$20 GAME I'm sure that you have handled a $20 bill recently. Did you pay attention to the bill? Do you remember whose portrait is on this bill? Here's a quick jolt that emphasizes the importance of mindfulness. Pair up participants. Ask each participant to find a partner and sit (or stand) facing her. If one participant is left over, you become the partner. Show the money. Ask each pair of partners to produce a $20 bill. If any of the pairs cannot find a $20 bill, lend them one or ask them to use any other bill. Ask the partners to hold a single bill by its opposite corners so that each participant can see only one side of the bill. Begin questioning. Ask partners to take turns asking questions about the side of the bill they can see. SAMPLES: How many times is the number 20 printed on my side? How many times is the word “twenty” spelled out on my side? How many digits does the serial number have? What building is shown on my side? How many windows do you see in the buidling? Which direction is Jackson facing in the portrait? Complete this sentence found on my side of the bill: This note is legal tender for all debts, _____. As soon as one partner asks the question, the other partner must give an immediate answer. Correct answers earn a point. Incorrect answers or no answers earn no points. The questioner should immediately give the correct answer. Switch partners. Stop the question-and-answer activity after a few minutes. Ask participants to walk around and find a new partner. (They can also switch to the other side of the bill, if they want). As before, ask the partners to sit or
Transcript
$20 GAME
I'm sure that you have handled a $20 bill recently. Did you pay attention to the bill? Do you remember whose portrait is on this bill?
Here's a quick jolt that emphasizes the importance of mindfulness.
Pair up participants. Ask each participant to find a partner and sit (or stand) facing her. If one participant is left over, you become the partner.
Show the money. Ask each pair of partners to produce a $20 bill. If any of the pairs cannot find a $20 bill, lend them one or ask them to use any other bill. Ask the partners to hold a single bill by its opposite corners so that each participant can see only one side of the bill.
Begin questioning. Ask partners to take turns asking questions about the side of the bill they can see.
SAMPLES: How many times is the number 20 printed on my side? How many times is the word “twenty” spelled out on my side? How many digits does the serial number have? What building is shown on my side? How many windows do you see in the buidling? Which direction is Jackson facing in the portrait? Complete this sentence found on my side of the bill: This note is legal tender for all debts, _____.
As soon as one partner asks the question, the other partner must give an immediate answer. Correct answers earn a point. Incorrect answers or no answers earn no points. The questioner should immediately give the correct answer.
Switch partners. Stop the question-and-answer activity after a few minutes. Ask participants to walk around and find a new partner. (They can also switch to the other side of the bill, if they want). As before, ask the partners to sit or stand facing each other and hold the $20 bill in such a way that they can see only one side.
Continue questioning. Ask the partners to use the same procedure as before for asking questions, answering, and scoring points. Conclude the round after about 2 minutes.
Conduct a quick debrief. Ask participants to discuss how familiarity breeds mindlessness. What work-related supplies and tools do we take for granted? What are the dangers of ignoring familiar objects and
people? What could we gain by paying attention to these objects and people?
2-MINUTE DRILL
Textra Games combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of training games. Participants read a handout, booklet, reprint, or a chapter in a book and play a game that uses peer pressure and peer support to encourage the recall and transfer of what they read.
Here is a fast-paced textra game for reviewing training content from product-knowledge booklets or technical reference manuals.
Participants
6 to 25. Best game is for 12 to 25 participants, organized into groups of four or five.
Time
15 - 30 minutes.
Supplies
Reading Materials. These are handouts, brochures, booklets, reprints, or manuals that contain the training content.
Question Cards. Each card contains a short-answer about the training content. You need 20-100 different questions, each with a different number. Prepare a duplicate deck of Question Cards for each group of players.
Answer Sheet. Type the question numbers and the correct answers for each question. Prepare a copy of this sheet for each group of players.
Game Instructions. Prepare one copy of the handout, How To Play 2-MINUTE DRILL for each participant.
Timer
Whistle
Flow
Distribute copies of reading materials. Explain that you will conduct a review game with questions related to the content and encourage participants to study the materials carefully. Depending on their length and complexity, you may distribute the materials several days before the training session as self-study assignment or set up 15 minutes of study time just before the play of the game.
Demonstrate the play of the game. Distribute copies of How To Play 2-MINUTE DRILL to each participant. Explain that this handout contains instructions for both the player and the Game Master. Pause while participants read the instructions. Then, ask for three volunteers to come to the front of the room. Explain that you will be the Game Master for the first round and demonstrate the play of the game. Invite players to follow along by referring to the instruction sheet as they watch the game in action. At the end of the 2-minute demonstration, point out that every member of a group will have a turn to be the Game Master.
Organize groups. Divide participants into two to five groups, each with three to five players. It does not matter if some teams have an extra participant. Explain that the players in each group compete with each other.
Distribute cards. In each group, select a player to be the first Game Master. Give a question deck to each Game Master.
Begin the first round. Start the timer and blow the whistle. Ask Game Masters to conduct the game with their group.
Conclude the first round. At the end of 2 minutes, blow the whistle again and ask players to stop. Instruct each player to count the number of Question Cards that were correctly answered. This is the player's score for the first round.
Conduct the second round. Ask the Game Masters to collect the cards, shuffle them, and give them to the new Game Master (the person seated to the left of the previous Game Master). Conduct the game as before.
Repeat the procedure. Continue playing additional rounds of the game until every member of each group has had a turn at being the Game Master.
Conclude the game. After the final round, identify the player (or players) with the highest total score in each group. Congratulate these players as the winners.
[Table of Contents]
Handout
How To Play 2-Minute Drill
Object of the game. To rapidly and accurately answer as many of the questions as possible during 2-minute rounds of play.
Instructions to Players
Receive a card. When the facilitator blows the whistle, the Game Master will give you a question card.
Answer the question. As soon as possible, yell out the card number and the answer. If you don't know the answer, make an educated guess.
Replace the Question Card. Wait for the Game Master to repeat your card number and tell whether your answer is correct or not. If the Game Master says that your answer is correct, place the Question Card in front of you. If the Game Master says your answer is incorrect, give the card back to Game Master. In either case, get another Question Card from the Game Master.
Continue playing. Repeat the process, trying to give as many correct answers as possible within the 2-minute period. When the Game Master stops the round, count the number of cards that you correctly answered. This is your score for the round.
Play the next round. The game will be repeated for several 2-minute rounds. Use the same procedure during each round, except during the round when you are the Game Master.
Get ready. Get a deck of Question Cards from the facilitator. Also get a copy of the Answer Sheet.
Begin the round. Wait for the facilitator to blow the whistle. Immediately give each player a Question Card.
Listen for answers. In a little while, players will begin yelling out card numbers and answers. Since they will not be taking turns, this will be a chaotic activity.
Give feedback to players. Check your Answer Sheet for the card number that you heard first. If the player's answer is correct, say “Correct!” and give the player a new card. The player will place the correctly answered card in front of her. If the player's answer is incorrect, give the correct answer, and take the Question Card back from the player. Place the incorrectly answered card at the bottom of the deck and give another Question Card to the player.
Do several things at the same time. Keep track of the numbers and answers yelled out by players. Call out the next number that you heard and give appropriate feedback. Repeat the process.
Conclude the round. Keep repeating the process until the facilitator blows the whistle again. Ask each player to count the correctly answered cards to determine the score for this round. Collect all the cards, place them at the bottom of the deck, and give the deck to the next Game Master. Also give the new Game Master the Answer Sheet
4CS by Matthew Richter
Here's a variation of Thiagi's HELLO GAME that structures participants' interactions and encourages them to explore the training topic. You may use this game as an opener to discover what the participants already know. Alternatively, you may use this game as a closer to encourage participants to review and summarize what they learned from your training session.
Purpose
To explore key concepts associated with a training topic. For this description, we will use customer satisfaction as the training topic.
Participants
Any number, organized into four teams.
Time
30 minutes to 1 hour
Supplies Timer Whistle Flip chart paper Markers
Preparation
Prepare four flip chart pages with the following headings:
Components of great customer satisfaction Characteristics of great customer satisfaction Challenges for achieving great customer satisfaction Characters involved in great customer satisfaction
Flow
Brief the participants. Explain that you would like to find out what the participants already know about customer satisfaction. In order to do this, you are going to play a 4CS game that will require participants create detailed lists of different aspects associated with the concept.
Define terms. Write these four terms on a flip chart (or project a slide with these terms on the screen). Define and discuss each term.
Components are parts of the concept. For example, taking an order from the customer is a component of customer satisfaction.
Characteristics are features associated the concept. For example, speed of service is a characteristic of customer satisfaction.
Challenges are obstacle associated with the concept. For example, inability to provide discounts is a challenge associated with customer satisfaction.
Characters are people associated with the concept. For example, a supplier is one of the characters associated with customer satisfaction.
Form four teams. Divide the participants into four roughly equal-sized teams. (It does not matter if some teams have a extra member.)
Brief the teams. Assign a different "C" term to each team. Explain that each team will have the specific task of collecting information about the assigned category associated with the concept of customer satisfaction. In this process, each team should collect items suggested by every person in the room. Also explain that the teams will have 3 minutes to plan, 3 minutes to collect information, and 3 minutes to analyze and organize the information.
Conduct the planning period. Ask teams to spend the next 3 minutes to plan how they are going to survey the room and gather responses from all participants. Keep track of the time and give a 1-minute warning after 2 minutes.
Conduct the data-collection period. At the end of 3 minutes, announce the conclusion of the planning period. Ask team members to go around the room, interview members of the other teams, and collect information associated with the team's task. Get out of the way and, as before, keep track of the time.
Conduct the data-analysis period. At the end of 3 minutes, ask teams to stop collecting data and return to their original location. Each team should analyze the data, organize the information is suitable categories, and record their findings on a convenient flip chart.
Conduct the presentation period. Invite teams to take turns to present their findings to everyone in the room. Select the teams in any order. After each team's presentation, ask clarifying questions and encourage other teams to add additional information.
Debrief the participants. At the end of all four presentations, discuss the information with the group. Ask for common themes, differences, surprises, and missing items. If any of the items in the lists suggest misconceptions, correct them by asking leading questions. Relate this activity to the rest of your training session.
Co-Creation
99 WORDS
Are you familiar with the “99 seconds” approach? It makes a complete and useful presentation in 99 seconds.
We have a printed variant of this concept (called “99 Words”). The idea is to provide useful content using exactly 99 words—no more, no less. (The word count includes the heading.)
To write a 99 WORDS piece, limit the content. Write in a plain, conversational style. Begin with a fast draft, remove unnecessary words, and edit by deleting or adding words to bring it to the required length.
We walk our talk. This piece is 99 words long!
Another Example
Training Games
Games feature goals, rules, and conflict. In addition, training games help participants achieve training goals.
Nothing irritates participants like a mindless “fun” game that has no training value. Fun is not a necessary feature of games, especially training games.
A training game need not be fun, but it should be engaging. Players should be totally immersed in the activity.
Effective training games should be relevant to the players' real world jobs. If job relevance is not directly obvious, the game facilitator should bring it out during a debriefing discussion with participants after the play of the game.
Now that you have seen 99 WORDS in action, we invite you to share your examples of this type of crisp prose.
Write a 99 WORDS piece on topic of your choice. It could be the definition of a concept, a step-by-step procedure, a report on a training event, a short story, a poem, or anything else. Make sure that your piece will be of interest to TGL readers.
Send your 99 WORDS as an email attachment to [email protected] . We will publish selected contributions in future issues of TGL.
This activity is an application of a framegame called MATCH AND MIX. It can be used for planning to achieve a common goal and also for exploring the needs and preferences of different groups.
Key Idea
During the first round, each team is assigned a specific type of stakeholder group and asked to come up with a plan for achieving a common goal. During the second round, participants are reorganized into mixed teams with each member representing a different stakeholder groups and asked to synthesize their earlier ideas.
Purpose
To come up with action plan that will appeal to different stakeholders.
Participants
Minimum: 9Maximum: Any numberBest: 16 to 20(Each participant is assigned to two different teams during the two rounds of this activity.)
Time
30 to 60 minutes.
Supplies
Team Allocation Cards, one for each participant
Blank pieces of paper
Pens or pencils
Timer
Whistle
Flip chart pads
Felt-tipped pens
Room Setup
Tables (preferably round ones) with chairs around them to facilitate teamwork.
Preparation
Prepare team allocation cards. All participants belong to two different teams during the two rounds of this activity. An important requirement of this activity is that members of the first team are allotted to different second teams. To facilitate this type of arrangement, each participant receives a Team Allocation Card that contains a letter and a number.
Examples: A4 or C2.
During the first part of the activity, participants organize themselves into teams according to the letter on their card. During the second part, they reorganize themselves according to the number on the card.
Example: The participant with the card C2 belongs to Team C during the first round and Team 2 during the second round.
Before conducting the activity, find out how many participants you will have. Check with the Team Allocation Table to figure out the combinations of letters and numbers for the cards. Write the appropriate letter-number combinations on blank index cards.
Example: You have 21 participants. Looking up this number in the table, you prepare the following Team Allocation Cards:
Brief the participants. Explain that you are going to facilitate a structured brainstorming activity in two rounds. Specify the goal for brainstorming.
Example: Many members of an established professional society felt that the organization was becoming stagnant. We conducted an action-planning activity on how to rejuvenate the organization and get all members excited and engaged.
Form matched teams. Shuffle the Team Allocation Cards and distribute them, one card for each participant. Point out that each card contains a
combination of a letter and a number. Ask participants to find others with the same letter and form themselves into teams. Depending on the total number of participants, you may have three to six teams.
Example: We have five teams, A to E.
Assign age groups. Explain that each team will represent a specific age level. Assign the age groups according to this list:
Team A = New members
Team B = Established members
Team C = Staff members
Team D = Officers of the organization
Team E = Patron members
If you have more teams, add other groups such as committee members, conference attendees, chapter members, international members, and student members. Use as many membership groups as you have teams.
Generate ideas. Ask members of each team to brainstorm ideas for creating an action plan for achieving the common goal. Ask teams to generate several ideas, discuss these ideas, and transform them into an action plan. Request someone in each team to record its plan. Announce a 9-minute time limit for this activity.
Form mixed teams. After 9 minutes, blow the whistle and stop the activity. Tell participants that you are going to reorganize them into a new set of teams. Ask participants to check their Team Allocation Card once more and find others with the same number to form new teams. (If there are one or two people left over, as in this case with 21 participants, they may join any team they choose.)
Regenerate the plan. Ask members of the new teams to continue preparing an action plan. Ask participants to maintain their loyalty to the membership group from the previous round but try to focus on satisfying the needs and preferences of other groups. Encourage participants to recall and share their ideas from the previous round and keep an open mind toward other perspectives. As before, ask teams to select the best ideas, create an action plan, and this plan on a sheet of flip chart paper. Announce a 9-minute time limit for this activity.
Present the plans. Blow the whistle at the end of 9 minutes, and ask teams to post their plans on convenient areas of the wall. Invite all participants to take a gallery walk and review the plans from other teams.
Follow Up
Consolidate the lists. With the help of all participants, come up with a common plan that incorporates the best features of different plans.
Team Allocation Table
Participants Team Allocation Cards
9 A1, A2, A3 B1, B2, B3 C1, C2, C3
10A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3 C1, C2, C3
11A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3
12A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
13A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
14A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4
15A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
16A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
17A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
18A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
19A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4
20A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
21 A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2, E1, E2,
A3, A4, A5 B3, B4 C3, C4 D3, D4 E3, E4
22A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
E1, E2, E3, E4
23A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4
E1, E2, E3, E4
24A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4
25A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
26A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
27A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
28A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
29A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
30A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6
ACTION PLAN Game Plan
Here's a list of steps in ACTION PLAN, complete with suggested time requirements and facilitator and participant activities. You may use this easy-to-refer job aid while facilitating this activity.
Step Facilitator Participants
Preparation (10 Prepare appropriate
minutes) number of Team Allocation Cards.
Briefing (2 minutes)
Explain the goal to be achieved by implementing the action plan.
Think up suitable ideas.
Form matched teams (3 minutes)
Randomly distribute team assignment cards to each participant.
Find others with the same letter and form teams
Assign stakeholder groups (3 minutes)
Assign different membership groups to each team.
Get ready to play the role of a person who belongs to the specified membership group.
Generate ideas (10 minutes)
Give instructions. Teams generate ideas related to the action plan.
Form mixed teams (3 minutes)
Give instructions. Find others with the same number and form new teams
Regenerate plans (10 minutes)
Give instructions. Generate action ideas (related to the achieving the same goal) that will appeal to different types of members. Select the best ideas and incorporate them into an action plan.
Present the plans (5 minutes)
Give instructions. Post your action plans on the wall. Review action plans from other teams.
Follow-up (9 minutes)
Conduct a discussion.
Create a common action plan that incorporates the best features of different plans.
Debriefing Game
ACTION REPLAYby Roger Greenaway
Description
ACTION REPLAY involves re-enacting an activity as if a video of the activity is being replayed. Just as on television, the action is “played back” either to examine an incident more closely or to replay an event worth celebrating. In the age of TV and video, action replay needs little explanation (you don't need to be a drama expert, and the learners don't need a complicated briefing).
Benefits
Compared to video work, action replay …
is cheaper and needs no equipment is quicker to set up, edit and replay the “highlights” is more convenient — it can be used almost anywhere is more versatile and (usually) more fun keeps involvement and energy high is an exercise in memory, creativity, and teamwork brings out humor and honesty provides opportunities for leadership (as director) provides opportunities for interviewing and commentating brings the worlds of talk and action closer together can be used as a search technique to find incidents or issues to
review more thoroughly
Application
ACTION REPLAY is best suited to the debriefing of games in which there was plenty of action! If the “action” was repetitive, it may be too difficult for participants to synchronize their replay. Games that involve getting the whole group from A to B are often well suited to Action Replay. Games in which there is little movement (e.g. mental puzzles or board games) are less suitable. Blindfold games can be re-enacted with the help of observers — this allows blindfolded people to “see” what was happening for the first time.
Selected Highlights
This is a good way to introduce ACTION REPLAY for the first time. Ask participants to suggest highlights that they would like to see again. If the people involved agree, ask them to reconstruct the highlight and enjoy the moment again. Although there may be some value in repeating the game itself, it is generally better (for ACTION REPLAY) to
carry out the replay in a different place and without the original props. (Keep things simple and quick.)
The Dummy Microphone
A dummy microphone adds extra purpose (and interest) to the replay. As well as this being a memory exercise and an opportunity for celebration, this is also an opportunity for noticing interesting details that may have been missed at the time. Any group member (actor or audience) can pick up the dummy microphone to interview someone involved in the action. They can ask questions from any point of the learning cycle, e.g.
to clarify what was happening to give people a chance to express their feelings (especially any
that were unknown to others) to analyze the situation (Why were you doing that? How did that
happen?) or to look to the future (What would it take to improve on this?
Does this have anything to do with your job?)
Unedited Replays
Instead of pre-selecting which moments to replay (as in “Selected Highlights” above) just ask for the whole game to be replayed. If you ask for a replay on “Fast Forward”, give a guide time e.g. “Your challenge is to present an ACTION REPLAY on ‘Fast Forward’ at four times the speed of the original game. The game took 20 minutes, so your replay should take 5 minutes.”
The Dummy Remote Control
While watching a replay you or a participant may wish to slow down the replay at a particular moment or see it again. So introduce a dummy remote control before the replay starts. Describe some of the buttons that you will be using and warn that you may invent a few buttons that no-one has ever heard of before. Once you have demonstrated the possibilities of using the remote control, participants can take it in turns to direct the action. The director has some or all of these “controls” to play with: REWIND, REPLAY, FAST FORWARD, PAUSE/FREEZE, CUT TO A DIFFERENT SCENE, CUT AND RE-TAKE A SCENE, PROVIDE COMMENTARY/VOICE OVER, SLOW MOTION (with deep voices), WITH/WITHOUT SOUND, IN THE STYLE OF … (Capable groups and directors imitate a particular film or TV style, and replay the same incident from a range of perspectives — each bringing out a different “side” of the story.)
From Play To More Purposeful Uses
Yes, you (and they) can have a lot of fun with this debriefing game, but where does it go? The dummy controls are not only fun to play with, they also provide the opportunity for some very focused and controlled debriefing. Here are some more purposeful variations and applications of this debriefing game:
“FANTASY REPLAY” or CHANGING HISTORY: If only it had been like this! This is a way of checking, demonstrating, reinforcing or practicing what has been learned — by individuals or by the group as a whole.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM: Bringing out issues which participants have found difficult to recognize or confront during the activity — with or without using the dummy microphone.
REPLAYING SCENES FROM THE WORKPLACE: Use the replay technique (with or without dummy controls) to help people re-construct, re-live and re-examine situations that they would like to handle differently.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Not strictly a “RE-play”, but the method is readily adapted for rehearsing future scenarios. There is no need for people to get back in their seats as soon as you start looking ahead!
Web References
The Active Reviewing Cycle (tutorial): http://reviewing.co.uk/learning-cycle/index.htm
Active Reviewing (article): http://reviewing.co.uk/actrev.htm
ADULT LEARNING PREFERENCES is an application of a flexible small-group activity to enable players to express, explain, and exchange what they need, want, or like in a learning situation.
ADULT LEARNING PREFERENCES has two important outcomes:
Players express, explain, and exchange a wide range of preferences about adult learning environments.
Players work cooperatively and creatively in teams.
Time Requirement
About 40 minutes. You can easily expand or contract the game to suit the available time.
Materials Twenty or more index cards with different adult learning
preferences. Here are some examples: o Fun and humor o Interaction o Hands-on practice o Good visual aids
Four blank index cards for each player.
Flow of the Game
In the following description, the phases of the game are printed in regular type, while sample segments from an imaginary play of the game are printed in italics.
Preparing Initial Set of Cards. Before the workshop, prepare a set of response cards. Each card should contain one item that adults prefer in their learning environments. Come up with a variety of things that adult learners want, need, and like. Prepare at least two response cards for each anticipated player. If you cannot make up that many responses, use duplicates.
Bob is conducting a workshop for a group of corporate trainers. Twenty participants have signed up for the workshop, including a few technical trainers.
The day before the workshop, Bob prepares 40 response cards.
Getting Started. Start the game quickly. When the players are ready, say to them: “I'd like to begin right off with a group activity that will help us get to know each other. It will also allow us to discover what preferences adults have about their learning environments. This activity should set the stage for the rest of the workshop.”
Bob catches everyone's attention and gives his introductory presentation.
Players look like they are ready for action.
Card Writing by Players. Hand out four blank index cards to each player. Ask them to write down a different response to the same question on each card. The responses need not reflect the personal views of the writer. They should represent a wide range of views. Ask your question and give some sample responses.
The workshop starts at 8:30 a.m., and Susan arrives 5 minutes late. She sees the others writing busily. Bob gives her four blank cards and asks her to write alternative responses to the question, “What do you need, want, or like in a learning situation in order for it to be effective for you?” Susan thinks for a moment and comes up with the following:
Structure Well-organized materials Time for reflection Discussion
Distributing Cards. After about 3 minutes, collect response cards from players. Secretly add your prepared cards to this pile. Mix the cards well and deal three cards to each player. Ask the players to study the responses and arrange them according to their personal preference: from the most to the least preferred response.
Bob collects the cards from the players and adds his own collection. He mixes the cards and gives three to each player.
Susan studies the three cards she receives and arranges them in the following order:
Challenges Knowledgeable instructor Relevance
Exchanging Cards. Arrange the remaining response cards on a large table at one side of the room. Tell the players that they may discard cards from their hands and pick up better replacements. Players must work silently; they should not to talk to each other during this phase of the game. At the end of this exchange, each player should have three cards that may or may not include cards from their original set.
Susan takes her cards to the table and rummages there. She discards two of her cards and picks up the following:
Practical Increases self-confidence
Susan is surprised to see another player eagerly picking up her discards!
Swapping Cards. Instruct players to exchange cards with each other to make their hands better reflect their personal opinions. In this phase, any player may swap cards with any other player; every player must exchange at least one card.
When Bob announces the beginning of the exchange, Susan wanders around until Arthur stops her. Comparing cards, Susan sees one that says, “Intellectually stimulating”. She bargains with Arthur until he exchanges this card for her card with “Challenges”. Before Susan can find someone else to swap with, Bob calls time to end this phase of the game.
Forming Teams. Ask players to compare their cards with each other and to form teams with people holding similar responses. There is no limit to the number of players who may team up together, but a team may keep no more than three cards. It must discard all other cards, and the three cards it keeps must that meet with everyone's approval.
Susan goes around the room checking with others. She runs across Betty, who has excellent cards, and they decide to team up. The two set out to find other kindred souls. Tony wants to join them, and they agree, provided that he drops the card that says, “Fun”. In a few more minutes, their team recruits two other players, including Arthur. They study the combined collection and reduce it to these three:
Preparing a Poster. Ask each team to prepare a graphic poster that reflects its three final cards. This poster should not include any text. After 5 minutes, ask each team to read its three cards, display its poster, and explain the symbolism.
After some discussion and debate, the team decides that Susan should be the artist and the others give her ideas. The final collage shows a neat packet of handouts tied with a ribbon and a bow. Another panel
shows the instructor standing tall with a halo around her head. The same panel shows a group of faces with frowns and smiles indicating intellectual stimulation
Present Awards. Identify winning teams in each of these categories:
Internal consistency among the three final cards. Clarity of the message in the poster. Appropriateness of the illustrations.
Susan's poster did not receive an award, but Bob judged the team's three cards to be the runners-up for most consistent!
Debriefing
ARTFUL CLOSER
This activity begins with reflection, proceeds through nonverbal communication, and ends in a discussion. You can use ARTFUL
CLOSER to debrief participants after an experiential activity. You may also use it as the final activity at the end of a workshop. You may even use it as an opening ice-breaker by asking participants to think about common personal experiences. For example, I began a recent session on presentation skills by asking participants to process their experiences with the most inspiring speech they had ever heard.
Purpose
To reflect on a common experience and share insights with each other.
Participants
Any number. Best for 8 to 30 participants.
Time
20 to 45 minutes
Supplies Large sheets of drawing paper
Crayons of different colors Timer Whistle
Flow
Form teams. Divide participants into equal-sized teams of 4 to 6 members each. Seat team members around a table.
Review the experience. Specify a common experience. Ask participants to silently think back on what happened during that experience. Invite them to close their eyes and visualize the highlights of the event. After a suitable pause, ask participants to silently focus on one or more lessons they learned from the experience.
Distribute supplies. Place sheets of drawing paper and boxes of crayons in the middle of each table. Ask each participant to take a sheet of paper and to share the crayons.
Time to draw. Invite participants to draw an abstract picture that captures the essence of major insights from the experience. Discourage them from focusing on artistic quality and encourage them to flow with their intuitive thoughts and feelings. Announce a 10-minute time limit for this artistic activity.
Time to stop. At the end of 10 minutes, blow the whistle and ask participant-artists to stop their activity. Reassure them that it does not matter if their artwork is not yet complete.
Interpret other people's pictures. At each table, ask participants to take turns holding up the picture. While doing this, ask each person to perform the difficult task of keeping her mouth shut. Invite other participants around the table to treat the picture as a Rorschach inkblot and report what they see in it. It is not necessary that participants take turns in presenting their interpretation. Anyone may call out her insights whenever she feels inspired.
Interpret your own picture. After all pictures have been interpreted, ask the table teams to repeat the process. This time, however, each person should hold up the picture and describe what insights she meant to convey.
Debriefing
After the sharing of insights, encourage a discussion at each table. Use questions similar to these to structure this discussion:
What insights were the most frequently mentioned? What insights were unexpected and unique? What was the most powerful insight that affected you? How do you expect this insight to change your future behavior?
Cognitive Simulation
AUDIO TIC TAC TOE
Everybody knows how to play TIC TAC TOE . Recently, I designed a variation of this universal paper-and-pencil game to play with one of my older friends.
My friend is worried that her declining ability to recognize faces, remember telephone numbers, recall words, and to concentrate on the content of conversations are all precursors to Alzheimer's. I think that this is just a minor symptom of age-related cognitive decline that can be halted and reversed by exercising one's brain. An effective way to exercise the brain is to play games that require the use of your memory.
You don't have to be old to play AUDIO TIC TAC TOE , but you need three people to play it. This is how the game goes:
One player is the recorder and has a piece of paper with a 3 x 3 grid that has spreadsheet-like labels for each box:
A1 B1 C1
A2 B2 C2
A3 B3 C3
The recorder marks every move made by the other two players (called contestants) in this grid but keeps the grid hidden.
Contestants visualize the 3 x 3 grid with its numbered boxes. They take turns calling out the box where they want to put their symbol in.
EXAMPLE:
She says, “My first X goes in box C1.”
I say, “My first O goes in box B2.”
She responds with, “My second X goes in box A3.”
I say, “My second O goes in box A1.”
She says, “Box C3.”
I say, “Aha! My third O goes in box C2.”
She says, “My fourth X goes in box B3. And I win!”
The recorder does not say anything until all the boxes are filled or a contestant claims victory.
A contestant wins if she she places her symbol in three boxes in a straight line (as in the usual game of tic tac toe) and announces that she has won.
A contestant loses if
She tries to place her symbol in a box that is already occupied She incorrectly claims victory She gets three in a straight line and fails to announce that she
has won
At the end of each game, the next player assumes the role of recorder. Game proceeds as before.
This is just the game to play during long drives. Make sure, however, that the driver is not the recorder.
Interactive Lecture
BEST SUMMARIES
Asking listeners to summarize your presentation from time to time is a good technique for encouraging people to listen carefully, take notes, and to review the content. BEST SUMMARIES uses this basic concept.
Purpose To encourage active and collaborative review of the
presentation. To focus listeners' attention on important points in the
presentation.
Participants
Any number. Participants are divided into teams from time to time during this activity.
Time
Depends on the amount of information and the number of summary interludes. Suggested time: 60 minutes (consisting of three 10-minute presentations, each followed by 10 minute team review sessions).
Supplies Index cards Timer Whistle
Use This Strategy When— the instructional content involves concepts, principles, and
procedures participants are capable of taking notes, summarizing the
content, and evaluating other people's summaries you have a logical outline for your presentation
Sample Topics Organizational values Basic principles of customer service Doing business in Texas The coaching procedure Life cycle of a high-tech product Maintaining a database
Preparation
Prepare an outline. Chunk the content of your presentation into logical 10-minute units. Also prepare appropriate flip chart pages or slides.
Flow
Brief participants. Explain that you will be making a series of 10-minute presentations. At the end of each unit, you will pause for each participant to summarize what you presented in that unit. These summaries will be evaluated by other participants and the best summaries will receive special recognition. Encourage participants to take good notes during your presentation so they can produce effective summaries.
Present the first unit. Keep your eye on the clock and try to stick to your schedule.
Pause for summaries. Distribute blank index cards to each participant. Ask participants to summarize your presentation on one side of the card. Suggest a suitable time limit. At the end of this time, ask participants to stop writing. Ask them to write a four-digit identification number on the other side of the card. Participants should remember this number so they can identify their card later.
Form teams. Organize participants to teams of four to seven members each. Seat each team around a table. Ask someone at each team to collect the summaries from team members and shuffle the packet of cards.
Exchange and evaluate. Give the packet of summary cards from the first team to second one, from the second team to the third one, and so on, giving the cards from the last team to the first one. Ask members of each team to collaboratively review the summaries and select the best one, using whatever criteria they want. Announce a suitable time limit.
Conclude the evaluation activity. At the end of the allotted time, ask each team to read the summary that was rated as the best. After all teams read the best summaries, ask each team to read the identification number on the back of the card. Ask this person to stand up, and lead a round of applause for this person. Briefly comment on the summaries, identifying the key points and correcting any misconceptions.
Repeat the process. Continue with your next unit of presentation. Follow up with individual summary writing and team evaluation to identify the next set of best summaries.
Conclude the session. After the last round of presentation and evaluation, thank all participants for their contribution. Invite participants to retrieve their summary cards from the next table.
Adjustments
Not enough time? Reduce the summary to a single sentence to be written within a minute. Also make the entire presentation and conduct a single round of summarizing and evaluating.
Too many people? Instead of asking all teams to read their best summaries, select one or two teams at random and ask them to read the summaries.
Auditorium setup prevents teamwork? Individualize the evaluation process: After writing the summaries, ask participants to exchange summary cards several times. Now ask each participant to read the summary on the card she ended up with. Invite participants with a good summary on their card to come to the front of the room and read it. Identify and congratulate the authors of these summaries.
Structured Sharing
BOTH SIDES
Organizational life is full of paradoxes. It looks as if you always get contradictory advice. For example, one manager suggests that all your training should be on the Web. Another manager extols the virtues of classroom teaching. In a situation like this, it is useless to ask, “Which is better: online learning or instructor-led learning?” The answer is invariably, “It all depends.” In the complex real world, the effectiveness of any strategy depends on the context. For example, training effectiveness depends on the content, objectives, learners, technology, and facilitators. In order for you to come up with the best strategy, you must explore the advantages and disadvantages of conflicting guidelines.
That's what BOTH SIDES helps you to do.
Purpose
To better understand conflicting guidelines by discussing the positive and negative aspects of each.
Participants
Any number, organized into triads.
Time
30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the number of factors and the time allowed for each discussion.
Supplies Timer Whistle
Preparation
Specify the general topic or issue that you want to explore. Then come up with a list of several opposing pairs of advice (“dichotomies”) related to that topic. The effectiveness of this activity depends on your ability to come up with a dozen or more conflicting pairs of advice.
Here's an example:
Topic: Effective training
Dichotomies:
Content is important vs. Process is important We should focus on learning outcomes vs. We should focus on
learning activities The teacher is an expert vs. The teacher is a fellow learner Learn from doing vs. Learn from reflecting on what you did Learners cooperate with each other vs. Learners compete with
each other Use high-touch strategies vs. Use high-tech equipment Learn independently vs. Learn in team Present the content through graphics vs. Present the content
through text Develop specific objectives vs. Develop general goals Focus on facilitating learning vs. Focus on transmitting
information Create a playful learning environment vs. Create a serious
learning environment Provide a well-organized structure vs. Provide the freedom to
explore Plan the lessons carefully vs. Improvise your lessons
Emphasize the underlying theory vs. Focus on practical applications
More Examples
Topic: Workplace violence. Dichotomies: Empowerment vs. Control. Prevention vs. Damage control.
Topic: Hospital management. Dichotomies: Patient satisfaction vs. Employee satisfaction. Specialization vs. Generalization.
Topic: Conflict management. Dichotomies: Assertiveness vs. Empathy. Intention vs. Impact.
Topic: Teamwork. Dichotomies: Compliance vs. Challenge. Shared leadership vs. Assigned leadership.
Topic: Cross-Cultural Communication. Dichotomies: Individualism vs. Collectivism. Direct vs. Indirect Communication.
Topic: Sales. Dichotomies: Product knowledge vs. People knowledge. Needs focus vs. Solution focus.
Topic: Change Management. Dichotomies: Charismatic leader vs. Invisible change agent. Top-down change vs. Bottom-up change.
Flow
Brief participants. Introduce the topic to be explored. Identify conflicting guidelines related to topic. Discuss how these guidelines make sense in different contexts. Stress the importance of exploring polarized and paradoxical guidelines to better understand the factors that influence productivity and improved performance.
Organize participants into triads. Divide participants into groups of three. If two participants are left over, ask them to form a triad with you. If only one participant is left over, ask her to play the role of observer.
Assign roles. Ask each triad to identify the person who most closely resembles you. Ask this person to play the role of the Neutral Listener for the first round. Explain that the other two members of the triad will become the Right Advocate and the Left Advocate. Announce that the Right Advocate for each round will become the Neutral Listener for the next round.
Explain the role of the Neutral Listener. The person in the “middle” of each triad should invite the Advocates to present their positions. While an advocate is making her presentation, the Neutral Listener should maintain eye contact, nod, smile, and demonstrate other nonverbal behaviors associated with active listening. However, it is important the Neutral Observer hide her personal opinions and listen to both Advocates with equal interest.
Explain the role of the Advocates. Each advocate will be assigned one of two conflicting guidelines related to topic. Both advocates will prepare a presentation supporting their position and attacking the opposing position. After 15 seconds, the Neutral Listener will point to one of the Advocates. This person will make her presentation for 60 seconds. Immediately after this, the other Advocate will make her presentation.
Process the first dichotomy. Announce the first guideline for the Right Advocate. Immediately announce the conflicting guideline for the Left Advocate. Ask all advocates to get ready for their presentation. After 15 seconds, blow the whistle and instruct the Neutral Listeners to point to either observer to make her presentation. Pause for a minute. Blow the whistle again and ask the other Advocate to make her presentation. Blow the whistle after another minute. Randomly select a Neutral Listener and ask her to summarize the key points from both presentations.
Continue with additional dichotomies. Thank the Advocates and Neutral Listeners. Ask the Right Advocates in each triad to assume the role of the Neutral Listener for the next round. (The Left Advocate from the previous round will now become the Right Advocate and the original Neutral Listener will become the new Right Advocate.) Announce the next pair of conflicting guidelines and conduct another round of the activity. Repeat the same process with each dichotomy.
Conclude the session. Invite participants to suggest other pairs of conflicting guidelines. Treat them in the same fashion. When all dichotomies have been discussed, conduct a debriefing discussion to figure out how to creatively select and synthesize contradictory guidelines.
Matrix Game
Building a Great Business
How does one build a great business? Most people focus on the importance of satisfying customers. Some focus on satisfying employees. A few focus on satisfying shareholders.
These three important groups of stakeholders are interlinked to each other when it comes to building a great business. Typically, any action that satisfies one group will have positive impact on the other two groups also. Sometimes, however, an action that delights one group may actually clash with the needs of another group.
Purpose To explore the interrelationship among customers, employees,
and shareholders. To predict the impact of business-building activities among these
three groups.
Participants
10 to 30, divided into teams of five.
Time Requirement
30 minutes
Supplies Flip chart and felt-tip markers Pads of Post-It® notes Timer Whistle
Flow
Prepare a 3 x 3 grid. Draw the grid on a flip chart. Label the three columns customers, employees, and shareholders. Labels the three rows with the same words.
Organize participants into teams. Assign five members to each team. (It does not matter if some teams have one more or one fewer member.) Ask team members to sit around a table and introduce themselves to each other, if necessary.
Identify the three stakeholder groups. Explain that building a great company involves satisfying three important groups of people: customers, employees, and shareholders. Briefly explain who the
members of these three groups are. Point out that it is possible for the same person to belong to more than one group.
Explain what goes in the grid. Point out that the grid has the same labels for the columns and rows. Point to the three boxes along diagonal line from the top left to the bottom right. These boxes have the same label for both the column and the row. (The other six boxes have different labels for the column and the row.)
Explain what goes in the diagonal boxes. Tell participants that they will place ideas for satisfying members of each of the three groups in each box. Point to the top-left box and write, “Manufacture high-quality products” as an example of what goes in this box.
Explain what goes in the boxes above the diagonal. Point out that sometimes actions that satisfy one group may also satisfy another group. Point to the three boxes above the diagonal. Tell participants that they will place ideas for mutually satisfying the two groups associated with each box. Point to the top-right box (that belongs to the shareholder column and the customer row) and write, “Give discounts to frequent customers to gain their loyalty” as an example of a mutually satisfying idea. Explain that this action will please both the customers and the shareholders because loyal customers buy more products.
Explain what goes in the boxes below the diagonal. Point out that sometimes what satisfies one group may clash with the needs of another group. Point to the three boxes below the diagonal. Tell participants that they will place clashing ideas that may satisfy one group at the expense of the other. Point to the bottom-left box (that belongs to the customer column and the shareholder row), and write “Give excessive discounts to customers” as an example of a clashing idea. Explain that deep discounts may delight customers but may displease shareholders because profit margin will go down.
Explain the contest procedure. Distribute pads of Post-It® notepaper to each team. Tell all participants that they will have 10 minutes to write different items to be placed in the nine different boxes of the grid. Each piece of the sticky notepaper should contain only one item. A team may not write a second item for a box until they have written at least one item for each of the nine boxes. After the 10-minute interval, a judge will identify the best item in each box. The team that wrote the most “best” items will win the contest.
Pause for 10 minutes. Encourage teams to discuss various ideas, write each of them on a piece of sticky notepaper, and post it on the appropriate box of the grid.
Conclude the activity. At the end of 10 minutes, blow the whistle and ask teams to stop writing and finish posting their notes. Ask participants to review the ideas on various boxes in the grid. At the same time, ask the judge to review the items and select the best item from each box.
Announce the results. Ask the judge to read the best idea from each box. Ask each team to keep track of how many times its ideas were selected. At the end of the judge's announcements, identify the team with the highest number of selected ideas. Declare the team to be the winner and congratulate its members.
Debrief participants. Have a discussion about the relationship among the three groups of stakeholders and the impact of different activities on these groups. Ask participants for guidelines to increase mutually satisfying actions and reduce conflicting actions.
Featured Game
BULLET SLIDES
Production simulations involve the design and development of a product. Different teams compete with each other to create the best product. The activity begins with teams receiving specifications for the final product along with an evaluation checklist. Teams may also have access to training sessions, job aids, reference materials, sample products, and expert consultants. Final products from different teams are evaluated by outside experts, end users, and peers on a variety of relevant dimensions.
For more details about production simulations as an interactive tool, check the January 2002 issue of PFP.
BULLET SLIDES is an example of a production simulation. It deals with the design of effective slides with software programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint®. This activity was created in response to the agony, boredom, and vertigo of staring at thousands of cute slides in hundreds of conference presentations.
To review and revise a set of bullet slides to improve their effectiveness.
Facilitators
Judges. You will need two or three judges to evaluate the teams' products. These judges should be familiar with the Bullet Slides Checklist.
Statistician. This person will be helpful during the evaluation phase to collect rating cards from participants and to compute the average rating for each slide set.
Participants
6 to 30
Entry Level
Participants should be familiar with the use of Microsoft PowerPoint® (or whatever program you use to make bullet slides).
Time
2 hours or more. (Time required for the evaluation phase will depend on the number of teams participating in this activity.)
Equipment A laptop computer for each team. (Each computer should have
Microsoft PowerPoint® installed and Bullet Slides.ppt, a file with 12 sample bullet slides.)
LCD Projector for projecting slides from the laptop computers Screen Timer Whistle
Handouts And Index Cards Bullet Slides Checklist , one copy for each participant Product Specifications , one copy for each team Paper copies of the 12 sample slides , one copy for each team A packet of index cards for use as rating cards during evaluation
Provide tables and chairs for each team. Place the screen and the LCD projector in front of the room. Place a table (and chairs) for the judges to permit easy viewing of the screen.
Flow
Organize teams. Divide participants into two or more teams of approximately equal numbers. Each team should have three to seven members.
Equip and brief teams. Make sure that each team has a laptop computer with Microsoft PowerPoint® and Bullet Slides.ppt installed on it. Explain that trainers, managers, consultants, and salespeople frequently use electronic slides that contain a heading and a list of items. This type of slide, called a bullet slide, is a powerful communication tool that is frequently abused. The objective of this production simulation is to review and revise a set of bullet slides to improve their effectiveness.
Present product specifications. Distribute copies of the Bullet Slides Checklist to each participant. Explain that the 18 items in this checklist are designed to ensure the creation of effective bullet slides. This checklist will be used both as a learning resource and as an evaluation tool. Also distribute handout copies of the 12 bullet slides to be reviewed and revised. Explain that each computer has a file (Bullet Slides.ppt) that contains these bullet slides. Distribute copies of the Product Specifications to each team and explain that each team is required to complete the task (of selecting and revising six of the slides) during the next hour.
Provide learning resources. Explain that participants have three learning resources: their previous experience with bullet charts, the checklist, and 5 minutes of consulting time with you. Any team may make use of your consulting services on a first-come-first-served basis. Each team has only one chance to consult with you and the consulting session must not exceed 5 minutes. Encourage teams to begin working on their production activity and come up with important questions before consulting with you.
Conduct the training session. Emphasize that the most important learning resource is the Bullet Slides Checklist. To demonstrate its use, project the first sample bullet slide and ask participants to review it by using the items from the checklist. Point out that each sample slide may violate one or more of the checklist items. Invite participants to
critique the slide and suggest suitable revisions. Make sure that the critique is related to the checklist items. Ask probing questions to ensure that participants recognize that the slide violates Checklist Item 13 with its long list of bulleted items. The most appropriate revision is to split the slide into two separate slides, each containing four items.
Provide consulting services. Start a timer and announce the hour-long review and revision period. Circulate among the teams and observe their activities without interfering. If any team asks for consulting help, time your interaction. Keep referring back to the checklist as you answer questions and provide suggestions.
Conclude the review and revision period. At the end of the 1-hour period, blow a whistle and announce the conclusion of the production activity. Ask each team to bring its laptop computer to the front of the room. (Alternatively, teams may simply copy their file to a floppy and bring the floppy to the front of the room.)
Explain the evaluation procedure. Each set of six bullet slides will be evaluated by two groups, both using the same checklist as the rating instrument. Introduce your panel of judges and seat them at their table. In addition to this panel, explain that each slide set will be individually evaluated by members of all teams, except the team that produced the slide set. At the end of each slide set, individual participants will summarize their evaluation on a 10-point scale, where 10 indicates the highest quality.
Conduct the evaluation. Project each set of slides, pausing for about 15 seconds after each slide. At the end of each set, collect the rating cards from team members (other than the team that produced the slide set) and give them to your statistician for computing the average rating. (Let the judges keep their rating cards.)
Announce the results. After all slide sets have been displayed, ask each judge to briefly comment on the quality of the revisions in general and announce the rating for each set. After judges' reports, announce the average peer rating received by each set of slides.
Debrief participants. Discuss major learning points with participants. Remember that the main focus of this activity is the production of bullet slides and not teamwork or interpersonal skills. Use the following types of questions to encourage participant discussions:
What criteria did you use to select the six slides to revise? Which checklist item do you frequently violate in preparing bullet
slides?
Which item is most frequently violated by other presenters? Which checklist item is likely to produce the most dramatic
impact? Which checklist items were easy to apply? Which items were
difficult to apply? Was there a major difference between peer ratings and the
judges' ratings? If so, what was the reason for this difference? Would you add any other items to the checklist? Would you
remove any item?
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
Bullet Slides Checklist
1. Avoid crunching. Leave wide margins and plenty of blank space.
2. Position the title. Place the title on the top one-sixth of the transparency.
3. Capitalize the title. Begin each word in the title with a capital letter.
4. Don't repeat. If the same word is repeated in all bulleted items, make it a part of the title or the subtitle.
5. Use sans-serif. Use a sans-serif font (example: Arial or Helvetica).
6. Avoid ransom notes. Do not use too many different fonts. Stick to a single font.
7. Print big. Use at least 24-point font size. 8. Don't shout. Avoid typing any title, item, or word in ALL CAPS. 9. Be consistent. Use the same font and same bullet symbol
throughout. 10. Shrink the bullet. Make sure that the size of the bullet is
the same as the font size (or slightly smaller). 11. Use numbers. Replace bullets with numbers if you want
to emphasize the sequence or compare different items with each other.
12. Use few words. Use tight phrases instead of complete sentences.
13. Don't exceed six. Make sure that the bullet list does not contain more than six items. Make sure that no item has more than six words.
14. Don't exceed two. Do not use more than two levels of bullets.
Review these sets to discover the pattern among the three numbers in each set.
Now write (or say) a few more sets of three numbers that follow the same pattern.
This discovery activity is the basis for the following quick jolt. I frequently use this jolt as a 99-seconds demonstration of an interactive exercise.
(And before you read further, let me apologize to you. You are probably in for a rude awakening.)
Purpose
To explores causes and consequences of stereotyping.
Participants
Any number, “playing” in a parallel fashion
Time
5 - 10 minutes
FLOW
Brief the players. Tell them that you are going to present a few sets of three numbers. Ask them to listen carefully and discover the pattern among the three numbers in each set. Present the four sample sets listed above.
Invite participation. Most players will have a knowing grin and some may blurt out their explanation of the relationship among the numbers. However, ask everyone to listen carefully to your instructions. Tell
them to supply you with test sets by yelling out three numbers. Ask the players to wait until you have said “Yes” or “No” to each test set before offering the next one.
Provide feedback. Players will give you test sets that fit this pattern: n, 2n, 2n+1 (any number, twice that number, one more than twice the original number). Listen to each set and say “Yes” to confirm that it follows the pattern.
Nag the players. After verifying a few test sets, ask the players how they are feeling. Comment on the smug look on most faces. Present the following information, in your own words:
Many of you are falling into the trap of hasty generalization. You found a formula that links the numbers. You immediately start proving your hypothesis by offering a test set that fits the formula. You feel happy when your test set gets a “Yes”. You offer more test sets of the same type and enjoy feeling smart and superior. You don't present a test set that doesn't fit the formula because if you get a “No” everyone will think that you are stupid. You yourself will feel stupid.
A true scientist, however, keeps an open mind. She attempts to disprove her hypothesis. So how about if you try some test sets designed to get a “No” from me.
Give feedback. Here's where the jolt comes: In spite of how it might appear, the pattern is simply any three whole numbers in ascending order. According to this formula, these test sets will receive “Yes”:
7; 9; 10
19; 24; 25
10; 20; 2,000
8; 60,000; 7,000,000,000
And these test sets will receive “No”:
5; 9; 9
12; 200; 9
98; 15; 3
Listen to new test sets and answer “Yes” or “No” according to whether they contain three whole numbers in ascending order.
Return to your nagging. Whenever someone's test set receives a “No”, ask the person how she feels. Explain that most people feel depressed when their hypothesis is rejected. Actually, a “No” provides valuable information, sometimes more valuable than a “Yes”.
Speed up the process. Explain that you are going to try out some more test sets yourself. Use crazy sets of numbers (such as “5; 78; 2,365,897”) and give a resounding “Yes” to each.
Explain the pattern. Ask players to tell you the formula or the pattern that you are using. Confirm the formula of any three whole numbers in ascending sequence.
Relate the experience to the process of stereotyping. Explain that this simple activity illustrates the human tendency to stereotype things, including people from other cultures.
Just because we meet a small sample of people from a different culture who share a few common characteristics, we assume that everyone in that culture will share the same characteristics. We strengthen this narrow opinion by selectively looking for the same characteristic among new members of the culture. We don't pay attention to other unique characteristics that would challenge our hypothesis. We may actually feel upset if someone does not conform to our stereotypical perception.
Encourage players to share real-world experiences. Ask for examples of being surprised by the unexpected behaviors of people from other cultures. Conclude the session by encouraging participants to try to disprove their own assumptions and hypotheses.
Puzzle
Characteristics of Admired Leaders
A cryptic cluster puzzle is a list of items that belong to the same category. The items are enciphered with a substitution code in which every letter of the alphabet is consistently replaced by another letter.
Here's a list of 11 characteristics of admired leaders from The
patterns in the encrypted words. (For example, if the title of a cryptic cluster is “Birthday Party”, FGKKXXP is probably an encryption of BALLOON because of the pattern of two doubled letters coming next to each other.)
Hint
Hints for the cryptic cluster Characteristics of Admired Leaders
The first item on the list is HONEST.Another item on the list is BROAD-MINDED.
Solution
Solution to the cryptic cluster Characteristics of Admired Leaders
HONEST
FORWARD-LOOKING
INSPIRING
COMPETENT
FAIR-MINDED
SUPPORTIVE
BROAD-MINDED
INTELLIGENT
STRAIGHTFORWARD
DEPENDABLE
COURAGEOUS
Paper-and-Pencil Game
CLEAR COMMUNICATION
In any content area, one difference between a beginner and an expert is the latter's ability to come up with different examples that belong to the same category. This activity strengthens your ability to come up with examples of communication concepts.
Basic Idea
All players write an example that belongs to the category. Each player votes for the clearest example among those written by the other players. The player whose example received the most votes wins the game card.
Supplies
Pieces of paper
Pens or pencils
Preparation
Prepare a list of different categories that belong to the same training topic and for which players can come up with different examples.
Recently we played the game on the topic of communication skills. Here's our list of categories:
Active listening behaviors
Guidelines for writing an effective business memo
Common communication mistakes
Conflict management strategies
Ways in which people filter the messages they receive
Purposes of communication
Types of questions
Types of written communication
Guidelines for effective graphics
Rules for effective writing
How To Begin
Select one person to be the Prime Player. The following instructions are for the Prime Player:
How To Play
Announce a category that belongs to the training topic.
Ask everyone to write down a single clear example that that belongs to the category. You should write a single clear example too.
When everyone has completed the task, begin with the player on your left and ask each player to read aloud the example they wrote on the piece of paper. Tell the players to read exactly what they wrote without any revision or embellishment.
Read the example that you have written.
After everyone has read her example, ask the players to spread out their pieces of paper on the table, written side up.
How To Win
At the count of three, ask all players to point to the piece of paper that contains the clearest example. However, no player may point to her own piece of paper.
The piece of paper that has the most fingers pointing to it wins the round. The player who wrote this example earns a point.
In case of a tie, play the game again, using the same procedure. This time, however, the players may not use any of the examples used during the previous round.
How To Continue
Appoint the person on your left to be the new prime player. She chooses a new category that belongs to the same training topic. Play as before.
Audio Game
CONCERN
An important skill for customer service representatives is the ability to show concern and empathy during telephone conversations. Instead of giving participants a checklist of suggestions and having them apply these suggestions in roleplay practice, this activity requires participants to analyze best-practice examples of displaying concern during telephone conversations and applying the key features.
Basic Idea
Four teams of participants listen to different audio recordings of telephone conversations with customers. Based on these analyses, participants create sets of guidelines, first within the teams and then across the teams. They apply the items from the checklist during roleplay sessions.
Index Tags
Telephone conversations. Concern and empathy. Customer service conversations. Modeling. Best practices. Analyzing audio recordings.
Purpose
To discover, discuss, and apply best practices for displaying concern and empathy in customer service conversations on the telephone.
Participants
Minimum: 8Maximum: Any numberBest: 12 to 20(Participants are organized [and reorganized] into teams.)
Time
30 minutes to 1 hour.
Supplies
Four audio cassette players or MP3 players
Blank pieces of paper
Pens or pencils
Preparation
Make audio recordings. You need four sets of audio recordings of customer service conversations on the telephone in which the Customer Service Representative (CSR) clearly and effectively displays concern for the customer. Each set of recordings should last about 10 minutes and contain several authentic conversations.
Flow
Round 1. Working within Teams
Brief the participants. Explain the importance of displaying empathy and concern during customer service conversations.
Set up four listening stations. Set up an audio player in four different rooms if possible. If not, set them up in four different corners of the room to minimize interference.
Divide participants into four teams of approximately equal size. It is not critical if a team has one more or one fewer participant than the other teams. Assign each team to one of the four listening stations.
Ask teams to listen to the recording. Instruct the team members to take notes on the customer service representative's part of the conversation and identify how she displayed and demonstrated her concern for the customer.
