend this to teachers or people taking kids on field trips.Any sort of group event activity?These are really good questions for everybody to kind of work through
B
If you're new to {The And} you have to try this out! These are great conversation starters, for many different populations. This is my fourth set, and they are great go to for teams, colleagues, strangers, friends, family, etc. Love the time and effort this team put into crafting questions.
C
These are great thought provoking questions for teams of any sizes, neatly organized in a nice presentable box.
P
Brought this to work to use with the team during out leader syncs. Everyone draws a card and answers their question. There are some really great super impactful and thought provoking questions in the deck. Everyone on the team loved the activity and we are going to be doing it weekly now. My leader loves it!
K
My team LOVES these cards. I’ve used other ice breaker cards but these are next level. Deeper and get to quality conversations, not surface level. Good storage box.
B
Dislike: the generic instructions that made it sound like it was a one-on-one relationship (i.e., sit across and face individual). Additionally, cards have symbols (i.e., heart, ear, faces etc.) but nothing indicates what they mean.Like: The overall quality of questions. No what color do you like? or what power do you wish you had? Good quality questions that touch on thought process, leadership, and insights.
E
I got these for my student employees. I always hire new students, who need training, and building a great team is a part of that training, which is essential. These cards are perfect for team-building meetings. I would not hesitate to use them for any team, whether at school or in business.
M
I've used these with my team a few times now and everyone loves them. The questions are both deep and easy to answer at the same time. They are really good conversation starters and get team mates engaging in meaningful discussion.
M
I am a human resources manager and ordered these to hopefully use with new hire orientation, but these can be used in a number of different ways to facilitate office team building. The directions tell you how to use them with one-on-one as well as group discussions. I will probably look through the questions and determine how to best use them.
M
I use these as an ice breaker for meetings. They have done wonders with getting our meetings started on a high note!
S
Needed something for an ice breaker - this was wonderful for a new team to actually talk to each other
C
My team love these cards. We do them every Friday afternoon. Some cards are deeper than others. Love the mix of questions!
J
We use the cards at our daily huddle at work to get to know each other better. They help build a stronger leadership team.
n
Used for my teams corporate retreat, and the team loved it! They really felt like they got to know each other better
J
I work with engineers and scientists. They enjoyed the challenge of answering new questions and thinking about old ones in different ways.
H
I took these into my Practice Manager's office and introduced her to this game. We each took three cards, and she was immediately blown away. I recommend getting this if you are struggling to bring your team together or struggling with the management team. Be prepared for some eye-opening and honest answers.