Ask teams to analyze the techniques for displaying concern for the customer. After the audio recordings end, encourage team members to share their notes and come up with a checklist of best practices for demonstrating concern for the customer.
Round 2. Working Across Teams
Re-organize participants into new teams. Explain that you are going to facilitate sharing of best practices among different teams. Create new teams that consist of one member from each audio station. If you have extra participants (because some audio stations had one more participant than the others), add them to one or more of the new teams. You will end up with some teams having two people from the same audio station, but this should not present any problem.
Ask the new teams to share their checklist items. Begin by asking each team member to share the best practice she observed in the audio recording. Encourage participants to continue sharing and consolidating their checklists. Invite participants to discuss apparent contradictions in the behaviors of the Customer Service Representatives.
Round 3. Roleplaying in Triads
Divide participants into groups of three and assign the roles of a customer, customer-service representative, and observer. Within each triad, invite participants to make up typical customer service scenarios and roleplay a conversation in which the CSR incorporates different best practice behaviors to display concern and empathy. At the end of each roleplay segment, invite the observer and the customer to provide useful feedback to the CSR. Rotate the three roles and repeat the roleplay sessions.
Interactive Lecture
CONFUSION
Even the clearest presentation is likely to confuse at least few audience members. Setting aside ample time to answer questions from the audience is an effective strategy to clarify your ideas. This interactive lecture uses a card swapping strategy to help participants share their confusion without revealing their ignorance.
Key Feature
You make a fast-paced presentation covering essential topics. Participants anonymously ask questions about confusing and difficult aspects of your presentation. You answer these questions and use a simple strategy to help participants recall and summarize key concepts.
When To Use This Format The instructional content includes more concepts and principles
than factual information. Participants have different amounts of previous knowledge. You can clearly identify key concepts.
Sample Topics basic accounting principles behavioral interviewing career planning project management selling professional services
Supplies Index cards (or pieces of paper) whistle
Flow
Explain the format. Tell participants that you are going to set aside half of the time assigned to you for responding to questions from the audience. Warn participants that your initial presentation will be fairly fast-paced and encourage them to take useful notes.
Chuck is making a presentation on US corporate benefits to a group of 15 Customer Service Associates at a Help Desk facility in Manila. His presentation is scheduled for a 50 minute time slot. Chuck explains that he is planning to spend half of that time for the question-and-answer session.
Make your presentation. Present the information in a logical and coherent fashion. Do not provide unnecessary and redundant explanations. Discourage questions from the audience at this stage. Conclude your presentation quickly to leave sufficient time for the question-and-answer discussion.
Chuck spends 5 minutes on each of these four topics:
health and welfare plans defined contributions defined benefits trends in US corporations
He takes care not to talk fast and rush through the content. Instead, he focuses on presenting a few key concepts related to each topic.
Ask participants to write questions. Invite them to review their notes, think about what they heard, and recall difficult, incomplete, and confusing topics about which they would like to have additional information. Distribute two blank index cards to each participant. Ask them to write a question on each card that they would like you to answer. Tell participants to work independently and set a 1-minute time limit.
Aida, one of the participants, immediately writes this question on one of the cards: “What exactly do you mean by the portability of the defined benefit plan? I do not understand how a corporation will let an employee take his pension funds to a new employer.” After reviewing her notes she comes up with a question for the second card: “Can an employee transfer funds from a defined contribution plan to a defined benefit plan?”
Redistribute question cards. At the end of the minute, blow a whistle and ask participants to complete their two questions. Instruct all participants to hold their question cards with the written side down, stand up, move around, and swap cards with each other (without reading the questions). Ask them to wander around and swap their cards for about 30 seconds. Ask participants to return to their seats with the two cards they most recently received.
At the end of the card exchange period, here are the questions that Aida ends up with:
“Can we classify Social Security as a defined benefit?”
“What does the word ‘vested’ mean?”
Explain the procedure. Point out that participants do not know whose questions they currently have, so they don't have to worry about appearing foolish by asking silly questions. You are now going to invite participants to take turns reading questions from the cards. Add a playful alternative to the procedure: A participant may pretend to read the question from the card but actually ask a question that she wants answered.
Aida does not think that either of the questions she has are important ones, so she decides to ask her original question if she is invited.
Encourage participants to listen to the answers. Invite them to take notes about your answers. Warn them that a future activity requires careful note taking and recall.
Aid gets her notebook ready.
Conduct the question-and-answer session. Invite the first volunteer to read one of the two questions she has. Give a short and relevant answer. Repeat the process with additional volunteers. Encourage participants to read the most important questions since time is limited.
Chuck listens to the questions carefully and gives simple and straightforward answers.
Conclude the question-and-answer session. After about 25 minutes, announce the end of the question-and-answer session. Explain that you are going to tie up some loose ends. Make a brief presentation covering important topics that were not explored in your earlier answers.
During the question-and-answer period, Chuck was slightly surprised by the fact that nobody asked any questions about trends in US corporate benefit. So he spends some time recapping important trends and predicting their future impact.
Invite participants to reflect on your presentation. Distribute additional blank index cards. Ask each participant to review her notes, reflect on your answers, and write down a summary sentence on the index card that captures one important idea. After a suitable pause, collect the cards with summary sentences. Randomly select three of these cards and read the sentences.
The sentences that Chuck reads indicate that the participants have a good grasp of the key concept. Chuck is happy about the situation.
Conclude the session. Thank the group for taking the responsibility for their own learning. Acknowledge that you probably did not answer critical questions from all participants. Ask participants to collect cards with unanswered questions and give them to you. Collect these question cards and announce that you will post the answers on your web site.
After removing duplicates, Chuck ends up with 17 different questions. With the help of a couple of his friends, he writes clear answers in plain English and posts at the company's website.
What If…
There is not enough time? Set aside half of whatever time you have. Remember that it is more important to clarify participants' confusion rather than to unload more details.
There are too many people? Ask participants look at their questions and decide if it is important. Respond to the first five or six questions. Collect the remaining questions and create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) web page.
Participants feel left out because you did not read their summary sentence? Collect all of the cards and tape them to the wall. Invite participants to take a “gallery walk”, read the cards, and compare them with each other.
Structured Sharing
CONNECTIONS AND TENSIONS by Chris Saeger
Sometimes in training or a planning meeting we say these things:
What are the critical success factors for our project? What values and principles do we agree to in working together? What are the conditions for success in this project?
Then we make a list, prioritize it somehow and move on. This approach results in what some systems thinkers call “laundry-list thinking”. The list has interdependent variables and a simple priority order won't do.
CONNECTIONS AND TENSIONS is a way to explore issues from a more holistic perspective and generate a deeper discussion about the topic.
Here is the description of the game in the form of what happened during a recent round of play:
Becky, the session facilitator says, “What are the top three conditions for success in this project? Please jot them down on a piece of paper.”
Chris writes down these three items: top management support, adequate resources, and clear expectations.
Becky asks each person for the top item on her list. If the top item has already been reported, she asks for the next item. She makes a list of the items on newsprint and comments on each.
Chris reports “Top management support”, and everyone nods approvingly.
Becky then asks each person to go the newsprint and select an idea they feel is important and to create a nametag with the idea.
Chris runs to the newsprint and picks “Top management support”. He makes a nametag that says, “Management Support”.
Becky says, “Become the idea that you selected and go around the room and talk to the other ideas. See how you relate to one another. Does one idea form the foundation for the other?”
Chris now becomes “Management Support” and proudly walks around the room and talks to “Open Communications” They agree that open communications is needed to build management support.
Becky stops the conversations after people have had the opportunity to interact with all or most of the participants. She says, “I heard a lot of interesting discussions. Give me a short headline about the idea you represent and how you related to other ideas.”
“Management Support” and a few others mention that “Open Communications” is necessary to make their idea possible.
Becky says, “Let's build a web of all these relationships. Sounds to me like open communications might come first. Is that what I am hearing?” Everyone nods and Becky unwinds some ribbon from a spool and gives the end of the ribbon to “Open Communications”. She holds on to the spool and then she says, “From open communications, who should get the ribbon next, or how does it relate to others?”
Participants say that Management Support should come next because it is often needed to make necessary resources possible.
Becky passes the spool to Management Support who takes hold of the ribbon. She continues to build the web by asking how ideas are related to one another. She continues moving the spool until all are connected. Some ideas are mentioned several times and that person ends up holding several loops of ribbon.
Becky points to ideas who are holding several loops of ribbon and asks for thoughts from the group.
Open Communications says “These ideas seem to be key! If we work on these ideas, other things may fall into place.”
Becky acknowledges Open Communications' comments and the comments from others. Then Becky asks “What are some possible tensions among the ideas?”
Someone points out that speed and quality (two of the ideas mentioned) might be in tension.
Becky asks for thoughts from the group about how to reconcile these ideas.
The group has some comments about how quality can reduce the need for rework and actually improve speed.
Then Becky says “What would happen if an idea were missing?” She asks one of the ideas with few wraps of ribbon to drop her ribbon, and then asks the group to step back to pick up the slack and tighten the web.
Management Support comments that the web is becoming wobbly.
Becky does this once more with an idea with fewer loops, and then asks one of ideas with many loops to drop the ribbon. The web becomes too unstable to hold together and she invites everyone to drop the ribbon.
Then she debriefs the group with questions like these:
How did you experience the activity? How are you feeling? What did you observe during the activity? What is your view of the ideas you identified at the beginning? How can we use this in our teamwork?
The group points out that they have a new view of the original list and have a new sense of which of the items might be a lever for producing results in several areas. They also see where they need to explore some tension among the ideas. From dropping parts of the web they now have the view that for the whole to succeed, all of the items must be attended to since none is operating in a vacuum.
Becky thanks the group for their observations and being such great ideas. Throughout the rest of the meeting the team refers back to the leverage areas and looks for opportunities to reconcile potential tensions in the project.
Procedure Recap: 1. Ask this question of the group: What are the three most
important (fill in the blank)? 2. Get the top item from each person or next choice if already
covered. 3. Make nametags and become the idea. 4. Relate to other ideas in the room. 5. Use ribbon to form a web of ideas. 6. Discuss relationship of ideas based on the web connections
(levers and tension). 7. Ask people to drop their portion of the web and for the group to
step back take up the slack and tighten the web. 8. When the web is clearly unstable end the activity. 9. Debrief.
Co-Creation
CONTENT ANALYSIS by Sonia Ribaux
In the January issue of TGL, we introduced a card game called DOZENS , and showed how it can be used with different content areas (such as outsourcing and critical thinking), and invited readers to contribute their own content for the cards. In the February issue, we published an interesting application of the game by Cathy Tencza. Here's another application of DOZENS by Sonia Ribaux, my friend and past president of the North American Simulation and Gaming Association. (See our interview with Sonia in an earlier issue of TGL.)
Sonia's topic for the DOZENS game is content analysis. During the initial stages of training design, this game could be used with subject-matter experts or experienced performers and it would be related to a given performance. The results would generate a content analysis, provided that the responses were recorded.
The game works very effectively. I tried it out with a client group that was providing inputs to a new employee orientation program. I got a lot of useful topics suggested in a rapid and spontaneous manner.
Here's the list of Sonia's categories for CONTENT ANALYSIS:
Skills or topics that are difficult to learn
Skills or topics that are easy to learn
Skills or topics that take time or repetition to learn
Skills or topics that are critical to good performance on the job
Skills or topics that are “nice to know” (but not critical to performance)
Topics that the learner needs to know “by heart”
Skills or topics that are used everyday
Skills or topics that are infrequently used
Skills that require supervision to learn
Skills or topics that the learner can easily teach him/herself
Skills or topics that are taught in another course
At home and in the workplace, it takes a lot of skill and courage to confront others and conduct a difficult conversation. This game deals with factors associated with such conversations. It is based on the GROUP SCOOP (originally called GROUP GROPE) framegame.
Purpose
To explore ideas related to holding difficult conversations.
Participants
Any number. The best size is from 20 to 30.
Time Requirement
About 40 minutes. You can easily expand or contract the game to suit the available time.
Materials
Twenty or more index cards with different ideas about difficult conversations. Here are some examples:
Difficult conversations bring out defensive behaviors.
Difficult conversations usually elicit denial on the part of the other
person.
There is a large amount of tension between the two people in a serious
conversation.
Broken promises usually result in difficult conversations.
In the following description, the phases of the game are printed in regular type, while sample segments from a recent play of the game are printed in italics.
Prepare a set of difficult-conversation cards. Before the session, prepare a set of cards, each with a statement about difficult conversations. Come up with a variety of statements from different points of view. Prepare at least two difficult-conversation cards for each anticipated player. If you cannot make up that many ideas, use duplicates.
Bob is conducting a workshop for a group of corporate trainers. Twenty participants have signed up for the workshop, including several experienced managers. The day before the workshop, Bob prepares 40 difficult-conversation cards. (The statements on these cards are listed in a table below this article.)
Begin the game. Start the activity quickly. When participants are ready, say to them: “I'd like to begin right off with a group activity that will help us get to know each other. It will also allow us to discover what ideas people have about difficult conversations. This activity should set the stage for the rest of the session.”
Bob catches everyone's attention and gives his introductory presentation. Players look like they are ready for action.
Ask players to write cards. Hand out four blank index cards to each player. Ask them to write down a statement related to difficult conversations on each card. The statement should represent a variety of thoughts held by different people. Give some sample statements to the group.
The workshop starts at 8:30 a.m., and Susan arrives 5 minutes late. She sees the others writing busily. Bob gives her four blank cards and asks her to write her statements about difficult conversations. Susan thinks for a moment and comes up with the following:
Being ridiculed, humiliated, and publicly put down by your boss calls
for a difficult conversation later.
Difficult conversations are fraught with emotions.
When you have bad news to deliver, you will have a difficult
conversation.
Distribute the cards. After about 3 minutes, collect the cards from players. Add your prepared cards to this pile. Mix the cards well and deal three cards to each player. Ask the players to study the statements and arrange them according to their personal preference—from the most acceptable to the least acceptable statement.
Bob collects the cards from the players and adds his own collection. He mixes the cards and gives three to each player.
Susan studies the three cards she receives and arranges them in the following order:
Difficult conversations throw people off balance.
Difficult conversations are stressful.
Most difficult conversations end badly.
Exchange the cards. Arrange the remaining difficult-conversation cards on a large table at one side of the room. Tell the players that they may throw away cards from their hands and pick up better replacements. Players must work silently; they should not to talk to each other during this phase of the game. At the end of this exchange, each player should have three cards that may or may not include cards from the original set.
Susan takes her cards to the table and rummages there. She discards two of her cards and picks up the following:
People tend to become manipulative during difficult conversations.
Difficult conversations frequently bring out the competitive instinct.
Susan is surprised to see another player eagerly picking up her discards.
Swap cards. Instruct players to exchange difficult-conversation cards with each other to make their hands better reflect their personal perceptions. In this phase, any player may swap cards with any other player; every player must exchange at least one card.
When Bob announces the beginning of the exchange, Susan wanders around until Arthur stops her. Comparing cards, Susan sees one that says “Logic and rational thinking do not work in difficult conversations.” She bargains with
Arthur until he exchanges this card for her card about people becoming manipulative. Before Susan can find someone else to swap with, Bob calls time to end this phase of the game.
Form teams. Ask players to compare their difficult-conversation cards with each other and to form teams with people holding similar cards. There is no limit to the number of players who may team up together, but a team may keep no more than three cards. It must discard all other cards, and the three cards it keeps must that meet with everyone's approval.
Susan goes around the room checking with others. She runs across Betty, who has excellent cards, and they decide to team up. The two set out to find other kindred souls. Tony wants to join them, and they agree, provided that he drops the card that says, “On the positive side, difficult conversations help people grow emotionally and interpersonally.” In a few more minutes, the team recruits two other players, including Arthur. They study the combined collection and reduce it to these three:
Difficult conversations are charged with emotions.
Sometimes difficult conversations blindside you with their suddenness.
During a difficult conversation, you find yourself worried and
oversensitive.
Prepare a poster. Ask each team to prepare a graphic poster that reflects its three final difficult-conversation cards. This poster should not include any text. After 5 minutes, ask each team to read its three cards, display its poster, and explain the symbolism.
After some discussion and debate, the team decides that Susan should be the artist and the others give her ideas. The final collage shows a big explosion, two automobiles involved in an accident, and a confused looking face.
Distribute awards. Identify winning teams in different categories such as the clarity of the message in the poster and the appropriateness of the illustrations.
Susan's poster did not receive an award, but Bob judged the team's three cards to be the most consistent.
CONVERSATIONAL STRESS Game Plan
Step Facilitator Participants
Preparation (10 minutes)
Prepare a set of difficult-conversation cards.
Write difficult-conversation cards (3 minutes)
Distribute four blank index cards to each participant.
Write four statements related to difficult conversations, one on each card.
Distribute cards (3 minutes)
Mix cards from participants with your cards. Give three cards to each participant.
Arrange three trust cards in order of personal preference.
Exchange cards at the table (3 minutes)
Spread the remaining difficult-conversation cards on a large table.
Silently discard cards and pick up replacements.
Exchange cards with one another (3 minutes)
Give instructions. Exchange at least one card with other participants.
Form teams (5 minutes)
Give instructions. Form teams of any size. Work with other team members to reduce the number of cards to three.
Create posters (6 minutes)
Distribute flip chart sheets and felt-tipped markers.
Prepare a graphic poster that reflects the team's three selected cards.
Present posters (5 minutes)
Select teams in a random order.
Read the three cards, display their poster, and explain the symbolism.
Distribute awards (3 minutes)
Distribute different categories of awards.
[Table of Contents]
Table
40 Statements About Difficult Conversations
1. Broken promises usually result in difficult conversations.
A client recently asked me to design some games that can be played in an expo booth with a bunch of slightly jaded wanderers who don't have too much time. Based on my experiences at the ISPI expo, I was able to develop a set of games in the "party-games" category. Specifically, the set includes word games, trivia games, graphic games, and communication games. The games are fast paced and easy to play. Each game is designed for use with one to ten players on a table top or in a crowded booth.
To keep track of scores (and to entice the players to stay at your booth or keep returning to it), we gave tokens to the winners. The players can exchange their tokens for various gifts. Another motivator was a Hall of Fame display. We wrote the names of the top five players on this poster and kept updating the list.
One of our expo games uses crossword puzzles that can be solved in 2 to 3 minutes. The facilitator quickly demonstrates how to solve a sample puzzle. Depending on the number of players and the preferred level of competition, you have a choice of 12 different ways to conduct the game:
One Player Earn a token. Let the player solve the crossword puzzle. If
the player is successful, give him or her a token. Hall of Fame. Use a stop watch to time the player. If his or
her time to solve the crossword puzzle is among the top five shortest ones in your record of previous players, give the player a token and add his or her name to the Hall of Fame poster.
Two Players Collaborate to earn a token. Let the players work
together to solve the crossword puzzle. If they succeed, give the players a single token (and let them decide who gets it).
Hall of Fame. Use a stop watch to time the two players working together. If their time to solve the crossword puzzle is among the top five fastest ones in your record of previous
players, give a single token to the two players and add the two names to the Hall of Fame poster (on the same line).
Contest. Give copies of the same crossword puzzle to both players. Ask the two players to work independently. Give two tokens to the first player who solves the puzzle. If the other player also solves the puzzle within an appropriate time limit, give him or her one token.
Three Players Collaborate to earn a token. Let the three players work
together to solve the crossword puzzle. If they succeed, give the players a single token (and let them decide who gets it).
Hall of Fame. Use a stop watch to time the three players working together. If their time to solve the crossword puzzle is among the top five fastest ones in your record of previous players, give a single token to the three players and add the three names to the Hall of Fame poster (on the same line).
Contest. Give copies of the same crossword puzzle to all three players. Ask the players to work independently. Give two tokens to the first player who solves the puzzle and one token to the second player who solves the puzzle.
Four or More Players Collaborate to earn a token. Let the players work
together to solve the crossword puzzle. If they succeed, give the players a single token (and let them decide who gets it).
Hall of Fame. Use a stop watch to time the players working together. If their time to solve the crossword puzzle is among the top five fastest ones in your record of pervious players, give the group a single token and add their names to the Hall of Fame display (writing all the names on the same line).
Contest. Give copies of the same crossword puzzle to all the players. Ask the players to work independently. Give two tokens to the first player who solves the puzzle and one token to the second player who solves the puzzle.
Team Contest. Organize the players into two teams. (It does not matter if one of the teams has an extra player.) Give copies of the same crossword puzzle to both teams. Give two tokens to the first team that solves the puzzle and one penny to the other team if it also solves the puzzle within a reasonable period of time.
Jolt
DECODE
The real name of this game is TAKE CHARGE , but if you use that name, you would give away the secret learning point.
If you know that hijackers are going to crash the plane, how do you organize the passengers to break down the cockpit door? If you have to locate a terrorist before he slips the net, how do you organize a search party?
The commanding style of leadership gets a bad rap in these participatory days. However, when there is an emergency and if you are the most competent person around, there's a lot to be said for taking charge.
Key Concept
In this activity, participants are organized into teams and asked to solve a puzzle. Although the rules do not prevent cooperation, team members assume that they are competing with the other teams. The best strategy for winning is for all teams to cooperate with each other. This strategy is secretly suggested to one of the participants at the beginning of the activity. The main point of the activity is to see what the participant does with this important idea: Does she take charge and persuade others to implement the idea or does she hesitate and run out of time?
Purpose
Real objective, not to be shared with participants until after the debrief: To explore factors that facilitate or inhibit a person from assuming a take-charge leadership style when it is appropriate.
Secondary objective, shared with participants: To learn how to work effectively in teams.
Participants
Any number, divided into teams of 4-7. Best game involves 15-30 participants.
Time
30 minutes (15 minutes for the activity and 15 minutes for debriefing)
Handouts
One copy of Instruction Sheet for each player
Single copy of Secret Instruction Sheet
One copy of the Cryptogram for each player
Single copy of the Answer Key for the facilitator
Supplies Index cards (or blank sheets of paper) Flip chart and felt-tipped pens (for use during debriefing) Timer Whistle
Flow Of The Game
Organize teams. Divide participants into teams of four to seven members each. Seat each team around a table.
Brief participants. Ask how many participants have solved cryptogram puzzles before. Briefly explain what a cryptogram is (using the information from the Instruction Sheet). Explain that in this game, all teams will solve a cryptogram.
Explain time limits and the scoring system. If a team correctly and completely solves the cryptogram within 2 minutes, it will earn 200 points. If it takes more than 2 minutes but less than 3 minutes, the team will earn 50 points.
Explain instructional support. Before receiving the cryptogram, each participant will receive an instruction sheet with hints on how to solve cryptograms. Participants can study this sheet for 2 minutes. They should not mark up the instruction sheet but they may take notes on an index card (or a blank piece of paper). The instruction sheet will be taken back from participants after 2 minutes.
Explain consultant support. Anytime after receiving the cryptogram, a team can send one of its members to ask for help from
the facilitator. This facilitator will decode any one of the words in the cryptogram selected by the team member.
Distribute the instruction sheet. Insert the secret instruction sheet in the middle of a pile of regular instruction sheets. Place an appropriate number of instruction sheets, face down, at each table. Make sure that the secret instruction sheet is included in one of the piles at a table.
Conduct the self-instruction activity. Set the timer for 2 minutes. Ask each participant to pick up one of the instruction sheets and study it independently and silently. Distribute index cards (or blank sheets of paper) to each participant for taking notes. After 2 minutes, blow the whistle, announce the end of the self-instructional period, and ask participants to place their instruction sheets in the middle of the table.
Distribute cryptograms. Place appropriate numbers of cryptograms, face down, at each table.
Begin the puzzle solving activity. Set the timer for 2 minutes and ask teams to begin decoding the cryptogram. Remind participants that you will decode any one of the words for the benefit of each team.
Monitor the session. Observe the behavior of the “leader” (the person who received the Secret Instruction Sheet). When team members come for decoding a word, consult the answer key and give the correct word.
Conclude the session. If any team has completely and correctly decoded the message before 2 minutes, tell them they have earned 200 points. At the end of 2 minutes, announce the time and set the timer for another minute. At the end of 3 minutes, announce the end of the session. If the teams have not yet solved the cryptogram, read the correct solution.
Reveal the secret. Explain that one of the participants received secret instructions about the best strategy for winning the game. Explain that this technique simulated specialized competency on the part of the participant and gave her a leadership role.
Debrief participants. To gain maximum insights from the activity and to relate it to the instructional objective, conduct a debriefing session. Use selected questions from the following list to get a discussion going:
The special instructions given to a randomly selected participant gave her additional knowledge. Does this guarantee that she will be automatically accepted as a leader? What additional skills and characteristics are required for being an effective leader?
How did the selected person communicate the strategy to her teammates and to the entire group? If you were the leader, how would you have done this differently?
How did the selected person persuade others to follow the cooperative strategy? If you were the leader, how would you have done this differently?
How did the selected person interact with other participants? If you were the leader, how would you have interacted with others?
Most of the earlier groups that played this game failed to implement the strategy. What do you think were some of the reasons for the inability of the leaders of the previous groups to implement the preferred strategy?
How do the previous relationships and shared experiences among participants make the leader's task easier or more difficult?
Did anyone else come up with the same strategy? What did this participant do?
What if there were another participant who received the same secret instructions? How would this have changed the leaders' task?
How did the time limit hinder the leader from her task? How did the time limit help the leader? How would you have acted as a leader if you had ample time?
Have you ever been in a situation where you had an effective strategy for meeting a challenge but held back from sharing it with others? Why did this happen?
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
Instruction Sheet
You are probably familiar with codes and cryptograms from your childhood days. In a cryptogram, each letter in the message is replaced by another letter of the alphabet. For example,
In the cryptogram Y replaces L, Z replaces E, F replaces T, and so on. Notice that the same letter substitutions are used throughout this cryptogram: Every E in the sentence is replaced by a Z, and every T is replaced by an F.
Here's Some Information To Help You Solve Cryptograms:
Letter Frequency
The most commonly used letters of the English language are e, t, a, i, o, n, s, h, and r.
The letters that are most commonly found at the beginning of words are t, a, o, d, and w.
The letters that are most commonly found at the end of words are e, s, d, and t.
Word Frequency
One-letter words are either a or I. The most common two-letter words are to, of, in, it, is, as, at, be,
we, he, so, on, an, or, do, if, up, by, and my. The most common three-letter words are the, and, are, for, not,
but, had, has, was, all, any, one, man, out, you, his, her, and can. The most common four-letter words are that, with, have, this,
The other participants are learning how to solve cryptograms. But you are specially selected to receive some secret instructions.
Forget the mechanics of solving a cryptogram.
Here's the best strategy for winning the game:
Teams should cooperate with each other. Each team should ask the facilitator to decode a different word. Teams should share the decoded words with each other.
Every place is my hometown and every person is my kin.
I frequently mutter to myself this quotation from an ancient Tamil poet, especially when I walk along the streets of strange towns. The quotation has become a mantra that puts me in a universal frame of mind.
Several quotations capture essential truths about diversity and inclusion. This activity incorporates genuine quotations and pseudo quotations created by the players themselves.
Key Idea
Teams of players come up with short statements that sound like memorable quotations. Facilitator reads these statements, mixed with a genuine quotation that the players try to spot. Players earn points based on their ability to fool others and to recognize the genuine quotation.
To create and analyze short memorable statements that deal with essential truths related to diversity and inclusion.
Participants
Minimum: 5Maximum: 50Best: 15 to 30
Time Requirement
10 to 30 minutes
When To Use this Activity
Before a training session to introduce participants to the concepts and to get a baseline of their current opinions.
After a training session to encourage participants to recall and apply key concepts.
Handouts
A list of quotations about diversity and inclusion. (A sample handout is included at the end of the article.)
Supplies
Index cards (one card for each team)
Prepared quotation card. This card contains a genuine quotation that is
not included in the handout.
Here's a quotation that we used recently:
We may have come over on different ships, but we're all in the same boat now.—Whitney Young
Countdown timer
Whistle
Room Setup
Tables with five or more chairs around them to permit effective teamwork
Flow
Organize players into teams. If you have five or fewer players, ask them to play individually. With more players, organize them into three to seven teams of approximately equal size.
Prime the players. Distribute copies of the handout with the list of quotations. Ask players to read the quotations and briefly discuss the core message and the wording of each quotation. Explain the flow and the object of the game.
Instruct the team to come up with a fake quotation. Ask participants to write a statement about diversity and inclusion that sounds like a memorable quotation from some credible authority. The object for the teams is to fool players from other teams into thinking that the statement they wrote is a genuine quotation. Start your timer and announce a 5-minute period for this task.
Collect the cards. After 5 minutes, blow a whistle to signal the end of the allotted time. Collect the cards from different teams, insert the prepared quotation card, and shuffle all cards.
Read the cards. Explain that you are going to read the statements on the cards along with a genuine quotation. Ask players to listen carefully and try to spot the genuine quotation. However, players must not indicate their choice yet. Read the statements on the cards (including the genuine quotation).
Conduct the poll. Tell players that you are going to read the statements again, in the same order. This time ask players to raise their hands if they think a particular statement is the genuine quotation. Explain that a player can raise her hand more than once if she wants to.
Read each statement. Count the number of raised hands and write down the total on the back of the card. Repeat the process until you have read all the cards and written the numbers on the back of each card.
Identify the winning team. Explain that each team gets a point for each player that it fooled into believing that its statement is the genuine quotation. Read each statement and announce the points it scored. (Skip the genuine quotation.) Identify the card that received the most points. Congratulate the team that created the card.
Identify the sharp spotters. Read the genuine quotation, name its author, and ask the players who spotted it to stand up. Congratulate these players for their shrewdness.
Debrief the players. Conduct a discussion about the common themes found in the pseudo quotations and the real ones in the handout.
Civilization is the process in which one gradually increases the number of people included in the term “we” or “us” and at the same time decreases those labeled “you” or “them” until that category has no one left in it.—Howard Winters
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.—Bertrand Russell
Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it every day.—Anonymous
Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.—Malcolm S. Forbes
I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions.—Martin Luther King, Jr.
If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?—Rabbi Hillel
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.—Mother Theresa
Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.—Eleanor Roosevelt
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.—Maya Angelou
The mind does not take its complexion from the skin.—Frederick Douglas
The real death of America will come when everyone is alike.—James T. Ellison
The war we have to wage today has only one goal and that is to make the world safe for diversity.—U Thant
There are no elements so diverse that they cannot be joined in the heart of a man.—Jean Giraudoux
There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.—Michel de Montaigne
We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.—Maya Angelou
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.—Martin Luther King, Jr.
We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.—Tim Berners-Lee
What we have to do … is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.—Hillary Clinton
Simulation Game
DO YOU REMEMBER? by Susan Otto
Purpose
To explore how note-taking and teamwork increases our ability to remember more.
Time
30 minutes
Supplies
50 miscellaneous items such as a ball, fingernail file, hat, lipstick,
mirror, key, toy, picture, candle, pen, orange, etc.
Tray
Cloth to cover the tray
Countdown timer
Flow of the Activity
Prepare a tray of 25 items. Cover the tray with a cloth.
Tell participants that you are going to show them a tray of miscellaneous items and they should remember as many items as they can without writing down anything.
Display the tray with 25 items for 60 seconds. Then talk to the group about some other topic for a minute.
Have participants write down as many items as they can remember.
Reveal the items on the tray and determine how many correct items participants listed.
Do the activity again, displaying a new set of 25 items for 30 seconds. Allow participants to take notes.
Ask each participant to count the number of items listed.
Organize participants into teams of four and ask them to combine their lists.
Reveal the new items on the tray and determine how many correct items individual participants and teams listed after the 30-second viewing.
Debrief participants and emphasize the following points:
Participants were able to write more items in half the time (30
seconds) than when they had 60 seconds.
Teams were able to list more items than individuals.
Conclude the activity by asking participants how they would apply the principles of note-taking and working in teams to other situations that requires memorizing and recalling such as:
Interviewing a candidate for a job
Listening to a lecture presentation
Analyzing the behavior of an expert performer
Proof-reading a report
Observing the behaviors of shoppers in a retail store
DOUBLE BRAINSTORMING
If you have a group of 30 participants, it is a good idea to divide them into teams to ensure increased participation. Instead of organizing static teams, you can also keep rearranging them to prevent premature groupthink.
Let's assume that you are facilitating this group of 30 participants to brainstorm ideas for increasing sales in your organization. Here is technique for profiting from convergent and divergent thinking:
Give each participant an index card with a letter-number combination. Then ask the participants to find the others with the same letter and form themselves into five teams of six members:
A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6
Assign a different role to each team (example: marketers, customers, designers, producers, and engineers) and ask its members to brainstorm ideas in the perspective of that role.
After a suitable pause, stop the activity and ask the participants to find the others with the same number and form themselves into six teams of five members:
A1, B1, C1, D1, E1
A2, B2, C2, D2, E2
A3, B3, C3, D3, E3
A4, B4, C4, D4, E4
A5, B5, C5, D5, E5
A6, B6, C6, D6, E6
Point out that each team is now a diverse team with its members representing five different roles. Ask the teams to continue brainstorming, with its members maintaining their individual role perspective. Encourage the participants to "cheat" by recycling ideas from the earlier session.
Ask each team to prepare a list of five recommendations. Combine these recommendations, remove duplicates, and ask each participant to individually select the top five from the common list. Use these selections to identify the top five recommendations.
Creativity Technique
DOUBLE NEGATIVES
Do you remember that the negative of a negative is a positive from your algebra classes? We use this principle in the DOUBLE NEGATIVES technique for generating ideas. This technique is effective because your brain gets excited whenever you do something negative and mischievous.
Purpose
To brainstorm a set of strategies for achieving a goal.
Participants
1 to 30
Time
10 to 30 minutes, depending on your goal and the number of participants.
Team Formation
If you have 2 to 7 participants, ask them to work as a single team. With more participants, divide them into 2 to 5 teams, each with four or six members. It does not matter if some teams have an extra member.
Flow
Note: These instructions are for an individual. If you are working with teams, make suitable modifications.
Specify your goals. Write down one or more goals related to the problem or to the opportunity. Select a goal for further exploration.
Here's a sample goal: Workshop participants should return on time after a coffee break.
Write the laog. A laog (pronounced lay-augh) is the exact opposite of the goal. In most cases, you can create the laog by replacing the verb in your goal with its antonym.
Here's the laog: Workshop participants should not return on time after a coffee break.
Brainstorm strategies for achieving the laog. Ignore your original goal. Write down a list of ideas for achieving the laog.
Here are different ideas for ensuring that the workshop participants will not return on time after a coffee break:
Make the early participants wait for the latecomers. Repeat what you have already done for the benefit of the
latecomers. Punish the early participants. Reward the latecomers. Make sure that the participants have nothing to look forward
to after the coffee break. Encourage the participants to check their voice mail and
catch up with their telephone calls during the break. Ensure that the latecomers will not miss anything important.
Accept the habit of being late as a cultural difference. Don't impose your cultural values on the others.
Give infrequent breaks so that the participants have a lot of things to do.
Give such short breaks that nobody can return on time. Give such long breaks that people get distracted. Conduct your workshop in a distracting environment. Come back late from the coffee break. Set an example for
being late. Don't specify a definite return time. Let the participants
decide when they should return. Make sure that your training format makes participants
uncomfortable and reluctant to return.
Reverse each strategy. Write the opposite of the strategy for achieving the laog.
Here is an example:
Strategy: Make the early participants wait for the latecomers.
Reversal: Get started on time. Don't wait for the latecomers.
Try to reverse all your strategies. However, if any of them appear to be irrelevant, ignore them.
Sometimes you may reverse a strategy in more than one way. Here's an example of a strategy being reversed two different ways:
Strategy: Punish the early participants.
Reversal 1: Reward the early participants.
Reversal 2: Punish the latecomers.
Edit your list of reversals. When you reverse your strategies for achieving your laog, you end up with strategies for achieving your goal. Examine each strategy and rewrite it to make it more specific and practical.
Here's an example:
Original strategy: Punish the latecomers.
Edited strategy: Ask each latecomer to sing a song.
Expand your list. Your edited list of strategies may suggest additional ones. Keep adding strategies to the list.
Repeat the process with other goal statements. If you have more goal statements, select another one, state its laog, write strategies for achieving this laog, and reverse them into strategies for achieving the goal.
Jolt
DOUBLE TALK
Participants at a training session are often preoccupied with other important things in their life. Here's a simple jolt to wake them up.
Ask participants to pair themselves up. In each pair, ask the taller participant to assume the role of a listener and the other participant to become the IV.
Explain that the IV is to sit close to the listener and to whisper a string of disconnected distractions that the person is likely to be thinking about.
Recommend that the IV use topics that are highly interesting (Should I buy a lottery ticket?) or disturbing (What if they decide to rightsize again?) or bothersome (Did I turn the stove off this morning?) or intriguing (What exactly does Sheila see in him?) or guilt-provoking (I forgot Doug's birthday again. I am an idiot!). Also suggest that the IV should use first-person singular and run-on sentences in a stream-of-consciousness mode.
Begin a short, fact-filled presentation on some dry topic. Simultaneously ask the IVs to begin whispering. Continue with this combined activity for 2 to 3 minutes.
Stop your presentation. Thank the IVs for their imaginative contributions and ask them to stop whispering. Ask the listeners the jot down some of the words, ideas, and topics mentioned by the IV. Pause for a minute.
Ask a series of short-answer questions based on the content of your presentation. Ask all participants (both listeners and IVs) to decide whether or not they know the answer.
Point out that everyone's listening was less than perfect. Both listeners and whisperers missed some important points in your presentation.
Explain that IV stands for Inner Voice and the whispers simulate preoccupied self-talk. Conduct a quick debrief to elicit the point that talking to yourself and listening to yourself reduce learning effectiveness.
If time permits, repeat the activity with the other player as the IV. Encourage the listeners to tune out the whispers and to focus on your presentation.
If you want to be more dramatic, you can assign two IVs (one for each ear) to each listener.
Card Game
DOZENS
Here's a fast-paced card game that can used to review the content while requiring some higher-order thinking.
Participants
3 to 5 players.Larger groups can be divided into smaller groups with each group playing a parallel game.
Preparation
Prepare category cards. Create about a dozen cards, each containing a category related to the training topic.
For example, here are the categories we used during a recent training session on outsourcing:
Countries used by US corporations for outsourcing and offshoring
Different functions that are outsourced
Common criticisms leveled against outsourcing and offshoring
Major advantages of outsourcing and offshoring
Trends in outsourcing and offshoring
Techniques for improving the effectiveness of outsourcing and offshoring
Supplies
One set of category cards for each table
One copy of the handout, How To Play DOZENS, for each participant
Flow
Organize participants. Divide them into groups of three to five and seat them at different tables.
Distribute supplies. Place a packet of category cards in the middle of each table, written side facing down. Give a copy of the handout to each participant.
Demonstrate play of the game. Walk participants through the steps in the handout. Read the category on a card, select a player to play the role of a contestant, and ask all other players to listen carefully to see whether you or the contestant makes a mistake and loses the round.
Let participants play the game. Get the game started at each table. Walk around the room to clarify the rules, if necessary.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
How To Play DOZENS
How Does the Game Begin?
The tallest player becomes the first player. Other players take turns to be the first player in subsequent rounds.
What Does the First Player Do?
The first player picks the top card of the packet. She reads the category aloud and shows the card to the other players.
The first player selects any other player to compete with her. This person is called the contestant.
The first player says an item that belongs to the category.
The contestant immediately says a different item that belongs to the same category.
The two players take turns alternatively supplying another new item that belongs to the same category.
What Do the Other Players Do?
All other players listen carefully to the items supplied by the first player and the contestant. One of these two players loses the round if she commits any of these three errors:
Hesitates too long before saying an item
Repeats an item that was already said
Says an item that does not belong to the category
Examples:
John hesitates too long because he could not come up with a new example of a country to which US corporations outsource. He loses.
Chris say “Sri Lanka”. During a later turn, Pat says “Ceylon”. Since this is just another name for Sri Lanka, the other players point out that the country was already used. Pat loses.
Roger says “Iraq”. The other players claim it to be an error because no US corporation is using Iraq for outsourcing or offshoring.
When a player loses, the other person wins. She picks up the card and places it front of her.
How Does the Game End?
After each round, the next player (on the left of the previous player) becomes the new first player. The game proceeds as before.
Game ends when all cards are played out. The person who has won the most cards is the winner of the game.
DOZENS, the card game described above, is a framegame. You can remove the current content (of outsourcing) and plug in any other training content. The key is to come up with category cards that are related to your topic.
Here are some sample category cards related to the topic of critical thinking:
Advantages of critical thinking
Behaviors of creative thinkers
Words found in the definition of creative thinking
Examples of circular reasoning
Rules for logical arguments
Incorrect assumptions that people make
Nonsensical statements couched in pseudo-scientific jargon
Popular New Age fallacies
Questions to ask about research results
Opinions that masquerade as facts
Common superstitions
Popular ideas from ancient times that have been proven to be incorrect
Co-creation
NEW SUPERVISORS by Catherine Tencza
In last month's TGL, we introduced a card game called DOZENS and showed how it can be used with different content areas (such as outsourcing and critical thinking), and invited readers to contribute their own content for the cards.
Within 24 hours, we received an email note from Cathy, one of our active readers:
Your newsletter came at just the right time. I'm putting together a one-week
training program for new supervisors, and I think I'll use DOZENS as an
introductory activity, as an advance organizer for course content, and to
break the ice.
Here are 24 content categories for the cards in Cathy's NEW SUPERVISORS game:
Advice to a new supervisor
Benefits of being a supervisor
Challenges faced by supervisors
Characteristics of an effective supervisor
Coaching tips for supervisors
Common misconceptions about supervision
Communications methods supervisors should use
Data supervisors use to inform their decisions
Desirable attitudes for a supervisor
How supervisors can give effective feedback
How supervisors can reward the employees
How to be the world's worst supervisor
How to set goals with an employee
Important words in a supervisor's vocabulary
Main functions of the supervisor
Mistakes that new supervisors make
New roles and responsibilities a supervisor must assume
Old roles and responsibilities a supervisor must give up
People with whom a supervisor must build and maintain relationships
Reports supervisors are accountable for completing (or delegating)
Skills supervisors need to be successful
Sources of information for new supervisors in your unit
Steps supervisors can take for team building
Strategies for empowering employees
Send us your content for your own DOZENS games. We will share it with other readers of our newsletter.
Textra Game
DRAMA
In a recent teambuilding workshop for facilitators, I wanted participants to learn and apply the skills related to mediating disputes between two team members. Instead of conducting the usual type of roleplay, I wanted people to stage dramatic segments. The activity turned out to be highly motivating, probably because everybody loves to put on a play.
Key Idea.
Different teams create and stage a dramatic segment incorporating key principles and procedures associated with mediating a dispute among team members. One of the teams does not produce a play but evaluates other teams' plays.
To effectively mediate in a dispute between two team members.
Participants
Minimum: 9Maximum: 35Best: 16 to 30
(Participants are divided into 3 to 5 teams, each with 3-7 members.)
Time Requirement
45 to 90 minutes
Handouts
One copy of the Mediation Checklist for each participant.
Room Setup
Tables and chairs for each team. Waiting area for teams while another team is staging its play.
Flow
Brief the participants. Explain that you are going to explore techniques for mediating between two team members who are having a major disagreement. Distribute copies of the Mediation Checklist. Walk participants through the items on the checklist, briefly discussing appropriate behaviors associated with each item. Encourage participants to ask questions. Respond briefly and clearly.
Form teams. Divide participants into 3 to 5 teams, each with 3 to 7 members. Seat each team around a convenient table.
Explain the play-production task. Announce that you are going to produce a 5-minute videotape for training team leaders how to mediate in disputes among team members. The task for each team is to prepare a dramatic segment for this video and to act it out. Announce a 9-minute preparation time. Because of the limited time, encourage teams to identify a critical confrontation situation between two team members, prepare an outline for the segment, quickly rehearse key incidents, and improvise the lines.
Explain the evaluation task. The dramatic segment staged by each team will be evaluated along three dimensions:
Authenticity: Is the segment realistic and believable?
Focus: Does the segment emphasize key principles and procedures in
the mediation procedure?
Interest: Does the segment attract and maintain audience attention?
Randomly select one of the teams. Explain that instead of playing the role of a production company, this team will play the role of a panel of drama critics. Ask the team to come up with a rating scale for comparing and evaluating different dramatic segments along the three dimensions that you identified.
Coordinate preparation activities. Explain that the play production teams and judging team have the same 9-minute preparation time. Start the timer. Let teams work on their own. Give a 2-minute warning at the end of 7 minutes. Blow a whistle at the end of 9 minutes to signal the end of the preparation time. Send all teams except the judging team out of the room.
Stage the plays. Randomly select one of the teams to return to the room and stage its play. Remind the 5-minute time limit and strictly enforce this limit. Make sure that the members of the judging team are carefully watching the play and taking notes.
At the end of 5 minutes, invite the next team to return to the room and stage the play. (The first team can stay in the room and watch the enactment.) Repeat this process until all teams have presented their dramatic segments.
Ask judges to announce their ratings. After the final segment, ask the judging team to make their decisions. Invite this team to briefly explain the items in their rating checklist and to give evaluative feedback for each dramatic segment. After the judging team has presented its feedback, ask it to identify the best dramatic segment.
Present your comments. Congratulate the winning team. Give your feedback, focusing on how accurately each team emphasized the key elements in mediating process.
Conduct a debriefing discussion. Ask questions similar to those listed below. Encourage participants to respond to each question and discuss alternative responses.
1. How typical was the conflict portrayed in the dramatic segments?
Which one was the most typical?
2. Which item in the mediation checklist is the most important one? How
did different segments portray this item?
3. Which item in the mediation checklist was frequently ignored? What
was the reason for teams ignoring it?
4. Which item in the mediation checklist was the most difficult one to
portray? How did the actors portray it?
5. In each of the segments, how would you rate the effectiveness of
mediator? How could the mediation performance be improved?
6. In each of the segments, did the mediator intervene too much or too
little? Why do you think so?
7. In each segment, did the mediator appear to be neutral? How could we
improve the appearance of neutrality?
8. In each segment, how realistic were the behaviors of the disputing
team members? How could we make their behaviors more realistic?
More challenging?
9. If we created a 30-minute segment, what additional incidents and
behaviors would you have included?
Adjustments
If you have limited time, reduce the number of teams to three (and increase the number of participants in each team). Stage two segments.
If you too many participants, ask several teams to prepare the play but randomly select two teams to stage their plays. Ask members of the other teams act as the audience.
If you have a video camera, record the dramatic segments. Use excerpts during the debriefing. Also use excerpts as illustrative samples when you conduct the activity the next time.
Game Plan
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Brief the participants.(8 minutes)
Identify the topic. Distribute the checklist. Explain the play production procedure and criteria.
Listen, take notes, and ask questions.
2. Form teams.(3 minutes)
Divide the group into 3 - 5 teams, each with 3 to 7 members.
Join a team.
3. Explain play-production task.(3 minutes)
Explain the play-production task and the 9-minute time limit. Also
Listen and ask questions.
specify the 5-minute play time.
4. Explain the judging task.(2 minutes)
Randomly select one team to be the judges. Explain the evaluation task.
Listen and ask questions.
5. Coordinate preparation activities.(10 minutes)
Announce time limit, give instructions, and start the timer.
Judging team: Construct a rating scale for evaluating the plays.Other teams: Create a play to dramatically demonstrate key ideas related to mediation of disputes. Rehearse the play segment.
6. Stage the plays.(5 minute per team)
Randomly select teams to stage their plays.
Judging team: Evaluate each play, using the rating scale.Other teams: Take turns to stage the play.
7. Ask judges to announce their ratings.(3 minutes)
Give instructions. Judging team: Present evaluative feedback on each play and identify the winning play.
8. Present your comments.(3 minutes)
Congratulate the winning team. Give your feedback.
Listen.
9. Conduct debriefing discussion.(7 minutes)
Ask reflective questions and encourage participants to discuss them.
o Explain that conflicts are inevitable results of healthy diversity
among members of a family.
o Explain that a well-managed conflict provides an opportunity for
future growth.
o Stress the importance of listening to each other.
2. Gather information and analyze the conflict:
o Focus the conversation on the current dispute.
o Ask the disputants to take turns to tell their story.
o Maintain neutrality. Don't take sides.
3. Help disputants to establish mutual goals:
o Establish task-related goals.
o Establish relationship goals.
4. Brainstorm strategies for achieving the goals:
o Focus on win-win strategies.
o Use a variety of brainstorming techniques.
5. Select the best strategy:
o Ensure that the strategy is fair and equitable for both
disputants.
o Set up an action plan for implementing the strategy.
o Identify the first small step for immediate implementation.
6. Debrief the participants:
o Encourage disputants to reflect on what happened.
o Encourage disputants to share their insights for preventing and
resolving future conflicts.
[Table of Contents]
Textra Games
Five More Textra Games: 11 to 15
A textra game maximizes the learning from handouts and other reading assignments. Using peer pressure and peer support, this type of game reinforces learning from printed materials. In the August and September issues of TGL, I presented brief descriptions of five textra games each. This month, I describe five more textra games. You may expand and modify these descriptions to create your own activities that incorporate printed resources in training sessions.
11. QUESTION CARDS
Basic idea. Participants review the reading assignment and prepare question cards on the content. Facilitator collects the question cards, mixes them up, and conducts a quiz contest.
Reading materials. Articles, chapters, brochures, or product information.
Sample reading assignment. Chapter from a self-help book, How To Be Assertive.
Learning outcome. Recalling key concepts and terms.
Flow. Distribute blank index cards to participants and ask them to prepare as many question cards as possible (with questions on one side and answers on the other). Collect all question cards, shuffle them, and read the questions, one at a time. After each question, the first person to stand up gets to give the answer and (if correct) earn a point. Continue the procedure to ensure appropriate content coverage.
12. OPEN QUESTIONS
Basic idea. Participants at each table write independent answers to different questions. Later, they exchange the answers among tables, compare them, and identify best answers.
Reading materials. Books, booklets, manuals, editorials, or lengthy articles.
Sample reading assignment. Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse.
Learning outcome. Challenging, critiquing, analyzing, generalizing, or applying the content.
Flow. Prepare as many different open-ended questions as there are tables of participants. Place a question in the middle of each table and ask participants at the table to independently write the answer and place and place an identification number under the answer. Collect the answers (and the question) from each table and give it to the participants at the next table. Ask participants to work jointly to compare the answers and select the best answer. Ask the representative at each table to read the question and the best answer.
13. 2-MINUTE DRILL
Basic idea. A small group of participants receive question cards from the judge at their table and yell out the answers. If correct, the participant keeps the card; if incorrect, she returns the card. This fast-paced game ends in 2 minutes.
Reading materials. Articles, chapters, brochures, booklets, or fact sheets.
Sample reading assignment. Product information about five different color printers along with a comparison table.
Learning outcome. Recalling factual information and terminology.
Flow. Prepare 20 to 100 numbered question cards and a separate answer sheet that lists each number and the correct answer. Appoint a judge at each table and give her the cards and the answer sheet. Ask the judge to distribute three question cards to each participant at the table. When you blow the whistle, ask participants to yell out a question number and the answer. Ask the judge to repeat the question number and say “correct” or “incorrect”. Participants place correct cards in front of them and return incorrect cards to the judge. In both cases, they receive a replacement card from the judge. Game stops when you blow the whistle at the end of 2 minutes. The player who gave the most correct answers wins.
14. CONFUSED
Basic idea. Participants write questions about confusing, difficult, or apparently inconsistent points in their reading assignment. A subject-matter expert provides answers to these questions.
Reading materials. Theoretical papers, research reports, white papers, proposals, essays, or translated materials.
Sample reading assignment. A translated book on basic tenets of the Sufi religion.
Learning outcome. Deeper understanding of the content.
Flow. Ask participants to independently write questions about difficult, confusing, or inconsistent information in their reading assignment. Organize participants into teams and ask them to combine their questions and remove those that can be answered by a member of the team. Collect the remaining questions and respond to them (or ask the author or a subject-matter expert to respond to them). Finally, ask each participant to write down a summary statement of one of the important answers.
15. ARTISTIC TRANSLATION
Basic idea. Participants independently draw a picture that captures one of the important concepts from the reading assignment. Teams of participants study different pictures and interpret them.
Reading materials. Essays, articles, books, or interviews.
Sample reading assignment. A technical paper on microchip architecture.
Learning outcome. Clarifying, explaining, personalizing, interpreting, or presenting.
Flow. Ask participants to draw a picture that portrays one of the key concepts from the reading assignment. Organize participants into teams. At each team, ask participants to take turns holding up their picture while others announce individual interpretations. Finally, ask the artist to explain what her picture is supposed to convey.
Puzzle
This Issue's Cryptogram
Here is an encrypted definition of an interactive strategy for improving performance. Solve this cryptogram puzzle:
In a cryptogram, each letter in a message is replaced by another letter of the alphabet. For example,
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
may become this cryptogram:
YZF FOZ JUKZH CZJVQ
In the cryptogram Y replaces L, Z replaces E, F replaces T, and so on. Notice that the same letter substitutions are used throughout this cryptogram: Every E in the sentence is replaced by a Z, and every T is replaced by an F.
Here are some hints for decoding a cryptogram:
Letter Frequency
The most commonly used letters of the English language are e, t, a, i, o, n, s, h, and r. The letters that are most commonly found at the beginning of words are t, a, o, d, and w. The letters that are most commonly found at the end of words are e, s, d, and t.
Word Frequency
One-letter words are either a or I. The most common two-letter words are to, of, in, it, is, as, at, be, we, he, so, on, an, or, do, if, up, by, and my. The most common three-letter words are the, and, are, for, not, but, had, has, was, all, any, one, man, out, you, his, her, and can. The most common four-letter words are that, with, have, this, will, your, from, they, want, been, good, much, some, and very.
Word Endings
The most common word endings are -ed, -ing, -ion, -ist, -ous, -ent, -able, -ment, -tion, -ight, and -ance.
Doubled Letters
The most frequent double-letter combinations are ee, ll, ss, oo, tt, ff, rr, nn, pp, and cc. The double letters that occur most commonly at the end of words are ee, ll, ss, and ff.
A comma is often followed by but, and, or who. It is usually preceded by however. A question often begins with why, how, who, was, did, what, where, or which. Two words that often precede quotation marks are said and says. Two letters that usually follow an apostrophe are t and s.
99 Seconds
DRAW A HAND
99 Seconds is a special type of training session in which the presenter makes a brisk, self-contained presentation that lasts for less than 99 seconds. For more information about this efficient training strategy, see the Tool Kit section of the April 2002 issue of PFP.
Although it is difficult to conduct a truly interactive exercise within 99 seconds, the April 2002 article lists some alternative strategies and gives examples. Here is another interesting 99 Seconds interactive exercise.
Place an index card and a pencil on each seat (to avoid wasting time distributing these items).
Ask everyone to draw a hand on the index card within 45 seconds. Pause while participants complete this task.
After 45 seconds (it doesn't matter if some of the artists are still working on their masterpieces), begin debriefing. Instead of conducting a discussion, present the major learning point this way:
How many of you looked at your hand or your neighbor's hand to draw the picture? Most of you did not. That is because we prefer to work with a mental picture even while the real world is staring in our face. We think with these mental pictures and we frequently base our performance on these mental pictures. Psychologists call the act of creating mental pictures generalization, abstraction, or concept acquisition. I call it stereotyping.
It does not matter if you draw a picture of a hand based on your mental picture. However, it does matter if you come up with a company policy based on your mental picture of a female employee. This is because your mental picture could be stereotypical and
distorted and, therefore, your policy may not produce the intended effect on the wide range of people it is supposed to affect.
When was the last time you ignored reality and worked with a mental picture? Was your mental picture distorted?
99 Seconds
DRAW A TREE
99 Seconds is a special type of training session in which the presenter makes a brisk, self-contained presentation that lasts for less than 99 seconds. For more information about this efficient training strategy, see the April 2002 issue of PFP.
Although it is difficult to conduct an interactive exercise within 99 seconds, we explored an interesting graphic activity in the previous issue of PFP. Here's another 99-seconds activity that also involves a quick drawing exercise just like in the August activity. However, this activity makes a different point.
Place an index card and a pencil on each seat (to avoid wasting time distributing these items).
Ask everyone to draw a tree on the index card within 45 seconds. Explain that this tree could be a realistic one or an abstract one. The only critical requirement is that it should drawn within the 45-second time limit.
Pause while participants complete this task.
After 45 seconds (it doesn't matter if some of the artists are still working on their masterpieces), begin debriefing. Instead of conducting a time-consuming discussion, present the major learning point this way:
Look at your tree. How many of you included the roots when you drew the tree?
So what is holding up the trees without the root system? How do these trees get water and nutrition?
You must agree that the root system is an important part of tree. Why did you not draw it? Was it because you usually don't see the roots?
How many other things do you habitually ignore just because they are not visible? Have you stopped thinking about critical elements that are out of sight? What problems are likely to arise from this type of selective thinking? How can we prevent this habit?
Featured Activity
DYADS AND TRIADS
Read.me Games combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of interactive learning. In this type of activity, participants read a handout and play a game that uses competition to encourage recall and transfer of what they read. DYADS AND TRIADS is a flexible read.me game that can incorporate any of your training handouts.
Key Concept
Obviously, people learn from answering questions about the content of a training handout. Not too obviously (and more importantly), people also learn from asking questions about the content. In DYADS AND
TRIADS , participants enhance their learning by both asking and answering questions. The types of questions they ask exercise both sides of their brain by requiring convergent and divergent thinking.
This activity consists of three parts: During the first part, participants independently study a training handout. During the second part, they write closed review questions and use the questions to play the DYADS game. During the third part, participants write open questions
and play the TRIADS game.
Purpose
To review the content of a training handout by responding to questions that require recall of facts and higher-level processing of information.
Participants
Any number. Best game involves 15 - 30 participants.
Time
45 - 60 minutes, depending on the length and complexity of the handout.
Supplies Handout with the training content Other Handouts (included at the end of this article):
o How To Write Closed Questions o How To Play DYADS o How To Write Open Questions o How To Play TRIADS
Blank Index Cards Timer Whistle
Flow
Coordinate the study period. Distribute copies of the handout with the training content. Ask participants to study the handout, using any preferred strategy for reading and note taking. Announce a suitable time limit.
Explain how to write closed questions. At the end of the study period, assemble all participants and distribute copies of the handout, How To Write Closed Questions. Invite participants to yell out one or two examples of closed questions based on the training content.
Ask participants to write closed questions. Distribute several blank index cards to each participant. Ask participants to write closed questions based on the training content, using a separate card for each question. After a suitable pause, ask each participant to look at different questions that she wrote, select the “best” one, and place the other questions aside.
Explain how to play DYADS . Distribute copies of the handout, How
To Play DYADS . Walk participants through the steps in playing the game.
Start the DYADS game. Ask each participant to make sure that she
has a question card and a scorecard. Announce that the DYADS game will last for 7 minutes. Set the timer and start the game.
Stop the DYADS game. At the end of 7 minutes, blow the whistle and announce the conclusion of the game. Ask each participant to count the number of different initials on her scorecard to compute the score.
Identify winners. Find out which participant has the highest score. Congratulate the winner (or winners, if there is a tie for the highest score).
Explain how to write open questions. Move to the next phase of the activity by distributing copies of the handout, How To Write Open Questions. Invite a “volunteer” participant to help you create an example of an open question.
Ask participants to write open questions. Distribute additional blank index cards to participants. Ask each participant to write a single open question on a card.
Explain how to play TRIADS . When everyone has finished writing an open question, distribute copies of the handout, How To Play TRIADS . Walk participants through the flow of the game.
Start the TRIADS game. Ask each participant to make sure that she
has a question card and a scorecard. Announce that the TRIADS game will last for 10 minutes. Set the timer and start the game.
Stop the TRIADS game. At the end of 10 minutes, blow the whistle and announce the conclusion of the game. Ask each participant to count the number of different initials in her scorecard.
Identify winners. Find out which participant has the highest score. Congratulate the winner (or winners, if more there is a tie for the highest score).
[Table of Contents]
Handouts: DYADS and TRIADS
Handouts: DYADS and TRIADS
How to Write Closed Questions
Closed questions have a single correct answer. Usually, you answer these questions by recalling some factual information.
The best way to construct a closed question is to start with one of the question words as shown in the following templates. To use any of these question templates, simply replace the words with a strikethrough line with words related to your content.
1. According to Maslow, what is the most basic human need? 2. How many pages can be stored on a floppy disk? 3. How many people are involved in the Quality Improvement
Team? 4. How much time is required to warm up the copying machine? 5. What is the first step in evacuating the office building in case of
fire? 6. What is the technical term for reducing static electricity by using
rubber gloves? 7. When is the best time to give feedback to a coworker? 8. Where is the fire extinguisher located? 9. Who is considered to be the Father of Performance Technology? 10. Why is it dangerous to touch a light bulb with wet hands?
How To Play DYADS
Check your supplies. Before you participate in the game, make sure you have a question card (an index card with a closed question) and a scorecard (a blank index card).
Organize dyads. When the game starts, quickly pair up with another player. Remember that if you are slow, you may be left out without a partner.
Show your question. Hold up your question card so the other person can read the question. Do not read the question yourself or give any hints for the answer. Pause for a few seconds.
Process the answer. Listen to the answer given by your partner. Decide whether it is correct or not. If it is incorrect, give the correct answer. If it is correct, say “Correct” and write your initials on the other player's scorecard.
Answer your partner's question. Read the question on your partner's question card. Immediately give the answer.
Get feedback. If your answer is incorrect, your partner will give you the correct answer. If your answer is correct, make sure that your partner writes her initials on your scorecard.
Find a new partner. Briskly move around and find a new partner. Don't waste your time with unnecessary conversation. Repeat the process of exchanging questions and answers and collecting the initials from other players.
Compute your score. When the facilitator announces the end of the play period, return your seat and count the number of different initials in your scorecard. This is your score for the DYADS game.
How to Write Open Questions
Open questions have more than one acceptable answer. However, most open questions permit you to compare alternative answers and decide which one is the “best”.
Here are some templates for writing open questions. To use any of these question templates, simply replace the words with a strikethrough line with words related to your content.
1. Compare laptops and pocket computers in terms of their storage capacity.
2. Give an example of positive reinforcement. 3. How are management and leadership similar? 4. How would you use an incentive system? 5. How do you think an Asian customer will react to the new model?
Why do you think so? 6. How does permission marketing increase our sales? 7. How does the new incentive system affect marginal performers? 8. How does the principle of reciprocity apply to customer
complaints? 9. What are the implications of declaring Fridays to be casual days? 10. What are the strengths of teamwork? 11. What are the weaknesses of teamwork?
12. What is an analogy for immediate reinforcement? 13. What is an effective solution to the problem of
overcrowding in subways? 14. What is the best strategy for telemarketing? Why? 15. What is the difference between management and
leadership? 16. What is the meaning of “digital capital”? 17. What is the primary cause of violence in the workplace?
Why do you think so? 18. What would happen if customer complaints were ignored? 19. Why does punishment produce unpredictable effects? 20. Why is customer loyalty important?
How To Play TRIADS
Check your supplies. Before you participate in the TRIADS game, make sure you have a question card (an index card with an open question) and a scorecard (a blank index card). Don't reuse your scorecard from the DYADS game.
Organize triads. When the game starts, wander around the room and quickly find two other players to form a group of three for the first round. Remember that if you are slow, you may not be able to form a triad.
Show your question. Hold up your question card so the other two players can read the question. Do not read the question yourself or give any hints for the answer.
Select the waiter. Point to one of the other two players and ask her to cover her ears. Also suggest that she moves away a little distance to avoid overhearing the other person's answer.
Listen to the first answer. Ask the other player to give her answer. Listen carefully to the answer.
Listen to the second answer. Signal to the waiter and ask her to uncover her ears. Ask her to answer the same open question. Let the other player also listen to the answer.
Process the answers. For the benefit of the waiter, give a brief summary of the first player's answer. Make a quick and objective decision about which of the two answers was better. Write your initials on the scorecard of the person who gave the better response.
Answer other players' questions. Each of the other two players will take turns to show the questions on their cards. During the next two rounds, you will be competing with another player to give a better answer to the open question.
Form new triads. Briskly move around the room to find two new players to form another triad for the next round. Don't waste your time with social chitchat. Repeat the process of exchanging open questions and answers and collecting the initials of other players by giving better answers.
Compute your score. When the facilitator announces the end of the play period, return your seat and count the number of initials in your scorecard. This is your score for the TRIADS game.
The check may be in the mail, but in this game, the cash is in the envelope.
You have to take a risk and trust your team members. In EASY MONEY, the team makes a profit if its members trust each other.
Purpose
To explore trust among team members and its impact on team profits.
Learning Topics
Skills: Planning, predicting, decision making with incomplete information.Concepts: Trust, ambiguity, decision making.Contrasts: Private vs public decisions, advising vs deciding, personal vs team benefits, quantitative vs intuitive decision making.
Distribute the 11 blank envelopes randomly among the players. Explain that the players who received the envelopes investors who will directly participate in the game. The other players are advisors, observers, and spectators.
Specify communication constraints. The investors cannot talk to each other. The advisors and spectators may talk to each other and to the investors, but they should not transmit information from one investor to another.
Explain the investment procedure. Each investor should place some money inside his or her envelope. The investment amount may vary from zero to thousands of dollars.
Explain the consequences. You (the facilitator) will count the money inside the envelopes and keep it. The investment money will not be returned. However, you will give each investor $10, if the total amount of investment in the 11 envelopes adds up to at least $79.79. You are not interested in individual investments, so even those who gave you empty envelopes will get $10. However, if the total investment is less than $79.79, none of the investors get any money. You will not even return their investment amounts.
Pause while the players reflect on the rules. Answer any questions by repeating the information from the previous paragraph.
Give final instructions. Explain that the investors will have 3 minutes to make their decision, secretly place the investment amount inside the envelope, seal it, and write their initials on the face of the envelope. Remind the investors that they can hold discussions with the advisors and spectators, but they should not communicate the other investors.
Collect the envelopes. Do this after 3 minutes. Make sure that the investors' initials are written on each envelope.
Conduct an audit. Give the envelope to one of the players (the auditor) and ask him or her to count the money inside each envelope, record the amount on the face of the envelope, put the money back in the envelope, and compute the total.
Ask for predictions. While the auditor is counting and computing, ask the other players to predict the total amount. Ask the players to justify their predictions.
Announce the results. Ask the auditor to report the total amount of investment in the envelopes.
If this amount is more than (or equal to) $79.79, give each investor $10. Keep the envelopes with the money.
If the amount is less than $79.79, keep the envelopes with the money. Explain that nobody receives $10 because the investors did not meet the minimum requirement.
Ask the auditor to read the investment amounts in each envelope, without identifying the investor.
Debriefing
We use a seven-phase model for debriefing. Here are some suggestions for each phase. You don't have to follow all the instructions and ask all the questions. Be flexible.
Phase 1: How do you feel?
Begin with a broad question. Invite the investors and the others to share their feelings about the play of EASY MONEY and the results.
Explore specific feelings. Ask the players whether (and when) they experienced these feelings:
Discuss feelings toward different types of people. Identify specific roles in EASY MONEY. Ask the members of each group how they feel about the members of the other groups -- and about themselves.
investors advisors and spectators auditor people who did not give their fair share people who gave more than their fair share
Phase 2: What happened?
Begin with a broad question. Ask the players to recall important events from the play of EASY MONEY.
Ask questions about specific events. Remind the players of these events, and ask them to report significant things that happened during each event:
listening to the instructions hearing about the minimum requirement deciding on the strategy listening to advice from the others giving advice to the investors computing your fair share sealing the envelope making predictions hearing the result
Ask questions about specific types of events. Use questions similar to these:
What was the most important event in the game? What was the most surprising event in the game?
Phase 3: What did you learn?
Present some generalizations. Begin with a generalization from the list below and ask the players to discuss data from the play of the game that support it or reject it. Encourage an open discussion. Invite the players to offer their own generalizations. Restart the discussion by presenting another generalization from this list if there are long periods of silence.
People are suspicious of offers that sound too good to be true.
Most people want to give their fair share. Some people are greedy and some people are generous. Some people don't trust other people's motivation. Some people don't trust other people's computational skill. Some people don't trust their own computational skill. It is possible for an investor to make a profit of $10. It is possible for the facilitator to make a profit. It is easier to give advice than to make your own decision. Lack of communication increases distrust among the team
members. Investment advisors often contradict each other.
Phase 4: How does this relate to the workplace?
Begin with a broad question. Use either of these questions:
In what ways does EASY MONEY remind you of workplace events?
If EASY MONEY were a metaphor, what workplace event is it a metaphor of?
Discuss specific events. Use the list of events from the previous phases. Ask the players to relate each event to their workplace experiences.
Discuss objects used in the game. Ask the players to find the workplace analogues to these:
Investment money Envelope Final payoff money
Discuss specific roles. Ask the players to identify individuals or groups in the workplace whose roles and behaviors are similar to these:
Investors Advisors and spectators Cheap people Generous people
Discuss specific principles. Use the generalizations from the previous phase. Ask the players to discuss how each principle relates to their workplace experiences.
Phase 5: What if ...?
Present some scenarios. Begin with a what-if scenario from the list below and ask the players to speculate how it would have affected the play of EASY MONEY. Encourage an open discussion. Invite the players to offer their own scenarios. Restart the discussion by presenting another scenario from this list if there are long periods of silence.
... the investors were permitted to talk to each other, but they still had to place the money secretly inside the envelopes?
... the investors were permitted to talk to each other, and they could openly place the money inside the envelopes?
... the investment money was returned to the players if the total amount did not reach the minimum?
... the exact amount contributed by each investor was announced publicly?
... each investor could receive $50 instead of $10 (but the minimum total investment stayed the same)?
... the investors were given 24 hours to make up their minds?
Phase 6: What next?
Ask for improved game strategies. Invite the players to discuss how they would change their strategy if they were to play EASY MONEY again.
Encourage workplace application. Ask the players how they would behave differently in their workplace as a result of the insights gained from EASY MONEY.
Discuss specific generalizations. Recall these from the previous phases and ask the players how each of the generalizations apply to their workplace situations.
Phase 7: Final words
If the investors did not meet the minimum requirement, return the envelopes (with the money) to the appropriate investors. Warn them that they may not be this lucky in real life.
Variations
Too few players? If you have fewer than 11 players, give an envelope to each. You will have to act as the auditor yourself. Here are the suggested minimum investment requirements:
Number of Players Minimum Requirement2 $14.473 $21.734 $28.975 $36.236 $43.477 $50.738 $57.979 $65.2310 $72.47
Too many players? If there are more than 25 players, divide them into 11 teams and distribute an envelope to each team. Play the game as before, except that teams should make investment decisions instead of individuals. Let the team members decide how to divide the investments and profits. Members of a team may not talk to the members of the other teams.
Not enough time? Conduct the game in 3 to 5 minutes. Limit your debriefing to a few critical questions. Be sure, however, to reserve at least 10 minutes for debriefing.
Plenty of time? After explaining the instructions, invite the players to talk to each other. Encourage them to persuade, negotiate, and make deals. Also, offer time for any player to make a public announcement. However, insist that the investment should be placed secretly in the envelopes.
Players don't have cash? Offer to take checks. Ask the players to place a check inside the envelope.
Want everyone to participate? Give an envelope to each player. Compute the total payoff (which equals 10 times the number of players), subtract the maximum amount you are willing to give away, and deduct a little more change to create an odd number. Announce this as the minimum requirement. Example: If you have 217 players, and can afford to give away $50, the minimum requirement is $2,119.73. If you are attempting to conduct this game with such a large group of players, be sure to initially select several monitors and auditors to help you.
Don't have envelopes? Ask the investors to wrap their money in a piece of paper and write their name on the paper.
Feel uncomfortable about telling the players that they will lose the money? Eventually, you are going to return the money (or give them a bonus) anyhow. If you are still uncomfortable, announce that if the minimum requirement is not met, the players will get their money back instead of getting $10. However, the players are unlikely to take this variation seriously.
Audio Game
EMPATHY
For the past few months, I have been working with a friend on training employees to more effectively and enthusiastically display empathy during customer calls. The February issue contains two games (CONCERN and CONCERN FOR CUSTOMERS ) related to this training objective. Here's another game in this series.
Key Idea
Different teams produce audiotape recordings of simulated telephone conversations between a customer and a Customer Representative. These recordings incorporate key behaviors associated with the display of empathy by the employee. One of the teams does not produce a recording but evaluates other teams' recordings.
To display concern and empathy during customer service conversations on the telephone.
Participants
Minimum: 6Maximum: 42Best: 16 to 30(Participants are divided into 3 to 6 teams, each with 2-7 members.)
Time Requirement
45 to 90 minutes.
Handouts
One copy of Empathy Checklist for each participant.
Equipment
One audiotape recorder (or other kind of audio recorder) for each team.
Room Setup
Tables and chairs for each team.
Flow
Brief the participants. Explain that you are going to explore techniques for displaying empathy toward customers during telephone conversations. Distribute copies of the Empathy Checklist. Walk participants through the items on the checklist, briefly discussing appropriate behaviors associated with each item. Encourage participants to ask questions. Give brief responses.
Form Teams. Divide participants into 3 to 5 teams, each with 3 to 7 members. Seat each team around a convenient table with an audiotape recorder.
Explain the production task. Explain that each team is to produce a 3-minute long audio recording of a simulated conversation between a customer and an employee. The challenge for each team is to incorporate at least five important items from the Empathy Checklist in this recorded conversation. Announce a 15-minute preparation time.
Explain the evaluation task. The simulated conversation recorded by each team will be evaluated along three dimensions:
Authenticity: Is the conversation realistic and believable?
Focus: Does the conversation clearly incorporate key behaviors from
the Empathy Checklist?
Dramatic: Does the conversation attract and maintain audience
attention?
Randomly select one of the teams. Explain that instead of producing a simulated conversation, this team will play the role of evaluators. Ask the team to come up with a rating scale for comparing and evaluating different simulated conversations along the three dimensions that you identified.
Coordinate production activities. Announce the start of the 15-minute production time. Start the timer. Let teams work on their own. Give a 5-minute warning at the end of 10 minutes. Blow a whistle at the end of 15 minutes to signal the end of the production time.
Play the recorded conversations. Randomly select one of the teams and play its recorded conversation. If necessary, use a microphone to make sure that everyone can hear the recording. Encourage the members of the evaluation team to listen carefully and take notes. Stop the replay at the end of exactly 3 minutes. Ask each member of the evaluation team to independently score the audio recording.
Invite the next team to play its recorded conversation. Repeat this procedure until all teams have replayed their recorded conversations.
Ask evaluators to announce their ratings. After the replay of the last recording, ask the evaluation team to discuss their individual ratings and identify the best recording. Invite this team to briefly explain their rating procedure and to give evaluative feedback for each recorded conversation. Finally, ask the team to identify the best recorded conversation.
Present your comments. Congratulate the winning team. Give your feedback, focusing on how clearly each team emphasized key behaviors from the checklist.
Conduct a debriefing discussion. Ask questions similar to those listed below. Encourage participants to respond to each question and discuss alternative responses.
How typical was the conversation portrayed in each recording? Which
one was the most typical?
Which item in the Empathy Checklist is the most important one? How
did different teams portray this item?
Which item in the Empathy Checklist was frequently ignored? What
was the reason for teams ignoring it?
Which item in the Empathy Checklist is the most difficult one to
portray? How did the roleplayers portray it?
In each of the conversations, how would you rate the effectiveness of
the employee? How could the display of empathy be improved?
In each conversation, how realistic were the behaviors of the
customer? How could we make these behaviors more realistic? More
challenging?
If the teams produced a 15-minute recorded conversation, what
additional incidents and behaviors would you have included?
Adjustments
If you have limited time, reduce the number of teams to three (and increase the number of participants in each team). Produce and replay two recorded conversations.
If you have too many participants, ask several teams to produce the conversations but randomly select two teams to replay their productions. Ask members of all other teams to vote for the best production.
Game Plan for EMPATHY
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Brief the participants. (8 minutes)
Distribute the Empathy Checklist. Briefly demonstrate and discuss different items.
Listen, take notes, and ask questions.
2. Form teams. (3 minutes)
Divide the group into 3 - 6 teams, each with 2 to 7 members.
Join a team. Introduce yourself to the fellow team members.
3. Explain the production task. (3 minutes)
Explain the task of creating and recording a customer conversation that displays a high level of empathy. Announce the time limit.
Listen and ask questions.
4. Explain the evaluation task (2 minutes)
Randomly select one team to be the evaluators. Explain the evaluation task.
Listen and ask questions.
5. Coordinate production activities. (17 minutes)
Announce time limit, give instructions, and start the timer.
Evaluation team: Construct a rating scale for evaluating the recorded conversations.Other teams: Produce a recorded conversation to demonstrate key behaviors from the Empathy Checklist.
6. Play back the conversations. (5 minutes per team)
Play back the recorded conversations, one team at a time.
Evaluation team: Evaluate each recorded conversation, working individually.Other teams: Listen to different recorded conversations.
7. Ask evaluators to report. (3 minutes)
Give instructions. Evaluation team: Present evaluative feedback and identify the winning recording.
8. Present your comments (3 minutes)
Congratulate the winning team. Give your feedback.
Listen.
9. Debrief participants. (7 minutes)
Ask reflective questions and encourage participants to discuss them.
1. Use affirming and assuring statements to connect with customers.
2. Display true concern and interest in the customer's situation.
3. Maintain a high-level of active listening throughout the conversation,
even during emotional outbursts.
4. Use “I” or “we” statements.
5. Use “Yes” statements frequently (“Sure, let's take a look at that.”)
6. Avoid “No” statements.
7. Pick up on trigger statements that signal problems and issues.
8. Whenever appropriate, probe to uncover the root cause behind the
customer's questions.
9. Convey reasons behind your probing questions.
10.Whenever appropriate, paraphrase the customer's statement and
check for accurate understanding.
11.Apologize for the organization's mistakes and the inability to resolve
the issues.
12.Explain errors that made by employees—without blaming them.
13.Use appropriate emotional responses that reflect the customer's
situation.
14.Acknowledge the customer's feelings by using reflective statements
(“It sounds like you're quite upset about this.”)
15.Express positive reactions when customer is pleased with your efforts
or the efforts of the organization.
16.Perform all actions promised to the customer before, during, or after
the call.
Opener
EPIGRAMS
I use EPIGRAMS to provide an advanced organizer for my training sessions. It is a framegame into which you can load your own content.
Before the session, I collect or create several pithy sayings, quotes, aphorisms, adages, maxims, slogans, truisms, mottos, proverbs, or one-liners related to the training topic.
At the beginning of the workshop, I distribute these pithy sayings in such a way that each participant gets two different epigrams and each epigram is given to two different participants.
I ask the participants to reflect on each epigram, discover its deep meaning, and identify its personal application. I warn the participants that they will be asked to make a short presentation on both epigrams they received.
After a suitable pause, I display one of the epigrams from the collection. I ask the two participants who reflected on it to take turns and make their presentations.
After the two presentations, I invite comments from the other participants. If appropriate, I ask the participants to vote (by their applause) to identify the better presentation.
I repeat the procedure with the other epigrams.
Sometimes I postpone the presentation for a later time (for example, after a coffee break or prior to the discussion of a specific topic).
Framegame
ERROR QUEST
By Margaret Gredler
Here's a framegame from our Guest Gamer.
You can use ERROR QUEST in any situation you have policies, rules, standards, or criteria. Here are some sample topics:
Web page design Asking questions during a job interview Specifying business goals Safety regulations Constructing multiple-choice test items Writing a catalogue description
The game requires participants to identify violations of the rules. The scoring system rewards identification of serious errors more than trivial ones.
PURPOSE
To clarify key elements in company policies, procedures, rules, standards, and criteria
TIME
30 minutes to 1 hour
PARTICIPANTS
Any number, organized into teams of 2-3 members
MATERIALS A job aid summarizing rules or criteria A portfolio of products (or a recording of events) for review. Each item contains a
variety of errors. A scoring key identifying the errors and number of points for their detection,
based on the seriousness of each error Flip chart to record scores and discussion comments
SAMPLE MATERIALS
In a game called MENU MIXUP, we used USDA Guidelines to present our set of standards.
We used several menus such as this one:
Cherry Cobler
Mexican Chili
Roll and butter
Milk
This is the scoring key that we used:
Missing component (no vegetable or salad): 4 points Unappetizing combination: 2 points Format error (dessert listed first): 1 point Format error (Cobbler misspelled): 1 point
FLOW
Brief participants. Organize participants into two or more teams, each with 3 to 5 members. Present (or review) the rules related to the training topic.
Teamwork. Present the first items to examined. Ask teams to identify all errors and make a list.
Scoring. After a suitable pause, ask the first team to identify the error. If correct, award the appropriate number of points. If incorrect, award zero points for this round and tell the team that they would forfeit their next turn. Ask the next team to identify a different error. Repeat the same scoring process until all errors have been identified.
Continuation. Repeat the process with next item to be reviewed. During the scoring round, begin with a different team.
Conclusion. After inspecting the last product, identify the team with the most score points as the winner.
Follow up. Conduct a debriefing discussion about errors that were difficult to detect. Also discuss strategies for avoiding different types of errors.
Matrix Game
EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS
In diversity training, we sometimes become obsessed with differences among cultures, nations, and individuals. This mindset serves a useful purpose—and encourages us to ignore similarities that have an important role in understanding human interactions. EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS invites us to take a more balanced approach between differences and similarities.
Key Idea
Three players (or teams) take turns to compete two at a time by supplying statements of key facts, similarities, or differences related to European countries. The third player (or team) acts as the judge to decide which statement is the “better” one.
Index Tags
Diversity. Geography. European countries. France. Switzerland. Germany. Belgium. Netherlands. Italy. Similarities. Differences.
Purpose
To explore the similarities and differences among six European countries.
Participants
Minimum: 3Maximum: 21Best: 6 to 15
Time
20 minutes to an hour.
Handout
A 6 x 6 grid with the names of the six European countries as column and row headings.
You may want to use our ready-to-print PDF version (10K).
Markers
20 markers (coins or plastic counters) each of three different types. Each participant uses her type of markers to identify the boxes she has won.
Flow
Brief the participants. Place the grid in the middle of the table and distribute the markers to each participant. Explain the structure of the grid, pointing out that the names of the same six European countries are repeated on the rows and the columns. Then explain that each box in the grid is to be filled with a specific type of statement about these six countries:
The boxes in the diagonal from the bottom left to the top right (which are marked with heavier lines) require a key fact about a country. Randomly
select one of the diagonal boxes and, with the participants' help, come up with a suitable statement for that box.
Example: Key fact about Germany: This country has the largest population among European Union member states.
The boxes above the diagonal require a statement about a similarity between two countries. Randomly select one box in that area, and with the participants' help, come up with a sample similarity.
Example: Similarity between France and Switzerland: People in a region of Switzerland speak French—just like the French people do.
The boxes below the diagonal require a statement about a difference between two countries. Randomly select one box in that area, and with the participants' help, come up with a sample difference.
Example: Difference between Italy and the Netherlands: Italy is renowned for the love of sports from ancient times. The Netherlands is not particularly known for its sports fans.
Explain the object of the game. Participants win different boxes in the grid by providing “better” statements than their competition. At the end of the game, the participant with the most boxes wins the game.
Begin the activity. Choose a participant to be the Judge. The person on the Judge's right becomes the Selector and the other person is the Challenger.
Compete for a box. The Selector chooses a box in the grid and places a marker on it. She then writes a statement that meets the requirements for the box. The Challenger also does the same. The Judge reads the two statements and declares which one she likes better.
Occupy the box. If the Selector wins, her marker is left on the box. If the Challenger wins, the Selector takes back her marker, and the Challenger places her marker in the box.
Play the next round. The next round begins with a reallocation of the roles. The Selector becomes the Judge, the Judge becomes the Challenger, and the Challenger becomes the Selector. The play procedure is repeated as before.
Continue the game. The game continues in this fashion until all 36 boxes in the grid are occupied (or the specified time runs out).
Determine the winner. The person who occupies the most boxes in the grid wins the game.
Adjustments
Limited time? Conclude the game when one participant occupies four boxes in a straight line (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). For a faster finish, conclude the game when a participant occupies three boxes in a straight line. For an even faster one, go for any three boxes.
Fixed schedule? Play the game for a specified period of time (example: 15 minutes). The participant who occupies the most boxes at the end of this time wins the game.
Too many participants? Divide participants into three teams of approximately the same size. Play the game as before—but ask teams to make joint decisions.
More participants than can be organized into teams? Conduct several games at different tables in a parallel fashion.
Not enough markers? Ask participants to write their initials in the boxes they have won.
Featured Activity
FIGHT RIGHT: Three Roleplays To Explore Conflict Management
Conflict management is the foundation for peace on earth. Closer to home, it is an essential interpersonal skill that can contribute every day to effective personal and professional life.
FIGHT RIGHT is a collection of three roleplays that help participants acquire conflict management skills. All three roleplays are conducted in triads. This is what happens during each of the roleplays:
In the first roleplay, Project Management, two participants in each triad act out a confrontation. The third member of the triad acts as an observer. During the debrief after the roleplay, participants explore different components of a conflict and discuss the need for a mediator.
In the second roleplay, Customer Satisfaction, two participants act out a different confrontation. The third participant plays the role of the mediator and helps the disputants resolve their conflict. The debriefing discussion after this roleplay introduces the concept of self-mediation.
In the third roleplay, Deadlines, two participants act out another confrontation, incorporating principles and procedures of self-mediation. The third participant acts as an observer.
Purposes
To explore factors associated with conflict management
To effectively mediate in a conflict
To use self-mediation techniques to resolve a conflict
Participants
Any number, divided into triads (groups of three)
Time
45 - 90 minutes
Handouts
Six Roleplay Scenarios:
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Alan's Story
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Barbara's Story
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Bob's Story
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Cathy's Story
DEADLINES: Chuck's Story
DEADLINES: Angela's Story
Observation Checklist (for use during the PROJECT MANAGEMENT roleplay)
Mediation Checklist (for use during the CUSTOMER SERVICE roleplay)
Mediation Guidelines (for use during the CUSTOMER SERVICE roleplay)
Observation Checklist (for use during the DEADLINES roleplay)
Organize participants. Divide participants into triads. If there are one or two additional participants, ask them to come to the front of the room and help you conduct the activity. In each triad, ask participants to assign themselves the identification letters A, B, and C.
Distribute copies of the Project Management Roleplay Scenario. In each triad, A receives Alan's story and B receives Barbara's story. Ask participants to read the scenario and get ready for the roleplay.
Brief the observers. Call the Cs to the front of the room and give them copies of the Observation Checklist. Go through each item in the checklist and answer any questions. Emphasize that C's task is to observe the roleplay and to take notes on interesting behaviors and statements. Send Cs back to their triads.
Start the roleplay. Set your timer for 5 minutes. Ask Alan and Barbara in each triad to act out the confrontation.
Conclude the roleplay. At the end of 5 minutes, announce the conclusion of the roleplay. Ask the roleplayers to take a few moments to snap out of their roles and to return to the current reality. Encourage participants to talk to each other about their experience.
Debrief the roleplay. Ask participants to discuss questions such as the following:
If you were playing the role of Alan, did you believe Barbara's story?
What was the reason for your belief or disbelief?
If you were playing the role of Barbara, did you believe Alan's story?
What was the reason for your belief or disbelief?
As a roleplayer, how did you feel before the roleplay? During the
roleplay? After the roleplay?
What two adjectives would you use to describe the other person's
behavior? What two adjectives would you use to describe your own
behavior?
What would have happened if you had more time for the roleplay?
If you were an observer, what do you think was the crux of the
confrontation between Alan and Barbara?
Many people believe that this conflict was due to a difference in
perceptions rather than a fundamental difference in values or beliefs.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
Debrief the observers. Read each item from the observation checklist and ask the observers to report their observations during the roleplay. Invite others to comment on each observation.
Introduce the concept of mediation. Explain that many people believe that the presence of a neutral mediator could help resolve conflicts more effectively. Ask participants if they agree with this opinion. Also ask them to explain the reasons for their agreement or disagreement.
Roleplay 2: Customer Satisfaction
Distribute copies of the Customer Satisfaction Roleplay Scenario. Within each triad, B receives Bob's story and C receives Cathy's story. Ask these participants to read the story, think about it, and get ready to act out the confrontation.
Brief the mediators. Call all As to the front of the room. Give them copies of the Mediation Checklist and the Mediation Guideline. Explain that they will be mediating the dispute during the next roleplay. Walk the mediators through the items in the checklist. Also ask the mediators to read the guidelines. Answer questions to clarify the guideline items. Send As back to their triads.
Start the roleplay. Set your timer for 8 minutes. Ask the mediators to make their opening statement and get the discussion started.
Monitor the roleplay. Walk among the triads, eavesdropping on the conversations and taking notes about interesting mediation activities.
Conclude the roleplay. After 8 minutes, announce the end of the roleplay. Ask roleplayers to take a few minutes to leave their roles and to return to the current reality. Encourage participants to talk to each other about the experience.
Debrief the roleplay. Ask participants to discuss questions such as the following:
If you were playing the role of Bob or Cathy, did you believe the other
person's story? What is the reason for your belief or disbelief?
If you were playing the role of Bob or Cathy, what was your reaction to
the mediator? Was the mediator neutral or did he take sides? Did the
mediator help you to resolve the conflict more effectively?
What two adjectives would you use to describe the mediator's
behavior? What two adjectives would you use to describe your own
behavior? What two adjectives would you use to describe the other
person's behavior?
What would have happened if you had more time for the roleplay?
If you were the mediator, what do you think was the crux of the
confrontation?
What were the major differences between the previous roleplay and
this one?
Discuss the job aids. Distribute copies of the Mediation Checklist and Mediation Guidelines to Bs and Cs. Explain that the mediators used these job aids during the roleplay. Go through each item in the checklist and invite participants to discuss these three questions:
How effectively did the mediator implement this step?
How did this mediation step affect the disputants? How did it
contribute to the resolution of the conflict?
How could the mediator have done a better job?
Briefly discuss the guideline items, using similar questions.
Introduce the concept of self-mediation. Explain that it is not feasible to have a mediator to help resolve all conflicts. In some situations, the two parties to the conflict should act as their own mediators, monitoring their behaviors and making suitable suggestions to each other. Go through the items and guidelines. Explain that some guidelines (such as “Ask disputants to talk to you, not to each other”) can be used only by a third-party mediator, but most guidelines can be adapted for self-mediation. Discuss how each guideline can be suitably modified.
Roleplay 3: Deadlines
Distribute copies of the Deadlines Roleplay Scenario. Within each triad, C receives Chuck's story and A receives Angela's story. Ask these participants to read the story, think about it, and get ready to act out the confrontation.
Brief the observers. Call all Bs to the front of the room and distribute copies of the Observation Checklist. Emphasize that they will not be mediating the conflict, but silently observing the behaviors of the two disputants and noting the use of self-mediation techniques. Send Bs back to their triads.
Start the roleplay. Set your timer for 8 minutes. Ask the Chuck and Angela in each triad to begin their conversation.
Monitor the roleplay. Walk among the triads, eavesdropping in the conversations, and take notes about interesting self-mediation activities.
Conclude the roleplay. After 8 minutes, announce the end of the roleplay. Ask the roleplayers to take a few minutes to leave their roles and to return to the current reality. Encourage participants to talk to each other about the experience.
Debrief the roleplay. Ask participants to discuss questions such as the following:
If you were playing the role of Chuck or Angela, did you believe the
other person's story? What is the reason for your belief or disbelief?
What two adjectives would you use to describe the other person's
behavior? What two adjectives would you use to describe your own
behavior?
What would have happened if you had more time for the roleplay?
What were the differences between this roleplay and the first one? In
what ways did the self-mediation principles and procedures help you?
What were the differences between this roleplay and the preceding
one? How easy or difficult was it for you to recall and use self-
mediation techniques?
What suggestions do you have for improving the use of self-mediation
techniques?
Conclude the session. Thank participants for their contribution. Encourage everyone to apply the self-mediation technique to manage future conflicts.
[Table of Contents]
Handouts: Project Management
Handouts: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Observation Checklist (for use during the PROJECT MANAGEMENT Roleplay)
1. From your perspective, what was the crux of this conflict?
2. Did Alan and Barbara seem more eager to talk or to listen?
3. What types of active-listening behaviors did you notice?
4. Did you see any attempt at goal setting and planning for the future?
5. Most conflicts are accompanied by negative behaviors and emotions.
What are some examples of negative behaviors and emotions (such as
accusations, betrayal, domination, hostility, anger, frustration, and
sarcasm) that you observed in the conversation between Alan and
Barbara?
6. Some conflict-management conversations are accompanied by positive
behavior and emotions. What are some examples of positive behaviors
and emotions (such as understanding, apologizing, empathy, support,
and hope) that you observed in the conversation between Alan and
Barbara?
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Alan's Story
You are Alan and this is your story:
I thought that my manager Barbara was a nice person but she turns out to be a jerk. For the past six months she has been praising my project management skills, but I understand that last week she stabbed me in the back. Someone told me that at the Executive Management meeting, another manager asked Barbara whether I could lead a major product-development initiative. Apparently Barbara told everyone that I am too inexperienced for such a big responsibility. I know that I can manage the project and Barbara knows that too. Maybe she is planning to keep me enslaved to her department. I have asked for a meeting with her and I am going to ask her point blank why she is holding me back.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Barbara's Story
You are Barbara and this is your story:
Alan is a very competent person and he is advancing rapidly in his career. During the past sixth months he handled two different projects and completed both of them ahead of schedule and under budget. But Alan is naive about company politics and I have to act as a mentor to protect him. Many of the other managers are jealous of him and they are trying to get rid of him. For example, Peter, one of the other managers, asked me innocently if Alan would make a good manager for the Model 17 product-development initiative. Everyone knows that project is going to fail miserably and the previous manager quit her job because of that. Peter's looking for a scapegoat and I don't want Alan to be blamed for the failure of this doomed project. So I told Peter to find someone else with more experience.
[Table of Contents]
Handouts: Customer Service
Handouts: CUSTOMER SERVICE
Mediation Checklist (for use during the CUSTOMER SERVICE roleplay)
1. Frame the session
o Explain that conflicts are inevitable results of healthy diversity.
o Explain that a well-managed conflict provides an opportunity for
future growth.
o Stress the importance of listening to each other.
2. Gather information and analyze the conflict
o Focus the conversation on the current dispute.
o Ask the disputants to take turns to tell their story.
o Maintain neutrality. Don't take sides.
3. Help disputants to establish mutual goals.
o Establish task-related goals.
o Establish relationship goals.
4. Brainstorm strategies for achieving the goals.
o Focus on win-win strategies.
o Use a variety of brainstorming techniques.
5. Select the best strategy.
o Ensure that the strategy is fair and equitable for both
disputants.
o Set up an action plan for implementing the strategy.
o Identify the first small step for immediate implementation.
6. Debrief the participants
o Encourage disputants to reflect on what happened.
o Encourage disputants to share their insights for preventing and
resolving future conflicts.
Mediation Guidelines (for use during the CUSTOMER SERVICE roleplay)
1. Be fair but firm.
2. Maintain control through appropriate use of body language, hand
gestures, and tone of voice.
3. Talk to both disputants at the same time.
4. Remove desks and chairs. Arrange furniture to facilitate conversation.
5. Ask disputants to talk to you, not to each other.
6. Be absolutely impartial.
7. Don't respond to disputant's questions about your opinions,
perceptions, or reactions.
8. Ask disputants to take turns telling you their story.
9. Listen actively.
10.Focus on the dispute. Focus on a single dispute. Focus on the current
dispute.
11.Ask for specific and objective facts. Discourage inferences and
evaluations.
12.Encourage appropriate sharing of feelings.
13.Neutralize provocative language.
14.Repeat statements to require clarification.
15.Avoid closed questions and leading questions.
16.Ask questions that begin with what, when, where, who, in what way,
and how? Never ask questions that begin with why.
17.Don't make suggestions.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Bob's Story
You are Bob and this your story:
I work at the hotline desk and I think that my supervisor Cathy is a control freak. She won't let go of her authority and enjoys bossing people around. Last month the company started emphasizing customer satisfaction, but Cathy thinks that it's all a fad. If I take extra time to talk to a customer, she yells at me and reminds me that my quota is handling 10 calls every 15 minutes. But if we really want to delight our customers, I have to spend more time, especially those people who are clueless about computers. Cathy is threatening to get me fired. I am not going to put up with all this harassment and so I sent a complaint letter to the president of the company.
Customer Service: Cathy's Story
You are Cathy and this is your story:
We hired Bob because he had a very friendly personality but I don't think that he will make a good hotline employee unless he changes his attitude. He thinks none of the the callers know anything about computers and wastes a lot of time coaching them on the fundamentals, which they already know. Also he wastes time socializing with the customers instead of solving their technical problems. We all know that customers get hostile if they are put on hold for long periods of time. That's why we have this quota of handling 10 calls every 15 minutes. That way customers are happily surprised by how quickly their calls are answered. Actually, we are rated number 1 in this area. I told Bob yesterday that with his personality he'd make a great sales person. Today I understand that he sent an anonymous complaint about me to the president of our company. I am having a meeting with Bob to straighten him up.
[Table of Contents]
Handouts: DEADLINES
Handouts: DEADLINES
Observation Checklist (for use during the DEADLINES roleplay)
1. From your perspective, what was the crux of this conflict?
2. Did Chuck and Angela seem more eager to talk or to listen?
3. What types of active-listening behaviors did you notice?
4. What are some examples of negative behaviors and emotions (such as
accusations, betrayal, domination, hostility, anger, frustration, and
sarcasm) that you observed in the conversation between Chuck and
Angela?
5. What are some examples of positive behaviors and emotions (such as
understanding, apologizing, empathy, support, and hope) that you
observed in the conversation between Chuck and Angela?
6. How did Chuck and Angela demonstrate their ability to use self-
mediation techniques related to these checklist items?
o Frame the session.
o Gather information and analyze the conflict.
o Establish mutual goals.
o Brainstorm strategies for achieving the goals.
o Select the best strategy.
o Debrief.
DEADLINES: Chuck's Story
You are Chuck and this is your story:
I always try to finish my work on time, but last week I had flu and I was worried it could be that anthrax thing because I opened a junk mail envelope from Florida. With all this terrorist business, I could not focus on my work and had to get some counseling. And all Angela did was yell at me for not finishing the tables for the monthly report. That woman is obsessed with trivial details. Nobody reads those reports anyhow and who cares if it is late by a couple of days?
DEADLINES: Angela's Story
You are Angela and this is your story:
Chuck never finishes anything before the deadline. We both agree when his part of the task is to be completed but he is always late and always with a handy excuse. Last month his kid was sick. This month he had flu. He has my sympathy but I expect my coworkers to behave in a professional manner. He
also complains that nobody reads the monthly reports anyhow, but it's not our job to make policy, is it?
Card Game
FIVE CARD SETS
Here's a framegame — actually a set of five framegames — that can be used as a review exercise for any training workshop. The game uses five different kinds of cards on the same content area. These cards can be won by performing five different types of activities. The first player to win a five-card set (one card of each kind) wins the game.
Purpose
To review, integrate, and apply previously learned materials.
Players
4 to 7 at each table. (Larger groups can be divided into groups of 4 to 7 and play at different tables.)
Time
30 minutes to 1 hour
Supplies
Decks of game cards. Each deck has 10 cards in each of the five categories:
Compare-Contrast
Beat the Clock
Charades
Draw It Out
Roleplay
Instruction Sheets for playing each of the five categories of cards (see below)
Paper and pencil
One timer for each table
Preparation
Prepare decks of cards. Use a different colored index card for each category of cards. Create 10 or more cards in each category, using the instructions and samples given below:
Compare-Contrast. Write two related concepts, issues, principles,
rules, or steps on each card. (Example: Individual differences and
Cultural differences)
Beat the Clock. Write a single category label on each card. (Example:
Business reasons for valuing diversity)
Charades. Write a message, a word, or a phrase on each card.
(Example: Do unto others what they would like to have done unto
them.)
Draw It Out. Write a message, a word, or a phrase on each card.
(Example: Individualism)
Roleplay. Specify “your” role and the “other” role, along with a brief
description of a situation on each card. (Example: Your Role: A US
American Project Team Leader. Other Role: Indonesian Project Team
member. Situation: The team has failed to meet a critical deadline for
a client. You want the Indonesian team member to apologize to the
client. The team member finds this task to be distasteful.)
Set up the tables. FIVE CARD SETS is best played in groups of five, but it can be played in groups of any number from four to seven. Divide the players into groups of approximately equal size. Set up a play table for each group. Place a deck of game cards, pads of paper and pencil, and a timer at each table.
Briefing
Explain the nature of the game cards. Ask players to shuffle the deck of cards and pick one card of each color. Point out that each card has a category label and an appropriate item.
Explain the object of the game. Players win cards during the specified period of play, trying to win one card of each color. The game ends when a player has won a five-card set, each card of a different color.
Explain how to win cards of different colors. Distribute the instruction sheet for each category of cards and step the players through the procedure. Use the following sequence:
Compare-Contrast
Beat the Clock
Charades
Draw It Out
Roleplay
Point out that in Charades and Draw It Out, two players may win cards at the same round.
Flow Of The Game
Activate the cards. Ask a player at each table to take back all cards from the others and separate them into five packets by color. Then ask players to turn the cards with the information side face down and shuffle each packet of cards. Place the five packets in the middle of the table.
Begin the game. The tallest player at each table takes the first turn. She picks up the top card from any of the five packets and plays the game according to the standard procedure for the category of the selected card.
Conclude the round. The player who picked the card — or some other player — may win the first card. The winner places this card in front of her with the category label on top. If no one wins the card, it is put in a “waste pile”.
Continue the game. The player to the left of the previous player now picks up the top card of any of the piles on the table. Use the appropriate procedure for the category of the selected card. Repeat this procedure to continue playing the game.
Conclude the game. When a player has won one card of each color, the game comes to the end. This player wins the game.
Flow of the Activity
Brief participants. Before your presentation, advise participants to pay careful attention to your talk and to take ample notes because you will be conducting a review exercise at the end. Make your presentation at a fairly brisk pace.
Identify a superlative. After the presentation, ask participants to review the notes and look for the most important point from the presentation. Encourage them to refer back to their notes.
Elicit a response. After a brief pause, invite any participant to announce what she considers to be the most important point. After the response, ask the participant to explain the logic behind the choice. Add your own comments to support the participant's choice.
Ask for alternative responses. Point out that there could be more than one correct answer to the question, “Which is the most important point?” Elicit alternative responses from different participants, one at a time. Invite other participants to comment on these choices.
Identify a new category. Ask participants to review their notes again and identify the most useful point from the presentation. Pause briefly while participants review their notes.
Ask partners to discuss their choices. Ask participants to find partners. Ask each pair of participants to share their answers to the question “What is the most useful point from the presentation?” If both partners have the same answer, ask them to discuss the reasons for their choice. If the partners have different answers, ask them to come to an agreement about which of the two answers contains the most important point.
Ask participants to present their choices. After a suitable pause, ask a pair of participants to announce the most useful point and the reason for its selection. Comment briefly to reinforce the selection. Ask for alternative choices from other pairs of participants.
Identify more categories. Repeat the procedure with other superlatives such as these:
Most confusing
Most controversial
Most difficult
Most surprising
Most amusing
Most unusual
Most credible
Most trivial
Conclude the activity. Congratulate participants for their in-depth analysis and understanding of characteristics and events associated with workplace violence. Explain that their choice of items that fit different superlatives may change from time to time depending on the situation.
[Table of Contents]
Handout01
Instruction Sheet: COMPARE - CONTRAST
What You See
The card specifies two concepts, issues, principles, rules, or steps.
What You Do
Read the two items aloud. Then place the card in the middle of the table so that all players can refer to it.
Set the timer for 1 minute and start it.
Ask everyone to think of the relationship between the two items and to write a list of similarities and differences. You should also write a list.
At the end of 1 minute, fold your list in half and place it in front of you. Ask the other players fold their lists in half.
Randomly select one of the lists and give that list and your list to a player without anyone being able to figure out who wrote which list. (One way to do this: Collect the folded lists from the other players and mix them up. Pick one of the lists, place it on top of yours, mix the two up, and give them both to any player.)
Ask this player to read the two lists, one after the other. After reading the lists, the player places both of them in the middle of the table so that everyone can refer to them.
Ask the player who wrote the other list not to participate in the next selection activity. At the count of three, ask the other players to point to the better one of the two lists on the table.
Count the number of fingers pointing to each list. Determine which list got the most votes. The player who wrote this list wins the card. In case of a tie, you win the card.
[Table of Contents]
Handout02
Instruction Sheet: BEAT THE CLOCK
What You See
The label for a category
What You Do
Read the category label aloud. Then place the card in the middle of the table so that all players can refer to it.
Set the timer for 2 minutes and start it.
Ask everyone to write down as many items as possible that belong to the category. You should also write a list.
At the end of 2 minutes, fold your list in half and place it in front of you. Ask the other players fold their lists in half.
Randomly select one of the lists and give that list and your list to a player without anyone being able to figure out who wrote which list. (One way to do this: Collect the folded lists from the other players and mix them up. Pick one of the lists, place it on top of yours, mix the two up, and give them both to any player.)
Ask this player to read the two lists, one after the other. After reading the lists, the player places both of them in the middle of the table so that everyone can refer to them.
Ask the player who wrote the other list not to participate in the next selection activity. At the count of three, ask the other players to point to the better one of the two lists on the table.
Count the number of fingers pointing to each list. Determine which list got the most votes. The player who wrote this list wins the card. In case of a tie, you win the card.
[Table of Contents]
Handout03
Instruction Sheet: CHARADE
What You See
The card has a message, a word, or a phrase.
What You Do
Read the card silently and keep it hidden from the other players.
Set the timer for 1 minute and start it.
Without speaking, use a series of gestures to convey the message.
The other players try to guess the message and shout out their guesses.
If a player shouts out the correct message, say, “Done!” and show the card.
What You Score
If you run out of time before anyone guesses the message, nobody wins anything. Show the card to everyone and put it in the waste pile.
If someone guesses the message correctly, you keep the card. The player who guessed the message correctly takes a card of the same color from the piles on the table.
Read the card silently and keep it hidden from the other players.
Set the timer for 1 minute and start it.
Draw a series of pictures on blank sheets of paper to convey the message. Do not use any text or numbers.
The other players try to guess the message and shout out their guesses.
If a player shouts out the correct message, say, “Done!” and show the card.
What You Score
If you run out of time before anyone guesses the message, nobody wins anything. Show the card to everyone and put it in the waste pile.
If someone guesses the message correctly, you keep the card. The player who guessed the message correctly takes a card of the same color from the piles on the table.
[Table of Contents]
Handout05
Instruction Sheet: ROLEPLAY
What You See
The roleplay card specifies your role, another player's role, and a situation.
What You Do
Read the roleplay instructions aloud. Then place the card in the middle of the table so that all players can refer to the instructions.
You play the role specified for you. Select any other player to play the other role.
Set the timer for 2 minutes and start the roleplay.
Begin playing the role. Interact with the other player.
All of the players (including the one who played the other role) give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” sign to indicate whether or not you gave an acceptable performance. If half or more of the players give you a “thumbs up”, you keep the card. Otherwise, place the card in the waste pile.
Creativity Technique
FIVE IDEAS
Teambuilding activities create high-performance teams whose members are extremely loyal to each other and to their team. Sometimes, however, the emphasis in teamwork results in reduced collaboration across teams. Similar problems occur when employees become so focused on their departmental goals that they ignore or downplay the strategic goals for the total organization.
FIVE IDEAS is an activity that encourages participants to go beyond what is good for their team or their department and work on cooperatively achieving common goals.
Key Concept
During the first round of this activity, participants from each division of an organization identify what they need from the other divisions. During the second round, participants are organized into heterogeneous groups with one member from each division. These groups come up with collaborative ideas for reaching a common goal.
Purpose
To come up with ideas for inter-team and inter-departmental collaboration for achieving common goals in an organization.
Participants
Two to 10 members representing each different department.
Our sample activity used for illustrative purposes below involves five
members representing these three departments: service, parts, and
sales.
Time
45 minutes to 3 hours (depending on the number of participants, number of divisions they represent, and amount of detail required)
Specify a common goal. At the beginning of the activity, announce a goal that requires collaboration among the different divisions. Briefly discuss how the achievement of this goal can be measured.
Paul, who is facilitating participants from three different departments,
has a choice of several common goals: making a record profit for
the next quarter, reducing employee turnover, and developing
new service lines. He eventually decides to stick with the mundane
(but important) goal of providing excellent customer service.
During the discussion of this goal, participants suggest that a reduction
in the waiting time and an increase in positive customer feedback
could be used as measures for checking the achievement of this goal.
Organize participants into homogeneous groups. Assign everyone from the same department to the same group. (However, if there are more than seven people from each department, divide them into more than one group.)
Paul has a simple task. He organizes three groups of service, parts,
and sales, and assigns the five members from each department to the
appropriate group. (If there were 11 people from each department,
Paul would have created one group of six and another group of seven.)
Assign tasks to the homogeneous groups. Ask members of each group to brainstorms a list of ideas in response to the question, “How can employees from the other departments help us better achieve the common goal?” Encourage groups to come up with a long list and shrink it down to the top five ideas. Announce a suitable time limit.
Pam is a member of the service department. She suggests that the
sales group should provide them with a clearer picture of what each
customer wants. Someone else in the group suggests that the sales
group should stop making rash promises to the customer. The group
also decides that they want better coordination with the parts group to
avoid service delays. The other two groups work out similar lists of
what they want from the remaining groups. Each group records its
ideas on a flip chart.
Get ready to conclude the first round of the activity. Five minutes before the end of the allotted time, blow a whistle to get participants' attention. Ask each group to identify its top five ideas for achieving the common goal. Ask individual participants to take notes about the final list. Explain that every participant would need this information during the next phase of the activity.
Reorganize participants into heterogeneous groups. Blow the whistle at the end of the allotted time. Now, reorganize the participants into several groups that contain one member from each of the previous (homogeneous) groups.
Paul divides participants into five groups of three members each. Pam
ends up in a group with Alan from sales and Kathy from parts.
Assign tasks to the heterogeneous groups. Ask members of the group to brainstorm a list of ideas in response to the question, “How can employees from different departments work with each other to achieve our common goal?” Encourage participants to use their ideas from the previous round in a flexible fashion. As before, encourage each group to begin with a long list and whittle it down to the top five ideas.
Pam is somewhat irritated by the unreasonable expectations of the
other two members of her new group. After some debate, all three
group members focus on the common goal, compromise their initial
demands, and come up with creative strategies.
Get ready to conclude the activity. Five minutes before the end of the assigned time, blow the whistle and ask the groups to identify the top five ideas. Also ask each group to list the final set of ideas on the flip chart and get ready to make a presentation.
Share the ideas. Select a group at random and ask its spokesperson to present the final set of five ideas. Encourage members of the other groups to listen carefully. Repeat the procedure until all groups have made their presentation.
Conduct individual action planning activity. Give an index card or a piece of paper to each participant. Ask participants to write down five ideas in response to the question, “How can I individually contribute to the achievement of the common goal?” Tell participants that they could record earlier ideas from their groups, or ideas from other groups, or new ideas. Announce a suitable time limit.
Pam's action plan contains four items from the list created by her
group. In addition, she comes up with a bright idea of her own:
“Frequently remind other members of my group about the importance
of helping the sales groups to come up with realistic time estimates.”
Adjustments
Want an alternative ending? Instead of concluding with the individual action-planning round, reassemble participants into their
original homogeneous groups. Now ask them to brainstorm ideas in response to the question, “How can we support the other departments in their attempts to reach the common goal?”
Not enough time? You can speed up the activity by asking the groups to come up with just two ideas during each rounds.
Not enough participants? This should not be a problem, since you can conduct the activity with as few as four participants (two participants each from two different departments).
Too many participants? It could be a problem if you have hundreds of participants. To handle this situation, simply divide the larger group into medium-sized groups (of about 20) with equal representation from different departments. Then conduct parallel versions of the activity with each subgroup.
Unbalanced number of participants? What if you have 20 sales people, 15 support staff, and 4 trainers? The way we handle this situation is to redistribute participants from the larger groups to the other groups and ask them to role-play membership of the other groups. In our example, several of the sales people and a few of the support staff will pretend to be trainers so each group will have 13 members.
Too few departments? Recently we conducted FIVE IDEAS with employees from two merging organizations. Each organization sent 10 representatives. We set up two homogeneous groups of five from each organization for the first round. For the second round, we redistributed the participants into five heterogeneous groups of four. Each of these groups had two representatives from two different homogeneous groups.
Improv Game
FLEXTALK
Can you present the same message in several different ways? This useful skill provides you with a flexible communication style and helps you reinforce the message.
This is how FLEXTALK works: Ask the participants to stand in a circle. Make a statement and toss a ball to one of the participants. This person catches the ball and immediately makes a different statement that presents the same message. The participant tosses the ball to someone else. This ball-catcher repeats the process.
After catching the ball, a participant is eliminated if he or she hesitates for a long time, repeats an earlier statement, or significantly alters the meaning of the message. The game continues until only one participant remains. This participant is the winner.
In a recent play of FLEXTALK , my original message was “Shut up!”. Here are some of the different versions:
Please close your mouth.
Kindly abstain from any further oral communication.
I'll choke you if you keep talking!
Have you ever considered the wisdom behind the aphorism, “Silence is golden”?
Stop talking!
You are talking too much. Please give the others an opportunity to participate in the conversation.
Sh!
It's better to keep your mouth shut and have others wonder if you are stupid than to open your mouth and confirm their suspicion.
If you have more than 10 participants, divide the group in half and create two circles.
Obviously, you can load this framegame with messages that are relevant to your instructional topic. In a computer-literacy class, for example, you might start with this message: Save early and save often.
To explore the relationship among suppliers, employees, and customers.
Time:
15 to 30 minutes.
Participants:
6 or more, divided into three approximately equal groups. This game works best with groups of 20-50.
Supplies:
A large number of index cards (cut in half) Play money Instruction sheet for each group. Use the samples given at
the end of the game description below. Timer Whistle
Room arrangement:
Assign Group 1 to one end of the room and Group 3 to the opposite end. Place Group 2 in the middle.
Flow of the game:
1. Brief the players. Explain that the groups have slightly different objectives. Also explain that members of Groups 1 and 3 may not interact directly with each other.
2. Distribute the materials. Give $200 in play money to each member of Group 3 along with the instruction sheet. Give $5 to each member of Group 2 along with the instruction sheet. Give 50 index card halves to each member of Group 1 along with the instruction sheet.
3. Ask the participants to read their instructions. Visit each group and answer any questions.
4. Announce the beginning of the game. Blow the whistle and start the timer. Let the participants play the game for 5 minutes.
5. Stop the game. Blow the whistle at the end of the 5-minute period.
6. Identify the winners. Ask members of the first two groups to count their money. Ask the members of Group 3 to count their cards. In each group, identify the winner and congratulate him or her.
7. Debrief the participants. Link the activity to the customer-supplier chain. Relate the activity to the workplace.
Instruction Sheet for Group 1 Members All members of your group have the same instructions. The
two other groups have different instructions. Your goal is to make more money than any other member of
your group. You have a large supply of index-card halves. Sign your
name on each card half. You can sell the signed cards to any member of Group 2. You
cannot sell the cards to anyone else. The suggested retail price is $1 per card.
You may sell up to five cards to a single person at any given time. You may not sell more cards to the same person until you have sold some cards to someone else.
The game will end after 5 minutes. At that time, if you have the most money in Group 1, you win the game.
Instruction Sheet for Group 2 Members All members of your group have the same instructions. The
two other groups have different instructions. Your goal is to make more money than any other member of
your group. You begin the activity with $5. Your job is to buy cards from the members of Group 1, sign
your name under the signature on each card, and sell the cards to the members of Group 3.
The suggested purchase price of the cards from Group 1 is $1 each. The suggested selling price to Group 3 is $2 each.
You may sell only one card at a time to any Group 3 member. You may not sell another card to the same person until you have sold a card to someone else.
The game will end after 5 minutes. At that time, if you have the most money in Group 2, you win the game.
Instruction Sheet for Group 3 Members All members of your group have the same instructions. The
two other groups have different instructions. Your goal is to collect more cards than any other member of
your group. You begin the activity with $200. You use this money to buy
cards from the members of Group 2. Each card costs $2. Make sure that the card has two different
signatures, one below the other. You may not collect more than two cards that have the same
two signatures. The game will end after 5 minutes. At that time, if you have
Here's an interesting game to play near the end of a workshop. It helps you to review major concepts.
Can you describe the concept of simulation game without using any of these words: simulation, game, play, rules, reflect, represent, model, win, lose, and real? You may not use other forms of these forbidden words either. For example, reflection, reflective, or reflected are not acceptable.
Here's my attempt: This is an activity which is very much like what happens every day. It involves make-believe and pretending, but it is not drama or a roleplay. It is usually done on a computer, but a computer is not necessary. In training, you may have teams of participants involved in this activity . . .
Here's how to incorporate this idea into a game: Participants are organized into triads. Each participant picks up a card that has a
concept to be described. This card also lists words which should not be used in defining the concept. The first player (sender) describes the concept and the second player (receiver) tries to guess the concept. The third player (monitor) keeps track of the time and makes sure that none of the forbidden words are used. When the receiver guesses correctly and shouts out the concept, the monitor announces the time. This time is recorded on both the sender's and the receiver's score sheet.
The second player now becomes the sender, the third player the receiver, and the first player the monitor. A different concept is used. The same procedure is repeated until all three players have had a chance to be the sender. The player with the shortest total time is the winner.
By the way, if the sender uses a forbidden word, both the sender and the (innocent) receiver are arbitrarily given a time of 3 minutes!
When you load this framegame, the secret is to select the concepts and the taboo words with care. Force your players to come up with plain English translations of technical definitions.
Live eLearning
FREE MONEY
A cash game is a special type of simulation game that involves actual cash transactions. Cash games don't deal with accounting procedures or financial management. Instead, they explore interpersonal skills (such as negotiation) and concepts (such as cooperation) and increase self-awareness. Since real cash reflects the real world, cash games bring out natural actions and emotions among participants.
In recent web seminar demonstrations sponsored by Centra (and co-facilitated by my Aussie friend Harvey Feldstein) and by LearningTimes (co-facilitated by my friend and fellow-magician Jonathan Finkelstein) I conducted one of my favorite cash games called FREE MONEY . The game was lots of fun and very effective.
Here are the details of FREE MONEY if you want to run this game during your next live elearning session.
Time
15 minutes (7 minutes for the activity, 8 minutes for the debrief)
Participants
At least 10. Larger numbers produce more dramatic results.
Technical Requirement
Your live e-learning product must support polling. All products that I reviewed (including Centra, Communicast, HorizonLive, Interwise, Placeware, and Web Crossing) include a convenient polling function.
Potential Cost
You may have to fork out a total of $10 in prize money. However, your money is safe. Since greed is a universal human value, it is very unlikely that you will ever have to make this payment.
Flow
Get participants' attention. Announce that one lucky person will win $10 in the next activity. Ask participants to listen carefully as you explain the rules. (With money involved, they would be doing this anyhow.
Brief participants. Display a slide and give the following information.
You will conduct a poll that offers either $10 or 10 cents. This poll will be open only for 99 seconds. Each participant may choose either of the two amounts. When the polls close, one participant who chose $10 will receive
$10. This person will be selected at random among the people who chose $10.
Explain the restrictions. Announce that there are some restrictions about winning the prize amounts. Here they are:
The prize money will be awarded only if at least 10 people participate in poll.
The prize money will not be awarded if more than three people choose $10.
If only one person chose $10, she will automatically receive the amount. If two people chose $10, one of them (chosen randomly)
will receive $10. If three people chose $10, one of them (again, chosen randomly) will receive $10. If four or more people chose $10, nobody will receive any money.
Conduct the poll. Display the polling slide that offers a choice between $10 and 10 cents. Be sure to hide the poll results. Keep the poll open for 99 seconds.
Display the results. After 99 seconds, announce that you are closing the poll. Display the results. There is a high probability that more than three people would have chosen $10. Resist the temptation to make any comments. Just leave the results on screen. You don't have to rub it in.
Be prepared for bad news. In the unlikely event that the group succeeds in winning $10, get the participants who chose $10 to identify themselves by typing their names in the text-chat box. Randomly select one of them. Announce that you would send a check for $10 through postal mail. (And be sure to do that.)
Debrief the group. Here are some suggested discussion questions:
If you chose 10 cents, how do you feel about your decision? How do you feel about those who chose $10?
If you chose $10, how do you feel about your decision? How do you feel about those who chose 10 cents?
What primary motive leads people to choose $10? What's the motive behind the choice of 10 cents?
What is the best strategy in this game? Why do you think it is the best strategy?
How do you react to this statement: Most people are greedy? Does this game reflect incidents that happen in your workplace?
Can you describe these incidents? Have you ever said, “Somebody should…”? What's the
relationship between a “somebody-should” situation and this simulation?
What would have happened if you had to choose between $100 and one cent?
What would happen if we conducted this game in a face-to-face classroom and permitted participants to talk to each other before selecting between $10 and 10 cents?
Adjustments
The flow described above is based on the assumption that you have a group of 20-30 participants. With larger numbers, increase the
minimum participation requirement and for maximum number of people choosing $10. Rule of thumb: 30 percent for minimum participation and 10 percent for the maximum $10 choices.
Field Notes
In each of the three most recent demonstration sessions, we had more than 100 participants. In all three cases, nearly 50 percent of the group chose $10. (So your money is safe. You can boldly offer $100 vs. 1 cent.)
Jolt
FREE TIME
I recently used this jolt in the middle of a diversity presentation for hundreds of participants assembled in an auditorium.
Purpose
To explore how it feels to be excluded—and to be excluding.
Participants
Any number, but preferably more than 10.
Time
6 minutes for the activity and 2 minutes for debriefing.
Supplies
One sticky dot for each participant; half of them green, and half of them red.
Flow
Organizing groups. As each participant comes to the session, randomly give him or her a green and red dot. Distribute
approximately equal number of dots of the two colors. Ask participants to stick the dots to their name tag or their forehead.
Brief participants. In the middle of a presentation, ask all participants to independently decide how they should spend 3 minutes of free time in the middle of your session.
Assign planning strategies. Explain that you are going to conduct an experiment on right-brain and left-brain strategies for planning. Ask participants to check the colored dot given to them. People with green dots (“greens”) will prepare a linear to-do list for the 3-minute period. Ask participants with red dots (“reds”) to close their eyes and visualize what they will be doing during the 3 minutes of free time. Ask the reds to keep visualizing with their eyes closed until you blow the whistle.
Give secret instructions to greens. Ask greens to keep their eyes open. Project the following messages on the screen, one at a time.
Shhh…! Follow these secret instructions.
When I blow the whistle, start an enthusiastic conversation. Share your ideas for how to spend the free 3 minute time period.
But talk only to other greens. Ignore reds. Don't talk to them.
Shout across chairs to other greens. If necessary, walk over to meet other greens.
If reds talk to you, don't respond. Ignore them.
Begin the free-time period. Turn off the projector, and after about 2 more minutes, blow the whistle and ask the reds to open their eyes. Start the timer and invite all participants to discuss their plans for the 3-minute free time. Watch the activities. Blow the whistle after 3 minutes and announce the end of the free period.
Conduct a quick debrief. Follow this suggested sequence:
Ask “How did you feel?” Establish that reds felt uncomfortable about being ignored and excluded. Also establish that greens felt uncomfortable about ignoring others and excluding them.
Ask “What happened?” “As a green, what did you and why did you do it? As a red, what did you do and why did you do it?”
When greens explain that they were merely following instructions, explain the set-up to reds. Display the secret instructions on the screen again. Continue with debriefing.
Ask greens “Why?” Discuss why the greens chose to follow the instructions even though they felt uncomfortable. Point out that you indoctrinated them in just a few seconds. Ask them how strong their behavior would have been if you had “enculturated” them for several years.
Relate to the workplace. Ask, “In what ways is this activity similar to what happens in your workplace?” Discuss responses from participants.
Ask what-if questions. Use questions such as, “What if there were a higher number of reds than greens?” and “What if the free time period lasted for 10 minutes?”
Ask “What-next?” questions. Use questions such as, “Knowing what you learned from this activity, how would you change the way you include or exclude people who belong to different groups?”
GAMEGAME
GAMEGAME is an application of a flexible small-group activity to enable players to express, explain, and exchange their opinions about training games.
GAMEGAME has two important outcomes:
Players express, explain, and exchange a wide range of opinions about training games.
Players work cooperatively and creatively in teams.
Time Requirement
About 40 minutes. You can easily expand or contract the game to suit the available time.
Materials Twenty or more index cards with different opinions about training
games. Here are some examples:
o You lose control of trainees. o They motivate participants. o They ensure transfer of training. o Only lazy trainers use them.
Four blank index cards for each player.
Flow Of The Game
In the following description, the phases of the game are printed in regular type, while sample segments from an imaginary play of the game are printed in italics.
Preparing The Initial Set of Cards. Before the workshop, prepare a set of opinion cards. Each card should contain one opinion about training games. Come up with a variety of positive and negative opinions. Prepare at least two opinion cards for each anticipated player. If you cannot make up that many opinions, use duplicates.
Bob is conducting a workshop for a group of corporate trainers. Twenty participants have signed up for the workshop, including a few OD specialists.
The day before the workshop, Bob prepares 40 opinion cards.
Getting Started. Start the game quickly. When the players are ready, say to them: “I'd like to begin right off with a group activity that will help us get to know each other. It will also allow us to discover what opinions people have about training games. This activity should set the stage for the rest of the workshop.”
Bob catches everyone's attention and gives his introductory presentation.
Players look like they are ready for action.
Card Writing by Players. Hand out four blank index cards to each player. Ask them to write down an opinion about training games on each card. The opinions need not reflect the personal views of the writer. They should represent enthusiastic and skeptical points of view. Give some sample opinions to the group.
The workshop starts at 8:30 a.m., and Susan arrives 5 minutes late. She sees the others writing busily. Bob gives her four blank cards and asks her to write her opinions. Susan thinks for a moment and comes up with the following:
Trainees have fun, but they don't learn anything. You cannot make managers play games. Games make abstract concepts much more concrete. Games help you build teams.
Distributing Cards. After about 3 minutes, collect opinion cards from players. Secretly add your prepared cards to this pile. Mix the cards well and deal three cards to each player. Ask the players to study the opinions and arrange them according to their personal preference—from the most to the least acceptable opinion.
Bob collects the cards from the players and adds his own collection. He mixes the cards and gives three to each player.
Susan studies the three cards she receives and arranges them in the following order:
Games add interest to instruction. Simulation games help students learn how to make
decisions. Games are not suitable for adult learners.
Exchanging Cards. Arrange the remaining opinion cards on a large table at one side of the room. Tell the players that they may discard cards from their hands and pick up better replacements. Players must work silently; they should not talk to each other during this phase of the game. At the end of this exchange, each player should have three cards that may or may not include cards from the original set.
Susan takes her cards to the table and rummages there. She discards two of her cards and picks up the following:
You cannot design an effective game in a short time. Games trivialize serious ideas.
Susan is surprised to see another player eagerly picking up her discards!
Swapping Cards. Instruct players to exchange cards with each other to make their hands better reflect their personal opinions. In this phase, any player may swap cards with any other player; every player must exchange at least one card.
When Bob announces the beginning of the exchange, Susan wanders around until Arthur stops her. Comparing cards, Susan sees one that says, “Games encourage holistic learning.” She bargains with Arthur
until he exchanges this card for her card about games trivializing serious ideas. Before Susan can find someone else to swap with, Bob calls time to end this phase of the game.
Forming Teams. Ask players to compare their cards with each other and to form teams with people holding similar opinions. There is no limit to the number of players who may team up together, but a team may keep no more than three cards. It must discard all other cards, and the three cards it keeps must that meet with everyone's approval.
Susan goes around the room checking with others. She runs across Betty, who has excellent cards, and they decide to team up. The two set out to find other kindred souls. Tony wants to join them, and they agree, provided that he drops the card that says, “Games create problems for trainers and trainees.” In a few more minutes, their team recruits two other players, including Arthur. They study the combined collection and reduce it to these three:
Games encourage holistic learning. It is difficult to design an effective training game. Games are highly motivating.
Preparing a Poster. Ask each team to prepare a graphic poster that reflects its three final cards. This poster should not include any text. After 5 minutes, ask each team to read its three cards, display its poster, and explain the symbolism.
After some discussion and debate, the team decides that Susan should be the artist and the others give her ideas. The final collage shows a group of smiling faces with bubbles on top of their heads and a variety of symbols to reflect holistic learning. Another panel shows a trainer sweating over a game board. During the “show-and-tell” period, Arthur reads the three cards and Betty assists Susan in explaining the poster.
Awards. Identify winning teams in each of these categories:
Internal consistency among the three final cards. Clarity of the message in the poster. Appropriateness of the illustrations.
Susan's poster did not receive an award, but Bob judged the team's three cards to be the most consistent!
Structured Sharing
GENERATIONS
This activity is an application of a framegame called MATCH AND MIX. In addition to the purpose specified below, GENERATIONS can also be used to explore the characteristics, values, and preferences of different age groups.
Key Idea
During the first round, each team is assigned a specific age level and asked to brainstorm ideas for a common goal. During the second round, participants are reorganized into mixed teams with each member of a different age level and asked to synthesize their earlier ideas.
Index Tags
Structured sharing. Generations. Age differences. Diversity. Brainstorming. Idea generation. Evaluation. Community planning.
Purpose
To come up with ideas that will appeal to people at various age levels.
Participants
Minimum: 9Maximum: Any numberBest: 16 to 20(Each participant is assigned to two different teams during the two rounds of this activity.)
Time
30 to 60 minutes.
Supplies
Team Allocation Cards, one for each participant
Blank pieces of paper
Pens or pencils
Timer
Whistle
Flip chart pads
Felt-tipped pens
Room Setup
Tables (preferably round ones) with chairs around them to facilitate teamwork.
Preparation
Prepare team allocation cards. All participants belong to two different teams during the two rounds of this activity. An important requirement of this activity is that members of the first team are allotted to different second teams. To facilitate this type arrangement, each participant receives a Team Allocation Card that contains a letter and a number.
Examples: A4 or C2.
During the first part of the activity, participants organize themselves into teams according to the letter in their card. During the second part, they reorganize themselves according to the number on the card.
Example: The participant with the card C2 belongs to Team C during the first round and Team 2 during the second round.
Before conducting the activity, find out how many participants you will have. Check with the Team Allocation Table to figure out the combinations of letters and numbers for the cards. Write the appropriate letter-number combinations on blank index cards.
Example: You have 21 participants. Looking up this number in the table, you prepare the following Team Allocation Cards:
Brief the participants. Explain that you are going to facilitate a structured brainstorming activity in two rounds. Specify the goal for brainstorming.
Example: What should the community park look like?
Form matched teams. Shuffle the Team Allocation Cards and distribute them, one card for each participant. Point out that each card contains a combination of a letter and a number. Ask participants to find others with the same letter and form themselves into teams. Depending on the total number of participants, you may have three to six teams.
Example: We have five teams, A to E.
Assign age groups. Explain that each team will represent a specific age level. Assign the age groups according to this list:
Team A = 57-year-olds
Team B = 47-year-olds
Team C = 37-year-olds
Team D = 27-year-olds
Team E = 17-year-olds
If you have more teams, add more age groups (such as 7-year-olds and 67-year-olds). Use as many age groups as you have teams.
Generate ideas. Ask members of each team to brainstorm strategies for achieving the goal from the point of view of the age level assigned to them. Ask teams to generate several ideas, discuss these ideas, and select the 10 best ideas. Assign someone in each team to record the ideas. Announce a 9-minute time limit for this activity.
Form mixed teams. After 9 minutes, blow the whistle and stop the activity. Tell participants that you are going to reorganize them into a new set of teams. Ask participants to check their Team Allocation Card once more and find others with the same number to form new teams. (If there are one or two people left over, as in this case with 21 participants, they may join any team they choose.)
Regenerate ideas. Ask members of the new teams to continue brainstorming for achieving the original goal. Ask participants to maintain their loyalty to the age groups from the previous round but try to focus on satisfying the needs and preferences of other age groups. Encourage participants to recall and share their ideas from the previous round and keep an open mind toward other perspectives. As before, ask teams to select the 10 best ideas and record them on a sheet of flipchart paper. Announce a 9-minute time limit for this activity.
Present lists of ideas. Blow the whistle at the end of 9 minutes, and ask teams to post their lists on convenient areas of the wall. Invite all participants to take a gallery walk and review the lists from other teams.
Follow Up
Consolidate the lists. With the help of all participants, come up with a common list that contains high-frequency ideas and avoids duplicates. Alternatively, make a complete list of non-duplicate ideas, photocopy this list, distribute them to the participants and others, and have each person select the top three ideas. Use this information to prepare the final list of ideas for immediate implementation.
Team Allocation Table
Participants Team Allocation Cards
9 A1, A2, A3 B1, B2, B3 C1, C2, C3
10A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3 C1, C2, C3
11A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3
12A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
13A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
14A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4
15A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
16A1, A2, A3, A4
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
17A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
18A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
19A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4
20A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
21A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
E1, E2, E3, E4
22A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4
D1, D2, D3, D4
E1, E2, E3, E4
23A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4
E1, E2, E3, E4
24A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4
25A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
26A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
27A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
28A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
29A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5
30A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6
C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6
E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6
GENERATIONS Game Plan
Here's a list of steps in GENERATIONS, complete with suggested time requirements and facilitator and participant activities. You may use this easy-to-refer job aid while facilitating this activity. (Thanks to Austin reader Karen Bantuveris for coming up with the name “Game Plan”.)
Step Facilitator Participants
Preparation (10 minutes)
Prepare appropriate number of Team Allocation Cards.
Briefing (2 minutes)
Explain the topic for brainstorming.
Think up suitable ideas.
Form matched teams (3 minutes)
Randomly distribute team assignment cards to each participant.
Find others with the same letter and form teams
Assign age groups (3 minutes)
Assign different age levels to each team.
Get ready to play the role of a person in the assigned age group.
Generate ideas (10 minutes)
Give instructions. Teams generate ideas related to the topic and select the top 10 ideas.
Form mixed teams (3 minutes)
Give instructions. Find others with the same number and form new teams.
Regenerate ideas (10 minutes)
Give instructions. Generate ideas (related to the same topic) that will appeal to people at different age levels. Select top 10 ideas.
Present lists of ideas (5 minutes)
Give instructions. Post your ideas on the wall. Review ideas from other teams.
Follow-up (9 minutes)
Conduct a discussion. Create a common list with high frequency, non-redundant ideas.
Recently, Jennifer participated in the play of the GENERATIONS game. We have created a list of different things she did in this game.
Your challenge is to rearrange the seven game activities in the correct order by dragging and dropping the items. If your list is correctly arranged within 60 seconds, you get a perfect score of 100.
You can replay the game any number of times. Each time you play the game, you may see different activities arranged in different orders.
If you get bored, try the game at a higher level of difficulty. You will have less time to complete the task.
If you are ready, play Jennifer Plays GENERATIONS .
Classification Card Game
GINNY
In the previous issue of PFP we discussed the advantages of two-person training games and presented detailed instructions for a card game called TRUMPS .
Here's another two-person card game called GINNY that is based on
GIN RUMMY . This game also deals with the stages in team development. It uses the same deck of classification cards.
Team Development
See the Four Stages of Team Development instructions to review information about the four stages of forming, storming, norming, and performing. (For your convenience, we have duplicated this handout from last month's PFP.)
Purpose
To rapidly recognize the behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, perceptions, expectations, problems, and strategies associated with the four stages of team development.
Two. Larger groups may be divided into pairs to play the game in a parallel fashion. If an odd player is left out, the facilitator can play the game with this person.
Time
5 - 10 minutes. The game may be replayed several times to determine the winner of a match.
Supplies
How To Play GINNY Handout. This handout summarizes the rules of the game. Make a copy for each player.
Four Stages of Team Development Handout. This handout summarizes Tuckman's model. Make a copy for each player.
Feedback Table. This table is used for settling disputes during the game. The table lists each card number and the correct team-development stage (or stages) associated with it. Make a copy for each player.
A deck of GROWING A TEAM Cards. This deck contains 99 cards. Prepare your own deck by typing the numbers and statements from this list on your own cards. (See below if you don't have the patience to do this.)
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
How To Play GINNY
(All words in italics are defined in the glossary.)
Deal the cards. Deal nine cards to each player, one card at a time. Deal the next card (the 19th card) face up on the table. This is the upcard. Place the rest of the deck face down. This becomes the stock.
Assemble Sets. The object of the game is to assemble at least one set of each of the following types:
A suit set that contains three or more cards of the same suit. A rank set that contains three or more cards of the same rank.
A set may have up to six cards. A player may also assemble three sets, each with three cards. In this case, the third set may be a suit set or a rank set. Any card that does not belong to a set is a deadwood.
Make the first move. The nondealer begins by picking up either the upcard or the top card of the stock (which is face down). After adding this card to her hand, this player discards a card face up on top of the upcard.
Repeat the procedure. The other player now picks up a card (either the upcard or the top card of the stock) and discards a card.
Continue the game. Players take turns to repeat the procedure, trying to assemble the required sets. At the end of each round, the player's hand contains nine cards.
Go out. Whenever a player has assembled the required sets and wants to conclude the game, she goes out after picking a card during her turn and placing the discard face down on top of the current upcard. She then places her hand (with the cards arranged in sets) face up on the table. The other player also reveals her hand.
Win the game. The players check out both hands. The player who went out wins the game if her hand contains no deadwood. If it contains deadwood, then the number of her deadwood cards is compared with the number of deadwood cards in her opponent's hand. In this case, whoever has fewer deadwood cards wins the game. (So it is possible for the player who goes out to lose the game if the other player has a better hand.)
Strategy
Reduce deadwood. Remember that you may lose the game even if are the first player to go out with the two required sets. This will happen if you have more deadwood cards than your opponent. To reduce this probability, keep adding cards to your two sets (by collecting cards of the same rank or suit). Alternatively, you may create a third set (either a suit set or a rank set) of three cards.
Optional Rules
Using the Feedback Table. Permit beginning players to refer to the Feedback Table whenever they want. However, wean them from the use of this cheat sheet as soon as possible to help them make decisions on their own and become more fluent about the four stages (suits).
Break the tie. In the rare occasion when both you and your opponent have the two required sets and equal number of deadwood cards, use this rule: The player who has the card with the lowest number (in the sets or deadwood cards) wins the game.
Penalty. Advanced players should play without referring to the Feedback Table. At the end of the game, use the Feedback Table to make sure that all cards in the suit set belong to the same suit. If they don't, this player loses the game and the other player wins by default.
Glossary
Dealer. At the beginning of the game, one of players shuffles the deck and distributes the cards one at a time. This player is the dealer. When more than one game is played, players alternate being the dealer.
Discard. Removing a card from your hand and placing it, face up, on top of the upcard. This card becomes the new upcard.
Hand. The set of nine cards that each player has at the beginning and end of their turn.
Nondealer. The person who is not the dealer for this game.
Number. One of the three attributes of a card. This is the complete value of the number printed on top of the card. (See also Rank and Suit.)
Rank. One of the three attributes of a card. The rank of the card is the last digit (units digit) of its number. Card ranks range from 0 to 9. Example: The rank of card 27 is 7. Cards with the numbers 18, 38, 88, and 118 all have the same rank of 8. (See also Suit and Number.)
Stock. Cards that are not dealt at the beginning of the game.
Suit. One of the three attributes of a card. The suit is the category to which the printed item on the card belongs. Example: Forming (See also Rank and Number.)
Every playing card in the GROWING A TEAM deck has three attributes: rank, suit, and number.
Here's a sample playing card from the GROWING A TEAM deck:
The number of the card is the complete number on the card. The number of the sample card is 48.
The rank of the card is the last digit of the number on the card. The rank of the sample card is 8, which is the last digit of 48.
The suit of the card is the stage of the team development process associated with the statement on the card. This is not directly printed on the card; you must read the statement and decide which suit it belongs to. This sample card belongs to the forming suit because the statement belongs to the forming stage.
It is easy to determine the rank of a playing card: Just ignore the first digit of the card. So 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, and 92 all have the same rank (that is, 2). Ranks run from 0 (the lowest) to 9 (the highest).
It takes some effort to determine the suit of a GROWING A TEAM card. Read the statement on the card, analyze it, and classify it correctly.
Some statements may describe more than one stage of team development. These playing cards belong to more than one suit. When you play one of these cards, you choose the suit to which the card belongs.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 2
Four Stages of Team Development
In 1965 B. W. Tuckman, who had been studying the behavior of small groups, published a model that suggests that all teams go through four distinct stages in their development:
Forming. The first stage in a team's development is forming. During this stage, the team members are unsure about what they are doing. Their focus is on understanding the team's goal and their role. They worry about whether the other team members will accept them. Team members frequently look for clarification from their leader.
Storming. The second stage in a team's development is storming. During this stage, the team members try to get organized. This stage is marked by conflict among the members and between the members and the leader. Through this conflict, the team attempts to define itself.
Norming. The third stage in a team's development is norming. This stage follows storming, after the team members have succeeded in resolving their conflicts. They now feel more secure with one another and with their leader. They effectively negotiate the structure of the team and the division of labor.
Performing. The fourth stage in a team's development is performing. During this stage the team members behave in a mature fashion and focus on accomplishing their goals. This stage is marked by direct, two-way communication among the team members.
1. All members participate in all team activities. 2. Disagreements become more civilized and less divisive. 3. Feeling of us-them increases. 4. Ground rules become second nature to team members. 5. If there is a formal leader, team members tend to obey him or
her. 6. Leadership is shared among different members. 7. Cautious 8. Leadership role is rotated among appropriate members. 9. Members are anxious and suspicious of the task ahead.
10. Challenging 11. Members are more committed to their sub-groups than to
the team as a whole. 12. Members are more friendly toward each other. 13. Members are not committed to the group's goal. 14. Collaborating 15. Conversation is polite and tentative. 16. Each team member decides what his or her role should be. 17. Everyone begins to experience success. 18. Members are not fully committed to the team goal. 19. Members are proud to be chosen for the team. 20. Members are relieved that things are progressing
smoothly. 21. Everyone is wondering, “Why are we here?” 22. Members are satisfied about the team's progress. 23. Members argue with each other—even when they agree on
the basic issues. 24. Everyone wants to have his or her say. 25. Facilitator encourages team members to critique their
behaviors. 26. Members attempt to figure out their roles and functions. 27. Members begin to enjoy team activities. 28. Facilitator encourages team members to discuss their
negative feelings. 29. Facilitator helps team members uncover and discuss
hidden agendas. 30. Members challenge, evaluate, and destroy ideas. 31. Members choose sides. 32. Members compete with each other. 33. Facilitator points out violations of ground rules and helps
team members revise the ground rules, if appropriate. 34. Facilitator uses an icebreaker to help team members to get
acquainted with each other. 35. Members deal with each other with greater confidence. 36. Members develop great loyalty to the team. 37. Members don't have enough information to trust each
other. 38. Members feel comfortable about their roles in the team. 39. Members feel confident about disagreeing with each other. 40. Team members decide on the appropriate level of risk
taking. 41. Members feel empowered. They take initiative without
checking with the leader. 42. Members feel excitement, anticipation, and optimism. 43. Members form subgroups that get into conflicts.
44. Members freely ask questions and express their frustrations.
45. Members have a better idea of whom to trust and whom to distrust.
46. Members have a realistic sense of trust based on their experiences with each other.
47. Members have clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each other.
48. Members take a “wait-and-see” approach. 49. Members tend to avoid the tasks and argue about ground
rules. 50. Members tend to be polite to each other. 51. Members tend to become complacent. 52. Members understand the team processes. 53. Members' feelings and attitudes keep fluctuating. 54. Most conversations are to and from the team leader. 55. Most discussions are about getting the task done. 56. Most discussions are shallow. 57. No ground rules established. Members depend on their
previous team experiences to decide how to behave. 58. Regular team meetings are replaced by a variety of as-
needed communications. 59. Several conflicts develop. 60. Some members become bored with the routine and begin
looking for new challenges. 61. Some members demonstrate passive resistance. 62. Team members decide who should do what. 63. Some members dominate team discussions. 64. Some members still dominate team discussions. 65. Team members depend on the facilitator to explain what is
going on. 66. Team members experience this stage after storming and
before performing. 67. Status of members inside the team is based on their status
outside. 68. Team activities become more informal. 69. Team becomes creative in accomplishing its goal. 70. Team begins celebrating its success. 71. Team begins to receive payoffs. 72. Team members feel frustrated. 73. Team members list their ground rules on a flip chart. 74. Team demonstrates greatest levels of flexibility. 75. Team establishes ground rules for interactions among the
members. 76. Team generates solutions that are acceptable to all
members.
77. Team members negotiate with each other to decide how the team should be structured.
78. Team members participate in a balanced and supportive fashion.
79. Team goal is unclear. 80. Team ground rules are clearly established. 81. Team holds abstract discussions of concepts and issues. 82. Team is able to prevent potential problems. 83. Team members share the leadership role. 84. Team members trust each other more because they have
established clear guidelines for interaction. 85. Team is likely to suffer from groupthink and lack of
objective evaluation. 86. Team is not very productive. 87. Team members are committed to the goal and to the task. 88. Team members are more natural and less self-conscious in
their interactions. 89. Team members attempt to understand their goal and task. 90. Team members complain about organizational barriers. 91. Team members disagree and argue with each other. 92. Team members disagree with the leader. 93. Team members don't participate fully. 94. Team members resolve conflicts easily. 95. Team members seek clear guidance. 96. Team members talk and argue with each other. 97. Team spends more time on task and very little time on
ground rules. 98. The team becomes increasingly productive. 99. The team has a better understanding of the goal, but still
needs guidance.
Don't Want To Prepare Your Own Deck of Cards?
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This is one of those activities that look more complicated in print than they are in reality. Just to give you an orientation, here is a brief summary of the activity:
After agreeing on a common goal, each team member writes down three items that she expects from each of the other team members. Without discussing these items, each team member now writes down three items that she wants to give to each of the other members. Team members organize these items into a Give and Take Matrix and negotiate their roles and responsibilities to achieve a perfect score.
Purpose
To clarify roles and responsibilities of each team member in their joint effort to achieve a common goal.
Participants
3 to 10 members of an intact team. (If there are more than 10 members in the team, you are probably going to face coordination problems. So consider reducing the size of your team.)
Time
30 minutes to 3 hours. The actual time requirement depends on the number of team members and how well they understand each other's roles and responsibilities.
Supplies Pads of sticky notepaper (Post-It® notes) in two different colors Flip chart Felt-tipped pens Calculator (to compute scores and percentages)
Flow
Here are the steps for conducting this activity. To illustrate each step, I have included (in italics) activities from a recent meeting of the Zurich Conference Team.
Specify a common goal. Ask team members to discuss their goal to ensure that they have a shared mental picture. Encourage team members to discuss the quality standards related to this goal.
Eric, Heidi, Peter, Sam, and Thiagi meet to play GIVE AND TAKE . They begin the activity by reminding themselves that the team's goal is to design a brochure for next year's international intercultural conference in Zurich. They discuss the criteria for ensuring that the brochure will be professional looking, easy to read, and convenient to use.
Introduce Take List. Give each team member a pad of green-colored sticky notepaper. Explain that they are going to create a Take List that specifies what each team member needs to take from each of the other team members to help achieve the goal. Ask each participant to write her name on top of the notepaper followed by the phrase “takes from ____”, filling in the name of another team member.
Each of the five members of the team prepares four Take Lists, one for each of the other members. For example, Eric prepares these four lists:
Eric takes from Heidi … Eric takes from Peter … Eric takes from Sam … Eric takes from Thiagi …
Prepare Take Lists. Ask each team member to list three items that she needs from each of the other team member (whose name is specified in each Take List) in order to ensure that the team achieves its goal. Ask each person to work independently, without talking to the others.
Here are some examples of Eric's Take Lists:
Eric takes from Sam
A list of items to be included on the front cover of the brochure
Edited descriptions of eight different workshops Final list of items to be included in the registration form.
Eric takes from Heidi
Information about the conference hotel Suggestions for the design of the brochure cover Timely approval of the layout for the brochure
Collect the Take Lists. After a suitable pause, gather the Take Lists from each team member, making sure that there is a list for every other team member. Put these lists aside without reading them.
Since there were five members in the team and since each person wrote four Take Lists, the team produces a total of 20 Take Lists.
Introduce Give Lists. Give each team member a pad of yellow-colored sticky notepaper. Explain that they are going to create Give Lists that are the opposites of the Take Lists. The Give List specifies what each team member will give to each of the other team members to help achieve the common goal. Ask each person to write her name on top followed by the phrase “gives to ____”, filling in the name of another team member.
Each of the five members of the team create four Give Lists, one for each of the other members. For example, Eric prepared these four lists:
Eric gives to Heidi … Eric gives to Peter … Eric gives to Sam … Eric gives to Thiagi …
Prepare Give Lists. Ask each team member to write a list of three items that she will give to each of the other team members in order to help the team achieve its goal. As before, ask each person to work independently, without talking to the others.
Here are some examples:
Eric gives to Sam
Specifications for the brochure Sample layout of a typical workshop description Three alternative formats for the Conference Registration
Form
Eric gives to Heidi
A blank form for listing information about the hotel Three sample cover designs Copy of the outline, along with specific requests for feedback
Prepare the Give and Take Matrix. While team members are busy writing their Give Lists, draw a matrix on the flip chart and label each column and each row with the names of the team members, in the same order. Ignore the diagonal cells with the name of the same person as the label for both the column and the row. Notice that each
of the other cells of the matrix is identified with a name for the column and a different name for the row.
Here is the matrix for the Zurich conference program team:
Eric Heidi Peter Sam Thiagi
Eric
Heidi
Peter
Sam
Thiagi
Post the Take Lists on the matrix. Organize the Take Lists that you collected earlier by the name of the person that appears as the first word in each list. Work through each column of the matrix and stick each list (with its three items) on the top half of each cell.
Here's the matrix with the Take Lists placed in the correct cells. Notice that the diagonal cells (with the same person's name for both the column and the row) are blank:
Eric Heidi Peter Sam Thiagi
Eric Heidi takes from Eric …
Peter takes from Eric …
Sam takes from Eric …
Thiagi takes from Eric …
Heidi
Eric takes from Heidi …
Peter takes from Heidi …
Sam takes from Heidi …
Thiagi takes from Heidi …
Peter
Eric takes from Peter …
Heidi takes from Peter …
Sam takes from Peter …
Thiagi takes from Peter …
SamEric takes from Sam …
Heidi takes from Sam …
Peter takes from Sam …
Thiagi takes from Sam …
Thiagi
Eric takes from Thiagi …
Heidi takes from Thiagi …
Peter takes from Thiagi …
Sam takes from Thiagi …
Collect and organize Give Lists. After a suitable pause, gather the Give Lists from each team member, making sure that there is a list for
every other team member. Work through each row of the matrix and stick each note (with its three items) on the lower half of the appropriate cell.
This is what the matrix looks like at this juncture:
Eric Heidi Peter Sam Thiagi
Eric
Heidi takes from Eric … Eric gives Heidi …
Peter takes from Eric … Eric gives Peter …
Sam takes from Eric … Eric gives Sam …
Thiagi takes from Eric … Eric gives Thiagi …
Heidi
Eric takes from Heidi … Heidi gives Eric …
Peter takes from Heidi … Heidi gives Peter …
Sam takes from Heidi … Heidi gives Sam …
Thiagi takes from Heidi … Heidi gives Thiagi …
Peter
Eric takes from Peter … Peter gives Eric …
Heidi takes from Peter … Peter gives Heidi …
Sam takes from Peter … Peter gives Sam …
Thiagi takes from Peter … Peter gives Thiagi …
Sam
Eric takes from Sam … Sam gives Eric …
Heidi takes from Sam … Sam gives Heidi …
Peter takes from Sam … Sam gives Peter …
Thiagi takes from Sam … Sam gives Thiagi …
Thiagi
Eric takes from Thiagi … Thiagi gives Eric …
Heidi takes from Thiagi … Thiagi gives Heidi …
Peter takes from Thiagi … Thiagi gives Peter …
Sam takes from Thiagi … Thiagi gives Sam …
Score the matrix. Inform participants that you are going to analyze the matrix and discuss ways to improve the teamwork. Explain that each cell in the matrix can earn a maximum score of 3 points if the items in the Take List are the same as the items in the Give List. If the actual score for the matrix is the same as the maximum possible score, all team members share the same mental map of how they should interact with each other. With the help of participants, go through each cell in the matrix and write down the scores. Add the scores and
compare this total with the maximum possible total score. Discuss the difference.
The Zurich conference team matrix yielded a total score of 27. Since there were 20 cells in the total matrix (ignoring the five blank cells), the maximum total score is 60. The actual total score of 27 is 45 percent of the maximum indicating there is plenty of room for improvement!
Compute and discuss empathy scores of individual team members. Work through each row and add the scores of all cells in that row. This total indicates the correlation between what the team member is willing to give the others and what the others want from her. If the total score for a row is the same as the maximum possible score, this team member has a high level of empathy since she is giving to the other team members exactly what they want from her.
In the Zurich conference team matrix, Heidi received the highest empathy score of 5. Since the maximum score for the row is 12, Heidi's level of empathy was slightly less than 50 percent. The other team members scored lower, with Sam scoring a dismal 16 percent.
Discuss ways to move toward a perfect score. Debrief the activity by working through each cell in the matrix. Ask the two members associated with the cell to explain what they want from each other and what they are willing to give each other. Invite other team members to facilitate this discussion. Emphasize the fact that all team members should focus on achieving the common goal. Based on these discussions, revise the Take and Give items on each cell to achieve a perfect score for the matrix.
The Zurich team needed more than an hour of heated discussion before each team member's expectations and commitments were aligned to each other. Although the discussion was exhausting, everyone ended up feeling positive about the shared understanding.
Variations
In the preceding discussion, we explored how GIVE AND TAKE can be used to help team members to get their act together. Here are a couple of other applications of this activity.
Cross-Cultural Communication. We use this version with teams whose members come from different cultures. We conduct the GIVE
AND TAKE activity in its original form, except we ask each team member to prepare a list of three cultural values that affect their teamwork. (Each team member prepares only one list.) We then ask each team member to prepare a cultural-values list for each of the other participants based on their previous knowledge of this culture. We create a matrix similar to the Give and Take Matrix, except the top half of each cell contains identical items for each column. We then score the matrix and discuss important cultural values and stereotypes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration. Recently, one of our high-tech client organizations decided to introduce a new workflow procedure for designing, producing, and marketing new integrated-circuit chips. The new procedure required close collaboration among different divisions of the organization. As a part of introducing the new procedure, we conducted orientation sessions for groups of 30 employees. We conducted GIVE AND TAKE with groups of participants instead of individuals. We organized the participants into five groups according to the division that they represented: Marketing, Product Engineering, Product Validation, Configuration Management, and Customer Support. Some groups had fewer members than the others, but this did not affect the activity. We asked each group to come up with a list of requirements from each of the other four groups and another list of what they planned to provide to each of the other groups. We organized these lists in a Give and Take Matrix as in the original activity. We then scored the matrix and discussed ways for improving collaboration among different functional divisions to ensure more effective implementation of the new procedure.
Remember the DICTIONARY game in which the players try to fool the others with their fictional definitions of esoteric words? Here's a version of the game for reviewing technical terms from your workshop.
You can play GLOSSARY with any number of people from 3 to 30. With up to 6 people, play this as an individual game. With 6-30 people, divide them into three or more teams of approximately equal numbers.
The game description that follows is for the individual version. You should have no difficulty modifying it for the team version.
Each round of this game requires 3 minutes. Play at least three rounds.
Select a technical term (for example, performance gap). Distribute index cards to all players. Give 2 minutes for each player to write down a definition of the term, imitating the textbook definition that would be found in a the glossary section of a technical manual. Ask the players to put their initials on their definition cards. While the players are busy, copy the official glossary entry from the technical manual.
After 2 minutes, collect everyone's definition cards. Mix the official card with the others, shuffle them, and read one card at a time. Ask the players to try to identify the official definition from the technical manual.
Read each card again. After reading the card, ask players if anyone thinks it is the official card. Write down the number of players selecting each card.
This is how the scoring goes:
Each card receives as many points as the number of players who thought it was the official card. These points belong to the player who wrote the card.
Also, each player loses a point for being fooled by an unofficial card.
Finally, players who chose the official card receive an extra point.
Play the game for a prespecified number of rounds. Use a different technical term for each round. For example, I used these terms for the next five rounds: internal customer, input standards, process map, metric, and root cause.
At the end of the last round, the player with the highest score is the winner.
GLOSSARY forces individuals and teams to review the critical features of various technical concepts. You can apply it to any technical subject-matter area.
Featured Activity
Each issue of Play for Performance features a ready-to-play interactive, experiential activity. We provide complete instructions, debriefing suggestions, and reproducible master pages for the field-tested activity.
THE GRID
Here's a structured activity that encourages introspection and increased self awareness. You can "play" THE GRID by yourself by following the instructions, taking care not to read ahead before completing each task. You can also facilitate someone else through the activity by giving these instructions while the other person follows them.
Work through THE GRID before helping others to use it. You may be able to use this activity as a closing exercise in many of your training programs by limiting and relating the scope to your objectives.
PURPOSE To examine personal likes and dislikes. To come up with a personal plan for attaining valuable outcomes, cherishing
existing outcomes, preventing undesirable outcomes, and accepting things beyond your control.
PARTICIPANTS
This is primarily an individual activity. However, you can conduct the activity with large groups of participants by asking them to work individually, without interacting with each other.
TIME
30 - 45 minutes
SUPPLIES
A copy of the grid for each participant. To create the grid, fold a piece of paper in half and then fold it in half again in the other direction. Open the folded paper and lightly number the four quadrants thus:
4 1
3 2
FLOW
Write different items in each of the four quadrants.
In Quadrant 1, write a list of "things" that you want and you currently have. For example, I have a laptop computer that I like. I also have a sense of humor and a few nice friends.
In Quadrant 2, write a list of "things" that you want but currently you don't have. For example, I want a complete collection of all Agatha Christie mysteries, a reliable doctor, and a trip to Western Australia.
In Quadrant 3, write a list of "things" that you don't want and you currently don't have but people in your situation seem to have. For example, some of my age cohorts have several extra pounds and some of my fellow trainers have a great need to lecture.
In Quadrant 4, write a list of unpleasant "things" that you don't want but you currently do have. I have cataract in my left eye and a habit of making sarcastic comments that hurt other people.
You can write anything that pops into your mind, as long as you write it in the appropriate quadrant.
So start writing. Stop when you feel that have run out of steam.
Don't read the next section until you have completed this task.
Enhancements
Did you really complete the task of writing items in the four quadrants before reading this section? If you did not, that's okay. Your behavior merely indicates that you are dyslexic or incapable of following directions or capable of making up your own rules.
Review the following list of Thought Triggers. See if these categories suggest more items that you can add to your grid:
Peers Crises Customers Equipment Events Experience Facilities Furniture Location Managers Negative feelings Personality traits Physical abilities Positive feelings Previous history Professional reputation Rejection Acceptance Relationships Skills Strengths Supervisors Tools Values Weaknesses Work environment Work relationships
Add more items to the grid as suggested by these thought triggers.
Do this before reading the next section.
Debriefing
Think back on what you did earlier in completing your grid.
I am going to ask you a series of questions. Think of the answers (you don't have to write them down or share them with anyone else) and figure out what they suggest about you.
Process Check
Did you enjoy the process or did it make you uncomfortable? Do you enjoy or dislike thinking about yourself? Did you feel calm and centered or hassled and distracted? Did you work in a systematic manner or did you jump around among different
quadrants? Did you work at the same pace or did you work fast some times and slow down at
other times? Were you self conscious about what you were doing or did you feel detached as if
you are analyzing someone else? Were you conscious of the time or did you totally forget it? Do you know how much time you spent on this activity? Was it more time than
you anticipated? Or less time? Did the thought triggers suggest more items than your earlier set of items? Or did
they add only a few more?
Content Check
Which items came to you quickly and spontaneously? Which items did you have to drag out slowly?
Which quadrants have more items and which ones have fewer? Which items have you been thinking frequently throughout your life? Which
items appeared from nowhere? Which items are about you and which ones are about others? Which items are about people and which ones are about objects?
Paired Comparisons
Compare the number, significance, and type of items on the right ("want") side and the left ("don't want") side of the grid. What does this tell you about your comparative focus on positive and negative aspects?
Compare the number, significance, and type of items on the top ("have") half and the bottom ("don't have") half of the grid. What does this tell you about your comparative focus on current status and future status?
Compare the number, significance, and type of items on the two diagonal quadrants 1 and 3 with the other diagonal quadrants (2 and 4). What does this tell you about your comparative inclination toward optimism and pessimism?
Think about the grid. Add more items whenever you feel like it.
Please proceed with the next section of debriefing only after you have done this.
More Debriefing
So what implications does your grid have for future action? Here are some suggestions for you to think about. Feel free to write down the action items.
Quadrant 1
Review the items on the first quadrant. These are items that you want and have. Take one item at a time and think about the following action steps:
Cherish this item. Are you enjoying this item as much as you should? Avoid taking it for granted. Guard against its loss. Do maintenance activities to
keep it at the current level. Avoid a feeling of letdown. Sometimes when people strive hard and achieve an
item, they go through a feeling of letdown. Do you still have the same positive feeling that you had when you recently acquired or achieved this item?
Leverage this item. Add items to the quadrant below to help you fully utilize, exploit, and market this item.
Share this item. Give it to others without any strings attached. You will enjoy the item more and gain some important things.
Be ready for potential loss. Sooner or later, in spite of your best efforts, you may lose this item. Are you ready to cope with this loss?
Quadrant 2
Review the items in the second quadrant. These are items that you want but currently don't have. Take one item at a time and think about the following action steps:
Plan. What steps should you undertake to acquire or achieve this item? Explore. You may come up with a systematic plan to achieve this item. But
perhaps there are also some intuitive approaches for doing this. Sacrifice. You may not be able to move an item up from this quadrant without
moving something down from the first quadrant. Think about what you have to sacrifice.
Evaluate. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis: How much time and effort do you have to spend to obtain this item? What potential benefits are you likely to get from this item? Is the cost worth the benefit?
Avoid obsession. Don't become so focused on what you don't have that you don't have time to enjoy what you already have.
Ask for advice. Other people may give you useful suggestions, but remember you are unique and your learning and working style may be different from those of others.
Quadrant 3
Review the items in the third quadrant. These are items that you don't want and don't have--but there is a chance that you may get them. Take one item at a time and think about the following action steps:
Prevent. Identify and take appropriate precautions to prevent yourself from acquiring this item.
Avoid brooding. Don't spend so much time and energy on preventive measures, anxiety, and worry that you forget to have fun in the other quadrants.
Remember your choices. Sometimes, all you have to do is to simply say "No" to this item.
Avoid denial. You cannot avoid this item by denying possibilities and pretending that it will not affect you.
Invest. Spend the necessary time and energy to safeguard your future from this item.
Quadrant 4
Review the items in the fourth quadrant. These are items that you have -- but don't want. Take one item at a time and think about the following action steps:
Remove. If it is within your control, do whatever is needed to get rid of the thing that you dislike. Add an opposite item to the second quadrant.
Reduce the impact. Do what it is needed to make sure that this item does not drag you down.
Compensate with technology. Use suitable tools to help you minimize the impact of this item.
Accept reality. If you cannot change this item, accept it with wisdom and maturity.
Stop feeling guilty. Avoid blaming yourself for your past behavior. It is time to move on.
Take time to grieve. If a new item appears in this area, give yourself time to accept it.
Additional Suggestions
Here are some additional thoughts about THE GRID as a self-assessment tool:
Keep adding items. Throughout this day, this week, and this lifetime -- keep adding items to the grid.
Retirement scenario. Try a time-travel activity. Imagine that you are retiring from your professional career. What would the items in the grid look like?
Role-playing. Pretend you are your manager or your mother. How would she or he fill out the grid for you? How would your significant other fill out this grid for you?
Narrow the scope. Take one specific aspect of your life such as your career as a consultant. Complete the grid with items that are relevant to only this aspect. Review the items and come up with an action plan.
Happy Birthday! Fill out the grid on the eve of your birthday. Review the differences between last year's grid and this year's. Are you headed in the right direction?
May the items on your grid keep moving toward the top right. However, may new items keep popping up all around the grid to keep your life exciting.
GUT TALK
Most employees are trained to control and hide their emotions and behave in a professional fashion. However, professionals have emotions too. These feelings and emotions are critical components of many conversations. As Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen point out in their brilliant book, Difficult Conversations (published by Viking) unexpressed emotions leak into conversations, take a toll out of our self-esteem and relationships, and make it difficult for us to listen to what the other person is saying.
Purpose
To effectively express appropriate feelings and emotions in professional conversations with another person.
Participants
Any number
Time
60 - 90 minutes
Supplies
Copies of GUT TALK Checklist Sets of role cards (instructions for five different roles) Blank pieces of paper Felt pens Timer Whistle
Preparation
List of scenarios. Review the GUT TALK Checklist and the list of sample scenarios. If you want to, prepare your own scenarios that are locally relevant. However, don't make them so close to real incidents and people that they may arouse conflicting reactions. To specify your scenario, all you need is a one-or-two-sentence description so participants can personalize it with their own experiences and preferences.
Demonstration roleplay. Select one of the scenarios and prepare a roleplay to demonstrate the application of the checklist items to the situation. If possible, record a roleplay with a friend (playing the role of a listener) on videotape. If you prefer, rehearse the roleplay with a co-facilitator so that you can perform it "live" during the play session.
Room Setup
Arrange chairs in clusters of five. You don't need tables for this activity.
Flow
Present the framework. Briefly discuss the costs associated with both suppressing and expressing feelings and emotions in the workplace. When a person decides that it is worth clearing the air by expressing feelings in a specific situation, he or she should clearly identify these feelings and analyze them. The roleplay activity that you are planning to conduct can help the person effectively express his or her emotions without becoming emotional.
Discuss the GUT TALK Checklist. Distribute copies of the checklist to each participant. Explain that the six items in the checklist are recommendations for expressing feelings. Pause briefly while
participants review the checklist items. Invite questions and comments and discuss them.
Demonstrate appropriate behaviors. Inform participants that they will be roleplaying in the ensuing exercise. Briefly introduce the sample scenario. Play the videotaped demonstration or roleplay the situation with your co-facilitator. If you don't have a videotape or a co-facilitator, ask for a volunteer. Assign the role of the listener to this person, assume the role of a speaker, and conduct the demonstration roleplay.
Form groups. Divide participants into groups of five to seven. Five is preferable to six or seven. However, try to keep different groups roughly the same size.
Assign roles. Give a packet of five role cards to each group and ask each participant to take one. If there are more five people in a group, ask the observer to share the card with one or two of the others without cards. Explain that the ensuing activity will involve three minutes each of preparation, roleplaying, and debriefing. Explain that each role card contains instructions on what to do before, during, and after the roleplay. Pause briefly while participants review their role cards.
Specify the scenario. Briefly describe the situation in which the roleplay is to take place. Use your own scenario or one from the list. Explain that the speaker and his or her coach will make up any additional details and assumptions as needed.
Begin the preparation activities. Ask players and coaches to find each other and get ready for the roleplay according to the instructions on the cards. If the groups have more than five members, ask observers to find each other (within each group) and decide who will observe which checklist item during the roleplay. During the preparation time, supply blank pieces of paper and felt pens to the coaches and briefly review how to use them.
Begin the roleplay. After 3 minutes, blow the whistle and instruct participants to take their positions: In each group, the speaker and the listener are seated facing each other. The speaker's coach stands behind the listener and the listener's coach stands behind the speaker so that they can hold up the coaching cards without distracting the other person. The observer (or observers) is seated in front of the roleplayers. Ask the speakers at each group to begin the roleplay.
Monitor the roleplay. Float around the roleplay groups, observing and noting down interesting actions and comments--without interfering
with the roleplay. Your co-facilitator should also be doing the same thing.
Conduct in-group debriefing. After 3 minutes, blow the whistle to stop the roleplay. Explain that the members of each group will give feedback only to the speaker (because we are focusing on this person's behavior). Each group member will take turns to make one positive comment about the speaker's behavior and suggest one change for the speaker to consider. Emphasize that each person is limited to just two brief statements and these statements should relate the speaker's behavior to the checklist items. Ask the participants to follow the sequence specified in their role cards: observer (or observers), speaker's coach, listener's coach, listener, and the speaker. Ask the observer in each group to get the debriefing started. People who have later turns should avoid the "others-have-already-said-what-I-wanted-to-say" ploy and make a new statement even if it is of a lower priority.
Conduct general debriefing. After 3 minutes, get the attention of all participants from different groups and provide some general feedback based on what you (and your co-facilitator) observed during the earlier roleplay. Then briefly discuss participants' insights about different checklist items.
Change role assignments. Within each group, ask each participant to pass the role card to the next person so that the speaker becomes the listener, the listener becomes the speaker's coach, the speaker's coach becomes the observer, the observer becomes the listener's coach, and the listener's coach becomes the new speaker.
Repeat the procedure. Present a new scenario and ask participants to repeat the roleplay procedure with 3 minutes each of preparation, roleplay, and debriefing. At the end of each round, conduct a general debriefing, change role assignments, and start a new round.
Conclude the activity. At the end of the final round, announce the conclusion of the activity. Suggest that each participant think of a situation where he or she can actually use the approach outlined in the GUT TALK Checklist. Pause for about 30 minutes while participants complete a rapid action plan by identifying a suitable situation and writing down some notes.
GUT TALK Checklist
1. Explain why you want to express your emotions and ask for the other person's permission to do so.
2. Specify all the different feelings you have. Don't focus on just one negative feeling.
3. Don't blame or judge the other person. 4. Own your feelings. Make "I feel..." statements rather than
"You make me..." statements. 5. Listen to the other person's responses.
Speaker Role Card
Before the roleplay Work with your coach. Think about the situation. Add appropriate details. Examine different feelings related to the situation. Use the checklist and prepare an outline of what you are
going to say. Identify specific areas for your coach to remind you.
During the roleplay Express your feelings clearly. Modify your actions and statements based on your coach's
prompts.
After the roleplay Wait until everyone has given his or her feedback. Identify the one most positive thing that you did or said
during the roleplay. Identify one most important thing that you would change
during similar situations in the future.
Speaker's Coach Role Card
Before the roleplay Work with the speaker. Help the speaker think about the situation and add
appropriate details. Help the speaker examine different feelings related to the
situation.
Help the speaker use the checklist and prepare an outline of what he or she is going to say.
Identify specific areas that the speaker wants you to remind him or her.
During the roleplay Observe the speaker's behaviors and listen to his or her
statements. Compare these behaviors and statements to the original plan
and to the checklist items. Write simple prompts on a piece of paper and hold them up
for the speaker to see.
After the roleplay Wait until the observers have given their feedback. Identify the one most positive thing that the speaker did
during the roleplay. Suggest the one most important change that you would like
the speaker to consider during similar situations in the future.
Listener Role Card
Before the roleplay Work with your coach. Think about the situation. With your coach's help, plan how to react to the emotional
statements of the speaker. Plan realistic and plausible reactions to the speaker's
statements.
During the roleplay Listen to the speaker's statements. React in a realistic fashion. Modify your reactions based on your coach's prompts.
After the roleplay Wait until you coach has given his or her feedback to the
speaker. Identify the one most positive thing that the speaker did or
said during the roleplay.
Suggest the one most important change that you would like the speaker to consider during similar situations in the future.
Listener's Coach Role Card
Before the roleplay Work with the listener. Help the listener think about the situation. Help the listener plan how to react naturally to the emotional
statements of the speaker.
During the roleplay Observe the listener's reactions. Write simple prompts on a piece of paper and hold them up
for the speaker to see.
After the roleplay Wait until the speaker's coach has his or her feedback. Identify the one most positive thing that the speaker (not the
listener) did during the roleplay. Suggest the one most important change that you would like
the speaker to consider during similar situations in the future.
Observer Role Card
Before the roleplay Work with other observers, if any. Review the checklist and decide what behaviors to observe
related to each item on the checklist. Divide the checklist items among all observers (if there are
others).
During the roleplay Observe the speaker's behavior and listen to his or her
statements. Take notes on behaviors and statements associated with
each checklist item.
If there are other observers, focus on the items assigned to you.
After the roleplay Give feedback to the speaker, based on your observations. If
there are other observers, wait for your turn in the sequence of checklist items.
Identify the one most positive thing that the speaker did (or said) during the roleplay.
Suggest the one most important change that you would like the speaker to consider during similar situations in the future.
Scenarios
Both your parents are facing major medical problems. You are not sure if you should ask for a leave of absence.
Even though employees in your corporation have been assured of job security, several of your friends have been downsized.
You are excited about a major project assigned to you, but you are not sure if you have the experience and expertise to handle it.
You are having great difficulty making an appointment to meet your manager.
You contributed a lot to the successful completion of the project. But your name is not even mentioned in the final project.
You feel that the company has not given you enough freedom to use your talents.
You feel that your manager is making promotion decisions based on the 360 feedback given by your co-workers. You are convinced that one of them is trying to sabotage your promotion.
You want to tell your mentor how grateful you are. But you are worried she may think that you are flattering her.
Your budget is reduced by 10 percent--and no other budget is affected.
Your co-worker has failed to deliver a critical report to you on time. Now your report is going to be delayed.
Your manager has been making disparaging remarks about you while talking to other managers.
Your manager keeps forgetting previous assignments given to you and keeps giving you more and more assignments.
Simulation Game
HARVEST by Dennis Meadows
In the 1980s I created FISHBANKS, LTD , a 2-hour, computer-assisted role playing game that teaches key ideas about the sustainable management of renewable resources. Thousands of sets are in use in at least 15 countries. But there has been demand for a simpler, faster version that does not require a computer. So I created the following exercise, which I call HARVEST . Some features of this exercise were originated and used by others, long before I came along. But the exercise described below has unique characteristics for which I am responsible. It is in the public domain, and it may be copied and adapted by anyone for any purpose. It would not be correct to give me full credit for this game. I do not know its parentage. I am describing here a very simple version intended for children. But you'll see it could be modified by replacing the candy with money or poker chips. Then it would work as well for adults. A slightly more complex version of HARVEST , based on teams, is described in the Systems Thinking
Playbook .
Supplies
To run the game you need one medium-sized bowl, a whistle or bell, and 150 - 200 pieces of candy.
Participants
The game may be run for groups of from 3 to 15.
Player Instructions
Here is a bowl with 50 pieces of candy in it.
In just a moment I will blow my whistle to start the first round. Then all of you will have 5 seconds to take from the bowl as many pieces of candy as you wish to or are able to grab.
After 5 seconds I will blow my whistle again, and you must stop.
After you stop, I will count how many pieces of candy are left in the bowl, and I will double them or bring the total up to 50, whichever requires fewer pieces of candy. So, for example, if you left 35 pieces in the bowl, I would add 15, making the total for the next round 50. If you left 20 pieces in the bowl, I would add 20.
After I have added the required number of pieces of candy, I'll give you a few moments to consider your strategy, and then I'll blow the whistle again to start the second round. In that round each of you will once again have 5 seconds to take as many pieces as you wish to or are able to grab.
After 5 seconds, I'll stop the round, count the candy, add the necessary pieces, and give you few moments to consider your strategy. Then I'll blow the whistle for the third round.
We will continue in this way for several cycles.
Your goal is to get as much candy for yourself as you can.
Facilitator Notes
I usually try to blow the whistle for the first round before they have a chance to talk about a common strategy. But after that, if they ask about the possibility of talking together, I say they should do whatever they feel will let them maximize the amount of candy they can get. If they ask how many rounds will be played, just say, “We'll do this for awhile, until I decide to stop.”
Debrief
One key issue in the game is the choice between collaboration and competition. Collaboration requires joint decision making, coordination, and trust. It is useful to get the participants to share their thoughts, observations, and strategies on this choice and to discuss where and how this choice confronts them in real life.
The game introduces a concept analogous to “Maximum Sustainable Yield” in a renewable resource system. If the participants take the candy to zero, you do not add any more for the subsequent rounds. But blow the whistle anyway for several more rounds, so they can experience intensely the frustration of going to an empty bowl. If they do not take any candy, leaving it at 50, you also do not add any. By taking enough candy in each round that the bowl is left with 25 pieces, the participants can maximize the amount that you must add each round.
Of course, over the long term, they cannot take out on a sustainable basis more than you put in. You can draw a graph to make this clearer. On the horizontal axis is “Number of pieces at the end of the round” ranging from 0 to 50. On the vertical axis is “Number of pieces added” ranging from 0 to 25. The data curve has the shape of a equilateral triangle with its peak at the point (25,25). Engage them in discussions about where this kind of regeneration confronts them in real life. The relation to fisheries, forests, and ground water is obvious. The game also makes points about softer resources, like faith in government.
Metaphorical Simulation Game
In our June contest, we invited PFP readers to design a variation of Tic-Tac-Toe that will keep adult players intrigued and challenged. The winning entry, coincidentally, is from this month's guest gamer!
HEADS AND TAILS: Beyond Tic-Tac-Toeby Les Lauber
This Tic-Tac-Toe variant challenges adult players by forcing them to trade off tactical gains for strategic advantage, find balance between aggressive play and thoughtful resource conservation, and bluff. Instead of taking alternate turns, players bid for the right to place their marker on the grid, but when they win the bid their available cash resources are diminished.
Purpose
To explore how individuals use resources to accomplish a task.
Time
15 minutes
Participants
Two. You can divide a larger group into pairs to play the game. See variations for team versions.
Supplies 51¢ for each player, in these denominations: 1 quarter, 1 dime, 2
nickels, 6 pennies A Tic-Tac-Toe grid Blank paper slips or index cards for each player
Flow
Explain the Game. Present these two important points to the players, using your own words:
You will not use X's and O's to mark your plays on the tic-tac-toe grid. Instead, you will use your coins to mark the grid. One of you will be the “Heads” player and will place coins heads-up on the grid. The other will be the “Tails” player who will place coins tails-up on the grid.
You will not take turns to move. One of you may get to place several coins in a row before the other player gets to place a coin on the grid.
Conduct the Bidding Round. Both players take a blank slip and write a bid on it. The bid must be at least 1¢ but no more than the amount of money they currently have.
Reveal the Bids. Both players ante up with one penny. They then reveal their bids. The player who bid the highest amount takes back the penny. The penny from the other player (who bid the lower amount) is discarded from the game.
Rebid if necessary. If the players tie, they rebid until one player wins the Bidding Round. The original ante maintains until the bidding round is over: players do not need to ante up more than once in any round.
Place the Coin. The player who won the bid places the highest value coin involved in the winning bid on the grid. It is not allowable to say “My winning bid of twelve cents was two nickels and two pennies”, unless the player's dime has already been played onto the grid. The balance of the bid remains with the player for use during the next round.
Conduct the Next Bidding Round. The player who lost the first bid now has a pot worth 50¢ (the ante was not returned). This player may therefore only bid up to 50¢ in the second round. The player who won the first bid now has an amount reduced in value by the largest coin used in that bid. (Example: If the player winning the first bidding round played a dime, that player has only 41¢ available for bid, including the ante that was returned.)
Continue the Game. The sequence of bidding and placing coins continues until one player has placed three coins in a row or the game has reached a tie.
Debriefing
Ask the players how their strategies and tactics changed during the game as they lost or won bidding rounds. Discuss the game experience with these types of questions:
How did you react to losing or being reimbursed your antes? What were your reactions to the way you used your resources
(the coins)? In what way does this game reflect experiences in the
workplace? What analogies can you draw between what happens in this
game and what happens in your organization? What will you do differently in balancing strategies, tactics, and
resources in your jobs as a result of what you have discovered here?
Variations
Auction Bids. Instead of a secret bidding round, one player opens with a bid, the other makes a response. The opening player may then bid again or allow the second player to win the bidding round. This continues until one player wins the bidding round.
Best of 3. This variation focuses on balancing a long-term strategy against immediate tactics. The players start with 3 quarters, 3 dimes, 6 nickels, and 16 pennies. They play three games; the player winning two of the three games wins the match. (If they tie, the player with the larger balance wins.) Money played on the grid or lost in the ante phase may not be carried to the next game.
Teamwork. Two teams of 5-7 people each determine the amount to bid and where to place the coins by consensus.
Hierarchy and Bureaucracy. Each team is organized into a bidding group (2-3 members), a placing group (2-3 members), and a manager. The bidding group may not talk to the placing group. The Manager approves all decisions, and may alter them at will. The manager may transfer members between teams, or remove members altogether, at will.
To collect background information about the participants.
Time:
15 to 30 minutes.
Participants:
At least 10.
Supplies:
Flipcharts or blank transparencies Timer Whistle
Preliminaries. Before the workshop, figure out what types of information you want. In order of priority, here is a sample list for a workshop on simulation games: participants' needs, participants' jobs, simulation gaming experience, attitude toward simulation gaming, reason for attending the workshop, and preferred mode of learning.
Team Formation. At the start of the workshop, divide the participants into as many teams as there are categories of information you want. Assign each team to a different topic.
Planning Session. Ask the teams to retire to convenient corners and spend 3 minutes devising a strategy for efficiently collecting the information from all participants. Warn everyone that the total time for collecting all the data will be only 3 minutes.
Data Collection. Announce the beginning of the data collection period. Ask the teams to collect the data (using whatever strategies they devised earlier) within the next 3 minutes. Step back to avoid being trampled in the hectic rush to interview each other.
Summarizing Data. After 3 minutes, call time. Ask the teams to retire to their corners, process the data, and produce a summary report on a transparency or a poster.
Presenting Results. After 3 minutes, announce the start of the show-and-tell period. Call on teams in a random order and give each team a minute to make its presentation.
Variations:
Too many people? Assign the same topic to different teams.
Not enough time? Suggest that teams sample representative participants rather than attempting to interview everybody.
Too much time? Conduct a preliminary brainstorming activity to identify relevant areas of information to be collected. Ask teams to design a questionnaire before collecting the data.
Too late? Use the game as an end-of-workshop activity. Here are some suggested topics: the best feature of the workshop, the worst feature of the workshop, the most useful skill learned, plans for using the skill, and suggestions for improving the workshop. Use the same frame, but call your game GOODBYE!
Framegame
HIGH SCORE by Steve Sugar
Here's a multi-purpose review game that can be used to follow up a reading assignment, a training video, or a lecture presentation.
Purpose
To help participants to recall critical information from the training content.
Participants
Two or more, divided into pairs. If you have an odd number of participants, have the extra person “pair up” with you.
Time
15-45 minutes
Supplies Mini-tests. Prepare five mini-test sheets, each set with five
review questions that require short answers Timer Whistle
Flow
Form pairs. Pair up participants and ask members of each pair to sit next to each other.
Explain the procedure. Use your own words to present this information:
There will be five mini-tests, conducted one after the other. Each test will contain five questions to be answered in 3 minutes.
Each participant will take the mini-test individually and write the answers on the test sheet.
At the end of a mini-test, participants in each pair will exchange their test sheets with each other.
You will announce the correct answers to each question. Participants will mark each other's answer paper.
After marking all five answers, participants will compare their test sheets. If both have correctly answered an equal number of questions, each participant will score 1 point. If one participant has more correct answers, then he or she will score 2 points and the other participant will not get any points.
Conduct the first round. Distribute the first mini-test, face down. Ask participants to turn over the test sheet and begin writing the answers. Blow the whistle at the end of 3 minutes to announce the end of the first mini-test. Ask participants to switch the test sheets with the other member of the pair. Go over the correct answers to each question and ask participants to score the test sheets. After the fifth answer, ask each pair to compare the number of correct answers and award scores depending on whether or not both participants had the same number of correct answers.
Repeat the procedure. Conduct four more mini-tests.
Conclude the activity. Identify participants with the highest score and declare them to be the winners. Ask participants for disputes about the correctness of any answers. Discuss the topic to correct any misconceptions.
Jolt
How Fast Can You Solve It?
During recent months, we have been exploring the use of crossword puzzles in training sessions. Refer back to the April issue of PFP to read about a dozen uses of crossword puzzles and a review of a software program for creating your own crossword puzzles. Here's a brief jolt that incorporates a crossword puzzle.
Purpose
To explore our tendency to compare our performance with the performances of others. To discuss the impact of such comparisons on our self esteem.
Basic concept
Players race to be the first one to solve a crossword puzzle. What they don't know is that there are two sets of clues for the same puzzle and a few of the players are struggling with the difficult clues while the others are breezing through the easy ones.
Here's the easy clue for the puzzle word cat: “An animal that says ‘Meow.’” Here's the difficult clue for the same word: “Feline mammal.”
20 minutes (7 minutes for the play of the game and 13 minutes for debriefing).
Supplies One copy of a crossword puzzle for each player Timer Whistle
Preparation
Make copies of the crossword puzzle. Make one copy of the difficult version (4KB PDF) for every tenth player. Make copies of the easy version (4KB PDF) for the other nine players. Mix up these copies so that the difficult versions are given to random players.
Flow
Brief the players. Explain to them that this activity is designed to explore the impact of positive self talk and concentration on players' performance speed. Players will be racing to be the first one to solve the crossword puzzle. Ask players to put themselves in a positive frame of mind and to concentrate on solving the puzzle without being distracted by others. Also instruct players to stand up as soon as they have solved the entire puzzle.
Distribute crossword puzzles. Give everyone a copy of the puzzle without paying too much attention to who receives the difficult version. Start the timer and ask players to rapidly solve the puzzle.
Recognize fast solvers. As players stand up one by one to indicate that they have solved the puzzle, announce the time they took and congratulate them.
Stop the activity. When the majority of players have solved the puzzle, blow the whistle and ask everyone to stop solving the puzzle. Congratulate the players who are standing up and ask them to sit down.
Read the solution. Ask everyone to check their answers as you read them. Read these answers (without reading any clues):
1 across: cat
2 across: ship
5 across: three
6 across: bed
7 across: ball
8 across: run
9 across: house
11 across: green
12 across: year
1 down: cash
3 down: Hamburger
4 down: meeting
5 down: tea
7 down: book
10 down: sky
Point out that there are 15 words in the puzzle and so a perfect score will be 15 points. Ask players to count the number of correct words and write down the score.
Begin a debriefing discussion. Encourage players to discuss these questions:
How do you think the first players to solve the puzzle feel about their performance?
How do you think the players who did not solve the entire puzzle feel about their performance?
How do you think the first players to solve the puzzle feel about those who did not solve the entire puzzle?
How do you think those who did not solve the entire puzzle feel about those who did?
What is the impact of other players' performance on your self image?
If you enjoy solving crossword puzzles, would that fact have reduced or increased the impact of other players' performance?
Reveal the secret about two versions of clues. Explain that a few players received a difficult set of clues. Ask players to read the easy and difficult versions of clues for the same words.
Continue the debriefing. Ask questions similar to these and encourage discussions:
How do you think the first players to solve the puzzle now feel about their performance?
How do you think the players who did not solve the entire puzzle feel about their performance?
How did the knowledge of the two sets of clues affect your self image?
How do players' behaviors and feelings reflect similar behaviors and feelings in the workplace?
Did your self image suffer damage in the workplace just because you were slower than your co-workers?
What is the workplace equivalent of receiving easy and difficult clues?
What if the first player to solve the puzzle received a cash prize? How would that have impacted other players' feelings?
What if I never revealed the secret about the two versions of the clues? How would this have affected your self image?
What if only one player received the difficult set of clues and everyone else finished solving their puzzles?
What if we had teams solve the puzzle and one team had the difficult set of clues and the other teams had the easy ones? How would this have affected the unity among team members?
Summarize major insights from the debriefing discussions. Ask players how they would apply their new insights to their workplace performance.
Structured Sharing
How Much Do You Weigh?
Every culture has taboos against asking certain types of questions. For example, in most cultures, you never ask people for their age or their salaries.
Sometimes, however, you may need personal data from the participants to facilitate meaningful discussion. For example, in a recent meeting of consultants, we wanted to find out the average daily rate that we charged our clients. Here is the playful strategy that we used for data collection without violating anyone's privacy. All you need is a calculator.
One of the participants secretly punches in a four-digit number in the calculator, presses the + key, and passes the calculator to the next participant. The first participant must remember the four-digit number. I recommend easy-to-recall numbers such as the first four digits of the participant's telephone number.
The next participant enters the daily rate that she charges the clients, presses the + key, and passes the calculator to the next participant. The display will show the total of the earlier numbers. However, since nobody knows the first number, the second participant's daily rate is kept confidential.
The activity is repeated with each participant entering her daily rate, pressing the + key, and passing the calculator to the next participant.
When everyone has entered the data, the first participant enters her daily rate, and subtracts the original four-digit number. The display now shows the total daily rate. Divide this total by the number of participants to find the average daily rate. This piece of information provides a reliable base for further discussion of daily rates.
We have used this activity in different situations. For example, we used it in a weight-control program to find our average weight without embarrassing anyone. We used a modified version of this technique to find the average attitude of a focus group toward affirmative action. We punched in numbers on a 10-point scale with 1 indicating total agreement and 10 indicating total disagreement with the basic idea.
Here's a fast-paced activity to highlight different cultural variables.
Ask participants to complete this sentence:
I am a(n) _______________ .
After they have done this, ask them to complete the same sentence 10 different ways.
Ask each person to place his or her list (written side down) on a table and pick up some else's.
Debrief by calling out various categories and asking for examples from different lists.
Here are some suggested categories:
activity level (couch potato) age (senior citizen) association membership (Mensa member) astrological sign (Aries) belief (pro-life proponent) birth order (first born) ethnicity (hispanic) family type (person from a large family) gender (woman) interests (mystery-story reader) language (Spanish speaker) marital status (divorced woman) national origin (African) national politics (Democrat) organization (IBM employee) personal characteristic (impatient person) personality type (introvert) physical characteristic (tall person) political ideology (capitalist) profession (trainer) professional approach (behaviorist) race (Caucasian) region (Southerner) religion (Roman Catholic) socioeconomic status (yuppie) thinking style (analytical) tribe (Kpelle)
Stress the main learning point that there are more dimensions of difference than race or national origin.
Featured Activity
IMPROVED SOLUTIONS
You can improve any solution by objectively reviewing its strengths and weaknesses and making suitable adjustments. In this creativity framegame, you improve the solutions to several problems. To maintain objective detachment, you deal with a different problem during each of six rounds and assume different roles (problem owner, consultant, basher, booster, enhancer, and evaluator) during each round. At the conclusion of the activity, each player ends up with two solutions to her problem.
Purpose
To identify problems, to generate solutions, and to improve the solutions.
Learning Outcomes
Generate ideas for dealing with briefly-described problems.
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of a solution.
Improve the potential value of a solution.
Compare the potential value of two different solutions for handling the
same problem.
Participants
Six or more. Ten to 15 players produce the best results.
Time
30 minutes to 2 hours. (Six rounds, each lasting about 5 - 20 minutes, depending on the complexity of the problem)
Flow
Brief players. Explain that the game will consist of six rounds and announce time allocation for each round. Indicate that players will specify a problem in
the first round and let go of it during the subsequent rounds while they are busy with other problems and solutions.
Ask for problems. Select a topical area (example: cross-cultural communication) and ask players to come up with a real or fictional problem in that area that they would like to solve. Ask each player to describe the problem by briefly answering the following questions:
Who owns the problem?
What is the context for the problem?
Who are the key people involved in the problem?
What is the gap between the desired state and the current state?
Announce a time limit for completing this task.
Let me illustrate the steps of this activity by reproducing one of the problem statements from a recent play of the game: “My name is Russ Powell, and I am the Director of Customer Service at a Financial Services organization. Sam, one of the four team leaders who work for me, presents a performance problem. When we recently collected feedback data using a 360° questionnaire, six out of ten members of Sam's team rated his communication style as unacceptable. All these six employees are women. (The four male members of the team rated Sam's communication style as acceptable.) I have also heard complaints about Sam's rude behavior from women employees in other teams. My performance goal for Sam is that all members of his team, irrespective of the member's sex, rate his communication style as acceptable.”
Ask for solutions. At the end of the time limit, ask each player to give her problem description to the next player. (The last player gives her problem statement to the first player to complete this sequence.) Tell players that they will play the role of a creativity consultant during this round. Explain the task by asking players to review the problem description (generated by the previous player) and write a suitable solution. Encourage players to keep the suggested solution brief and specific. Discourage them from using such delaying tactics as asking for additional data or suggesting further analysis of the problem. Announce a time limit for completing this task.
Here's the solution suggested by the next player: “Send Sam to a training workshop on cross-gender communications that focuses on skills related to communicating with women. Also ask Sam to read popular books on gender differences.”
Ask for critiques. At the end of the time limit, ask each player to rotate her solution and the problem description to the next player as before. Tell players that they will play the role of a cynical basher during this round. As the
basher, each player reviews the problem and the suggested solution. She identifies the weaknesses, limitations, and negative consequences of the solution and records them in a short critique. Encourage players to ignore all positive aspects of the solution, accentuate the negative, and avoid suggesting specific changes to the solution. Announce a time limit for completing this task.
This is the critique from the next player: “The suggested solution assumes that Sam has a skill/knowledge problem. It is more likely that his problem is primarily attitudinal, arising out of a need to maintain a macho image. Sam will perceive the training workshop as a punishment and a challenge. In Sam's perception, he probably wants to treat all employees the same, irrespective of their gender. So he may treat the suggestion as an example of politically-correct management behavior. Anyhow, most workshops on this topic merely increase players' awareness levels and don't provide any useful skills. These workshops are of a generic nature and examples used in them are likely to be irrelevant to the specific needs of Sam's organization. Combining the workshop with reading assignments is likely to add to Sam's frustration and irritation. Most pop-psychology books in this field are written by charlatans without any empirical basis. Principles and procedures presented in these books are likely to contradict each other and contradict what is taught in the training workshop.”
Ask for testimonials. At the end of the time limit, ask each player to rotate the packet of three items (problem, solution, and critique) to the next player as before. Tell players that they will play the role of a booster during this round. As a booster, each player reviews the problem, the solution, and the critique. She identifies the strengths, virtues, and positive consequences of the suggestion and records them in the form of a short testimonial. The booster is asked to overlook all negative aspects of the solution and to avoid suggesting any specific changes. Announce a time limit for completing the task.
This is the testimonial from the next player: “I like the double-barreled approach: a training workshop and popular books. There are many effective performance-based workshops that can increase Sam's level of awareness about the impact of his communication style on women. Such a workshop will also provide useful knowledge about differences in communication styles between men and women. Most importantly, the workshop will provide skills practice though low-risk role-playing. There are many popular books that are both research-based and practical. Some of these books have been on best-seller lists, suggesting high perceived value.”
Ask for improved solutions. At the end of the time limit, each player rotates the packet of four items (problem, solution, critique, and testimonial) to the next player as before. Tell each player that she will play the role of an enhancer. In this role, she will review the problem, solution, critique, and testimonial and suggest an improved solution to the original problem. Announce a time limit for completing this task.
Here's the improved solution from the next player: “Have a coaching conversation with Sam, presenting a business case and a personal case for reducing complaints from women employees. Establish a mutual and measurable goal related to cross-gender communication skills. Let Sam work out details of how he will reach the goal and demonstrate his achievement. Offer a menu of several appropriate strategies including training workshops, books, counseling from the Employee Assistance Program, and discussion with his team members. Assure Sam of your support but explain negative consequences of continued complaints from women employees.”
Ask for comparative scores. At the end of the time limit, instruct each player to rotate these three items to the next player: problem, original suggestion, and improved solution. (Withhold the critique and testimonial.) The two solutions should be shuffled a few times before being handed over to the next player so that there is no indication which one is the original and which one is the enhanced version. Tell each player that she will play the role of an evaluator. In this role, she will compare the two solutions and distribute 99 points between them to reflect their relative effectiveness. Announce a time limit for completing this task.
The next player awarded a score of 34 points for the original solution (training workshop plus books) and 65 points for enhanced solution (coaching and other support).
Conclude the activity. Tabulate the scores from different players, by recording the scores for the original solution and the enhanced solution. Give each pair of solutions to the player who wrote the original problem description associated with them. Invite players to review the two solutions to their problem and use them as the basis for arriving at their own solution. Also ask players to reflect on the six different roles (problem owner, consultant, basher, booster, enhancer, and evaluator) they played during the game and think about what they learned in each role. Suggest that they should be able to objectively play all six roles the next time they solve their own problem.
Variations
Lots of players? If you have 12 or more players, organize them into six teams of 2 to 5 members. Use the same procedure as described above, except require members of each team to work together to create a single problem, solution, critique, testimonial, improved solution, and comparative scores.
Not enough time? Skip the first step. Instead of asking players to describe a problem, give each player (or each team) a ready-made problem that you had created earlier. Also skip the last step that requires evaluating and awarding score points.
Not enough time for a single session? Spread the activity over six different sessions. Exchange the information packets during each session, give instructions for the next step, and let participants complete their task at their own time.
Textra Game
INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS
I used this textra game in a recent workshop to explore the concept of textra games. The following description includes my handout (An Introduction to Textra Games) and a multiple-choice test (on the content of the handout). You may not be interested in this specific topic (unless you are conducting a “train-the-trainer” session). But you can use this frame to create versions of INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS that incorporate handouts and tests on your own training topics.
Key Idea
Taking a test twice is used as a learning strategy: Participants read a handout on the training topic and take a short test. Later, they take the same test again, this time working with other members of a team.
Index Tags
Textra game. Handouts. Tests. Teamwork.
Purpose
To identify key features of textra games and describe a few typical examples of this type of game.
Participants
Minimum: 4Maximum: 100 or moreBest: 12 to 30
Time Requirement
30 minutes for the game described below.
The actual time required for textra games on other topics will depend on the length and complexity of the reading assignment.
Handouts
An Introduction to Textra Games (one copy for each participant).
Textra Games Posttest (one copy for each participant. Later, one copy
for each team.)
Answer key for the test (one copy for each participant)
Flow
Read the handout. Distribute copies of the handout. Explain that participants will have 8 minutes to study the handout and take notes. At the end of the study period, there will be a test. During the test, participants are not permitted to refer to the handout or their notes. Start the time and ask participants to begin reading the handout.
Take the test (individually). After 8 minutes, blow the whistle. Take back copies of the handouts and any notes from the participants. Distribute copies of the test. Explain that participants will have 6 minutes to select and circle the best response for each multiple-choice test item. Start the timer and ask participants to begin working on the test.
Take the test (in teams). Blow the whistle at the end of 6 minutes. Ask participants to write a four digit number on the top right corner of the test (and remember this number). Collect the test papers from all participants. Organize participants into two or more teams, each with two to seven members. Distribute a new copy of the test for each team. Ask teams to jointly take the test by discussing each item and selecting the best alternative. Encourage team members to announce their choices, explain their reasons, and conduct a logical discussion whenever there is a disagreement about the best choice. Start the timer.
Score team test responses. After 8 minutes, blow the whistle to announce the end of the team test period. Ask teams to switch their test papers. Distribute copies of the answer key (the test with the correct answers circled), one to each participant. Ask teams to score the other team's test.
Score individual test responses. Blow the whistle and each team to announce the score. Identify the team (or teams) whose test received the highest score and congratulate them. Redistribute the individual test papers that you had collected earlier, one test per participant. Ask each participant to score the test she received by using the scoring key.
Debrief. Blow the whistle and announce the participant (or participants) whose test received the highest score. Congratulate these participants. Start a discussion about the test items that were difficult, confusing, or unclear.
Adjustments
Longer reading assignment? Assign the reading as a homework activity. Conduct the individual and team tests in the classroom.
Don't like multiple-choice test items? Use a set of short-answer questions instead. Make sure that all questions have a single correct answer.
Test too easy? The effectiveness of this approach depends on using questions that require higher levels of thinking. So spend appropriate effort in constructing a fairly difficult test.
INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS Game Plan
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Read the handout.(8 minutes)
Distribute copies of the handout. Explain that there will be a test.
Read the handout carefully.
2. Take the test individually.(5 minutes)
Take back the handouts. Distribute copies of the test.
Take the test individually.
3. Take the test in teams.(7 minutes)
Take back the test papers. Organize participants into teams. Distribute a new copy of the test for each team. Ask teams to jointly take the test.
Work with other team members and respond to the test items.
4. Score team test responses.(3 minutes)
Ask teams to switch their test papers. Distribute the answer key. Ask teams to score the tests.
Working as a team, score the test responses from another team.
5. Score individual test responses.(3 minutes)
Identify and congratulate the highest scoring team. Distribute individual test sheets. Ask participants to score the test responses.
Score individual test responses.
6. Debrief. Identify the highest-scoring Participate in the
(3 minutes) individual. Discuss test items that were confusing.
discussion.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 2
An Introduction to Textra Games
A textra game combines the effective organization of written materials with the motivational impact of playful activities. Players begin by completing a reading assignment before participating in a game that uses peer support (and peer pressure) to encourage transfer and application of what they read.
Sample Textra Games
EACH TEACH. This textra game is appropriate for teaching step-by-step procedures. Prepare a set of handouts to describe each step. Distribute a single handout to each participant so equal numbers of participants receive each handout. Ask participants to read the handout and master the step explained in it. After a suitable period of study time, organize participants into teams so each member of the team has mastered one of the different steps in the procedure. Give several practice exercises and ask team members to cooperate with each other to complete the task. Later, ask team members to teach their steps to each other so everyone masters all the steps in the procedure.
LEARNING TEAM. Divide the reading assignment into convenient sections and prepare a set of short-answer questions for each section. Organize the participants into teams and ask them to study the first section of the handout. Encourage team members to coach each other and get ready for a quiz game. Assign all participants to different contest groups so that each group has a representative from each team. Use the short-answer questions and conduct a quiz game among the contestants in each group. At the end of the contest, send the players back to their original teams to combine the score points earned by each member. Repeat the procedure of cooperative learning and competitive contests with each section of the handout. The team with the most combined score points wins the game.
MINING THE LIBRARY. Collect several books on the same topic. Ask participants to select and read one of the books, looking for six immediately-applicable techniques. After a suitable pause, ask each participant to find a partner and share the practical techniques. Now ask each pair to team up with another pair. Ask each member of this team of four to explain the six ideas from her partner. Finally, ask each team of four to select the most practical technique and present it to the entire group.
RIP OFF. This is a textra game for exploring the broad cultural aspects of a country. Obtain copies of English-language newsmagazines (or newspapers) from the target country. Separate them into individual pages and distribute two or three pages to each participant. Ask participants to review the pages and write down salient cultural characteristics reflected in the news items, articles, and advertisements. Participants should write these characteristics on index cards, one item per card. After a suitable pause, collect the cards from all participants. Organize the participants into teams and give each team equal-sized piles of cards. Now ask the teams to organize the cards into suitable clusters and identify the most salient cultural characteristics of the country. Compare the lists of characteristics generated by different teams.
Advantages and Cautions
You can plug in existing handouts, reprints, articles, and books into the framework of a textra game to create an instant training activity. Textra games combine the effective organization and independent study of text materials with the peer support and team learning of games. Different types of textra games can be used for achieving different types of instructional objectives. However, don't use these games to compensate for sloppy writing and don't use review questions that emphasize mindless recall of meaningless facts.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 3
Textra Games Posttest
1. A textra game is a combination of ____
A. reading and writing
B. written materials and tests
C. games and discussions
D. text materials and games
2. EACH TEACH is most appropriate for teaching ____
Have a team evaluate different recorded roleplays and comment on
them.
Add your own comments and conduct a debriefing discussion.
We invited TGL readers to try their hand at creating their own versions of the RECORDINGS game. Dave Piltz, one of our loyal readers, sent a copy of the following checklist that could be easily incorporated in the RECORDINGS frame. Thanks, Dave, for sharing this effective checklist. (You may learn more about Dave in the TGL interview published in the April issue.)
A Checklist for INFLUENCING CO-WORKERS WITHOUT AUTHORITY
1. Actively listen to uncover your co-worker's needs and wants.
2. Create a plan that meets the needs of your co-worker so anything she
does for you is outlined in the plan.
3. Present ideas as options and present more than one option at a time.
4. Allow your co-worker to choose an option that works best for her from
the list you generated.
5. Ask questions of your co-worker in regards to her work load and
commitments.
6. Create mutually acceptable options that meet deadlines.
7. Provide data to your co-worker that forms the basis of your request.
8. Empathize with your co-worker's stress and workload demands.
9. Ask your co-worker what priority she uses to determine the sequence
in which she works through different projects. Use this information
when presenting options so that they are aligned with your co-worker's
priorities.
10.Describe the benefits to your co-worker of completing the project or
task.
11.Empower your co-worker to make some of the decisions about the
project. Or create a mutually acceptable decision criterion that you
12.Ask your co-worker what the benefits are to her in working on the
project with you. Help her brainstorm if she is unable to describe any
benefits.
13.Create a sense of team pride for completing organizational goals
together.
14.Thank your co-worker for any help she is willing to provide. Continually
provide positive feedback for being a part of the team.
[Table of Contents]
Hint
A hint for the puzzle
The first four words of the first item are “A CLEAR AND EASILY”.
Back to the puzzle.
Opener
INTRO
At the beginning of my training workshops, I have been trying to avoid the usual routine of everyone standing up and introducing herself. However, participants have resisted this innovation and demanded the traditional introductions. As a compromise, I have added an ending to the usual ritual to let participants have it their way while I stay faithful to my principle of interactivity in everything I do. This opening activity rewards participants who pay attention to other people's introductions instead of rehearsing what they are going to say.
Purpose
To encourage careful listening and accurate recall of information about people.
10-20 minutes, depending on the number of participants.
Flow
Briefing. Announce that you are going to start the session in the usual fashion by asking everyone to take turns to stand up and briefly introduce themselves. Explain that most participants do not pay too much attention to these introductions. For a change, ask participants to listen carefully to what other participants say about themselves.
Facilitate introductions. Ask the first person to stand up, clearly state her name and briefly introduce herself. Ask other participants to continue the activity by repeating this procedure. Once again, remind participants to pay careful attention to the others.
Prepare quiz questions. Listen carefully and jot down a list of questions related to content of participants' introductions. This is for your benefit only and so you don't have to practice your best penmanship. (But make sure that you can read your writing later.) Each question should have a single correct answer. (Be sure to jot down the answer also.) Here are some samples:
Who is currently working as a Creative Director for a law firm? What is Leeva's last name? Which participant claims to have learned a lot of leadership skills
by working with her horse? Who has been a manager for more than 15 years?
You don't have to write down a question related to each participant. However, you may want to write more than one question about the same participant just to keep participants wide awake. You may have to edit some of the earlier questions during later introductions to ensure that there is only one correct answer.
Example:
Who has been a manager for more than 15 years and recently visited Shanghai?
Announce a contest. Ask participants to hide their name tags and any other personal identification. Announce that you are going to conduct a quiz contest. Ask everyone to grab a piece of paper and a pen. Read your questions, one by one, and ask participants to write down the answer. After a suitable pause following each question, give the correct answer. Ask each participant to show her written answer to her neighbor to get credit.
Determine the winner. After about a dozen questions, identify the participant with the most correct answers. If there is more than one participant with the highest “score” ask a few more tie-breaker questions until you have singled out a winner. Lead a round of applause for this participant.
Online Activity
KARMA
“Enjoy the moment” is a valid piece of advice. “Think of the future” is another valid piece of advice. KARMA is a PC (that is, Playing Card) simulation that gives you practice in choosing between these two guidelines in making a series of decisions.
Purpose
To explore the impact of choosing to live in the moment or letting future consequences determine your decisions.
Participants
Minimum: 2
Maximum: Any number
Best: 10 to 20
(Participants are divided into pairs.)
Time
15 to 30 minutes
Supplies
A set of 10 black playing cards (Ace through 10 of spades or clubs) and 10 red playing cards (Ace through 10 of hearts or diamonds) for each pair of players. (You can assemble two sets of these cards from a standard deck of playing cards.)
Paper and pencil for keeping score.
Flow
Brief the participants. Demonstrate the rules of the game by playing a sample game with a volunteer from the audience. Assume the role of the dealer and let the volunteer make the decisions. Play the game according to the rules as explained below.
Finding a partner. Ask each participant to find a partner. Give each pair of partners a set of 10 black cards (the “hand”) and 10 red cards (the “stock”). Select one player to be the dealer and the other player to be the decisionmaker for the first round.
Explain the basic objective. Tell the participants that KARMA is primarily a solitaire game that is played for 10 rounds. The object of the game is to accumulate a high score by the end of the tenth round. Explain that participants usually accumulate a score of about 30 points.
Conduct the first round. Ask the dealer to shuffle the hand and ask the decisionmaker to take any card and turn it face up.
Reasonable enjoyment. If the card selected by the decisionmaker has a value of 1 through 5 (counting Ace as 1), then this value is recorded on the player's score sheet as the enjoyment score for the first round.
Reckless enjoyment. If the card selected by the decisionmaker has a value greater than 5, it is labeled a temptation card. The decisionmaker has the choice of enjoying or resisting it.
If she chooses to enjoy it, the value of the card is recorded on the score sheet as the enjoyment score for the first round. In this
case, the dealer shuffles the stock, takes some red cards from it, and inserts them, face down, in the hand of black cards. The number of red cards depends upon the magnitude of temptation: If the decisionmaker accepted a 6, one red card is moved to the black hand. If she accepted a 7, two red cards, and so on. (The number of red cards equals the value of the temptation card minus five.)
If the decisionmaker resists the temptation card, she does not receive any enjoyment points for the round. No red cards are moved to the hand of black cards.
Continue the game. Game continues in the same fashion. The value of any black card less than six is added to the decisionmaker's enjoyment score for the round. In the case of a temptation card, the player has the choice of accepting it (which results in adding points to the score and moving red cards from the stock to the hand) or resisting it (which results in no addition of points to the score or red cards to the hand). If there are not enough red cards remaining in the stock, the player must resist during that round.
Deal with red cards. During any round, if the decisionmaker selects a red card, its value is subtracted from the decisionmaker's current total score.
Reflect on your past. During any round, the decisionmaker may choose to reflect. This involves not picking any card but taking the hand from the dealer, inspecting all of the cards, and removing any one red card (which is put back in the stock of red cards). The reflection move does not add to the enjoyment score but reduces the likelihood of losing points during future rounds.
Conclude the game. Game ends after the tenth round. The decisionmaker's total enjoyment score becomes her score for the game.
Reverse roles. The decisionmaker of the first game becomes the dealer for next game. The game is repeated as before.
Debriefing
To ensure that participants don't treat KARMA as mere recreational activity but gain useful insights from it, conduct a debriefing session. Use questions like these to structure the discussion:
How does this game reflect your professional life?
How does this game reflect your personal life? Does the second decisionmaker let the first player's score
influence her choices and her perception of the final score? Why do you think this happens? How does this reflect the real world?
When you came across your first temptation card, what did you decide to do? Why?
How would you have reacted if your score became negative? What was your decision during the last round? Did it differ
significantly from your behavior during earlier rounds? Did you ever reflect? What made you decide to reflect? Do you agree or disagree with the statement: Decisionmakers
play in a reckless fashion during the last round. They don't resist temptations during this round.
If the hand contains several red cards, are you likely to reflect or to grow more reckless? Why?
Variations
No one to play with? You can play the game all by yourself by taking on both roles of the dealer and the decisionmaker.
Don't have a deck of playing cards? Buy a deck (or several decks) as soon as you can. In the meantime, you can play our automated version on the computer by visiting http://thiagigroup.com/karma/ .
Structured Sharing
LEADERSHIP ADVICE FROM YOUR ROLE MODEL
Today, when I searched Amazon for books on leadership, I had to deal with a potential list of 15,483 items. I am sure that this number will swell tomorrow because writing and publishing books with leadership advice is a growth industry.
This structured sharing activity provides a faster, cheaper, and better alternative to buying and reading a lot of books: You tap into the wisdom of the group—and of their role models.
Purpose To explore different pieces of advice on leadership styles,
characteristics, attitudes, behaviors, and skills. To identify and analyze similarities and differences among these
At least 20 minutes. (Actual time requirement depends on the number of participants and the depth of discussions.)
Supplies Index cards Whistle
Flow of the activity
Select a role model. Everyone has one or more ideal leaders whom they have personally met or read about. Ask participants to individually select a role model who has inspired them. This role model could be a family member, a school teacher, a boss at work, a captain of the industry, a political leader, a sports coach, a military genius, a spiritual mentor, an inspiring writer, a fictional hero, or a prophetic guide. Ask each participant have a clear mental picture of this leader.
Name the role model. Distribute index cards to each participant. Have them write the name of the role model (example: Mother Theresa) if other participants can recognize this leader. Otherwise, ask participants to write a brief description of this role model (example: my third-grade teacher). Pause while participants independently complete this task.
Roleplay the role model. Ask participants to take on the role of the role model they selected. Ask them to imagine that a young person is asking this role model for leadership advice. Ask participants to write on their index card one important piece of advice they would give (in their assumed role) to this young person. The advice may be about leadership styles, characteristics, attitudes, behaviors, or skills. Encourage participants to limit themselves to one or two short sentences. Pause while participants complete this task.
Exchange the advice cards. Ask each participant to turn the card with the written side down and exchange it someone else. Repeat this
procedures until all cards have been rapidly and repeatedly exchanged. Blow a whistle to get participants' attention and ask them to stop the process.
Read the piece of advice. Ask each participant to read the piece of advice on the card that they received. Invite them to think about this piece of advice and how it would help them personally to become a better leader. Encourage them to think about applying this piece of advice to their personal and professional life. Pause while participants do this.
Read aloud. Select a participant at random. Ask this person to stand up and read the piece of advice from the card, without revealing the role model. Ask everyone else to listen carefully. If necessary, ask the participant to read this piece of advice again.
Guess the role model. Ask everyone to think about the piece of advice for a minute. Then ask them to guess who could be the role model (leader) who gave this piece of advice. Invite participants to call out their guesses. Point out that most leaders have similar traits, perceptions, behaviors, and ideas. Ask the participant who read this piece of advice to identify the role model specified on the card.
Read similar pieces of advice. Invite other participants whose cards contain similar pieces of advice to read them aloud. Identify minor differences among these ideas. Discuss the potential impact of these differences.
Read opposing pieces of advice. Ask participants to review the piece of advice on their cards and see if it contradicts the advice read earlier. Invite any participant with such an opposing piece of advice to read it aloud from her card.
Reconcile the differences. Point out that even though these pieces of advice contradict each other, it is not as if one of them is correct and the other one is incorrect. This is because effective leadership requires a variety of flexible styles depending on the nature of the situation, the type of the followers, and the personality of the leader. Discuss the context in which each of the opposing pieces of advice would be effective.
Continue the process. Select another random participant (who has not yet read the piece of advice from her card) and read aloud the advice from her card. Follow this by guessing the role model, and reading and discussing cards with similar and opposing points of view.
Select a piece of advice. After the discussions, ask participants to think back the variety of advice from different role models and select the one that they want to implement in their personal and professional life. Remind participants not to count the number of pieces of advice they have received but make the one selected piece of advice count. Encourage them to begin implementing this piece of advice immediately.
Adjustments
Don't have enough time? You do not have to read and discuss all the cards. Conclude the activity whenever you want by moving to the final step (of personal selection and implementation). After the session, collect all the cards, type up the pieces of advice, and send them to the participants.
Not enough participants? Ask each participant to write two separate pieces of leadership advice, one on each card. During the card exchange step, ask participants to give away both cards, each to a different person.
Continuous Design
One of the key outcomes of this activity is the discussion of situational leadership. This requires a sufficient number of opposing pieces of advice (example: Do it now vs. Plan carefully; Tell people exactly what to do vs. Ask your followers for advice; Exude self confidence vs. Maintain humility). After conducting the game, collect all the advice cards. Carefully review items and save the good ones, especially those with opposing pieces of advice. In subsequent games, ask participants to exchange the cards they wrote with a card from your stock.
Framegame
LETTER FROM THE FUTURE
by Bill Matthews
Teams that fail to develop a shared vision of what they are all about and what they need to do suffer later on when team members start implementing the common mandate based on individual assumptions.
To help teams get started on the right foot, Tom Buck and I have put this process together for creating a shared vision.
Purpose
To create a common or shared vision for your work group
Time
1-2 hours
Supplies
Flipchart (one for each team)
2-3 felt-tipped markers (for each team)
Masking tape
Flow
Part 1 - The Set Up
Divide the team into subgroups using any strategy that makes sense to you. Ideally, each group should have a minimum of three participants and a maximum of six. Assign each team a working area and provide its members with a flipchart and markers.
Introduce the process by presenting the following content in your own words:
In a few minutes you will develop a shared vision for your team. If you have ever done visioning exercises before, you may find this approach to be different from what you are used to. If you have not done visioning exercises before, this should be a relatively painless process for you. Before I explain the process, let us spend a few moments thinking about all the likely changes that could take place in the world during the next 5 years.
Ask the group to speculate about changes in different categories such as world processes, shopping habits, and communication systems. Invite participants to share their ideas by calling out potential changes.
Part 2 - Letter Writing
After 5 minutes of sharing potential futures, inform participants that they are now going to create a vision of the their teams' future by writing letters back from the future!
Ask each team to think of someone who is with the organization today but who may not be with the organization five years from now. Inform the team that it will be writing the letter to this person.
Remind teams that a good letter has an opening, a body, and a close. Write some prompt questions such as these on the flipchart:
What specifically has the team accomplished? What did it take to reach these accomplishments? What obstacles and barriers did the team have to overcome?
How did they overcome these barriers? What is the impact of the team's accomplishment for the
organization and its customers? What are the team's biggest challenges for the next 5 years?
Suggesting that the team's letter should address these questions.
Tell the teams that they will have about 25 minutes to write their letter. Ask the teams to get started.
Monitor the time. Give teams up to 30 minutes, as long as they are working and making progress.
Part 3 - The Reports
Announce that it is now time to read the letters. Invite participants to listen to other teams' letters and identify significant themes in each letter.
Choose a team and ask for a volunteer to read the team's letter. After the letter has been read, ask other participants to call out the major themes in the letter. Record these themes on a flipchart.
Now ask the members of the team that wrote the letter to respond to these questions:
Were you surprised by any of the themes that the others identified?
Did the others miss any of the themes that you wished to communicate?
Give a round of applause to the team. Ask other teams to take turns to read their letter. Repeat the same process.
Part 4 - Follow Up
Facilitate a dialogue around the common themes and integrate them into a shared vision for the future.
Ask participants to prioritize different themes in terms of their importance to the team's future.
Ask participants to identify specific and realistic themes and convert them into goals.
Finally, conduct a discussion of suitable strategies for translating the common vision into reality.
To encourage the participants to make personal statements.
Time:
15 to 20 minutes
Supplies:
Stimulus cards. These cards contain words or phrases that the participants talk about. Create your own packet of about 20 cards to suit your participants and your topic.
Paper and pencil for keeping score
Example: Here are some of the stimulus words that we used in a workshop on teambuilding: lemonade, followers, income tax, freeloaders, my role, groundrules, goal, waste of time, computers, budget, beeper, midnight, window, money, short people, and
leadership. Note that some words are related to the topic and some are irrelevant; some are bland and some are potentially embarrassing.
Participants:
3 to 7. If you have more participants, divide them into roughly equal-sized groups of 3 to 7 and have the groups play in a parallel fashion.
Flow of the game:
1. The stimulus cards are shuffled and placed face down in the middle of the table.
2. The first player picks up the top card and reads the stimulus word. This person now has to make a personal statement related to the word that reveals something about himself or herself. This statement should not take more than a minute.
Example: Greg picks up the card with the stimulus word lemonade and says
When I was about 9 years old, my mother always asked me to get lemonade for my grandfather. I used to spit in the glass before getting the lemonade because I guess I didn't like my grandfather. When he died recently, he left me a lot of money. I feel very guilty about what I did during those lemonade days.3. After the statement, each of the other players holds up 1, 2,
or 3 fingers to indicate how personally revealing the statement was. A light or flippant statement gets 1 point. A heavy, emotional, embarrassing statement gets 3 points. Other statements belong to the medium category and get 2 points. Different players may hold up different numbers of fingers. The speaker counts the total number of fingers and writes it down on his or her scorecard.
Example: The four other players found Greg's statement schmaltzy. They all gave him 3 points, for a total of 12.4. If a player does not want to talk about a particular stimulus
word, he or she can pass, getting no points for the round. The next participant may then use the skipped card, or pick a new card.
5. The activity continues with the next player picking up a new stimulus card. All players keep track of their total scores.
6. Depending on the available time, the activity may end after the third, fourth, or fifth round. Make sure that everyone has an equal number of turns.
LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS: Two Icebreakers
People enjoy learning little-known facts (LKFs) about each other. They also enjoy revealing such facts to total strangers--perhaps because it makes them feel like celebrities.
Here are some typical LKFs that participants share about themselves:
I have a twin brother. I always need to know which direction North is. I am addicted to soap operas. I read one murder mystery each week. I always check with my son for answers to highly-technical
computer questions.
In one of my workshops in Vancouver, two teams developed and conducted icebreakers that involved the use of LKFs. I offer them here for your use:
LITTLE KNOWN FACTS - I
Game Designers: David Scott and his teammates.
Key element: Participants guess LKFs about other people by asking Yes/No questions.
Participants: Any number
Time: 20 minutes
Supplies: Index cards
Flow
Distribute index cards to each participant. Ask the participants to write a little-known fact about themselves and keep it hidden from the others.
Divide the participants into two equal-sized groups. Collect the cards from one group (called the confessors) and give them to the other
group (called the inquisitioners), one card per participant, with the written side down. Warn the inquisitioners not to read the statement in the card they received.
Ask all participants to stand up. Ask the inquisitioners to hold the index card against their forehead with the written side showing. Make sure that the inquisitioner holding the card is not able to read it, but everyone else is able to. Ask the inquisitioners to walk around the room, asking different confessors whether the card belongs to them.
If a confessor sees her card, she has to say "Yes". Once an inquisitioner has tracked down the correct confessor, she asks a series of Yes/No questions to discover the exact nature of the LKF. The confessor responds truthfully but limits her responses to "Yes" or "No".
The question and answer session continues until the inquisitioner discovers the LKF. She verifies her guess by reading the statement on the card, places the card on top of her head, and walks around the room in search of someone else holding a card on top of her head. Participants with the cards on tops of their heads swap cards with each other (without reading the LKF on the card) and repeat the search-and-question process all over again.
Conclude the first round of the icebreaker after a suitable period of time. Repeat the activity by collecting the original LKF cards form the inquisitioners and giving them to the confessors. Switch the roles of the participants and replay the icebreaker.
LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS - II
Game Designers: Shane Finlay and his teammates.
Key element: Teams match LKFs with participants.
Participants: Any number
Time: 20 minutes
Supplies: Index cards
Flow
Distribute index cards to each participant. Ask the participant to write a little-known fact about himself in the index card and keep it hidden from the others. Collect all the cards and set them aside.
Ask the participants to stand up, walk around, meeting each other, and share two little known facts about themselves. One of these LKFs should be the one written on the card.
After a few minutes, ask the participants to return to their seats. Organize the participants into teams and distribute equal numbers of LKF cards to each team.
Ask the participants to remove and hide their name tags and then work with their teammates to match each LKF card with the person who wrote it. They should do this by sharing the information they collected earlier during the walkaround session. (Some LKF cards may belong to the members of the team itself, simplifying this task.)
After a suitable pause, randomly select one of the teams to present its report. This team should read the LKF cards, one at a time, and identify the writer. The team earns 1 point for pointing to the correct writer and 1 more point for correctly naming the writer. The team loses 1 point for pointing to an incorrect writer or incorrectly naming the writer. No points are earned or lost if the team confesses its ignorance.
Repeat the procedure with each of the remaining teams. The team with the most scores wins the game.
Debriefing
Usually, icebreakers of this type do not require any debriefing. However, since there is something intriguing about what facts people choose to reveal about themselves, I conduct a quick debriefing using these questions. Although the questions ask about people in general, they are designed to encourage the participants to reflect on their own individual behaviors:
What facts do people reveal about themselves? What facts do they hide from others? Why do people choose to reveal some facts and hide others? What facts do people reveal to friends, to acquaintances, and
to strangers? Which is easier: to write anonymous statements or to talk
about them in a face-to-face situation?
Would some people distort or make up facts about themselves? Why?
How would the types of little known facts vary between extroverts and introverts? Between men and women? Between younger and older people?
Do you think that this icebreaker will produce similar results when used with people from other cultures?
LONG WORDS
The real name of this jolt is PROACTIVE PLANNING, but using that name will give away the key point that we want players to discover. Presented as a word game, this jolt lulls lures players to go after immediate gains in a mindless fashion only to regret the action later.
Purpose
To stress the importance of proactive planning and anticipating future problems created by present solutions.
Time
20 minutes (10 minutes for the activity and 10 for minutes debriefing)
Players
Any number, divided into groups of five or six.
Supplies One set of 15 tiles (index cards cut in half) for each player
with these letters:A, A, E, E, G, I, I, M, N, N, O, P, R, S, T
Handout: Instructions for Playing LONG WORDS
Preparation
Create a handout that begins with these instructions:
Instructions for Playing LONG WORDS
You have 15 letters. Your objective is to create the longest word among the contestants in your group using as many letters as possible.
The judge will tell you when to start. You have 30 seconds to come up with a long English word. You cannot use proper nouns (such as names of people or brand names of products).
When the judge announces the end of 30 seconds, give her or him the letters that make up the word.
The judge will determine the winner (or winners) who created the longest word.
The judge will keep the letters and begin the second round.
You will play two more rounds of the game.
Then add a section called Secret Strategy at the bottom of each instruction sheet. You need to create four or five different versions so that each contestant receives a different Secret Strategy.
Give this strategy to one of the contestants:
Secret Strategy
Remember you have to play three rounds. The letters that you use for the first round cannot be used in future rounds.
For the first round, give the judge a single-letter word: I. You will lose this round, but you will save 14 of your letters.
During the second round, use the word MANAGERS, an eight-letter word.
During the third round, use the word POINT, a five-letter word. (You will be left with an unused letter, E.)
For the other contestants, give a suggested list of long words as the Secret Strategy. Use two or three different words from this list for each contestant: generations, germination, greasepaint, impersonate, innermost, insertion, interposing, nominates, migration, omnipresent, presenting, resignation, and separation
Flow
Form groups and assign roles. Divide players into groups of five or six. In each group, ask players to identify the person with the fanciest digital watch. Assign the role of judge to this player. The remaining players are contestants who compete with one another within their group.
Brief players. Distribute a copy of Instructions for Playing LONG WORDS to each player. Ask players to read the instructions. If players ask any questions, ask them to read the instructions again.
Conduct the first round. Ask the judge for each group to begin the first round. Ask players to start creating long words. At the end of 30 seconds, ask judges to stop the round and collect the word from each player.
Find winners of the first round. Ask the judge to identify the winner in each group who created the longest word. If more than one person created words of the same length, they are all declared winners.
Get ready for the next round. Ask the judges to gather all the letters they received from the contestants and put them away. Emphasize that these letters will not be used in the future rounds. If any contestant protests, refer back to the instruction sheet.
Conduct two more rounds. Ask the judges to start the round, stop it after 30 seconds, and collect the long words created by the contestants. As before, ask the judges to identify the winners.
Find the overall winner. Ask the judges to identify the contestant who won the most rounds. It is very likely that the contestant who received (and followed) the secret strategy about playing a single-letter word during the first round is the overall winner in each group.
Discuss the winning strategy. Ask players to reconstruct the winning strategy. Point out that this strategy involved proactively planning a long-term strategy and implementing it.
Conduct debriefing. Ask players to reflect on their experience and share their insights. Use suitable questions to help players discover these learning points:
Today's solutions may create tomorrow's problems. Always anticipate of future consequences of present solutions.
Don't accept a solution just because you think it is brilliant or other people say it is brilliant.
Keep asking yourself, "What do I do for an encore?" Proactively plan to use all available resources in the most
effective and conservative fashion.
Classification Card Game
LOW, HIGH, MOST
Here's another game in our recent series of two-person games with classification card decks. This game is similar to TRUMPS , which was presented in our July 2004 issue. This game also involves winning tricks. However, you may win a game without winning the most tricks.
Purpose
To rapidly recognize the behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, perceptions, expectations, problems, and strategies associated with the four stages of team development.
Participants
Two. Larger groups may be divided into pairs to play the game in a parallel fashion. If an odd player is left out, the facilitator can play the game with this person.
Time
5 - 10 minutes. The game may be replayed several times to determine the winner of a match.
Supplies
How To Play LOW, HIGH, MOST Handout. This handout (which includes a glossary page) summarizes the rules of the game. Make a copy for each player.
Four Stages of Team Development Handout. This handout summarizes Tuckman's model. Make a copy for each player.
Feedback Table . This table is used for settling disputes during the game. The table lists each card number and the correct team-development stage (or stages) associated with it. Photocopy this handout to provide a copy of this table to each player.
A deck of GROWING A TEAM Cards. This deck contains 99 cards. Prepare your own deck by typing the numbers and statements from this list on your own cards. (See below if you don't have the patience to do this.)
Getting Ready to Play
Assemble play groups. Organize participants into pairs. Give a deck of GROWING A TEAM cards to each pair. Also distribute a copy of the Feedback Table to each player, asking players to place it with the printed side down.
Introduce the four stages. Distribute copies of the knowledge-base handout, Four Stages of Team Development. Make a brief presentation, using examples that are relevant to the players.
Brief the players. Acknowledge that most players may not have a complete grasp of the four stages in team development. Explain that you are going to play a card game that will help them become more fluent with these stages.
Introduce the GROWING A TEAM cards. Ask each player to pick up a card from the deck. Ask a player to read the statement on the card and invite everyone to identify the team-development stage associated with the statement. Announce the correct stage. Explain that this is the suit of the card. Demonstrate how to verify the suit by using the Feedback Table.
Explain the three attributes of each card. Use the information from the What Card Is That? section of the handout. Give some practice in determining the rank, suit, and number of several cards.
Explain the rules. Distribute copies of the handout, How To Play LOW, HIGH, MOST . Walk the players through the rules.
Monitor the game. Ask the players at each table to select the first dealer and begin the game. Walk around the room, clarifying rules and settling disputes among players as needed.
(All words in italics are defined in the glossary.)
Deal the cards. Deal five cards to each player, one at a time. Turn the next card (the 11th card) face up. Check with the Feedback Table and announce the suit of the card. This is the trump suit. Place the rest of the deck face down. This becomes the stock.
Object of the game. At the end of each game, you get one point each for winning
the most (three or more) tricks the trick with the lowest-ranked card the trick with the highest-ranked card
You win the game by scoring two or three points.
Play the first trick. Nondealer starts the first round by playing any card from her hand. You follow suit by playing a card of the same suit. In this case, the player of the card with the higher rank wins the trick. If both cards are of equal rank, the player of the card with the higher number wins the trick.
If you are not able to follow suit, you may play a card of the trump suit and win the trick. Or you may discard (play a card of any other suit) and lose the trick.
Play the second trick. Winner of the first trick leads a card for the second trick. Play proceeds as before, with the higher ranked card of the suit led or the trump winning the trick. (If both cards are trumps, then the higher ranked trump wins the trick.)
Continue the game. Winner leads a card for the next trick. Game is continued as before until all five cards are played out.
Conclude the game. The player who won three or more tricks gets a point. Both players examine the tricks they won and locate the lowest-ranked card. The winner of the trick with that card gets a point. If there is a tie for the lowest-ranked card, then the winner of the trick with the
lowest-numbered card wins a point. Similarly, the winner of the trick with the highest-ranked trick (or the highest-numbered card in case of a tie) wins a point. The player with two or three total points wins the game.
Play subsequent games. Take turns to deal the cards. The first person to win three out of five games wins the match.
Glossary
Dealer. At the beginning of the game, one of players shuffles the deck and distributes the cards one at a time. This player is the dealer. When more than one game is played, players alternate being the dealer.
Discard. During the game, playing a card that is neither of the suit led nor a trump.
Follow suit. Play a card of the same suit as the one that was led by the other player.
Hand. The set of five cards that each player receives at the beginning of the game.
High. Scoring one point by winning the trick that contains the highest-ranked card played in the game. In case of a tie for the highest-ranked card, the winner of the highest-numbered card scores one point for high.
Lead. To play the first card to a trick.
Low. Scoring one point by winning the trick that contains the lowest-ranked card played in the game. In case of a tie for the lowest-ranked card, the winner of the lowest-numbered card score one point for low.
Nondealer. The person who is not the dealer for this game.
Number. One of the three attributes of a card. This is the absolute value of the number printed on top of the card. (See also Rank and Suit.)
Rank. One of the three attributes of a card. The rank of the card is the last digit (units digit) of its number. Card ranks range from 0 to 9. Example: The rank of card 27 is 7. Cards with the numbers 8, 18, 38, 88, and 118 all have the same rank of 8. (See also Suit and Number.)
Stock. Cards that are not dealt at the beginning of the game.
Suit. One of the three attributes of a card. The suit is the category to which the printed item on the card belongs. Example: Forming (See also Rank and Number.)
Trick. The cards played by both players during a round of the game. One person plays a card face up from her hand. The other person plays a card from her hand in response, following suit if possible. (See Winning a trick.)
Trump (noun). At the beginning of the game, the dealer turns up the 11th card. The suit of this card determines the trump suit. Any card of this suit is called a trump.
Trump (verb). Playing a trump card in response to the card led by the other player. You may play a trump card only when you cannot follow suit.
Winning a trick. Each trick is won by the higher ranking card of the suit led or the trump. If both cards are of the same suit and rank, then the trick is won by the card of the higher number.
What Card Is That?
Every playing card in the GROWING A TEAM deck has three attributes: rank, suit, and number.
Here's a sample playing card from the GROWING A TEAM deck:
The number of the card is the complete number on the card. The number of the sample card is 48.
The rank of the card is the last digit of the number on the card. The rank of the sample card is 8, which is the last digit of 48.
The suit of the card is the stage of the team development process associated with the statement on the card. This is not directly printed on the card; you must read the statement and decide which suit it belongs to. This sample card belongs to the forming suit because the statement belongs to the forming stage.
It is easy to determine the rank of a playing card: Just ignore the first digit of the card. So 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, and 92 all have the same rank (that is, 2). Ranks run from 0 (the lowest) to 9 (the highest).
It takes some effort to determine the suit of a GROWING A TEAM card. Read the statement on the card, analyze it, and classify it correctly.
Some statements may describe more than one stage of team development. These playing cards belong to more than one suit. When you play one of these cards, you choose the suit to which the card belongs.
[Table of Contents]
Handout2
Four Stages of Team Development
In 1965 B. W. Tuckman, who had been studying the behavior of small groups, published a model that suggests that all teams go through four distinct stages in their development:
Forming. The first stage in a team's development is forming. During this stage, the team members are unsure about what they are doing. Their focus is on understanding the team's goal and their role. They worry about whether the other team members will accept them. Team members frequently look for clarification from their leader.
Storming. The second stage in a team's development is storming. During this stage, the team members try to get organized. This stage is marked by conflict among the members and between the members and the leader. Through this conflict, the team attempts to define itself.
Norming. The third stage in a team's development is norming. This stage follows storming, after the team members have succeeded in resolving their conflicts. They now feel more secure with one another
and with their leader. They effectively negotiate the structure of the team and the division of labor.
Performing. The fourth stage in a team's development is performing. During this stage the team members behave in a mature fashion and focus on accomplishing their goals. This stage is marked by direct, two-way communication among the team members.
1. All members participate in all team activities. 2. Disagreements become more civilized and less divisive. 3. Feeling of us-them increases. 4. Ground rules become second nature to team members. 5. If there is a formal leader, team members tend to obey him or
her. 6. Leadership is shared among different members. 7. Cautious 8. Leadership role is rotated among appropriate members. 9. Members are anxious and suspicious of the task ahead. 10. Challenging 11. Members are more committed to their sub-groups than to
the team as a whole. 12. Members are more friendly toward each other. 13. Members are not committed to the group's goal. 14. Collaborating 15. Conversation is polite and tentative. 16. Each team member decides what his or her role should be. 17. Everyone begins to experience success. 18. Members are not fully committed to the team goal. 19. Members are proud to be chosen for the team. 20. Members are relieved that things are progressing
smoothly. 21. Everyone is wondering, “Why are we here?” 22. Members are satisfied about the team's progress. 23. Members argue with each other—even when they agree on
the basic issues. 24. Everyone wants to have his or her say. 25. Facilitator encourages team members to critique their
behaviors. 26. Members attempt to figure out their roles and functions. 27. Members begin to enjoy team activities. 28. Facilitator encourages team members to discuss their
negative feelings. 29. Facilitator helps team members uncover and discuss
hidden agendas. 30. Members challenge, evaluate, and destroy ideas. 31. Members choose sides.
32. Members compete with each other. 33. Facilitator points out violations of ground rules and helps
team members revise the ground rules, if appropriate. 34. Facilitator uses an icebreaker to help team members to get
acquainted with each other. 35. Members deal with each other with greater confidence. 36. Members develop great loyalty to the team. 37. Members don't have enough information to trust each
other. 38. Members feel comfortable about their roles in the team. 39. Members feel confident about disagreeing with each other. 40. Team members decide on the appropriate level of risk
taking. 41. Members feel empowered. They take initiative without
checking with the leader. 42. Members feel excitement, anticipation, and optimism. 43. Members form subgroups that get into conflicts. 44. Members freely ask questions and express their
frustrations. 45. Members have a better idea of whom to trust and whom to
distrust. 46. Members have a realistic sense of trust based on their
experiences with each other. 47. Members have clear understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses of each other. 48. Members take a “wait-and-see” approach. 49. Members tend to avoid the tasks and argue about ground
rules. 50. Members tend to be polite to each other. 51. Members tend to become complacent. 52. Members understand the team processes. 53. Members' feelings and attitudes keep fluctuating. 54. Most conversations are to and from the team leader. 55. Most discussions are about getting the task done. 56. Most discussions are shallow. 57. No ground rules established. Members depend on their
previous team experiences to decide how to behave. 58. Regular team meetings are replaced by a variety of as-
needed communications. 59. Several conflicts develop. 60. Some members become bored with the routine and begin
looking for new challenges. 61. Some members demonstrate passive resistance. 62. Team members decide who should do what. 63. Some members dominate team discussions. 64. Some members still dominate team discussions.
65. Team members depend on the facilitator to explain what is going on.
66. Team members experience this stage after storming and before performing.
67. Status of members inside the team is based on their status outside.
68. Team activities become more informal. 69. Team becomes creative in accomplishing its goal. 70. Team begins celebrating its success. 71. Team begins to receive payoffs. 72. Team members feel frustrated. 73. Team members list their ground rules on a flip chart. 74. Team demonstrates greatest levels of flexibility. 75. Team establishes ground rules for interactions among the
members. 76. Team generates solutions that are acceptable to all
members. 77. Team members negotiate with each other to decide how
the team should be structured. 78. Team members participate in a balanced and supportive
fashion. 79. Team goal is unclear. 80. Team ground rules are clearly established. 81. Team holds abstract discussions of concepts and issues. 82. Team is able to prevent potential problems. 83. Team members share the leadership role. 84. Team members trust each other more because they have
established clear guidelines for interaction. 85. Team is likely to suffer from groupthink and lack of
objective evaluation. 86. Team is not very productive. 87. Team members are committed to the goal and to the task. 88. Team members are more natural and less self-conscious in
their interactions. 89. Team members attempt to understand their goal and task. 90. Team members complain about organizational barriers. 91. Team members disagree and argue with each other. 92. Team members disagree with the leader. 93. Team members don't participate fully. 94. Team members resolve conflicts easily. 95. Team members seek clear guidance. 96. Team members talk and argue with each other. 97. Team spends more time on task and very little time on
ground rules. 98. The team becomes increasingly productive.
99. The team has a better understanding of the goal, but still needs guidance.
Don't Want To Prepare Your Own Deck of Cards?
We will sell you a deck of ready-made printed cards with team-development items, along with the Feedback Table. Currently selling for $18, we will give you a 50 percent discount of $9 and throw in free shipment (for USA orders only)! Order your decks through our secure online store.
[Table of Contents]
Pithy Saying
Objectives and Objectivity
You must clearly specify all the objectives for your training materials and activities. You must clearly communicate these objectives to all learners at the beginning of the training session. During training, you must focus on helping the learners achieve these objectives.
Most trainers and training designers are obsessed with behavioral objectives. Objectives are very useful because—
They motivate learners by providing them with a clear goal. They align learners' expectations. They provide a preview of things to come.
However, like all profound truths, the opposite principle is also true: There are times when de-emphasizing training objectives has some powerful advantages:
As a trainer, you are more open to what happens during the session. You are less likely to disparage learners' questions and comments that are not aligned with the training objective. You are willing to listen to the learner, accept her offer, and pursue new avenues.
As a learner, you maintain a beginner's mind and pursue all interesting avenues to learning rather than focusing on what is on the test or what is directly related to the objective.
When you have an objective, you cannot be objective.
Having objectives (or goal or intentions) makes it difficult for you to be an objective (impartial, open-minded, or critical) observer. What you teach and what you learn are unduly biased by your predetermined intent. Obsession with objectives removes healthy playfulness from the learning process.
Jolt
LPPT
Michel Hodges (Blonder Home Accents) sent a nice piece of feedback about the online activity (Least Preferred Patient Test) that we published in last month's TGL. Based on Michel's and other reader's comments, we decided that this activity deserved a face-to-face version.
Key Idea
Participants make impulsive assumptions.
Index Tags
Jolt. Assumptions. Hospital. Baby.
Purpose
To identify the causes and effects of assumptions that we make.
Participants
Any number
Time Requirement
3 minutes for the activity and 5 minutes for debriefing
Supplies
Handout, Least Preferred Patient Test (one copy for each participant).
You can download these slides from http://www.thiagi.com/lppt/patients.zip . Alternatively, you can create your own slides using your own photographs.
Equipment
Laptop computer (with Powerpoint® and the slides of the three
patients)
LCD projector
Screen
Flow
Distribute copies of the Least Preferred Patient Test. Ask participants to read the instructions and circle their choice.
Give feedback about the first two patients. Ask participants who selected Patient B. R. as the least preferred patient. If anybody selected this patient, it is likely they misread the directions and selected the most preferred patient. Ask them to re-read the instructions and change their choice if they want to. Show the slide with a picture of this patient. Repeat the same procedure with Patient S. T.
Give feedback about the third patient. Ask participants who selected Patient J. T. as the least preferred patient. It is likely that everyone selected this patient. Show the slide with the cute baby picture. Pause briefly while participants realize the impulsive assumptions they made.
Debrief. Don't make fun of the participants' “error”. Ask them what makes the difference between older people and babies who have same behavioral characteristics. Follow up by discussing these two questions:
What assumptions did you make?
Just because a hospital is well known for its work in geriatrics, does it
Don't have access to a laptop, projector, or screen? Print out the three Powerpoint® slides. Hold them up for the participants to see. Pass them around.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
Least Preferred Patient Test
You have been recently hired by Burlington General Hospital, well known for its work in geriatrics. As a part of the hospital's personality testing battery, they ask you to take this test:
Circle the patient you would least enjoy taking care of.
Patient B. R.
B. R. is kind and appreciative. She cannot talk too much, but is otherwise communicative. She is friendly, fearless, and inquisitive. She looks good and is relatively self-sufficient. She asks about the nurse's well-being and sleeps through the night.
Patient S. T.
S. T. is grouchy, and something of a hypochondriac. He is scraggly-looking. He needs help walking, but can take care of himself when he reaches his destination. He sleeps, but not a lot.
Patient J. T.
J. T. is self-centered. He cries a lot, and can't walk or talk. He is incontinent and can't feed himself. He is almost bald, wrinkly, and cranky. He wakes up at all hours of the night.
A Reflective Teamwork Activity (RTA) involves participants creating a checklist and then evaluating their performance by using the same checklist they created.
Here's an outline of this activity: Participants are organized into groups of five. Members of each group are randomly assigned to the roles of a manager, an assistant manager, and three employees. Each participant prepares a list related to a different management topic. The manager has the lengthy task and additional supervisory responsibilities. Other group members have simpler tasks. After the list preparation activity is completed, a debriefing discussion relates the manager's behavior to the items in her list.
Purpose
To explore factors related to delegation by managers
Participants
Any number, divided into groups of five.
Time
15 minutes for the activity. 15-30 minutes for debriefing.
Supplies A set of five instruction sheets for each group (One for the
manager, one for the assistant manager, and three for employees)
A copy of the Task Completion Form (for use by the manager)
Flow
Get ready for the activity. Make sufficient number of copies of the three Instruction Sheets using the masters provided at the end of this section. Read through the contents. Underline the topic of Delegation in the manager's instruction sheet. Underline one of the other four topics in the assistant manager's and employees' instruction sheets.
Remember this important point: Even though the focus of this activity is on delegation, you make it appear that this topic is a randomly selected along with a set of management topics. Give the impression that the topics are randomly assigned to different people. The manager has significantly more work to do than any of the other members of the group. Do not point this out; let the participants assume that everyone has an equal amount of work.
Organize groups. Divide participants into groups of five and give a set of instructions sheets to each member of each group. This ensures random distribution of the manager's role to a member of the group. Ask the manager and the assistant manager in each group to identify themselves. Distribute copies of the Task Completion Form to the managers.
Brief participants. Introduce the activity as an exploration of management behaviors. Briefly explain the flow of activity, identifying the five different topics of feedback, motivation, time management, delegation, and coaching. If necessary, briefly define any of these terms.
Begin the activity. Ask managers to note the time and ask everyone to get started. Walk around the groups, observing participants in action, without interfering with their activities.
Conclude the activity. Call time at the end of 5 minutes. Check to see if the managers have completed their list and the filled out the Task Completion Form.
Debrief the group. Read different Instruction Sheets and point out that the manager had insufficient time to complete their tasks while the other members of the group had plenty of free time. Explain that the focus of the activity was to explore why managers don't delegate.
Explore opportunities for delegation. Read the manager's Instruction Sheet again and ask participants to identify different task s that the managers could have delegated. This list could include delegation of logistic tasks (such as time keeping) to an individual, delegation of partial tasks to everyone (such as filling out the Task Completion Form), and asking for everyone's contributions to the major task (coming up with the list of 12 items related to delegation). Find out if any manager delegated any of these activities. Congratulate these managers.
Explore why managers did not delegate. Ask each manager to read the list of reasons why managers do not delegate. Discuss how
many of the reasons applied to the manager's list preparation task in this activity. Offer any item from the following list if it did not appear in the manager's lists:
Nobody told the managers that they could delegate. A lot of time is required to explain the task to the others. Managers feel that only they understand what is needed. Managers feel that only they can do the job. Managers feel that they can do a better job than any of the
others Managers feel that nobody can reach their high standards. Managers don't trust the others. Managers don't have the time to coach and teach others. Managers don't like to boss people around. Managers feel that they are not doing their job if they delegate
their tasks to others. Managers don't know how to delegate. Managers feel that the others are too busy on their own tasks. Managers want to be in control of everything.
Discuss how managers can do a more effective job of delegating. Ask managers to read the items from the second part of their lists. Ask participants for additional suggestions.
Suggest follow-up. Briefly emphasize the need for applying the insights from the activity to delegating tasks in their workplace. Explain that you are going to delegate this action-planning task to each individual participant.
Handouts
(Use your browser's BACK button to return here after you have looked at each handout.)
Zamboni who suggested GROUP SCOOP as an alternative name for GROUP GROPE. Robin reports that his instructors felt that the “typical teenage trainees would have too much fun with the other name”. I agree that GROUP GROPE has distracting connotations and we decided to use GROUP SCOOP as the new name for this structured sharing activity.
MEETING MANAGEMENT
Purpose
To explore a wide range of possible causes of dysfunctional meetings.
Time
About 40 minutes. You can easily expand or contract the game to fit the available time.
Materials
Twenty or more cause cards with different reasons for unproductive
and inefficient meetings. Here are some examples:
o Not sticking to the agenda
o Domination by a few people
o Critical information not available
o Critical people absent
Four blank index cards for each player.
Flow
In the following description, the steps of the game are printed in regular type, while sample segments from an imaginary play of the game are printed in italics.
Prepare set of cause cards. Before the workshop, prepare a set of cause cards. Each card should contain a statement about a cause for unproductive and inefficient meetings. Prepare at least two cause cards for each
anticipated player. If you cannot come up a sufficient number of different cause cards, use duplicates.
Ramona is conducting a workshop for staff members. Twenty participants have signed up for the workshop, including a few supervisors. The day before the workshop, Ramona prepares 40 cause cards.
Getting Started. Start the game quickly. When the players are ready, say, “I'd like to begin right off with a group activity that will help us get to know each other. It will also allow us to discover why many of our meetings are a total waste of time.”
Ramona catches everyone’s attention and gives her introductory presentation. Players look like they are ready for action.
Card Writing by Players. Hand out four blank index cards to each player. Ask them to write a statement about some cause of unproductive and inefficient meetings. These statements need not reflect the personal views of the writer; they should represent commonly-held opinions. Give some sample statements to the group.
The workshop starts at 8:30 a.m., and Sam arrives 5 minutes late. He sees the others writing busily. Ramona gives him four blank cards and asks him to write his probable causes of unproductive meetings. Sam thinks for a moment and comes up with the following:
Top management participants intimidate others.
Lengthy presentations; very little discussion
Emotional outbursts and temper tantrums
Too much acting and posing
Distributing Cards. After about 3 minutes, collect cause cards from all players. Add your prepared cards to this pile. Mix the cards well and give three cards to each player. Ask players to study the cause and arrange them according to their personal preference from the most to the least frequent.
Ramona collects the cards from the players and adds her own collection. She mixes the cards and gives three to each player.
Sam studies the three cards he receives and arranges them in the following order:
Time wasted on tangential discussions
Nobody does the homework
Group too large for dialogue
Exchanging Cards. Arrange the remaining cause cards on a large table at one side of the room. Tell the players that they may discard cards from their hands and pick up replacements. Players must work silently; they should not to talk to each other during this phase of the game. At the end of the exchange period, each player should have three cause cards that may or may not include cards from the original set.
Sam takes his cards to the table and rummages there. He discards two of his cards and picks up the following:
Too much griping and complaining
Too much socializing
Sam is surprised to see another player eagerly picking up his discards.
Swapping Cards. Instruct players to exchange cause cards with each other to make their hands better reflect their personal opinions. In this phase, any player may exchange cards with any other player; every player must exchange at least one card.
When Ramona announces the beginning of the exchange, Sam wanders around until Mark stops him. Comparing cards, Sam sees one that says, “Lack of participation by some people.” He bargains with Mark until Mark agrees to exchange this card for Sam’s card about too much socializing. Before Sam can find someone else to swap with, Ramona calls time to end this phase of the game.
Forming Teams. Ask players to compare their cause cards with each other and to form teams with people holding cards that they like. There is no limit to the number of players who may team up together, but a team may keep no more than three cards. It must discard all other cards, and the three cards it retains must meet with everyone's approval.
Sam goes around the room checking with others. He runs across Vicky, who has excellent cards, and they decide to team up. The two set out to find other kindred souls. Peter wants to join them, and they agree, provided that he drops the card that says, “Unsuitable location.” In a few more minutes, their team recruits two other players, including Mark. They study the combined collection and reduce it to these three:
Inconclusive ending
Late start
No follow-up
Preparing a Poster. Ask each team to prepare a graphic poster that reflects the three final cards. This poster should not include any text. After 5 minutes, ask each team to read its three cards, display its poster, and explain the symbolism.
After some discussion and debate, the team decides that Sam should be the artist and the others give him ideas. The final collage shows a group of Salvador Dali clocks, a line of lampposts stretching beyond the horizon, and a graph ending abruptly. During the “show-and-tell” period, Peter reads the three cards and Vicky assists Sam in explaining the poster.
Awards. Identify winning teams in each category like these:
Internal consistency among the three final cards.
Clarity of the message in the poster.
Appropriateness of the illustrations.
Sam's poster receives an award for the most appropriate illustration.
Game Plan
Here’s a ready-to-refer summary of the game. We are calling this job aid a Game Plan (as suggested by our Austin reader, Karen Bantuveris). Thanks, Karen!
Step Facilitator Participants
Preparation (20 minutes)
Prepare a set of cause cards.
Write cause cards (3 minutes)
Distribute four blank index cards to each participant.
Each participant writes four causes of unproductive and inefficient meetings.
Distribute cause cards (3 minutes)
Mix cause cards from participants with your cards. Give three cards to each participant.
Each participant arranges her three cause cards in order of personal preference.
Exchange cards at the table (3 minutes)
Spread the remaining cause cards on a large table.
Each participant silently discards cards from her hand and picks up replacements.
Exchange cards with one another (3 minutes)
Give instructions. Each participant exchanges at least one card with other participants.
Form teams (5 minutes)
Give instructions. Participants form teams of any size. Each team reduces its cards to three.
Create posters (6 minutes)
Distribute flip chart sheets and felt-tipped markers.
Each team prepares a graphic poster that reflects its three selected cards.
Present posters (5 minutes)
Select teams in a random order.
Each team reads its three cards, displays its poster, and explains the symbolism.
Distribute awards (3 minutes)
Distribute different categories of awards.
[Table of Contents]
Structured Sharing 2
More About GROUP SCOOP
We have been systematically exploring the GROUP SCOOP (aka GROUP GROPE) frame since the November 2005 issue of our newsletter. You may want to review the following articles and games:
GROUP GROPE : The Frame. (How to use the frame to design a structured-sharing game in 10 minutes)
Design Your Own GROUP GROPE Game
TCF The Game, a game about delighting customers
GAMEGAME : A game about training games
ADULT LEARNING PREFERENCES by Ida Shessel. Use this game to explore adult learning principles.
TRUST . Explore opinions about trust in the workplace.
Jolt
MEMORY TEST
Here's a quick jolt that helps participants discover basic psychological facts about our memory.
You can conduct this jolt with any number of people in about 10-15 minutes. You don't need any special supplies other than paper and pencil.
Brief participants. Tell them that you are going to administer a memory test. You will read a standardized list of words. Participants should listen carefully to these words without writing them down. Later, you will test to see how many words each participant can recall.
Present words. Read the following list of words. Pause briefly between one word and the next. Do not change the sequence. One of the words (night) is repeated three times.
dream sleep night mattress snooze sheet nod tired night artichoke insomnia blanket night alarm nap snore pillow
Administer the recall test. Pause for about 10 seconds. Ask each participant to take a piece of paper and write as many of the words as he or she can remember. Pause for about 40 seconds.
Explain your intent. Reassure participants that you are not interested in finding out how each person performed on the test. Instead, you are going to use the test to explore four basic principles about memory.
Debrief. Here are four important principles about memory. Explain each of them, using data from participants' performance on the test:
Primacy and recency effects. Ask participants to raise their hands if they recalled the words “dream” and “pillow”. Explain that people remember the first and the last things in a series. Most participants will have written dream and pillow because they were the first and last words in the list.
Surprise effect. Ask participants to raise their hands if they recalled the word “artichoke”. Explain that people remember things that are novel or different. Most participants will have written artichoke because it is different from the other words in the list.
Repetition effect. Ask participants to raise their hands if they recalled the word “night”. Explain that people remember things that are repeated. Most participants will have written night because you repeated it three times.
False-memory effect. Ask participants to raise their hands if they recalled the word “bed”. Reveal that this word was not on your list. Explain that the brain closes logical gaps in what it hears, sees, or reads, frequently remembering things that did not take place. Most participants will have written bed because it logically belongs to this list (even though you never read it).
Encourage action planning. Ask participants how they would use these four principles to help them remember new terms and ideas in the training session. Give examples such as, "To compensate for the primacy and the recency effects, pay particular attention to ideas presented during the middle of the training session. Make use of the repetition effect by repeating these ideas to yourself several times."
MULTI-POLLING INTERACTIVE LECTURE
This lecture game can be used in a virtual classroom environment (such as WebEx, Placeware, or Centra). You can apply the format for any topic of your choice.
List four or five critical features related to some concept or principle.
In my session, I listed these five critical features of interactivity on the internet:
Chat between participant and facilitator Chat among the participants Interruptability Engaging content and process Individualized objectives
Display this list as a polling slide. Ask participants to vote for the critical feature that they would to receive more information and explanation.
In my session, the last two features received the most votes.
Provide appropriate explanations and examples for the feature receiving the most votes. Then go to the next highest-vote-getting feature. Continue as needed. Any features that did not receive any votes are obviously self-explanatory. Don't waste your time explaining them.
Project another polling slide asking for the most important feature.
In my session, I asked the participants to identify the most important feature from the learner's point of view.
Display the polling results. Comment on the choices. Provide data from actual surveys, if necessary. Discuss the relative importance of each feature.
Project another polling slide with the same list of features. Ask the participants to vote for the most difficult feature to achieve.
In my session, I asked the participants to vote for the most difficult feature for the trainer to achieve.
Display the polling results. Comment on your views and survey results. Present suitable strategies and short cuts for achieving the desired feature.
Repeat the procedure with other superlatives as appropriate.
In my session I could have asked for votes for the most interesting, counter-intuitive, ridiculous, or controversial.
Structured Sharing
NEGOTIATION MAPPING by Regina Rowland
In their wonderful book Mapping Inner Space (Second Edition), Nancy Margulies and Nusa Maal write “Because pictures tell more than words, mapping opens pathways to emotional empathy. In one long-term dispute, when feuding coworkers mapped their conflict, barriers came down, opening communication between them as they recognized the emotional impact of the dispute and connected on a more personal level. After listening and sharing maps, each of the parties saw the world from the perspective of the other, in a larger context, making resolution more likely.”
Here's a graphics game adapted from the book.
Purpose
To create a safe listening and sharing environment
To resolve barriers to understanding and alignment
To move the focus away from individual points of view in order to
create an opportunity for resolutions of differences
To reveal other perspectives
To create an objective forum for a deeper understanding of issues
Prepare a sample map to demonstrate the visual technique. (You may want to use this sample map (48KB) about mind mapping.)
Flow
Explain the goal. Emphasize that this activity will provide a viable solution to a conflict.
Instruct participants to work individually. Provide supplies and show the sample map (102KB). Ask participants to work individually and complete the following tasks:
Name the problem issue and draw a symbol of it in the center of the
sheet.
Quickly come up with several advantages and disadvantages you can
think of (go for quantity), and connect branches from the center as
shown in the sample map, one for each advantage and disadvantage.
Name each branch with a suitable label (the shorter the better). Use
different colors for the center, the advantages, and the disadvantages.
Think of the consequences of each branch (advantage or
disadvantage), and add more branches to each item.
Tap into your emotional image bank and draw symbols in addition to
the words to get your point across quickly and effectively.
Announce a 15-minute time limit for this independent activity.
Instruct participants to share their maps. Ask participants to post their maps on a wall. Then ask them to take a “gallery walk” around the room, review different maps, and find a map drawn by someone who has at least one or two of the same items as in your map. Don't worry if what you consider to be an advantage is identified as a disadvantage in the other person's map.
Instruct participants to work in pairs. Invite participants to pair up with someone else with a similar map. Distribute copies of the sample shared map (31KB). Ask the partners to create a new shared map that reflects only the
areas on which they agree. The shared map should include an extra layer identifying what the partners are willing to do in order to solve the problem.
Announce a 20-minute time limit for this paired activity.
Instruct participants to share their collaborative maps. Instruct each pair to briefly present their collaborative map to the rest of the group. Suggest that the presentations focus on what they are willing to do.
Announce a 20-minute time limit for this collaborative activity
Conduct a large group discussion. Debrief the entire group by inviting them to talk about the similarities and differences among alternative approaches.
Schedule a follow-up discussion. Give everyone a chance to digest different ideas. Ask participants to bring suitable action plans, timelines, or budgets for the next meeting.
A Sample Application
The design department at a community college was in conflict about deciding whether or not to transform its course offerings to an online learning forum. The department included a variety of faculty members from different backgrounds, ranging from the traditional to the progressive. Over the course of the last 5 years, the department has experienced a dispute between different teaching philosophies that escalated into a major conflict. This left the faculty emotionally drained and the problems largely unresolved. In addition, student enrollment started dropping significantly. Online teaching was considered as a strategy for increasing student enrollment significantly over the next two semesters. This suggestion resulted in additional conflicts.
Roleplay
NONVERBAL VIOLATIONS by Stella Ting-Toomey
Purpose
To experience nonverbal violations and then debrief with a mini-lecture on intercultural nonverbal differences.
Participants
Two or more, divided into pairs. (You may have one or more triads to accommodate all participants.)
Time
10 - 15 minutes.
Supplies
Nonverbal violations slips. (See the instructions after the game description.)
Format
Stand-up paired interaction
Procedure
Brief participants. Give these initial instructions:
Come to the space in the middle and pair up with a friendly face. Have an enjoyable conversation, planning for a Diversity
Appreciation Day at your workplace. The facilitator will be walking around and giving you a slip of
paper with confidential information. Please scan the paper slip and incrementally dramatize the
specific nonverbal behavior. Do not share your confidential information with your partner.
You'll have about 10 minutes for your conversation.
Distribute slips of paper. Give the participants about 4 minutes to get into the conversation. Walk around the room and offers each participant a slip of paper with nonverbal instructions.
Continue the activity. Give them 5 -10 minutes to continue their dyadic conversations and a chance to dramatize the nonverbal instructions.
Conclude the activity. Stop the action and invite participants to share the instructions in their slips of paper before moving back to their seats.
Debrief the activity. Ask questions to explore concepts such as intercultural nonverbal differences, ethnocentrism vs. ethnorelativism, and mindless vs. mindful interaction.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 3
Nonverbal Violation Slips
Each slip of paper contains two instructions. Each set contains separate instructions for the two members of each pair. Make as many copies of these sets as needed to accommodate all participant pairs.
Set 1
To one person in a pair:
You signal respect by standing physically close to your partner. Stand Approximately 6 inches away from him/her.
You enjoy asking a lot of questions to signal conversational excitement and involvement.
To the other person in the same pair:
You signal respect by standing at least an arm's length away from your partner.
You like to constantly check your watch for fear of running out of time in the conversation.
Set 2
To one person in a pair:
You like to use prolonged, direct eye gaze to signal respect for your partner.
You like to touch your partner's arm from time-to-time to signal approval for a good idea.
To the other person in the same pair:
You like to touch your own earlobes (sometimes with left hand & sometimes with right hand) frequently to signal attentive listening.
You like to sigh loudly to signal your approval and great contentment of the conversation.
Set 3
To one person in a pair:
You like to pace your conversation with deliberate rhythms to match your conversational partner's rhythms.
You like to stand very close to your partner (approximately 6 inches) to really pay attention to what s/he is saying.
To the other person in the same pair:
You like to fold and unfold your arms constantly to process the important ideas in the conversation.
You like to stand still and shift your weight from the left leg to the right leg to follow the rhythms of the conversation.
Thought Experiment
NOT FAIR!
I am going to debrief you about an intense emotional experience from your past.
Think of a time when you were treated unfairly.
If you recall a lot of such incidents, select the most intense one. If you feel that you were never treated unfairly, you are in a state of denial. Reach back further into your childhood and find something bad that happened to you.
Answer the following questions, focusing on your feelings. Don't be mature and understanding. Avoid intellectual analyses. Return to the time and the place. Relive the experience. Visualize exactly how you felt. Pretend it is happening to you right now.
How do you feel? Sad? Obsessed? Anxious? Agitated? Disorganized? Miserable? Lost?
How do you feel physically? Tense? Stressed out? Aching? Clenching your teeth? Shallow breathing? Sweating? Crying? A knot in your stomach? Exhausted? Sleepless? Lost your appetite? Tearful? Heavy?
How do you feel about yourself? Damaged? Helpless? Hating your life? Hateful? Hoping to die? Self-critical? Worthless? Empty? Like a failure? Sick? Guilty?
How do you feel about others? Abandoned? Alone? Exploited? Singled out? Friendless? Paranoid? Betrayed?
Hold on to these feelings for some more time.
Now think about this question: How would you feel if this type of unfair incident happened to you every day of your life?
This, my friend, is an experiential definition of discrimination.
Take a deep breath. Let go of the feelings. Return to the present. Relax.
During my cultural diversity workshops, participants frequently ask me for a definition of discrimination. Instead of giving them a direct answer, I take them through this thought experiment. Only after they feel the concept in their guts, I supply them with the verbal definition: treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit.
Roleplay
OBJECTIONS
I designed this game for an annual meeting with hundreds of sales people. My challenge was to provide a fast-paced activity for a slightly jaded group whose members were convinced that they had nothing more to learn.
Key Idea
Participants repeatedly pair up and have several brief roleplay conversations around objections from customers. During the activity, each participant has an opportunity to play the role of a customer and a sales person. Working in teams and pairs, participants reflect on their experience and derive a set of principles for responding to (and leveraging) customers' objections.
Index Tags
Large groups. Roleplay. Conversation Switch. Sales. Handling objections. Structured sharing.
Purpose
To anticipate different types of objections from customers.
To respond appropriately, spontaneously, and clearly to objections.
To derive a set of principles for effectively responding to (and
leveraging) customer objections.
Participants
16 - 300
(Participants are divided into two groups. Each group is divided into teams of four to seven.)
Time Requirement
25 - 45 minutes
Room Setup
This is a stand-up activity. Remove all chairs and other furniture from the room (or move them to the sides, next to the walls).
Supplies
Timer
Whistle
Pieces of paper
Pens (or pencils)
Flow
Divide participants into two groups of equal size. Ask participants from one of these groups (“Group A”) to temporarily turn their name tags upside
down (or remove them) so they can easily recognize members of their own group.
Assign brainstorming tasks. Ask members of Group A to organize themselves into teams of four to seven. Ask each team to brainstorm several objections that customers frequently have. After a brief discussion, ask members of each team to select one objection that they want to use. (Group A may end up with several objections, but members of each team will have the same objection.)
While teams in Group A are coming up with objections, ask members of Group B (participants with their name tags) to organize themselves into teams of four to seven. Ask each team to brainstorm several principles for handling (and leveraging) typical objections from clients.
Conduct the first round of conversations. Explain that during the next 5 minutes, members of Group A will repeatedly team up with different members of Group B and hold a brief conversation. This conversation will begin with an objection from the Group A member and an immediate response from the Group B member. This conversation must be realistic and must not last for more than 30 seconds. The Group A member may conclude the conversation any time she wants and pair up with another Group B member to repeat the process. These conversations are repeated for a total of 5 minutes.
Return to the teams. Ask all participants to return to their teams.
Switch brainstorming tasks. Explain that during the next round of conversations, Group A members will respond to the objections raised by Group B members. Ask members of Group A teams to recall and compare the ways different people handled their objections during the earlier conversations and come up with general principles for effectively handling customers' objections. During the process, encourage team members to reflect on how they could have done better than the strategies used by Group B members.
Simultaneously to the above, explain that Group B members will play the role of customers with different objections. Ask members of Group B teams to recall different objections they heard, brainstorm some more, and select a common objection for use during the next round of conversations.
Conduct the second round of conversations. Explain that for the next 5 minutes, you will conduct another round of conversations, similar to what happened during the first round. However, during this round, members of Group B will initiate the conversations with an objection. As before, participants will repeatedly pair up with a member of the other group and hold a short conversation that begins with the objection.
Conduct a debrief. Ask all participants to return to their teams and recall their earlier experiences. Ask each team to come up with a list of five different objections and five practical principles for effectively responding to all types of objections.
OBJECTIONS Game Plan
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Form two groups (3 minutes).
Divide the total group into two halves. Ask one group to turn their name tags upside down.
Become a member of Group A or Group B.
2. Form teams and coordinate brainstorming tasks (5 minutes).
Divide members of Group A and Group B into teams of four to seven people each. Ask Group A team members to brainstorm customer objections.Ask Group B team members to brainstorm principles for effectively handling customer objections.
Join a team. If a Group A member, brainstorm customer objections. Select one objection for use by all team members.If a Group B member, brainstorm principles for handling customer objections. Generate several different principles.
3. Conduct the first round of conversations (6 minutes).
Give instructions. Start the round. Keep time. Stop the round at the end of 5 minutes.
Group A participants repeatedly pair up with Group B participants and initiate a conversation with their objection. Group B members respond to the objection.
4. Switch tasks (5 minutes).
Ask participants to return to their teams. Ask Group A member to brainstorm objections-handling principles and Group B members to brainstorm customer objections.
Join your team. If a Group A member, brainstorm principles for handling customer objections. If a Group B member, brainstorm customer objections.
5. Conduct the second round of conversations (6 minutes).
Give instructions. Start the round. Keep time. Stop the round at the end of 5 minutes.
Group B participants repeatedly pair up with Group A participants and initiate a conversation with
their objection. Group A members respond to the objection.
6. Debrief (5 minutes).
Ask all participants to return to their teams, recall their experiences, and derive useful lists.
Recall experiences and discuss them. Come up with a list of five customer objections and five general principles for handling objections.
Structured Sharing
ONE, TWO, AND MORE
Structured sharing activities facilitate mutual learning among participants. A typical structured sharing activity requires and rewards a discussion based on participants' experiences, knowledge, and opinions.
ONE, TWO, AND MORE is a flexible structured sharing activity for exploring different topics using different sets of questions. A unique feature of this activity is answering each question in three different modes: individual, pairs, and in teams.
Purpose
To explore a topic by independently and interactively answering relevant questions.
Participants
Minimum: 6, Maximum: 30
(The following description assumes that we are working with a group of six participants. Instructions for adapting the activity to handle groups of different sizes are provided in the Adjustments section.)
Depends on the topic and the number of questions. Allow 15-20 minutes per question.
(The following description assumes that you are using three questions, so the time requirement for this activity would be 45 - 60 minutes.)
Supplies Paper and pencil ID cards (for specifics, see Adjustments) Slides with discussion questions (optional) Flipcharts for teamwork (optional)
Preparation
Specify a topic to be explored. Select a topic of broad appeal without making it sound vague or abstract.
In a recent session in a client organization, we selected the topic of “Satisfying our customers”.
Specify a list of questions. You can use any suitable sequence of questions suggested by such processes as systematic problem solving, human performance technology, or creative problem solving. Three to five questions provide an effective set.
In our session, we used these three questions, based on the appreciative inquiry approach:
What things are we doing exceptionally well in satisfying our customers?
What are some common elements among the best practices in our customer-satisfaction efforts?
How can we apply these best practices to other areas of our organization?
Flow
Brief the participants. Introduce the discussion topic (Example: “Satisfying our customers”). Explain that you will be exploring the topic by responding to three key questions. Point out that participants will be working individually, in pairs, and in teams.
Ask the first question. Project a slide with this question or write it on the flipchart.
In our session, the first question was, “What things are we doing exceptionally well in satisfying our customers?”
Assign individual work. Ask participants to work individually, relating the question to the discussion topic and coming up with several answers. Encourage participants to write down notes for themselves. Announce a time limit of 2 or 3 minutes.
Distribute identification cards to participants. After the time limit has expired, give a card to each participant with a letter and a number. Explain that these cards will be used for organizing partnerships and teams.
In our session, we distributed these identification cards: A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, and B3.
Assign work with a partner. Ask participants to check their cards and to pair up with another person who has the same number but a different letter. (In our session, participants organized themselves into three pairs: A1-B1, A2-B2, and A3-B3.) Invite partners to discuss their answers to the question. Announce a time limit of 3 to 5 minutes. Encourage partners to take notes about their conclusions.
Assign teamwork. After the time limit has expired, ask participants to check their cards again. Ask them to form teams with people who have the same letter. (In our session, participants formed two teams of three people each: A1, A2, A3 and B1, B2, B3.) Invite team members to share information from their previous paired discussions and to discuss the same question one more time. Announce a time limit of 7 minutes. Encourage team members to use the flipchart (if available) or paper and pencil for taking notes.
Process the second question. Project a slide with the question or write it on the flipchart. (In our session, this question was, “What are some common elements among the best practices in our customer-satisfaction efforts?”) Explain that participants will be answering the question using the three different modes as before. However, you will change the sequence. Begin by asking participants to pair up as before and discuss the question. After the time limit, form teams and ask them to share their conclusions from the previous round. Ask participants to take a couple of minutes to individually reflect on the question and make notes about their personal responses.
Process the third question. Use a similar approach as before, but change the sequence. Introduce the question (In our session, the question was, “How can we apply these best practices to other areas of
our organization?”) Begin with the teamwork mode. Then ask participants to work individually. Conclude the round by asking participants to work with their partners.
Conclude the session. Briefly recap the topic and the three questions. Invite participants to recall sample responses to each of these questions. Thank participants and encourage them to apply their conclusions from this activity.
Debriefing
Here's a value-added follow-up. This structured sharing activity enables participants to experience three different modes: individual, partnership, and team. At the end of the session, you can conduct a debriefing discussion to encourage participants to reflect on these experiences and gain some insights about their preferred working style. Here are some suggested questions for the debriefing discussion:
Which mode did you enjoy the most: working independently, working with a partner, or working with a team?
Which mode was the most productive: working independently, working with a partner, or working with a team?
What are the advantages of responding to questions individually? Under what conditions is individual work preferable to working
with others? What are the advantages of beginning an activity with individual
work? What are the advantages of concluding an activity with individual
work? What would have happened if you did not work with anyone else
and responded individually to all three questions? What would have happened if we skipped the individual activity
and discussed the answers to all three questions with others? What are the advantages of working with a partner in responding
to questions and making decisions? Under what conditions is working with a partner preferable to
working alone? What are the advantages of beginning an activity with a partner? What are the advantages of concluding an activity with a
partner? What would have happened if you worked exclusively with a
partner? What would have happened if we did not work with a partner any
time during this activity? What are the advantages of working as a team?
Under what conditions is teamwork preferable to individual work or working with a partner?
What are the advantages of beginning an activity with teamwork?
What are the advantages of concluding an activity with teamwork?
What would have happened if you worked exclusively in teams while discussing all three questions?
What would have happened if we skipped teamwork and worked on all three questions individually? What if we worked with a single partner throughout the activity?
Which would you prefer: working with the same partner or with different partners? Why?
Which would you prefer: working with the same team members or with different team members? Why?
Adjustments
Use the table below for creating cards for pairing and teaming.
If you have an odd number of participants, give a card to yourself so you will pair up with one of the participants and become a member of a team. Be careful not to dominate the discussion when you are participating in paired work or teamwork.
OPEN BOOK is a quiz game that helps participants become familiar with the structure and organization of a reference manual. During the first phase of the game, individual participants review the manual and prepare 10 questions. During the second phase, participants form into teams and select their five best questions. During the third phase, you conduct a quiz program using these questions and some others that you have prepared earlier.
Participants
Any number. Best game involves 9 - 30.
Time
40 minutes
Supplies Copies of the reference manual Index cards Timer Whistle Flip chart (for keeping score) Set of prepared questions, each on an index card
Preparation
Prepare a set of typical questions that participants might look up in the reference manual. Write each question on one side of an index card and the page number that contains the answer on the back.
Flow
Brief participants. Distribute copies of the reference manual to each participant. Explain that the manual will enable participants to find answers to most questions that they may have in the future.
Assign the individual task. Tell participants that they have a 10-minute “survey” assignment. During this time, they should review the manual and figure out the structure. Participants do not have to read about any specific topic in detail or memorize any information. However, they should be thoroughly familiar with the organization of manual so they can efficiently find answers to questions.
Generate questions. Distribute 10 index cards to each participant. As a part of the reading assignment, each participant should write at least five and not more than 10 questions that can be answered by referring to the manual. These questions should not be “trick” questions but should represent the types of questions that a participant may have in the future. Participants should write each question on one side of an index card and provide a page reference on the back of the card.
Announce time limit. Explain that participants have 10 minutes to complete the task. Indicate that the more questions a participant generates, the more chances she will have to receive high scores later in the game. Start the timer and begin the survey-assignment activity.
Organize new teams. At the end of 10 minutes, blow the whistle and ask participants to stop reading and writing. Ask participants to organize themselves into teams of four to six people.
Assign the team task. Ask the members of each team to share their question cards, remove duplicate questions, and select the five best questions. Announce a 5-minute time limit.
Get ready for the quiz show. Blow the whistle and collect the five question cards from each team. Tell participants that you are going to conduct a quiz show using the question cards they generated, along with a few additional questions that you prepared. This will be an open-book quiz and whichever team locates the correct information first will give the answer, reading from the document or paraphrasing the information.
Prepare for the quiz show. Review the questions generated by participants. From these questions and the ones that you had prepared earlier, select 10 good questions that will refer to different sections of the document. Make sure that these questions represent the types of questions that an advanced participant will have in the future.
Begin the quiz show. Briefly explain the following procedure:
I will read a question. Teams can refer to the reference manual. First participant to stand up gives the answer. For some questions, the reference manual may not include any
relevant information. In this case, the first person to stand up and proclaim that the answer cannot be found in the manual wins the points for that question.
If the answer appears to be incorrect, any participant from another team may challenge by giving the correct answer.
If there is no challenge, and if the answer is correct, the team gets 2 points. If there is no challenge, and if the answer is incorrect, nobody gets any points.
If there is a challenge and if the challenger is correct, challenger gets 2 points and the incorrect team loses 1 point.
If there is an invalid challenge (if the original answer is correct), the original team gets 2 points and challenging team loses 1 point.
Conduct the quiz show. Read the first question. Identify the person who stood up first. Listen to the answer. Listen to any challenges. Award score points. Update the flip-chart score board. If necessary, discuss the answer and clarify any misconceptions. Repeat the procedure, and continue for 10 minutes.
Identify the winning team. Congratulate members of the team with the highest score.
Here's a quick game that demonstrates how mindlessly we go through life, paying scant attention to everyday objects.
The game described below uses a dollar bill. You can play the game with any two-sided object that can be conveniently held in your hands. This object should have approximately equal amounts of information on both sides: You cannot use a picture postcard because one side contains a skimpy amount of information compared to the other. However, you can use two picture postcards pasted to each other. You can also use a credit card, a quarter, a double-sided brochure, a playing card (with a picture on its back), a page from a menu, or a canceled check.
You can also use the game to train people about key features of the object. Example: training bank tellers to recognize the features of a 100-dollar bill so that they can recognize counterfeits.
Here's the flow of the game:
1. Ask each participant to find a partner. If you have an odd number of participants, pair yourself with the unpopular individual who gets left out.
2. Ask each pair to pull out a dollar bill. Have them carefully inspect both sides of the bill for 30 seconds.
3. Ask one member of the pair to hold up the dollar bill by its narrower edges so that each player sees a different side. It is important that neither player can see the other side.
4. Explain how the game is played: The players take turns to make statements about what they see on their side of the dollar bill. This statement could be true (example: The word one is spelled out six times) or false (example: The signature of the U. S. President appears on the dollar bill). The other player announces whether this statement is true or false.
5. Encourage the players to make generic statements (example: The serial number of the bill begins with a letter) rather than a specific statement (example: The serial number of this bill begins with the letter G). Also encourage the
players to make sentences that contain a single element (example: The dollar bill contains two signatures) instead of multiple elements (example: The dollar bill has two signatures on either side of the picture of Washington with the titles of the people under their signatures). In other words, we do not want any statements that are partially true and partially false.
6. Explain the scoring system. If the second player's announcement is correct, neither player scores anything. However, if the second player's statement is incorrect, then the first player scores a point.
7. Explain how the game ends. The player who reaches the total score of 5 points first wins the game.
8. Let the game begin. After a few rounds, suggest that if the hands that are holding up the dollar bill are getting tired, the other player may take a turn to be the bill-holder (keeping the same sides of the bill facing the same players).
9. To repeat the game, ask the players to turn the dollar bill around for the next round. Or, ask the players to use a $100 bill or some other convenient object.
Cash Game
PERSUASION
This is the most expensive of my cash games for training purposes because it requires you to give away $100. However, the instructional and motivational effectiveness of the activity are definitely worth the cost. Many participants claim that they have never been as intensely involved in a training activity as in this one.
Key Idea
Participants come up with ideas for spending $100 from you. They work individually and in teams to persuade their own team members, individual members of other teams, and the entire group.
Apply various strategies for persuading people in a variety of situations.
Participants
Minimum: 4Maximum: 50Best: 25-35
Time Requirement
30 to 60 minutes.
Room Setup
Arrange the room to seat teams around tables. Leave plenty of space for participants to walk around, pair up, and talk to each other.
Flow
1. Display a $100 bill. Pass the bill around so participants can verify that it is the genuine article.
2. Individual brainstorming. Explain that any participant can win the $100 if she (or her team) comes up with the most popular idea for spending it. Ask each participant to independently and silently think of an idea for spending the $100 that would appeal to most others in the room.
3. Form teams. Organize participants into 3 to 7 equal-sized teams, each with 3 to 7 members. Ask members of each team to briefly introduce themselves to the others.
4. Select team idea. Ask each team to discuss different ideas for spending the $100. Ask teams to select the most appealing idea suggested by its members.
5. Announce team selections. Ask each team to briefly explain its selected idea for spending the $100.
6. Persuade members of the other teams. Ask members of each team to stand up, move around, pair up with a member of some other team, and share their ideas for spending the $100. Also ask each participant to persuade the other to agree that her team's idea is a better one. Announce a 5 minute time limit for this activity.
7. Modify the team's idea. Ask participants to return to their seats, compare their ideas with other teams' ideas and decide if they should modify their idea to increase its appeal.
8. Prepare for a presentation. Ask each team to come up with a brief name for its new and improved idea. Also ask teams to prepare for a 30-
second presentation about their ideas to persuade members of the other teams to select it as the most appealing.
9. Make team presentations. Select a team and ask its members to present its idea in 30 seconds. Repeat this procedure until all teams have the opportunity to present their idea. During the presentations, list the title of each team's idea (along with a number) on the flip chart.
10. Poll individuals. Distribute blank index cards to all participants. Ask each participant to secretly write the number that identifies the most appealing idea presented by other teams. Emphasize that participants must not choose the idea presented by their own team. When completed, collect all the index cards.
11. Count the polling results. Give the index cards to a couple of participants and ask them to separate them by different numbers. While they are doing the vote tallying, keep the other participants engaged by asking each participant to make a prediction of which ideas will be the most popular and which one will be the least popular. After a suitable pause, ask participants to share their predictions with other members of their team.
12. Announce the results. Announce the number of votes received by each idea, beginning with the least popular idea. Finally announce the winning idea and congratulate the team that presented the idea. Give the $100 to the team to implement their idea.
13. Conduct a debriefing discussion. To obtain maximum learning outcomes from PERSUASION, ask the following types of questions and encourage participants to discuss them.
Who originally proposed the idea that ended up as the winning idea?
How much of the credit goes to this person? How much of the credit
goes to her team members?
What features of the most popular idea made it so popular in
comparison with the other ideas? Are these features related to the
basic values of the idea or to the way it was presented?
Did you become emotionally attached to your idea? What made you
give up your idea in preference to other ideas in your team?
How did you go about persuading individual members of the other
team? What different approaches did the members of other teams
use? Did you change your approach from one person to another? If so,
why did you change it?
Did you modify your team's idea at the end of individual persuasion of
other team members? Was the modified idea a drastic change or just a
minor adjustment?
How critical is it to be flexible with your idea in order to make it more
appealing?
What were the effective strategies for persuading members of your
own team? How do they differ from strategies used for persuading
members of other teams?
What strategies did you come up with for making your 30-second
presentation? How did these differ from the strategies that you used
earlier during one-on-one conversations?
Which persuasion approach is more effective: one-on-one
conversations or large-group presentations?
If you were permitted to, would you have voted for your own team's
idea? How much does loyalty and ownership influence your choice?
What did you learn from this activity about persuading people?
Which strategies from this activity can you apply to writing an email
message in support of your idea? Write this type of email appeal as a
homework assignment.
If the endowment was $1,000 instead of $100 how would your level of
motivation have changed?
If the endowment was $10 instead of $100 how would your level of
motivation have changed?
What are some sample ideas that appeal to individual greed? What are
some sample ideas that appeal to philanthropic values?
Which type of ideas—individual or philanthropic—were more frequently
offered? Which type made it to the top?
PERSUASION Game Plan
Here's a table to summarize the flow of PERSUASION.
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Excite participants.(1 minute)
Hold up a $100 bill. Pass it around.
Make sure that the $100 bill is genuine.
2. Brainstorm individually.(3 minutes)
Ask participants to work individually to generate ideas for spending the $100.
Come up with ideas for spending the $100. Make sure your idea will appeal to the other participants in the room.
3. Form teams.(3 minutes)
Organize participants into 3 - 7 teams, each with 3 to 7 members.
Join the team and introduce yourself to other team members.
4. Select team idea.(3 minutes)
Ask each team to discuss different ideas for spending the $100 and select the most appealing one.
Explain your idea and try to persuade your teammates that this idea is likely to appeal to most people in the other teams. Listen to other people's statements and help select the best idea for the team.
5. Announce team selection.(2 minutes)
Ask teams to take turns and briefly explain the selected idea.
Listen and take notes.
6. Persuade members of other teams.(10 minutes)
Ask participants to pair up with members of other teams and persuade them.
Meet individual members from other teams. Share your idea, listen to the other person's ideas and try to persuade the other person.
7. Modify the team's idea.(5 minutes)
Ask participants to return to their seats, conduct a discussion, and modify their team's idea to increase its appeal.
Share different ideas that you heard from members of the other teams. Discuss and decide how to revise and improve your team's idea.
8. Prepare presentation.
Ask each team to prepare a persuasive presentation
Discuss the key points related to the team's idea. Prepare an
(5 minutes) of its idea for spending the $100. Also ask them to come up with a title for their idea.
outline and decide who will make the presentation.
9. Make the team presentation.(3 minutes)
Randomly select different teams and ask them to present their idea within 30 seconds.
When your team is selected, participate in persuasively presenting your team's idea.
10. Poll individuals(3 minutes)
Ask each participant to independently select the best idea presented by the other teams.
Think of various presentations and select the best idea. Write the identification number on an index card and give it to the facilitator.
11. Count polling results.
Ask a couple of participants to sort the index cards and organize them by numbers. Ask the rest of participants to predict the outcomes.
Write a prediction of the most popular and the least popular ideas. Share these predictions with other members of your team.
12. Announce the results.(7 minutes)
Announce the number of votes received by each idea, beginning with the least popular and working up to the most popular one.
Listen to the results and congratulate the winning team.
13. Debrief.(10 minutes)
Ask questions about persuasion principles and insights gained from the activity. Encourage participants to discuss these questions.
Participate in the debriefing discussion.
Structured Sharing
PERSUASION
At the recent annual conference of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA) in Munich, I facilitated a general session on conducting activities with large groups.
Purposes
Results focus: To explore opposing elements related to two topics or issues.
Process focus: To explore factors related to persuading others.
Participants
12 to 200. Best with 50 to 100 participants.
Time
20 to 60 minutes.
Preparation
Design a questionnaire. Select two topics (or issues) that would be of interest to all participants. Make sure that these topics are independent of each other. For each topic, specify two positions.
Here's an example from the ISAGA conference:
Topic 1: Name of the organization.
Position 1: We should change the name of our organization to something new and more memorable than ISAGA.
Position 2: We should retain, respect, and protect the current name of our organization.
Topic 2: Awards and recognition.
Position 1: We should continue giving an award for the Outstanding Research Paper. This should be the only annual award given by our organization.
Position 2: We should give another award for the Outstanding Simulation or Game. This award should be given in addition to the Outstanding Research Paper.
Design a questionnaire that contains the two topics and the two positions for each.
Create Role Assignments. Prepare role assignment sheets for each of the four choices in the questionnaire. Give instructions for assuming a specific position related to one of the topics and persuading others to that position. Print each of the four different role assignments on paper of a different color.
At the ISAGA conference, I did not have time to print the role assignments as handouts. Instead I created PowerPoint® slides and displayed them on the screen.
Here are the four role assignments based on the ISAGA questionnaire:
Role Assignment 1
We should change the name of our organization to something new and more memorable than ISAGA.
Assume this position with respect to the name of the organization. Set aside your personal position if this position is different from yours.
During the activity, your mission is to persuade others to take this position.
Role Assignment 2
We should retain, respect, and protect the current name of our organization.
Assume this position with respect to the name of the organization. Set aside your personal position if this position is different from yours.
During the activity, your mission is to persuade others to take this position.
Role Assignment 3
We should continue giving an award for the Outstanding Research Paper. This should be the only annual award given by our organization.
Assume this position with respect to the name of the organization. Set aside your personal position if this position is different from yours.
During the activity, your mission is to persuade others to take this position.
Role Assignment 4
We should give another award for the Outstanding Simulation or Game. This award should be given in addition to the Outstanding Research Paper.
Assume this position with respect to the name of the organization. Set aside your personal position if this position is different from yours.
During the activity, your mission is to persuade others to take this position.
Supplies Questionnaire (Two copies to each participant, one for pretest
and another for posttest). Role Assignments (four different versions, each printed on paper
of a different color) Timer Whistle
Flow
Administer a pretest. Tell participants that you are going to give them a 20-second questionnaire. Distribute copies of the questionnaire to the participants. Ask them to select one of the two choices for each item. Collected the completed questionnaires and give them to your co-facilitator. If you don't have a co-facilitator, set aside the questionnaires.
Assign roles. Distribute equal numbers of the four Role Assignments to participants so that each participant gets one assignment. Ask participants to spend a couple of minutes to read the instructions. In taking on the assigned role, ask participants to set aside their personal opinions.
Set up meeting areas. Assign four different areas of the room to participants with the four different Role Assignments. For example, point to the northeast side of the room as the location for people who are assigned one point of view related to the first topic. Assign the diagonally opposite side (southwest) for participants who have the same topic but the opposing point of view. Assign participants with the
opposing points of views related to the second topic to the other two diagonally opposite areas (southeast and northwest).
Form groups. Ask participants with the same role assignment to move to their assigned areas and form groups of 5 to 10 members each. Explain that it is not necessary for all participants with the same role assignment to form a single large group.
Develop strategies. Ask participants in each group to discuss the role assigned to them and come up with strategies for persuading other participants in the room to agree with their position. To do this, members of each team may come up with a clear and compelling message that they want to deliver to the others. Group members may also develop logical arguments in support of their position. They may also share personal anecdotes in support of their position. Suggest a suitable time limit for this set of activities.
Persuade others. At the end of the assigned time, blow a whistle and announce the end of strategy-development time. Ask participants to meet people from the other areas of the room on a one-on-one basis and try to persuade them to accept their position. Suggest that participants should meet with others who were working on a different topic before trying to persuade people with the opposite point of view on their own topic. Encourage participants to have a conversation rather than just delivering their message and moving away in search of the next listener. Announce a suitable time for this phase of the activity.
Administer a posttest. Distribute copies of the same questionnaire that you used as the pretest. Ask participants to select one of the two choices for each item as before. After a suitable pause, collect the completed questionnaires and quickly count the number of people who selected each of the four alternatives.
Debrief the results. Announce the pretest results related to the first questionnaire item in terms of the number of people selecting each of the two choices. Ask participants to predict whether this distribution would have changed in the posttest. Encourage participants to make a guess and to share their reasoning. Announce the actual posttest results for the first item. Conduct a discussion of the differences (or the lack of differences) between the pretest and the posttest. Repeat the procedure with the other item.
Debrief the process. Ask participants to think of the strategies that they used to persuade others. Conduct a discussion on the persuasion process using these types of questions:
Did you use the same strategy to persuade everyone or did you modify the strategy from one person to the next? If you changed your strategy, what were the reasons for doing so?
Did you stay with the original strategy developed by your group or did you change it? If you changed the strategy, why did you do that?
Was your pretest choice different from the role that was assigned to you? How did this difference impact your strategy?
If you had to convince others of a position that was different from your initial position, did you end up changing you own mind?
What different types of strategies did other people use to persuade you? Which of these strategies were effective? Which ones were ineffective?
Did you ever try to persuade someone who had the opposing point of view on the same topic as yours? If so, what strategies did you use? What were the results?
Did you have a real conversation with the other people you met? Did you actively listen to their message?
Did you change your choice on the other topic between the pretest and the posttest? If yes, what persuaded you?
Did you meet two different people who had the opposite points of view on the other topic? Which of the other two did a better job of convincing you?
If we used just one topic and assigned opposing points of view to equal numbers of participants, how would that have changed the nature of this activity?
PILE-UP by Lorraine Ukens
Objectives To practice effective team problem-solving and decision-making
skills in meeting team goals. To strategically plan for the utilization of available team
resources.
Team Size
Participants will work together in teams of three or four members each.
Time
Thirty minutes.
Materials Twenty different playing cards and one envelope for each team. Flip chart and marker.
Preparation
For each participating team, randomly select twenty playing cards and place them in an envelope.
Process 1. Instruct participants to form teams of three or four players each.
Assign a different team color to each group. 2. Explain that the goal of this game is to reduce an arrangement of
playing cards to as few piles as possible—ideally, to a single pile. 3. Describe the rules as follows: A team decision is to be made for
each move. You may pick up any card in the array and move it any distance horizontally or vertically (never diagonally) and place it on top of another card that matches it in either suit or rank. A pile of cards moves as a unit, with only the top card being relevant in determining where the pile may move.
4. Explain that the teams will have approximately 15 minutes to complete the task. The team that reduces the arrangement of cards to the smallest number of piles will be the winner.
5. Direct each team to place its cards on the table in a grid pattern consisting of five columns and four rows.
6. Before you begin the activity, ask each team to predict the final number of piles it will be able to produce. Record this number on the flip chart next to the appropriate team color.
7. Signal for the game to begin, then stop when all teams have finished or after 15 minutes have elapsed.
8. Direct each team, in turn, to report the number of remaining card piles it has, recording each number next to the appropriate prediction on the flip chart. Announce the winner as the team that has the smallest number of remaining piles.
Variation
Rather than giving each team a random set of playing cards, give each team a duplicate twenty-card set. You can decide to have each group arrange the cards in the 5 x 4 pattern, or you can supply all teams with the same pattern arrangement which you will display or distribute.
Discussion How close was your team to meeting the predicted goal? What factors affected the end result? Describe your team's decision-making approach to classifying
the cards. What was your team's planning strategy? Did it change during
the process? Why or why not? Because each card arrangement was different, how does
availability of resources affect a team's ability to meet its goals? (This question is not applicable if you use the first option of the Variation above.)
[Table of Contents]
Classification Card Game
THREE SETS
In the July 2004 issue of PFP we discussed the advantages of two-person training games and presented detailed instructions for a card game called TRUMPS . In the August issue, we presented another two-
person card game, called GINNY .
Here's a third card game, called THREE SETS . This game also deals with the stages in team development. It uses the same deck of classification cards.
Team Development
See the Four Stages of Team Development instructions to review information about the four stages of forming, storming, norming, and performing. (For your convenience, we have duplicated this handout from the July issue of PFP.)
Purpose
To rapidly recognize the behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, perceptions, expectations, problems, and strategies associated with the four stages of team development.
Two. Larger groups may be divided into pairs to play the game in a parallel fashion. If an odd player is left out, the facilitator can play the game with this person.
Time
2 - 5 minutes. The game may be replayed several times to determine the winner of a match.
Supplies
How To Play THREE SETS Handout. This handout summarizes the rules of the game. Make a copy for each player.
Four Stages of Team Development Handout. This handout summarizes Tuckman's model. Make a copy for each player.
Feedback Table. This table is used for settling disputes during the game. The table lists each card number and the correct team-development stage (or stages) associated with it. Make a copy for each player. (For your convenience we have duplicated this from the July issue of PFP.)
A deck of GROWING A TEAM Cards. This deck contains 99 cards. Prepare your own deck by typing the numbers and statements from this list on your own cards. (See below if you don't have the patience to do this.)
Getting Ready To Play
Assemble play groups. Organize participants into pairs. Give a deck of GROWING A TEAM cards to each pair. Also distribute a copy of the Feedback Table to each player, but ask players to place it with the printed side down.
Introduce the four stages. Distribute copies of the Four Stages of Team Development Handout . Make a brief presentation, using examples that are relevant to the players.
Brief the players. Acknowledge that most players may not have a complete grasp of the four stages in team development. Explain that
you are going to play a card game that will help them become more fluent with these stages.
Introduce the GROWING A TEAM cards. Ask each player to pick up a card from the deck. Ask a player to read the statement on the card and invite everyone to identify the team-development stage associated with the statement. Announce the correct stage. Explain that this is the suit of the card. Demonstrate how to verify the suit by using the Feedback Table.
Explain the rules. Distribute copies of the handout, How To Play THREE SETS . Walk the players through the rules.
Monitor the game. Ask the players at each table to select the first dealer and begin the game. Walk around the room, clarifying rules and settling disputes among players as needed.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
How To Play THREE SETS
Deal the cards. Deal nine cards to each player, one card at a time. Set the rest of the deck aside, face down (these cards will not be used).
Assemble Sets. Study the nine cards in your hand and arrange them into three sets of three cards each. The object of the game is to create higher-status sets. Here are the three possible types of sets arranged in descending order of status:
Triplet: All three cards in this set belong to the same suit (for example, all three cards belong to the Storming stage in the team development process). A triplet is the highest-status set. It beats all other types of sets.
Pair: Two of the three cards in this set belong to the same suit and the third one belongs to a different suit. Example: Two cards belong to the Performing stage of the team-development process, and the third card belongs to the Forming stage. A pair has lower status than a triplet and higher status than a diff (explained below).
Diff: All three cards in this set belong to different suits. Example: One card belongs to the Norming stage of the team-development process, another card belongs to the Storming stage, and the third card belongs to Performing stage. A diff is the lowest-status set. It loses to the other two sets.
The nine cards in your hand can be arranged into different types of sets. It is important for you to try to maximize the status of your sets.
Reveal the first set. You select one of your sets and place it face down on the table. Your opponent does the same. Both of you now turn your sets face up. Whoever has the higher-status set scores one point for this round.
Break the tie. If both you and your opponent have the same type of set, use this rule: The player with the card of the highest value (among any of the three cards) scores the point.
Reveal the second set. Repeat the procedure with the second set from your hand. As before, whoever has the higher-status set scores one point for this round.
Reveal the third set. Repeat the procedure with a third set from your hand. As before, you or your opponent score a point, depending on who has the higher-status set.
Determine the Winner. The player with the most points wins the game.
Play the Game Again. Play the game again using the same procedure. You may want to play a total of five games to decide who wins the match. Alternatively, you may play the game until one person scores a total of ten or more points.
Try these Variations. For a more challenging game, try the four- or five-card set variations described below:
Four-Card Sets. The game is played as before, except each player is dealt 12 cards. Players arrange these cards into three sets of four cards each and reveal these sets, one at a time.
With four-card sets, there are five possible sets, arranged below in descending order of status:
Quad: All four cards in this set belong to the same suit. Example: All four cards belong to the Performing stage in the
team-development process. A quad is the highest-status set, beating all other types of sets.
Double Pair. Two of the four cards belong to one suit and the other two belong to another suit. Example: Two cards belong to the Storming stage of the team-development process and the other two belong to the Norming stage. A double pair is the second highest-status set. It beats a triplet, a pair, or a diff. But it loses to a quad.
Triplet: Three of the four cards belong to the same suit while the fourth card belongs to a different suit. Example: Three cards belong to the Storming stage in the team development process while the fourth card belongs to the Performing stage. A triplet is the third highest-status set. It beats a pair or a diff, but it loses to a double pair or a quad.
Pair: Two of the four cards in this set belong to the same suit and the other two belong to two other suits. Example: Two cards belong to the Performing stage of the team-development process, the third card belongs to the Forming stage, and the fourth card belongs to the Storming stage. A pair beats a diff, but it loses to a triplet, a double pair, or a quad.
Diff: All four cards in this set belong to different suits. Example: One card belongs to the Norming stage of the team-development process, another card belongs to the Storming stage, the third card belongs to Performing stage, and the fourth card belongs to the Forming stage. A diff is the lowest-status set and it loses to any other type of set.
Break the tie. If both you and your opponent have the same type of set, the set with the card of highest value wins (as with three-card sets).
Five-card sets. The game is played as before, except each player is dealt 15 cards. Players arrange these cards into three sets of five cards each and reveal these sets, one at a time.
Five-card sets are somewhat similar to poker hands. Here are the six possible sets, arranged in descending order of status:
Quint: All five cards in this set belong to the same suit. Example: All five cards belong to the Performing stage. A quint is the highest-status set, beating all other types of sets.
Full House: Three cards in this set belong to one suit and the other two cards belong to another suit. (This is a combination of a triplet and a pair.) Example: Three cards belong to the Performing stage and the other two cards belong to the Storming
stage. A full house is the second highest-status set. It loses only to a quint.
Quad: Four cards in this set belong to the same suit and the fifth one belongs to a different suit. Example: Four cards belong to the Performing stage and the fifth card belongs to the Norming stage. A quad is the third highest-status five-card set, beating a double pair, a triplet, or a pair. It loses to a full house or a quint.
Double Pair: Two of the five cards belong to one suit, another two belong to another suit, and the fifth card belongs to a different suit. Example: Two cards belong to the Storming stage, two others belong to the Norming stage, and the fifth card belongs to the Performing stage. A double pair beats a triplet or a pair. It loses to a quad, a full house, or a quint.
Triplet: Three of the five cards belong to the same suit while the other two belong to two different suits. Example: Three cards belong to the Storming stage while the fourth card belongs to the Performing stage and the fifth card belong to the Norming stage. A triplet beats a pair. It loses to a double pair, quad, a full house, or a quint.
Pair: Two of the five cards in this set belong to the same suit and the other three belong to three different suits. Example: Two cards belong to the Performing stage, the third card belongs to the Forming stage, the fourth card to the Storming stage, and the fifth card to the Norming stage. A pair is the lowest-status five-card set. It loses to a triplet, a double pair, a quad, a full house, or a quint.
(In case you are curious, you cannot have a five-card diff because there are only four suits.)
Break the tie. If both you and your opponent have the same type of set, the set with the card of highest value wins (as with three-card sets).
Optional Rules
Use of the Feedback Table. When you are a beginning player, you may refer to the Feedback Table whenever you want. Later, when you have become familiar with the four stages of team development, you should play the game without using this “cheat sheet”.
Strategy
Remember that the object of the game is to score two or more points by playing the highest-status set during each round. A lot of bluffing is involved in deciding when to play your weak set or strong set.
In 1965 B. W. Tuckman, who had been studying the behavior of small groups, published a model that suggests that all teams go through four distinct stages in their development:
Forming. The first stage in a team's development is forming. During this stage, the team members are unsure about what they are doing. Their focus is on understanding the team's goal and their role. They worry about whether the other team members will accept them. Team members frequently look for clarification from their leader.
Storming. The second stage in a team's development is storming. During this stage, the team members try to get organized. This stage is marked by conflict among the members and between the members and the leader. Through this conflict, the team attempts to define itself.
Norming. The third stage in a team's development is norming. This stage follows storming, after the team members have succeeded in resolving their conflicts. They now feel more secure with one another and with their leader. They effectively negotiate the structure of the team and the division of labor.
Performing. The fourth stage in a team's development is performing. During this stage the team members behave in a mature fashion and focus on accomplishing their goals. This stage is marked by direct, two-way communication among the team members.
1. All members participate in all team activities. 2. Disagreements become more civilized and less divisive. 3. Feeling of us-them increases. 4. Ground rules become second nature to team members. 5. If there is a formal leader, team members tend to obey him or
her. 6. Leadership is shared among different members. 7. Cautious 8. Leadership role is rotated among appropriate members. 9. Members are anxious and suspicious of the task ahead.
10. Challenging 11. Members are more committed to their sub-groups than to
the team as a whole. 12. Members are more friendly toward each other. 13. Members are not committed to the group's goal. 14. Collaborating 15. Conversation is polite and tentative. 16. Each team member decides what his or her role should be. 17. Everyone begins to experience success. 18. Members are not fully committed to the team goal. 19. Members are proud to be chosen for the team. 20. Members are relieved that things are progressing
smoothly. 21. Everyone is wondering, “Why are we here?” 22. Members are satisfied about the team's progress. 23. Members argue with each other—even when they agree on
the basic issues. 24. Everyone wants to have his or her say. 25. Facilitator encourages team members to critique their
behaviors. 26. Members attempt to figure out their roles and functions. 27. Members begin to enjoy team activities. 28. Facilitator encourages team members to discuss their
negative feelings. 29. Facilitator helps team members uncover and discuss
hidden agendas. 30. Members challenge, evaluate, and destroy ideas. 31. Members choose sides. 32. Members compete with each other. 33. Facilitator points out violations of ground rules and helps
team members revise the ground rules, if appropriate. 34. Facilitator uses an icebreaker to help team members to get
acquainted with each other. 35. Members deal with each other with greater confidence. 36. Members develop great loyalty to the team. 37. Members don't have enough information to trust each
other. 38. Members feel comfortable about their roles in the team. 39. Members feel confident about disagreeing with each other. 40. Team members decide on the appropriate level of risk
taking. 41. Members feel empowered. They take initiative without
checking with the leader. 42. Members feel excitement, anticipation, and optimism. 43. Members form subgroups that get into conflicts.
44. Members freely ask questions and express their frustrations.
45. Members have a better idea of whom to trust and whom to distrust.
46. Members have a realistic sense of trust based on their experiences with each other.
47. Members have clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each other.
48. Members take a “wait-and-see” approach. 49. Members tend to avoid the tasks and argue about ground
rules. 50. Members tend to be polite to each other. 51. Members tend to become complacent. 52. Members understand the team processes. 53. Members' feelings and attitudes keep fluctuating. 54. Most conversations are to and from the team leader. 55. Most discussions are about getting the task done. 56. Most discussions are shallow. 57. No ground rules established. Members depend on their
previous team experiences to decide how to behave. 58. Regular team meetings are replaced by a variety of as-
needed communications. 59. Several conflicts develop. 60. Some members become bored with the routine and begin
looking for new challenges. 61. Some members demonstrate passive resistance. 62. Team members decide who should do what. 63. Some members dominate team discussions. 64. Some members still dominate team discussions. 65. Team members depend on the facilitator to explain what is
going on. 66. Team members experience this stage after storming and
before performing. 67. Status of members inside the team is based on their status
outside. 68. Team activities become more informal. 69. Team becomes creative in accomplishing its goal. 70. Team begins celebrating its success. 71. Team begins to receive payoffs. 72. Team members feel frustrated. 73. Team members list their ground rules on a flip chart. 74. Team demonstrates greatest levels of flexibility. 75. Team establishes ground rules for interactions among the
members. 76. Team generates solutions that are acceptable to all
members.
77. Team members negotiate with each other to decide how the team should be structured.
78. Team members participate in a balanced and supportive fashion.
79. Team goal is unclear. 80. Team ground rules are clearly established. 81. Team holds abstract discussions of concepts and issues. 82. Team is able to prevent potential problems. 83. Team members share the leadership role. 84. Team members trust each other more because they have
established clear guidelines for interaction. 85. Team is likely to suffer from groupthink and lack of
objective evaluation. 86. Team is not very productive. 87. Team members are committed to the goal and to the task. 88. Team members are more natural and less self-conscious in
their interactions. 89. Team members attempt to understand their goal and task. 90. Team members complain about organizational barriers. 91. Team members disagree and argue with each other. 92. Team members disagree with the leader. 93. Team members don't participate fully. 94. Team members resolve conflicts easily. 95. Team members seek clear guidance. 96. Team members talk and argue with each other. 97. Team spends more time on task and very little time on
ground rules. 98. The team becomes increasingly productive. 99. The team has a better understanding of the goal, but still
needs guidance.
Don't Want To Prepare Your Own Deck of Cards?
We will sell you a deck of ready-made printed cards with team-development items, along with the Feedback Table. Currently selling for $18, we will give you a 50 percent discount of $9 and throw in free shipment (for USA orders only)! Order your decks through our secure online store.
Here's an interesting icebreaker that uses the postcards written in the previous closer activity ( POSTCARD TO A FRIEND ). It involves distributing postcards from previous participants with their highlights and advice for a new group of participants. Be sure that you receive informed consent from the writers before using their postcards in this activity.
Purpose
To provide a preview of the session and some advice on how to get the most out of it.
Participants
Any number.
Time
15 to 30 minutes
Supplies
Postcard written by participants in a previous session. If necessary, photocopy some postcards to make sure that all participants will receive a postcard.
Flow
Brief participants. Present the following scenario in your own words:
Let's pretend that one of your friends has gone through this training session earlier. You send her an e-mail note asking for her comments on the session and advice on how to get the most out of it. She sends you a postcard.
Conduct the card reading session. Distribute one postcard to each participant. Explain that it was written under the same scenario that you presented earlier. Ask participants to read the postcard and review the information. Tell them that you will be taking the postcard back in a few minutes.
Ask participants to compare notes. Retrieve the postcards from the participants and organize them into teams of three to seven. Ask each team to compare the advice from the postcards and to select the three most useful pieces of advice.
Prepare posters. Ask participants to prepare a summary of the three most useful pieces of advice on a sheet of flip chart paper. After a suitable pause, ask teams to tape their posters to the wall. Encourage participants to review the posters from the other teams.
Conduct a Q&A session. Ask the participants to return to their locations. Invite them to ask you questions about any of the items from the postcards they received. Give brief responses.
Closer
POSTCARD TO A FRIEND
Here's a closer that encourages participants to recall what happened in the session and to come up with second thoughts about how they could have benefited more. It also creates useful materials for an interesting icebreaker.
Purpose
To review the training session and identify personal highlights.
Participants
Any number
Time
15 to 30 minutes
Supplies
A postcard-sized piece of card stock for each participant
Flipchart paper
Flow
Brief participants. Present the following scenario, using your own words:
Imagine it's three months ago, and you received an e-mail note from a friend indicating that she's going to attend this training session. She is curious about your experiences with the session and wants your advice on how to get the most out of it. You are ready to respond to her by sending her a postcard.
Begin the postcard writing activity. Ask participants to think back on the training session and recall one or two highlights. Also ask them to think about what two pieces of advice they should give this friend. Distribute a blank “postcard” to each participant and ask him or her to write a short, friendly note incorporating the highlights and the advice. Announce a 5-minute time limit.
Conclude the postcard-writing activity. Ask participants who have finished ahead of the others to decorate their postcards with doodles. When everyone has concluded, collect the postcards and thank the participants.
Ask participants to compare notes. Organize participants into teams of 3 to 7 and ask them to share what they wrote on their postcards.
Create joint postcards. Ask each team to write a joint note to the imaginary friend using large letters on a sheet of flipchart paper positioned horizontally (landscape format). Announce a 5-minute time limit.
Display the joint postcards. After a suitable pause, ask teams to tape their giant postcards to the wall of the meeting room. Encourage the participants take a gallery walk and review the products from the other teams.
POTATO POWER by Deb Calderon
Purpose To stick a plastic straw through a raw potato To use the activity as a metaphor for getting to the heart of a
problem (and other concepts)
Participants
Any number
Time
15 - 30 minutes
Supplies Plastic straws Medium-sized potatoes that are not too old
Procedure
Give each participant a potato.
Make your point and talk about what the potato represents.
Demonstrate the activity:
Hold the potato over the edge of a table. Hold the straw firmly with your finger over the opening at the
top. Ram the straw straight down and into the potato. The straw
should go into the potato, and right through.
Have everyone in the group try it. Emphasize that a finger or thumb should be covering the opening at the top end of the straw.
Explanation
Here's the science behind this demonstration: The straw is very strong along its length. The width is not as strong and can be easily bent or broken. When you ram the straw with all your force, it cuts into the potato with its sharp edge and goes straight through. Your forceful movement gets the task done before the straw has a chance to bend.
Precaution
You don't want to push this straw into your leg or any other part of your body. So stay out of the way of the straw's path.
Presentation Tips
Inertia. It is best to launch into a project before you get a chance to buckle at its magnitude.
Focused energy. When all your efforts are focused in one place, you can cut through problems.
Strategy. Potatoes are big and straws are small. However, if you know where and how to strike, you can beat the competition.
Presentation Tips
Add fun, humor, and energy by asking everyone to yell out the same power word as they push the straw through the potato.
Conclude the session with this piece of advice: “Be careful not to carry a concealed straw. It's a dangerous weapon.”
[Table of Contents]
Debriefing
Replace Smile Sheets with SPAM
If you are a trainer, you probably know what a “Smile Sheet” is. It is a short questionnaire that is used immediately after a training session to collect participants' reaction to the event. The Smile Sheet typically focuses on the lowest level of training evaluation and ignores learning outcomes and application of the new skills and knowledge. Participants don't take these questionnaires seriously because they are usually tired at the end of a training program and eager to go home.
Since my recent trip to Australia, I have started using an alternative evaluation technique that I first encountered in Melbourne. I call this SPAM , which stands for Socialized Procedure for Application Measurement. It requires the use of email notes.
Flow
Prepare address cards. Ask each participant to write her name on a piece of paper along with her email address. If necessary, distribute index cards for this purpose.
Exchange cards with a partner. Ask all participants to pair up with one another and exchange their email address cards. Emphasize the importance of not losing the address card.
Explain the SPAM procedure. Give these instructions (in your own words) to participants:
Sometime during the next week, write an email note. In this note, describe how you plan to apply your new skills and
knowledge to your workplace. If you have already begun applying the new skills and
knowledge, briefly describe how you have done so. Add information about your experiences in the training sessions.
Specify what you enjoyed and what you disliked during the session.
Send the email note to your partner. Send a copy of this note to the facilitator.
If you don't hear from your partner after three or four days, send her a gentle reminder.
Concluding the session. Emphasize the importance of this follow-up activity. Thank everyone for their participation during the session.
Email is ubiquitous. During the past 3 months, I have not met any participant who does not have an email address. If I do, I am ready with stamped postcards to conduct a snail-mail version of the same game.
Structured Sharing
POTENT POETRY by Sonia Ribaux
I've been really enjoying playing with my Magnetic Poetry set. I thought that this would be fun to use in an instructional setting. I think that people are intrigued by poetry because most of us can't write it. Here are a few ideas on how to incorporate poetry in your course.
First, Make Your Own Set of Poetry Cards
It's very easy to make your own set of poetry cards. You need approximately 200 cards. A 2 by 4 inch format works well. Customize the cards so that words related to your topic are well represented. Below is a recipe for the type of words to include on the cards, the number of words, and some examples. All numbers are approximate.
Verbs (30): create, stimulate, explore, lead, frolic, be, is, lift, explode, to love, write, show, call, talk, jump
Adjectives (20): mellow, clever, playful, soft, enough, too much, pale, dark, fast
Interjections and conjunctions (10): oh, wow, hey, and, because, as, if, then, for, since, until
Suffixes (10): -s, -ed, -ing, -es, -ness (these can be repeated)
Custom words related to your topic (20-30): For a set I made recently on instructional games I used words like these: games, learning, play, teach, coach, creativity, laughter, players, competition, tomfoolery
Now, Play With the Words
There are many different ways to use the poetry cards. Here are a few ways to incorporate poetry in any instructional situation.
Review. Ask each team of 4-5 people to create a brief poem that summarizes what they have learned in the training as a whole or on a
particular topic. Debrief by having a poetry reading. Let the participants explain the meaning of their poem.
Team Building. Ask teams to use the cards to write a poem or slogan to express their team's spirit. Post the poem on the walls.
Vision. Ask team to come up with 10 to 20 words that come to mind when visioning a particular project or idea. Have them write the words on cards. Give them a set of poetry cards without custom words. Use the words they wrote as the custom words. Now ask the teams to come up with a vision poem, using both their words and the poetry cards. Debrief by having the teams present their vision and discuss.
Icebreaker: THIS DESCRIBES ME . Distribute a set of cards to participants seated around each table. Have each person select 5 words that describe him or her. Ask the participants to work in pairs and explain to each other their choice of words. Have participants to introduce their partner to the group.
Icebreaker: GROUP POETRY . Use this activity with large groups: Give each person three cards. Ask the participants to mingle and meet, showing each other their words. Eventually, participants should form groups of 5 or 6 people with whom they can form a short poem.
Textra Game
PROVERBS
Miguel de Cervantes said, “A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience.”
All cultures, languages, and nationalities have encapsulated their core values in collections of proverbs. I enjoy locating these proverbs and using this activity to observe similarities and differences among basic cultural values.
PROVERBS is a textra game. Textra games combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of training games. In a typical textra game, participants read a book, a chapter, an article, or a handout, and play a game that uses peer pressure and peer support to encourage recall and transfer of what they read. PROVERBS is an unusual example of a textra game because it incorporates a very short proverb as the basic reading assignment.
Each participant studies two proverbs from an international collection and makes a reflective presentation on their meaning and application. The distribution of proverbs is arranged in such a way that two participants present their personal interpretation of each proverb.
To reflect on important values and principles embedded in proverbs from different cultures.
Participants
Minimum: 2Maximum: 30Best: 5 to 15
Time Requirement
20 to 45 minutes
Handouts
Proverb cards (see below)
Handout, Proverbs from Around the World
Preparation
Create proverb cards. Print or write each proverb from the handout on a separate card. Make a duplicate copy of each proverb card.
Flow
Distribute proverbs. At the beginning of the session, select as many proverb cards (and their duplicates) as there are participants. Distribute the proverb cards so that
each participant gets two different proverbs
each proverb is given to two different participants.
Example: In a recent session, we had 17 participants. So we created two copies each of the first 17 proverbs listed in the handout. Here's how we distributed the proverbs:
Participant Proverbs
1 1 and 2
2 2 and 3
3 3 and 4
4 4 and 5
5 5 and 6
6 6 and 7
7 7 and 8
We continued this approach until we reached the last (17th) participant. We gave this person proverbs 17 and 1 to close the loop.
Invite reflection. Explain that proverbs encapsulate the core values of different cultures. Ask the participants to reflect on each proverb, discover its deeper meaning for the members of the culture, and identify its universal application. Warn the participants that they will be asked to make a short presentation on both proverbs they received.
Call for first pair of presentations. After a suitable pause, randomly select one of the proverbs from the list. Read this proverb (or display it on the screen). Ask the two participants who received cards with that proverb to take turns and make their presentations.
Encourage discussion. If appropriate, ask the participants to vote (by their applause) to identify the better presentation. Invite comments from the other participants.
Continue the activity. Repeat the procedure with other randomly selected proverbs.
Conclude the activity. If you have a large group, it is not necessary that you must invite every participant to make a presentation. After a few paired
presentations, invite participants who have important insights to share to make their presentations. Conclude the activity by distributing a copy of the handout, Proverbs from Around the World to each participant. Encourage participants to read and reflect.
Adjustments
Distributed presentations. Instead of conducting all paired presentations at the same time, distribute them throughout the workshop session. For example, you may conduct two paired presentations after each coffee break and lunch break.
Game Plan
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Distribute proverb cards. (2 minutes)
Give two proverb cards to each participant. Also make sure that each proverb is given to two different participants.
Receive the cards and read the proverbs.
2. Invite reflection. (5 minutes)
Ask participants to reflect on the two proverbs and get ready to make presentations.
Think about the significance and universality of the two proverbs. Plan for presentations.
3. Call for first pair of presentations. (5 minutes)
Randomly select a proverb and announce it to the participants. Invite two participants to take turns to make their presentations.
If you are one of the selected participants, make the presentations. Other participants, listen to these presentations.
4. Encourage discussions (3 minutes)
Give instructions. If appropriate, clap for the winning presentation. Discuss your personal insights and reactions.
5. Continue the activity. (10 minutes)
Repeat the previous two steps.
Repeat the previous two steps.
6. Conclude the activity. (3 minutes)
Distribute the handout, Proverbs from Around the World.
Study the proverbs at your leisure and reflect on them.
[Table of Contents]
Handout
Proverbs from Around the World
1. A leaky house may fool the sun, but it can't fool the rain. — Haitian
2. A man that talks too much accomplishes little. — Ilocano
3. A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own
greatness. — Chinese
4. A stumble may prevent a fall. — English
5. A young tree is easy to straighten, but when it's big it is difficult. —
Ilocano
6. Better one day as a lion than a hundred as a sheep. — Italian
7. By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.
— Ashanti
8. Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped. — Chinese
9. Every path has its puddle. — English
10.Give me a fish, I have food for the day. Teach me how to fish and I will
have food for every day. — Egyptian
11.He who excuses himself accuses himself. — French
12.If it's work, do it fast. If it's food, eat it little by little. — Ilocano
13.It is the calm and silent water that drowns a man. — Ashanti
14.It's no time to go for the doctor when the patient is dead. — Irish
15.One flower does not bring spring. — Afghan
16.Pull a mountain by tying a hair to it. If you succeed you will get a
mountain; if you lose you will only lose a hair. — Tamil
17.Sometimes you have to be silent to be heard. — Swiss
18.Talk does not cook rice. — Chinese
19.Tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are. — Spanish
A textra game maximizes the learning from handouts and job aids. This type of game reinforces a reading assignment with peer pressure and peer support. QUESTION CARDS is a textra game that ensures that the participants read a handout for details and recall these details later.
Distribute the handout and ask each participant to read it -- and prepare 10 question cards based on its content. Each card should have a closed question on one side and the single correct answer on the other.
After a suitable pause for studying the handout and preparing the question cards, organize the participants into groups of four to seven. Ask each group to mix up the question cards from its members and exchange the whole pile with another group.
After the exchange, ask the group to place the cards in the middle of the table, question side up. The first player reads the question on the
top card, without removing it from the pile. Within 10 seconds, this player gives an answer. Any player may challenge by giving a different answer.
If there is no challenge, the first player wins the card.
If there is a challenge, the card is turned over to reveal the correct answer. Whoever gave the correct answer (the original player or the challenger) wins the card. If neither answer is correct, the card is buried in the middle of the pile for recycling.
It is now the turn of the next player to read the question on the next card and continue the game as before. The card pile may contain duplicate questions or questions that are similar to previous ones. This introduces an interesting element of chance to the game.
The game comes to an end when the group runs out of the question cards. (Alternatively, you can stop the game at the end of a prespecified period of time.) The player with the most cards wins the game.
Jolt
QUICK CHANGE
This opening activity works well for topics that deal with the challenges of change. It is adapted from an activity developed and used by Crestcom, a management and leadership development company.
Purpose
To link the topic of change to something the participants already know
Time
10 minutes
Participants
Any number
Equipment
Countdown timer
Whistle
Flow
Ask participants to pair-up with a partner, and stand back to back.
Identify one partner as “A” and the other partner as “B”. For example “A” could be the person who has worked for the company the longest.
Say:
In the next 60 seconds, partners “A” please change 5 things about yourselves. Keep your back to partner “B” so that partner “B” can't see you.
When time is up, instruct partners to face each other.
Say:
Partner “B”, in the next 60 seconds, see if you can identify the 5 things that partner “A” changed.
Announce when time is up, congratulate the participants and instruct the partners to return to the back-to-back position.
Say:
In the next 60 seconds, partner “A” change 5 more things about yourself.
When time is up, instruct partners to face each other again.
Say:
Partner “B”, in the next 60 seconds, see if you can detect the 5 additional changes made by partner “A”.
Announce when time is up, congratulate the participants, then instruct the partners to return to the back-to-back position.
Say:
Partner “A”, please change 5 additional things about yourselves.
By this time, the participants usually start to groan and indicate that they do not want to participate any longer. Calm the participants, then ask them to return to their seats and begin the debrief.
Debrief
To prevent participants from treating this activity as a mindless ice-breaker, conduct a debriefing discussion by using the following sets of questions in the specific sequence. Notice that each set of questions emphasizes an important learning point by looking back on the activity, relating it to the workplace, and brainstorming appropriate change-management strategies.
Change as removal
When asked to make changes, how many of the “A's” removed items
(such as belt or tie)? Why did most of you choose to remove things
rather than add things?
Is this how we often look at change? Do we assume that change means
things are going to be taken away? What can we do to help emphasize
the benefits of the change?
Too many, too fast
How did you feel when I asked you to make changes the third time? I
heard a lot of groaning. You weren't as enthusiastic as you were the
first time.
How does this relate to the workplace when we ask our employees to
make too many changes too quickly?
Return to status quo
Right now, how many of the “A's” have already changed back to how
they were originally? This is interesting, because I didn't tell you to
change back yet.
Is that what happens in the workplace? Without continued support and
direction from upper management, do employees tend to go back to
doing things the same old way?
How can we lead by example to prevent this from happening?
Framegame
RESPONSE CARDS
Many trainers use this standard method: They ask a question and jot down key points from participants' responses on a flip chart. Then they make comments, correct misconceptions, and present additional information. This approach is definitely more interesting and effective than a straight lecture. But it does not encourage all participants to participate.
Here's a quick alternative:
1. Ask an open-ended question and instruct each participant to write a brief response on an index card. Impose a suitable time limit.
2. Organize participants into teams of approximately equal numbers. Collect the responses from each team and give them to another team.
3. Ask team members to read the responses and select two of them: the “best” one and the one that is the most “different” from the others.
4. After a suitable pause, ask each team to read the two selected responses. Comment on each response.
Textra Game
REVIEW ROULETTE
Textra Games combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of interactive strategies.
Participants read a handout and play a game that uses peer pressure and support to encourage recall and transfer of what they read.
Games of pure chance discourage smarter players from mastering new skills and knowledge. Games of pure skill discourage weaker players from trying hard once they fall behind. An effective training game strikes a balance between chance and skill. That's exactly what REVIEW ROULETTE does.
Purpose
To review training content from a reading assignment.
Participants
Any number. Best game is for 20-30.
Time
20 - 45 minutes
Supplies Handout with the training content Index cards Large envelopes Timer Whistle
FLOW
Briefing
Distribute the handouts. Ask participants to study this handout independently, underlining key ideas and taking notes. Warn them that there will be quiz game based on the contents of the handout. Announce a suitable time limit.
Generating Questions
Organize participants into teams. After the study time has elapsed, blow a whistle. Assign participants to different teams. Each team should have five to seven members. It does not matter if some teams have one more player than the others.
Ask teams to generate question cards. Distribute blank index cards to each team and ask participants to write 30 or more review questions, one question on each card.
Give specifications for the question cards. Explain that the questions should be written on one side of the card and the correct answer on the other side. Offer these guidelines:
Focus the questions on important learning points. Avoid trick questions, humorous questions, and trivial questions. Go beyond mere recall of facts. Use short-answer questions. Avoid true-false and multiple-choice
formats. Write the correct answer on the other side of the card. If a
question has more than one correct answer, list all acceptable answers.
Time the activity. Announce a 10-15 minute time limit for writing questions. At the end of this time, blow the whistle to stop the activity.
Distribution Of Question Cards
Add bonus instructions. Ask each team to select any six question cards and write “Take an extra turn!” on the answer side of the card, below the answer.
Add bad-luck cards. Ask the teams to write, “Lose your turn!” on both sides of six blank cards and add them to the set of question cards.
Prepare question-card sets. Ask each team to make sure that all the cards are arranged with the question side up (except for the bad-luck cards). Distribute an envelope to each team. Ask teams to shuffle the cards and place the packet inside the envelope with the question side facing the opening of the envelope.
Distribute the question-card sets. Take the envelope from each team and give it to the next team. Ask team members to place the envelope on the table with the opening facing up.
Playing The Game
Get the game started. Announce that the game will last for 10 minutes. At the end of the time, the person with the most question cards won (by giving the correct answers) wins the game.
Answer the question. Select one player from each team to be the first player. Ask this player to take the top card from inside the envelope, without exposing any other card. This person places the card on the table (hiding the answer), reads the question, and immediately gives an answer.
Win the card. Players now turn the card over and check the “official” answer on the other side. If correct, the player wins the card and adds it to his or her collection. (If the player's answer is incorrect, the question card is placed on a discard pile.)
Continue the game. If the answer side of the card contains the instruction, “Take an extra turn!” the same player picks another question card. Otherwise, it is the next player's turn. The game proceeds as before.
Lose a turn. Whenever a player picks a card with the instruction, “Lose your turn!”, the turn passes to the next player.
Challenge answers. After a player reads a question and gives the answer, other players may yell, “Challenge!” if they think that the answer is not correct. The first player to do so becomes the official challenger and gives an alternative response. The question card is turned over to verify the answer. If the original answer is correct, the player wins the card and collects another card from the challenger's collection. If the challenger is correct, he or she wins the card and collects another card from the player's collection. (If the player or the challenger does not have a collection of cards from earlier rounds, no penalty card is collected.)
Conclude the game. The game ends when all the question cards have been picked up or when the allotted time of 10 minutes is used up. At this time, the player with the most cards wins the game.
Classification Card Game
ROWS AND COLUMNS
Here's another game in our recent series of two-person games with classification card decks. This game is different from most typical card games.
Purpose
To rapidly recognize the behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, perceptions, expectations, problems, and strategies associated with the four stages of team development.
Participants
Two. Larger groups may be divided into pairs to play the game in a parallel fashion. If an odd player is left out, the facilitator can play the game with this person.
Time
5 - 10 minutes. The game may be replayed several times to determine the winner of a match.
Supplies
How To Play ROWS AND COLUMNS Handout. This handout (which includes a glossary page) summarizes the rules of the game. Make a copy for each player.
Four Stages of Team Development Handout. This handout summarizes Tuckman's model. Make a copy for each player.
Feedback Table . This table is used for settling disputes during the game. The table lists each card number and the correct team-development stage (or stages) associated with it. Photocopy this handout to provide a copy of this table to each player.
A deck of GROWING A TEAM Cards. This deck contains 99 cards. Prepare your own deck by typing the numbers and statements from this list on your own cards. (See below if you don't have the patience to do this.)
Getting Ready to Play
Assemble play groups. Organize participants into pairs. Give a deck of GROWING A TEAM cards to each pair. Also distribute a copy of the Feedback Table to each player, asking players to place it with the printed side down.
Introduce the four stages. Distribute copies of the knowledge-base handout, Four Stages of Team Development. Make a brief presentation, using examples that are relevant to the players.
Brief the players. Acknowledge that most players may not have a complete grasp of the four stages in team development. Explain that you are going to play a card game that will help them become more fluent with these stages.
Introduce the GROWING A TEAM cards. Ask each player to pick up a card from the deck. Ask a player to read the statement on the card and invite everyone to identify the team-development stage associated with the statement. Announce the correct stage. Explain that this is the suit of the card. Demonstrate how to verify the suit by using the Feedback Table.
Explain the rules. Distribute copies of the handout, How To Play ROWS AND COLUMNS . Walk the players through the rules.
Monitor the game. Ask the players at each table to select the first dealer and begin the game. Walk around the room, clarifying rules and settling disputes among players as needed.
[Table of Contents]
Handout 1
How To Play ROWS AND COLUMNS
Deal the cards. Deal 10 cards to each player, one card at a time. Take the next card from the deck and place it, face down, in the middle of the table. Place the rest of the deck aside, face down. You will not be using these cards during this game.
Object of the game. You and the other player take turns, playing one card from your hand, face up, all around the face down card. Eventually you and the other player will create a 3x3 grid of cards with the face down card marking the center. If you are the dealer, your objective is to create horizontal rows that contain cards of the same suit. If you are the nondealer, your objective is to create vertical columns that contain cards of the same suit. (The face-down card in the center is a “wild” card and it may be included in the central row or middle column to represent a card of any suit.)
Scoring. At the end of the game, when the 3x3 grid is complete, you calculate your score. If you are the dealer, you score 5 points for any horizontal row that contains all three cards of the same suit. You score 2 points for any row that contains two cards of the same suit. Similarly, if you are the nondealer, you score 5 points for any vertical column that contains all three cards of the same suit and 2 points for any column that contains two cards of the same suit. (Because of the wild card in the middle, your score will never be lower than 2.)
Analysis. After the deal and before the play of the game, each player studies the 10 cards in her hand and organizes them by suit. Play begins only when both players have completed this analysis.
Taking turns. Nondealer plays first. She studies her cards, selects any card, and places it above, below, to the right, to the left, or diagonally to the face-down card. The dealer now studies the placement of the cards and the cards in her own hand. She selects a card and places it face up on the imaginary 3x3 grid. Players take turns playing cards in this fashion, making sure that all cards are placed adjacent (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) to the face-down center card.
Concluding the game. Game ends when the dealer plays her fourth card face up, completing the 3x3 grid.
Computing the score. The nondealer identifies the cards in each of the three columns and scores
5 points for every vertical column that contains all cards of the same suit
2 points for every column that contains two cards of the same suit.
After this, the dealer calculates her score for each of the three horizontal rows.
Continuing. Players alternate dealing the cards and keep a running total of their score at the end of the games.
Determining the winner. The first player to reach a total of 15 wins the match.
Glossary
Dealer. At the beginning of the game, one of the players shuffles the deck and distributes the cards one at a time. This player is the dealer. When more than one game is played, players alternate being the dealer.
Hand. All the cards each player receives at the beginning of the game.
High. Scoring one point by winning the trick that contains the highest-ranked card played in the game. In case of a tie for the highest-ranked card, the winner of the highest-numbered card scores one point for high.
Suit. One of the three attributes of a card. The suit is the category to which the printed item on the card belongs (example: Forming). Some cards belong to more than one suit.
[Table of Contents]
Handout2
Four Stages of Team Development
In 1965 B. W. Tuckman, who had been studying the behavior of small groups, published a model that suggests that all teams go through four distinct stages in their development:
Forming. The first stage in a team's development is forming. During this stage, the team members are unsure about what they are doing. Their focus is on understanding the team's goal and their role. They
worry about whether the other team members will accept them. Team members frequently look for clarification from their leader.
Storming. The second stage in a team's development is storming. During this stage, the team members try to get organized. This stage is marked by conflict among the members and between the members and the leader. Through this conflict, the team attempts to define itself.
Norming. The third stage in a team's development is norming. This stage follows storming, after the team members have succeeded in resolving their conflicts. They now feel more secure with one another and with their leader. They effectively negotiate the structure of the team and the division of labor.
Performing. The fourth stage in a team's development is performing. During this stage the team members behave in a mature fashion and focus on accomplishing their goals. This stage is marked by direct, two-way communication among the team members.
1. All members participate in all team activities. 2. Disagreements become more civilized and less divisive. 3. Feeling of us-them increases. 4. Ground rules become second nature to team members. 5. If there is a formal leader, team members tend to obey him or
her. 6. Leadership is shared among different members. 7. Cautious 8. Leadership role is rotated among appropriate members. 9. Members are anxious and suspicious of the task ahead. 10. Challenging 11. Members are more committed to their sub-groups than to
the team as a whole. 12. Members are more friendly toward each other. 13. Members are not committed to the group's goal. 14. Collaborating 15. Conversation is polite and tentative. 16. Each team member decides what his or her role should be. 17. Everyone begins to experience success. 18. Members are not fully committed to the team goal. 19. Members are proud to be chosen for the team. 20. Members are relieved that things are progressing
smoothly. 21. Everyone is wondering, “Why are we here?” 22. Members are satisfied about the team's progress.
23. Members argue with each other—even when they agree on the basic issues.
24. Everyone wants to have his or her say. 25. Facilitator encourages team members to critique their
behaviors. 26. Members attempt to figure out their roles and functions. 27. Members begin to enjoy team activities. 28. Facilitator encourages team members to discuss their
negative feelings. 29. Facilitator helps team members uncover and discuss
hidden agendas. 30. Members challenge, evaluate, and destroy ideas. 31. Members choose sides. 32. Members compete with each other. 33. Facilitator points out violations of ground rules and helps
team members revise the ground rules, if appropriate. 34. Facilitator uses an icebreaker to help team members to get
acquainted with each other. 35. Members deal with each other with greater confidence. 36. Members develop great loyalty to the team. 37. Members don't have enough information to trust each
other. 38. Members feel comfortable about their roles in the team. 39. Members feel confident about disagreeing with each other. 40. Team members decide on the appropriate level of risk
taking. 41. Members feel empowered. They take initiative without
checking with the leader. 42. Members feel excitement, anticipation, and optimism. 43. Members form subgroups that get into conflicts. 44. Members freely ask questions and express their
frustrations. 45. Members have a better idea of whom to trust and whom to
distrust. 46. Members have a realistic sense of trust based on their
experiences with each other. 47. Members have clear understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses of each other. 48. Members take a “wait-and-see” approach. 49. Members tend to avoid the tasks and argue about ground
rules. 50. Members tend to be polite to each other. 51. Members tend to become complacent. 52. Members understand the team processes. 53. Members' feelings and attitudes keep fluctuating. 54. Most conversations are to and from the team leader.
55. Most discussions are about getting the task done. 56. Most discussions are shallow. 57. No ground rules established. Members depend on their
previous team experiences to decide how to behave. 58. Regular team meetings are replaced by a variety of as-
needed communications. 59. Several conflicts develop. 60. Some members become bored with the routine and begin
looking for new challenges. 61. Some members demonstrate passive resistance. 62. Team members decide who should do what. 63. Some members dominate team discussions. 64. Some members still dominate team discussions. 65. Team members depend on the facilitator to explain what is
going on. 66. Team members experience this stage after storming and
before performing. 67. Status of members inside the team is based on their status
outside. 68. Team activities become more informal. 69. Team becomes creative in accomplishing its goal. 70. Team begins celebrating its success. 71. Team begins to receive payoffs. 72. Team members feel frustrated. 73. Team members list their ground rules on a flip chart. 74. Team demonstrates greatest levels of flexibility. 75. Team establishes ground rules for interactions among the
members. 76. Team generates solutions that are acceptable to all
members. 77. Team members negotiate with each other to decide how
the team should be structured. 78. Team members participate in a balanced and supportive
fashion. 79. Team goal is unclear. 80. Team ground rules are clearly established. 81. Team holds abstract discussions of concepts and issues. 82. Team is able to prevent potential problems. 83. Team members share the leadership role. 84. Team members trust each other more because they have
established clear guidelines for interaction. 85. Team is likely to suffer from groupthink and lack of
objective evaluation. 86. Team is not very productive. 87. Team members are committed to the goal and to the task.
88. Team members are more natural and less self-conscious in their interactions.
89. Team members attempt to understand their goal and task. 90. Team members complain about organizational barriers. 91. Team members disagree and argue with each other. 92. Team members disagree with the leader. 93. Team members don't participate fully. 94. Team members resolve conflicts easily. 95. Team members seek clear guidance. 96. Team members talk and argue with each other. 97. Team spends more time on task and very little time on
ground rules. 98. The team becomes increasingly productive. 99. The team has a better understanding of the goal, but still
needs guidance.
Don't Want To Prepare Your Own Deck of Cards?
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Here's a neat activity to ensure that everyone shares the responsibility for maintenance functions during a team meeting.
When participants arrive, they write their names on individual index cards. At the start of the meeting, someone collects these cards, turns them upside down, shuffles them, and passes them around. Everyone takes a card, making sure it is not the one with her or his name. The name on the card (which is kept hidden from others) is the person's secret protégé.
During the meeting, everybody contributes to the discussion as usual. In addition, each person secretly monitors his or her protégé and makes sure that person participates appropriately.
For example, if your protégé, John, is withdrawn, you may encourage him by saying, "What do you think of Mary's idea, John?" On the other
hand, if John dominates the discussion, you may ask Mary, "What do you think of John's idea, Mary?"
Set aside 5 minutes at the end of the meeting. Ask participants to identify their secret coaches. The whole idea is not to be spotted by your protégé. This means that you distribute your coaching comments to several different people during the meeting, which is a good idea anyway. Also, you may work through someone else to coach your protégé -- which is another good idea.
A textra game maximizes the learning from handouts and job aids. This type of game reinforces a reading assignment with peer pressure and peer support. SECRET MESSAGES is a textra game that ensures that the players understand the principles presented in a handout. This game taps into the players' visual intelligence.
Distribute copies of the handout and ask each player to pay special attention to the rules, principles, guidelines, and suggestions contained in it. Suggest that they visualize the main points as they read the handout. Warn the players that they will be playing a game that will punish non-readers and reward those who take the reading assignment seriously. Specify the date, time, and location for the follow-up textra game.
At the start of the SECRET MESSAGES game, organize the players into groups of four to seven. Give each group a bowl of counters (pennies, paper clips, or poker chips) and a packet of message cards. These cards are blank on one side and have a printed message (a rule or principle) on the other side.
Ask each group to shuffle the packet of cards and place it in the middle of the table, message side down.
Ask the tallest person in each group take the first turn to be the artist. This artist picks up the top card, reads the message silently, and keeps it hidden from the other players.
One of the players in the group keeps time for 2 minutes.
The artist draws a series of pictures on blank sheets of paper to convey the message in the card. The artist should not use any letters, numerals, or symbols found on a standard keyboard.
The other players attempt to guess the message and shout out their guesses.
If a player shouts out the correct message, the artist says, "Done!" and shows the card. After verification, he picks up two counters from the bowl. The player who guessed the message correctly picks up one counter.
If the timekeeper announces the end of the 2-minute period before anyone has correctly guessed the message, the card is buried int the middle of the packet for recycling. No one (except the artist) knows what the message was.
The player seated to the left of the artist becomes the new artist. The game continues as before.
The game comes to an end when the group runs out of the message cards. (Alternatively, you can stop the game at the end of a prespecified period of time.) The player with the most counters wins the game.
SERIAL JOLTS
One of the strategies that we explored in the NASAGA e-workshop was the idea of serial jolts. A serial jolt is the repetition of the same type of jolt repeated several times with slight variations. There is a playful spirit of "gotcha" in this strategy as the facilitator tries to entrap the participants repeatedly--even though they know that's what is happening.
The serial jolt that we conducted was called SIX TILES, THREE WORDS. Readers of my free online newsletter, Play for Performance will probably be familiar with elements of this activity. However, this is the first time I have presented them as a serial jolt.
The training objective for this serial jolt is to increase participants' awareness of the assumptions they are making.
I told participants that they would see some slides that would have six tiles, each with three letters. Then I projected the instruction: Rearrange the six tiles to spell three words.
Round 1
Here are the six tiles during the first jolt:
MAN LES OBJ AGE SON ECT
This was a fairly easy one, just to help participants understand the requirements for solving the puzzle.
After a brief pause, I showed them the correct answer:
MANAGE LESSON OBJECT
Round 2
I now projected the second set of six tiles:
ATT END RET ION RIT IRE
I paused while participants struggled to make three words out of these six tiles. After about a minute, I projected the correct answer:
ATTRITION RETIRE END
During a quick debrief, I pointed out that they are making an assumption that the three words should all be six-letters long.
Round 3
I projected a new set of six tiles:
ACT FAT HER NIH NOI WIT
Most people felt frustrated as I paused for them to solve the puzzle and create three words from the six tiles.
After a suitable pause, I projected the solution:
ACTION FATHER WITHIN
After the virtual howl of protest, I showed them how two of the three-letter tiles can be turned "upside down" to change the sequence of letters:
NIH -> HIN
NOI -> ION
After the visual demonstration, participants caught on to the strategy. During the debriefing I pointed out that they had made another assumption (the tiles cannot be turned upside down).
Round 4
I repeated the instruction with a minor variation at the beginning of this round: Rearrange the six tiles to spell three familiar words.
Then I projected these six tiles:
AMI EEF LIA RDS RWO THR
After the usual pause, I projected this solution:
THREEFAMILIARWORDS
The assumption that most people made during this round was that the words should end after a tile (or that there should be a space between the words).
Round 5
I projected these tiles:
ONE WAY HOW ANY THI ACP
After a pause, I projected this solution:
ANYONE ANYHOW ANYWAY
The assumption discussed during the debrief was that all tiles have to be used and no tile may be used more than once.
Round 6
Here are the six tiles for the sixth round:
ARL TAI TCG EKH NET DTS
The instructions were the same as before (Rearrange these six tiles to spell three words). Participants struggled with the challenge for some time.
I projected the solution:
ARLTAITCGEKHNETDTS
You probably don't see the three words immediately because you are making an assumption that the words are to be read from left to right. Try reading words vertically, from top to bottom, and you will see attend, racket, and lights.
Round 7
Before projecting the next set of six tiles, I projected this set of instructions: Rearrange the letters in the six tiles to spell three words.
Here are the six tiles:
CUR SEE POT ARY REU OND
Most people fell into the trap of using the same procedure as before. However, the instructions state that you should suggest rearrange the letters (not the tiles).
Here's the solution:
RESCUE POETRY AROUND
Conclusion
I could have continued with two other variations on the theme, but I did not want participants to get hostile. So I stopped after Round 7.
If you come up with more diabolical variations on this theme, please let me know. I will publish your torture in Play for Performance--complete with your name and my thanks.
Jolt
Since March 21, 1999, I have been designing a training activity every day (including weekends and holidays). I throw some of them away, sell others to my clients, and publish others in books. I decided to publish my 1,147th activity (designed on February 22, 2002) here.
SIX CHUNKS, THREE WORDS
Purpose
To encourage participants to think outside of the box—and to continue thinking along new paths.
Brief participants. Give them a handout with this content:
Imagine these three-letter combinations are printed on six different tiles:
ACT
FAT
HER
NIH
NOI
WIT
Visualize the tiles. Move them around in your mind's eye.
Challenge: Can you rearrange these six tiles to spell three English words that can be found in any unabridged dictionary? Each of the words should be six letters long.
Do you remember how to solve the puzzle? The solution was published in the July 2001 issue of PFP.
Prompt the participants. After a suitable pause, drop some hints (like, “Try standing on your head. Look at the world upside down.”) until participants work out the solution. Debrief to discover the point of the activity: Begin thinking outside the box.
Distribute the next puzzle. Give them another handout with this content:
Imagine these three-letter combinations are printed on six different tiles:
ATT
END
RIT
ION
IRE
RET
Visualize the tiles. Move them around in your mind's eye.
Challenge: Can you rearrange these six tiles to spell three English words that can be found in an unabridged dictionary?
If you want to cheat and look at the answer, click here.
Prompt the participants. After a suitable pause, drop some hints (like, “Read the instructions again. What's the difference between these instructions and the previous ones? That's the long and short of it.”) until participants work out the solution. Debrief to discover the point of the activity: Don't box yourself in a new location. Keep trying out more innovative ideas.
Start the third round. Give them a new handout with this content:
Imagine these three-letter combinations are printed on six different tiles:
Visualize the tiles. Move them around in your mind's eye.
Challenge: Can you rearrange these six tiles to spell three words that can be found in an unabridged dictionary? Each word should be a six-letter word.
Click here for the solution.
Prompt the participants. After a suitable pause, drop some hints (like, “Think globally. Parlez vous français?”) until participants work out the solution. Debrief to discover the point of the activity: There is always another alternative.
Jolt Solution 3
Solution 3
The three words are PAYSAN, MAISON, and GAMINE. These are the French words for “peasant”, “home”, and “young girl”. The challenge did not specify that the three six-letter words had to be in English!
Simulation Game
SURVIVOR
Instructional puzzles can be incorporated into simulation games to act as metaphors for the realities of the workplace. SURVIVOR is a simulation game that uses cryptogram puzzles.
Purpose
To explore different aspects of teamwork, productivity, inclusiveness, and downsizing.
Supplies Copies of different puzzles, preferably with instructional content.
We strongly suggest using the six cryptogram puzzles that are found at the end of this article.
Pieces of paper Pencils Whistle Timer
Flow
Form groups. Organize participants into groups of five to seven participants each. Ask members of each group to sit around a table.
Appoint a Game Warden. Select the tallest member of each group to play the role of a “Game Warden”. Explain that the other members of the group will work as a team to solve a series of puzzles, but the “Game Warden” will not participate in this activity. Instead, the Game Warden will ensure that the team members follow the rules of the game.
Explain how to solve the puzzle. Distribute copies of a sample cryptogram puzzle to different teams. Demonstrate how to solve the puzzle by walking the participants through the process.
Begin solving the first puzzle. Distribute a copy of the first puzzle to each team. Ask team members to collaboratively solve the puzzle. Ask the Game Warden to let you know when the team has solved the entire puzzle.
Conclude the puzzle solving activity. After all teams have solved the puzzle or after 3 minutes, blow a whistle to indicate the conclusion of the first round. Announce the correct solution. Identify the team that solved the puzzle first (or the team that solved the most items in the puzzle) and congratulate its members.
Explain the downsizing move. Announce that as a downsizing move, each team has to eliminate one of its members. The winning team is not exempt from the elimination. Ask the Game Warden to distribute pieces of paper to each team member. Ask team members to think back about the contributions of different people during the puzzle-solving activity, secretly write the name of the person who contributed the least, and fold the piece of paper to hide this name. Emphasize that team members should write the name of the person who should be eliminated from the team.
Eliminate a team member. Ask the Game Warden to collect the pieces of paper and place them on the middle of table, exposing the names. The person whose name appears on most pieces of paper is eliminated from the team. In case of a tie, ask the Game Warden to choose one of the tied names to identify the team member to be eliminated. Ask the eliminated team member to stay at the table and observe future activities, without participating in them.
Process the second puzzle. Distribute a copy of the next puzzle to each team. Repeat the process of asking teams to solve the puzzle, concluding the session after 3 minutes, announcing the correct solution, and identifying the winning team.
Eliminate the second player. Ask the Game Wardens to repeat the process of distributing pieces of paper and eliminating the least-contributing member of each team. (The person who was eliminated during the earlier round does not participate in the “voting” process.)
Repeat the activity. Continue with additional puzzles and the elimination of more players, one player per round.
Conduct the final elimination round. When the team is reduced to just two players, announce a modification in the elimination process: During this round, all ex-members of the team (those who have been eliminated during the earlier rounds) participate in the “voting” process.
Congratulate the survivor. Identify the person who did not get eliminated during this round. This person is the winner.
Debriefing
To ensure maximum learning from this activity, conduct a debriefing discussion. Encourage everyone to think back on their experience, come up with insights about teamwork, and share them with each other. Begin by asking the survivors how they feel about their current situation. Follow up with these types of questions:
How do the people who were eliminated during the first round feel? How do the people who were eliminated during the final round feel?
How did the team members feel about selecting someone to be downsized?
How did it feel to win and still have to eliminate a team member? What criteria did you use for deciding which team member is to
be eliminated?
What dilemmas did you face in naming a person to be downsized?
Which was easier: to select the first person to be eliminated or the last person?
What did you learn from this activity? How does the activity reflect what happens in the workplace? What if the final survivor received a cash prize? How would that
have changed players' behaviors? What if you were the Game Warden? How would you have
behaved? What advice do you have for a person who is about to play this
game for the first time?
[Table of Contents]
Handout1
How To Decode Cryptograms
In a cryptogram, each letter in a message is replaced by another letter of the alphabet. For example,
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
may become this cryptogram:
YZF FOZ JUKZH CZJVQ
In the cryptogram Y replaces L, Z replaces E, F replaces T, and so on. Notice that the same letter substitutions are used throughout this cryptogram: Every E in the sentence is replaced by a Z, and every T is replaced by an F.
Here are some hints for decoding a cryptogram:
Letter Frequency
The most commonly used letters of the English language are e, t, a, i, o, n, s, h, and r. The letters that are most commonly found at the beginning of words are t, a, o, d, and w. The letters that are most commonly found at the end of words are e, s, d, and t.
One-letter words are either a or I. The most common two-letter words are to, of, in, it, is, as, at, be, we, he, so, on, an, or, do, if, up, by, and my. The most common three-letter words are the, and, are, for, not, but, had, has, was, all, any, one, man, out, you, his, her, and can. The most common four-letter words are that, with, have, this, will, your, from, they, want, been, good, much, some, and very.
Word Endings
The most common word endings are -ed, -ing, -ion, -ist, -ous, -ent, -able, -ment, -tion, -ight, and -ance.
Doubled Letters
The most frequent double-letter combinations are ee, ll, ss, oo, tt, ff, rr, nn, pp, and cc. The double letters that occur most commonly at the end of words are ee, ll, ss, and ff.
Punctuation
A comma is often followed by but, and, or who. It is usually preceded by however. A question often begins with why, how, who, was, did, what, where, or which. Two words that often precede quotation marks are said and says. Two letters that usually follow an apostrophe are t and s.
Sample Cryptogram
EMB WX CLGAXWCDLJLAU:
--- -- -------------:
YMCUGDGYMAUV ELMCA UW CLYLMU
------------ ----- -- ------
KLPMRGWCV UPMU MCL CLBMCSLS.
--------- ---- --- --------.
Cryptogram 1
WUI EL DSEARETUW WDUVTRTJ:
--- -- --------- --------:
DXDTAB AOUA UVD UKKESFUTRDH
------ ---- --- -----------
CN RTADTBD DSEARETB VDBYWA
-- ------- -------- ------
RT WETJ-WUBARTJ WDUVTRTJ.
-- ----_------- --------.
Cryptogram 2
SVN WG VUZHFK SKVJTHTL:
--- -- ------ --------:
VUZHFK JKCXWTMHTL XJWMPUKC
------ ---------- --------
OWJK KGGKUZHFK SKVJTHTL ZAVT
---- --------- -------- ----
XVCCHFK SHCZKTHTL WJ JKVMHTL.
------- --------- -- -------.
Cryptogram 3
IMX FA JKMVSNVD MHT ADDTRMVQ:
--- -- -------- --- --------:
IDMKHDKE VMHHFS WMESDK
-------- ------ ------
EQNIIE XNSOFGS KDJDMSDT
------ ------- --------
JKMVSNVD MHT ADDTRMVQ.
-------- --- --------.
Cryptogram 4
FQP JW AGKZVJYX KDAKGVKTNK:
--- -- -------- ----------:
TKP FKQGTVTO XCJYFU RK FVTLKU
--- -------- ------ -- ------
EJ (QTU RYVFU JT) ECK
-- (--- ----- --) ---
KDAKGVKTNK JW ECK FKQGTKG.
---------- -- --- -------.
Cryptogram 5
MFY UQ AGRAZARIFM
--- -- ----------
RAQQVLVGDVK: RAQQVLVGW
-----------: ---------
OVUOMV MVFLG AG
------ ----- --
RAQQVLVGW YFJK.
--------- ----.
Cryptogram 6
SVN WG JKSKFVTUK: KGGKUZHFK
--- -- ---------: ---------
SKVJTHTL HC JKSKFVTZ ZW ZAK
-------- -- -------- -- ---
SKVJTKJ'C SHGK VTM NWJD.
-------'- ---- --- ----.
[Table of Contents]
Handout2
Solutions (for facilitator's eyes only)
Sample Cryptogram
Law of reinforcement: Participants learn to repeat behaviors that are rewarded.
Cryptogram 1
Law of emotional learning: Events that are accompanied by intense emotions result in long-lasting learning.
Cryptogram 2
Law of active learning: Active responding produces more effective learning than passive listening or reading.
Cryptogram 3
Law of practice and feedback: Learners cannot master skills without repeated practice and feedback.
Cryptogram 4
Law of previous experience: New learning should be linked to (and build on) the experience of the learner.
Cryptogram 5
Law of individual differences: Different people learn in different ways.
Law of relevance: Effective learning is relevant to the learner's life and work.
Closer
SNAKE EYES by Brian Remer
Here is a game that uses an element of chance to drill down into the major themes of your workshop. Use SNAKE EYES to wrap up and review the major themes of the training.
Time
20 minutes, longer if you like.
Materials
Flipchart, markers, dice, paper, and pens.
Flow
Ask the group to generate six statements about things they have learned in the workshop. These can be a one-sentence summary, a truism, or a piece of sage advice. Post the statements on a flipchart and number them one through six.
Next, post the following numbered catalyst phrases:
1. Is similar to… 2. Is the opposite of… 3. Is a logical extension of… 4. Is a potential problem for… 5. Is essential for… 6. Should be excluded from…
Divide participants into teams of three to six. Each team takes a turn rolling two dice. The first die indicates the number of one of the catalyst phrases. The second die indicates one of the statements that summarize the workshop (from the list generated by the whole group.)
The catalyst then tells how the second statement must be altered to make a new statement. Explain to the participants that, if they roll a 1 with the first die, they are to write a new statement that “is similar to” the statement indicated by the second die. If the first roll is a 4, the new statement will be “a potential problem for” the statement that corresponds to the second die.
For example, in a workshop on improving supervisory skills for managers, 3 and 2 are rolled on the dice. The first die, 3, indicates the catalyst “Is a logical extension of…” Let's say 2, the second die, indicates a predetermined statement like “Managers should communicate clearly and often about their expectations for teams.” Teams must write a statement that is a logical extension of the statement about managers and expectations. One team might write, “Teams should ask for clarification of expectations when they see evidence of mission creep.” A role of 5 and 2 might produce “Asking team members a lot of questions is essential for insuring that expectations are agreed upon.”
Give teams about three minutes to write their new statement then take turns sharing. Record the statements and distribute them as a follow up to the workshop.
Variations Write the six statements about the session topic beforehand to
save time or to zero in on specific learning points. Have all teams write statements using the same role of the dice.
Award prizes for most humorous, philosophical, witty, etc. Ask teams to write their statement on newsprint and illustrate it. In a brainstorming session, put new ideas in the statement list
then role the dice to stretch those ideas further.
Improv Game
When looking good has become more important than getting the job done, here's an improv game for you to play.
SOUND BALL by Alain Rostain
Purpose
To increase spontaneity, teamwork, and participation and to decrease the tendency to think ahead instead of listening.
Participants
5 to 50. Best with 10 to 25.
Time
12-30 minutes.
Setup
Large empty room or space.
Flow
Ask players to stand in a circle.
Pretend to hold a ball in your hand. “Show” this imaginary ball to everyone. Tell players that they will be throwing this ball around.
Explain that you are going to throw the ball to one of the players. Before you throw the ball, you will make a special sound.
Instruct everyone to keep their eyes on the ball and get ready to catch it. Before catching the ball, the player should make the same sound that you made.
Make a sound and “throw” the ball to someone. Make sure that this player makes the same sound and catches the ball.
Explain that the catcher can now throw the player to any other player, making a new sound as the ball is thrown. The receiving player repeats the sound and catches the ball. This player throws the ball to any other player, making a new sound.
Once the ball is being thrown around at a fairly brisk pace, introduce another imaginary ball and start throwing it. When the group gets proficient at it, you can have three or four balls in play.
Debriefing
Stop the activity when you the group gets into a flow and it appears that many of the participants are engaged and having more fun. Conduct a debriefing discussion. Elicit and emphasize these ground rules for creative collaboration:
Pay attention to the present. Be in the moment. Don't think ahead.
Build on the ideas of others. Make the next obvious sound. Embrace failure. Don't censor your behavior. Make your partner look good. Play to team-win. If in a brainstorming session: All ideas are ok. Since there are no
such things as “good” and “bad” sounds, this is an opportunity to practice “throwing out” ideas or sounds without worrying about whether they are crazy or stupid.
Briefly discuss how these ground rules apply to creative teamwork at the workplace.
Structured Sharing
TCF : The Game
Purpose
To express, explain, and exchange participants' suggestions for improving customer service in your organization.
Participants
Minimum: 6
Maximum: Any number
Best: 12 to 30
(Participants form themselves into teams of different sizes during later stages of the game.)
Time
30 to 40 minutes.
Supplies
20 (or more) prepared index cards, each with a different suggestion for customer service. (See the Preparation section below for details.)
Four blank index cards for each participant.
Preparation
Before the training session, prepare a set of suggestion cards. Each card should contain one suggestion for improving customer service. Come up with a variety of traditional and innovative suggestions. Prepare at least two suggestion cards for each anticipated participant. If you cannot make up that many suggestions, use duplicates.
Roger is conducting a workshop for a group of middle managers. Twenty participants have signed up for the workshop, including two vice-presidents. The day before the workshop, Roger prepares 40 suggestion cards. Here are a few sample cards from Roger's collection:
Hire friendly and cheerful people for customer-contact jobs. Reward employees who delight customers. Constantly survey customer expectations. Managers should walk their talk about customer focus.
Flow
Brief the participants. Tell the participants, “I'd like to begin right off with a group activity that will help us get to know each other. It will also allow us to discover what opinions people have about customer service. This activity should set the stage for the rest of the training session.”
Roger catches everyone's attention and gives his introductory presentation. Participants look like they are ready for action.
Ask participants to write suggestion cards. Hand out four blank index cards to each participant. Ask them to write down a suggestion for improving customer service on each card. The suggestions need not reflect the personal ideas of the writer. They should represent
traditional and innovative points of view. Give some sample suggestions to the group.
The workshop starts at 8:30 a.m., and Diane arrives 5 minutes late. She sees the others writing busily. Roger gives her four blank cards and asks her to write her suggestions. Diane thinks for a moment and comes up with the following:
Feature satisfied customers in our advertisements. Conduct a focus-group activity with customers. Create a separate unit for collecting customer data. Treat angry customers as a valuable source of information.
Redistribute the suggestion cards. After about 3 minutes, collect suggestion cards from participants. Add your prepared cards to this pile. Mix the cards well and give three cards to each participant. Ask the participants to study the suggestions and arrange the cards according to their personal preference—from the most to the least acceptable suggestion.
Roger collects the cards from the participants and adds his own collection. He mixes the cards and gives three to each participant.
Diane studies the three cards she receives and arranges them in the following order:
We should incorporate customer needs in the corporate mission statement.
All managers should personally serve customers from time to time.
Conduct a service audit.
Ask participants to exchange cards. Arrange the remaining suggestion cards on a large table at one side of the room. Tell the participants that they may discard cards from their hands and pick up better replacements. Participants must work silently; they should not to talk to each other during this phase of the game. At the end of this exchange, each participant should have three cards that may or may not include cards from the original set.
Diane takes her cards to the table and rummages there. She discards two of her cards and picks up the following:
Include customer-satisfaction tasks in all job specifications. The first contact resolves 95 percent of complaints.
Diane is surprised to see another participant eagerly picking up her discards!
Ask participants to swap cards with each other. Instruct participants to exchange cards with each other to make their hands better reflect their personal preferences. In this phase, any participant may swap cards with any other participant; every participant must exchange at least one card.
When Roger announces the beginning of the exchange, Diane wanders around until John stops her. Comparing cards, Diane sees one that says, “Maintain accurate records.” She bargains with John until he agrees to exchange this card for her card about the first contact. Before Diane can find someone else to swap with, Roger calls time to end this phase of the game.
Form teams. Ask participants to compare their cards with each other and to form teams with people holding similar suggestions. There is no limit to the number of participants who may team up together, but a team may keep no more than three cards. It must discard all other cards, and the three cards it keeps must meet with everyone's approval.
Diane goes around the room checking with others. She runs across Becky, who has excellent cards, and they decide to team up. The two set out to find other kindred souls. Alan wants to join them, and they agree, provided that he drops the card that says, “Collect information from all employees who are in contact with customers.” In a few more minutes, the team recruits two other participants, including John. They study the combined collection and reduce it to these three:
Call at least three customers a week. Call the customer within six months of a major purchase. Have customer input in the design of new services.
Ask teams to prepare a poster. Ask each team to prepare a graphic poster that reflects its three final cards. This poster should not include any text. After 5 minutes, ask each team to read its three cards, display its poster, and explain the graphics.
After some discussion and debate, the team decides that Diane should be the artist and the others give her ideas. The final collage shows a telephone with three people, a calendar showing a date six months later, and a group of people seated around a table. During the “show-and-tell” period, John reads the three cards and Becky assists Diane in explaining the poster.
Distribute awards. Identify winning teams in each of these categories:
Internal consistency among the three final cards. Clarity of the message in the poster. Appropriateness of the illustrations.
Diane's poster did not receive an award, but Roger judged the team's three cards to be the most consistent!
Here is an interactive strategy that can be used in virtual classroom environments (such as WebEx, Placeware, or Centra).
Initialize
1. Display on screen the first section of the reading assignment. (I had a dense technical description of a software program printed using 18 point type size.)
2. Tell the participants: "Please read this paragraph. It is a part of the lesson you are going to work on today. As you read--or after you finished reading--type a series of fact-recall questions based on the content. Type these questions on your feedback window."
3. Pause for a couple of minutes. Keep track of the questions from the participants that appear on your feedback window.
4. Move to a slide that says, "End of reading. You have 30 seconds more to type any more fact-recall questions."
Closed Questions Quiz
5. Move to a slide that say, "End of question construction. Quiz time is about to begin."
6. Tell the participants: "I am going to conduct a quiz. I will read one of the questions that you typed. You have 30 seconds to immediately type the answer. The person who typed the first correct answer will
receive 10 points. The second person will receive 5 points. The third person will receive 2 points. The other people will not get any points."
7. Read a question at random. Display a count down timer.
8. At the end of the 30 seconds, announce the names of the first, second, and third participant who typed in the answers.
9. Repeat steps 6-8 a few more times.
Open-Questions Quiz
10. Re-display the same paragraph to be read.
11. Tell participants, "Here's the same paragraph again. This time, you have 2 minutes to type some open-ended questions based on the content of the paragraph. Your question should require higher level thinking such as evaluation, analysis, application, synthesis, making inferences, and so on. As an open-ended question, there should not be a single correct answer."
12. If appropriate, give an example of an open-ended question.
13. Review the questions being typed by participants. Select two or three thought-provoking questions.
14. Announce the end of the question time after 2 minutes. Display a slide saying, "Quiz Contest".
15. Say, "I am going to read one of your open-ended questions. If you wrote the question, you cannot answer it. The other participants should type an appropriate response. Remember that there is no correct response. We are looking for your thinking skills and imagination. Don't type more than three lines."
16. Read one of the questions from the participants. Wait until you have four answers.
17. Display a slide that says "STOP!"
18. Read the first four answers and ask the participants to listen carefully. Identify the first answer as A, the second as B, and so on.
19. Display a polling slide with the letter A, B, C, and D. Ask participants to vote for the cleverest answer among the four that you
read. Read the answers again if necessary. Do not display the poll results until you close the poll.
20. Display the poll results. The percentages are the numbers of points awarded to different respondents.
Repeat
21. Display the next paragraph to be read.
22. Repeat the closed- and open-question quizzes.
Recognize This?
If you are familiar with my games, you will recognize this as an Internet version of TEAM QUIZ and FAST GRAB.
Many of us go through life in a mindless fashion, wasting valuable time. This game encourages you to discover the factors that contribute to wasted time in the workplace. It also helps you to figure out which time wasters you share with the others and which ones are unique to you.
Purpose
To identify major time wasters in the workplace and arrange them in order of their impact
Time
30 - 45 minutes
Players
6 to 30
Supplies
Paper and pencil Flipchart and felt-tipped markers
Flow of the Game
Brief the players. Explain that several factors encourage (and sometimes force) people to waste time in the workplace. Ask the players to name a common time waster. Comment on this example. Point out that identifying major time wasters in the workplace is the first step in removing them and reducing their impact.
Begin with individual brainstorming. Ask the players to spend a couple of minutes to reflect on the major time wasters in the workplace and to independently write down a list.
Steve thinks about time wasters in his office. After a few moments, he writes down these ideas:
Telephone calls Saying "yes" to too many people Waiting to see the boss Meetings without agenda Interruptions
Form teams. Organize the players into three or more teams, each with 2 to 7 players.
Andy, the facilitator, asked the players to form themselves into four teams of five members each. Steve joins a team with Diane, Ronnis, Deb, and Peter. The team members briefly introduce themselves to one another.
Assign teamwork. Ask the teams to spend the next 5 minutes recording a list of time wasters in the workplace. Encourage the team members to use the ideas they had generated earlier.
Deb acts as the team's reporter. While other team members call out different time wasters, Deb writes them down, adding her own ideas from time to time. In 5 minutes, the team generates a total of 17 ideas.
Ask the teams to narrow down their lists. Instruct each team to select the five main time wasters.
After some discussion and debate, Steve's team narrows down its list of time wasters to these five items:
1. Too many reports to write 2. Meetings without agenda 3. Delays in getting budget approval 4. Meaningless committee meetings 5. Open-door policy
Prepare a common list. Ask the teams to take turns calling out one of the main time wasters on their list. Record this time waster on the flipchart. Encourage the teams to avoid repeating the items already on the list. Continue this procedure until the common list has 10 to 12 time wasters.
Here is the final list:
1. People coming to meetings without doing their homework
2. Waiting to see the manager 3. Too many reports to write 4. Lack of planning 5. Wasting time trying to satisfy customers 6. Inability to say "No" 7. Problems in locating documents 8. Delays in budget approval 9. Wasting time on trivial items 10. Too many committees
Ask the teams to select the worst time waster. Explain that you are looking for an item that everyone will see as wasting the most time in the workplace. Ask the players to review the items in the common list and select, with the other members of their team, the worst time waster.
Explain the scoring system. The teams will receive a score equal to the total number of teams that selected the same time waster. For example, if four teams selected, "Telephone calls" as the worst time waster, then each team would receive 4 points.
Steve has some trouble understanding the scoring system. Peter explains that they should simply choose the item that most of the other teams will choose.
Conduct the first round. Tell the teams to select the worst time waster from the common list on the flipchart. Circulate among the teams, gently speeding up the slower teams. Write down each team's choice on a piece of paper.
Peter suggests that the major culprit is "Lack of planning" and everything else in the list is a result of this factor. Diane disagrees with this claim. Deb suggests that they should choose "Too many reports to write" because she thinks most other teams will choose it. Steve and Ronnis agree to this suggestion.
Award points and rank the worst time waster. Announce each team's selection. Draw a line through the time waster in the flip chart list that was selected by most teams during this round. Place the number "1" in front of this item to identify it as the top-ranked time waster.
Three teams chose "Wasting time trying to satisfy customers" as the worst time waster. These teams received 3 points each. Only Steve's team chose the item about writing reports, so they received 1 point. The facilitator draws a line through "Wasting time trying to satisfy customers," and marks it with a "I."
Continue the game. Ask the teams to review the list and to identify the next-worst time waster. The teams may select (or re-select) any item from the flip chart list, as long as it does not have a line through it. After collecting the choices from each team, repeat the scoring and ranking procedure. Continue until the teams have identified the top 5 time wasters.
During the second round, Steve's team decides to stay with "Too many reports to write." This item is selected by all the teams, so they all receive 4 points each.
Break ties. If there is a tie for the worst time waster, award scores as before -- but do not rank or draw a line through any of the items. Give the teams 1 minute to prepare a presentation to persuade the other teams to select the same item. Then give each team 30 seconds to make its presentation. After the presentations, ask the teams to select a time waster. Award scores and rank the item receiving the most choices. If there is still a tie, draw a line through all the tied items, and give them the same rank.
During the third round, the four teams select four different items. Andy, the facilitator, gives 1 point to each team and explains the tie-breaking procedure. Speaking on behalf of his team, Peter explains how the lack of planning is the root of all time wastage. He also points out that this factor incorporates all other time wasters. Perhaps as a result of this presentation, two other teams switch to this item during the next round.
Conclude the game. Continue with the game until the top 5 time wasters are identified. Announce the conclusion of the game and ask the teams to add up their scores. Identify and congratulate the winning team.
After two more rounds, these are the top five time wasters:
1. Wasting time trying to satisfy customers 2. Too many reports to write 3. Lack of planning 4. Delays in budget approval 5. Inability to say "No"
Steve's team has a total score of 13 points and wins the game.
Award points for the original lists. Ask the teams to retrieve their original lists and compare the time wasters on their list with the final top 5 list. The original list gets five points if it has the top-ranked time waster, 4 points if it has the second-ranked time waster, and so on. Ask the teams to add up the score for their original list. Identify the team with the highest score total and congratulate its members for having created the best original list.
Steve and his teammates check their original list and discover that it has the second and fourth items from the final top 5 list. This gives the list a total of 6 points. Gary's team has the best original list, with 12 points.
Debrief the players. Ask the players to compare the items on their original individual lists with the final top 5 list. Encourage the players to discuss how their personal perceptions differ from those of the others.
Variations
Not enough time? Eliminate the initial step of individual brainstorming. Eliminate the final step of comparing the teams' original five items with the final top five time wasters. Create a shorter flip chart list. Instead of 10 time wasters, settle for seven. Specify a time limit for each round. Instead of asking the teams to select item at a time, ask them to select the top three.
Not enough players? With fewer than six players, play an individual version of the game: Conduct the game as usual, but with
individuals (instead of teams) generating and selecting the time wasters.
Too many players? Divide the players into smaller groups. Then divide each subgroup into teams and play the game in a parallel fashion.
Jolt
A jolt is a brief experiential activity that delivers a wake-up call to the participants. An effective jolt lasts for a few minutes but provides enough insights for a lengthy debrief.
TOO SMART
Write these two words, one below the other, on a flip-chart sheet:
NEW
DEER
Ask the participants to work individually. Give these instructions:
Rearrange the letters in these two words—NEW and DEER—to spell one word. When you have done this, please stand up.
Pause for about a minute. Quickly check the responses of the participants who stand up and congratulate them. (The correct answer is “RENEWED”.)
Now write these two words, one below the other as before, on another flip-chart sheet.
NEW
DOOR
Repeat the same instructions as before:
Rearrange the letters in these two words—NEW and DOOR—to spell one word. When you have done this, please stand up.
STOP! Before reading any farther, try to solve this puzzle.
It's very unlikely that anyone will be able to solve this puzzle.
Get the participants' attention and tell them,
Here's how I rearrange the letters in the two words to spell one word.
Write “ONE WORD” on the flipchart. Pause for a few seconds to let the solution sink in.
Debrief the participants to elicit this learning point:
Sometimes we are too smart for our own good. Instead of approaching a problem in a direct, straightforward fashion, we assume that the solution has to be complex and convoluted.
Structured Sharing
UPSET
Dealing with upset customers presents both a challenge and an opportunity. In many situations, we can prevent upsetting customers by proactively proving excellent service. However, certain jobs, such as auto insurance claim adjuster, require you to face customers who are upset because of things beyond your control. This training activity helps you explore and apply techniques and principles for healing customers who are in shock, frustration, anger, grief, fear, guilt, resentment, anxiety, and other such negative emotional states.
Key Idea
This activity involves two teams and incorporates three rounds of team discussions followed by paired conversations:
Round 1. One team generates typical demands and questions from upset customers while the other team comes up with guidelines for responding to these demands and questions. Following this team discussion, participants pair up with members of the other team and hold question-and-answer conversations.
Round 2. Teams change their roles and repeat the same procedure.
Round 3. Both teams discuss the key lessons learned from the previous rounds and share them through one-one-one conversations.
To anticipate different complaints, demands, and questions from upset
customers.
To respond appropriately, truthfully, empathically, and without
defensiveness to these complaints, demands, and questions.
To derive a set of guidelines for effectively responding to upset
customers.
Participants
Minimum: 6Maximum: Any numberBest: 20-50
Time Requirement
25-45 minutes
Room Setup
This is primarily a stand-up activity. Remove all chairs and other furnishings from the room (or move them to the sides, next to the walls).
Handout
A list of guidelines for handling upset customers
Supplies
Timer
Whistle
Pieces of paper
Pens (or pencils)
Flow
Brief the group. Explain that this activity is about empathy listening and helping upset customers. Specify the generic context in which participants are to play the role of customer-service representatives.
Divide participants into two teams of equal size. Designate one of them as Team A and the other as Team B. Ask participants from Team A to temporarily remove their name tags (so everyone can easily tell the difference between members of the two groups).
Round 1
Conduct the first round of team discussions. Ask members of Team A to brainstorm a list of situations, complaints, demands, and questions from an upset customer. Encourage participants to include several provocative or hostile items in their list. Suggest that team members jot down some of the demands and questions on a piece of paper for reference during individual conversations.
While Team A is coming up with this list, ask members of Team B to brainstorm guidelines for effectively responding to the complaints, demands, and questions from upset customers.
Announce a 3-minute time limit for the team brainstorming activities. Blow a whistle at the end of 3 minutes and conclude the activity.
Conduct the first round of paired conversations. Explain that during the next 5 minutes, members of Team A will repeatedly pair up with different members of Team B and hold brief conversations. Each conversation will begin with a statement, complaint, demand, or question from the Team A member and an appropriate response from the Team B member. The conversation may continue with additional demands and responses. Once every minute, you will blow the whistle and participants will switch partners and begin new conversations.
Conduct this conversational activity for a total of 5 minutes.
Round 2
Conduct the second round of team discussions. Ask participants to return to their original teams. Explain that the teams will switch their tasks. Ask members of Team B to share the complaints, demands, and questions they responded to in the one-on-one conversations and to brainstorm additional items associated with upset customers. At the same time, ask members of Team A to share the effective guidelines used by the other team to respond to upset customers. Also ask them to brainstorm their own
guidelines. Announce a 3-minute time limit and blow a whistle at the end of this time to conclude the activity.
Conduct the second round of paired conversations. Repeat the same procedure that was used during the first set of paired conversations but with the roles of the two team members reversed: During this round, members of Team B start the conversation by making demands and asking questions and members of Team A respond to them. Conduct this activity for a total of 5 minutes.
Round 3
Conduct the third round of team discussion. Ask all participants to return to their original teams and debrief themselves to share the lessons learned during the earlier activities. Ask each team to come up with a list of guidelines for effectively, clearly, and truthfully responding to upset customers.
Conduct the third round of paired conversations. Explain that you will repeat the procedure of conducting five one-on-one conversations between members of the two teams. However, instead of asking and answering questions, participants will share their guidelines for handling upset customers.
Conduct the activity as before, blowing the whistle at the end of every minute to signal the time to switch partners.
Follow up. Distribute copies of a handout with guidelines for handling upset customers. Encourage participants to compare these guidelines with those they came up with. After the session, update your handout by adding additional guidelines generated by the participants.
Variations and Adjustments
Too many people? Ask each team to divide itself into sub-teams of 5 to 9 people. Let each sub-team conduct its own discussions. During paired conversations, explain that any sub-team members from Team A may pair up with any sub-team members from Team B.
Not enough time? Conduct the first round of team discussions for 3 minutes and paired conversations for 5 minutes. Skip the other two rounds. Follow with a total group debriefing of another 5 minutes.
Game Plan for UPSET
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Brief the participants.(2 minutes)
Explain the objective and specify the context.
Listen to the briefing and think about the context.
2. Form teams.(2 minutes)
Divide participants into two teams of equal size. Ask members of Team A to remove their name tags.
Join your team and introduce yourself to the other team members. If you are a member of Team A, remove your name tag.
3. Conduct the first round of team discussions.(3 minutes)
Give instructions for brainstorming.
Team A members: Brainstorm a list of complaints, questions, and demands from upset customers. Team B members: Brainstorm guidelines for responding to upset customers with empathy.
4. Conduct the first round of paired conversations.(5 minutes)
Give instructions. Blow the whistle once every minute for 5 minutes.
Team A members repeatedly pair up with Team B members and initiate a conversation with a complaint, demand, or question. Team B members respond appropriately.
5. Conduct the second round of team discussions.(3 minutes)
Ask participants to return to their teams. Ask Team A member to brainstorm guidelines for responding to upset customers and Team B members to brainstorm typical complaints, demands, and questions.
Team A members: Brainstorm guidelines for responding to upset customers. Team B members: Brainstorm a list of typical complaints, demands, and questions.
6. Conduct the second round of conversations.(5 minutes)
Give instructions. Blow the whistle once every minute for 5 minutes.
Team B members repeatedly pair up with Team A members and initiate a conversation. Team A members respond appropriately.
7. Conduct the third round of team discussions.(3 minutes)
Ask all participants to return to their teams, share their experiences, and derive useful guidelines for
Share best practices from the previous rounds. Come up with a list of guidelines for effectively handling
responding to upset customers.
upset customers.
8. Conduct the third round of conversations.(5 minutes)
Give instructions. Blow the whistle once every minute for 5 minutes.
Repeatedly pair up with different members of the other team and share effective guidelines for responding to upset customers.
[Table of Contents]
Handout
Guidelines for Handling Upset Customers
Greet the customer in a friendly fashion. Get to the point quickly.
Listen patiently to the customer. Don't cut the customer off.
Don't become defensive. Refuse to be hooked into repetitive arguments. Ignore provocative statements and manipulative behaviors.
Make reassuring statements to connect with customer.
Make appreciative statements that recognize positive actions by the customer.
Whenever appropriate, paraphrase the customer's statement and check for understanding.
Acknowledge the customer's feelings by using reflective statements (“It sounds like you're quite upset about this.”)
Apologize for the organization's mistakes. However, don't blame any specific employee or department.
Use “we” statements that put you and the customer on the same side. Avoid “we” statements that put you on the corporate side and the customer on the other side.
Use “Yes, and …” statements instead of “Yes, but …” statements.
Gently and patiently refocus the conversation on business-related issues—without appearing to be impatient.
In any content area, one difference between a beginner and an expert is the latter's ability to come up with different examples that belong to the same category. This activity strengthens your ability to come up with examples of communication concepts.
Basic Idea
All players write an example that belongs to the category. Each player votes for the clearest example among those written by the other players. The player whose example received the most votes wins the game card.
Supplies
Pieces of paper
Pens or pencils
Preparation
Prepare a list of different categories that belong to the same training topic and for which players can come up with different examples.
Recently we played the game on the topic of communication skills. Here's our list of categories:
Active listening behaviors
Guidelines for writing an effective business memo
Common communication mistakes
Conflict management strategies
Ways in which people filter the messages they receive
Purposes of communication
Types of questions
Types of written communication
Guidelines for effective graphics
Rules for effective writing
How To Begin
Select one person to be the Prime Player. The following instructions are for the Prime Player:
How To Play
Announce a category that belongs to the training topic.
Ask everyone to write down a single clear example that that belongs to the category. You should write a single clear example too.
When everyone has completed the task, begin with the player on your left and ask each player to read aloud the example they wrote on the piece of paper. Tell the players to read exactly what they wrote without any revision or embellishment.
Read the example that you have written.
After everyone has read her example, ask the players to spread out their pieces of paper on the table, written side up.
How To Win
At the count of three, ask all players to point to the piece of paper that contains the clearest example. However, no player may point to her own piece of paper.
The piece of paper that has the most fingers pointing to it wins the round. The player who wrote this example earns a point.
In case of a tie, play the game again, using the same procedure. This time, however, the players may not use any of the examples used during the previous round.
How To Continue
Appoint the person on your left to be the new prime player. She chooses a new category that belongs to the same training topic. Play as before.
Paper-and-Pencil Game
WHY
Here's an interesting game that produces humorous results. Hidden behind the humor, however, is subtle provocation that forces participants to think deeply to justify some of the basic principles and assumptions related to the training topic.
Key Idea
Participants write “Why?” questions related to the training topic. Then each participant writes a response to someone else's “Why?” questions. The questions and answers get mixed up, producing incongruous results.
To recall principles and assumptions related to leadership.
Participants
Minimum: 3Maximum: Any numberBest: 10 to 20
Time Requirement
7 to 15 minutes
Supplies
Index cards (or pieces of paper), one per participant
Pens or pencils
Flow
Write a question. Distribute an index card to each participant and ask her to write a question on one side of the card. The question must begin with the word “Why” and should be related to the training topic.
Recently we conducted the WHY game on the topic of Leadership. Here are four questions written by the four players:
Anne: Why are charismatic leaders incapable of producing sustained results?
Bob: Why do most people prefer autocratic command-and-control leaders?
Christy: Why do some leaders get assassinated?
Dave: Why do people make a big issue of differentiating between managers and leaders?
Exchange questions. After a suitable pause, ask each player to pass the question to the player on the left. Also ask each player to read the question given to her and think of a suitable answer that begins with the word “Because”. Warn the players not to say or write the answer.
In our sample game, Bob got Anne's question, Christy got Bob's question, Dave got Christy's question, and Anne got Dave's question. They read and reflected on the question and mentally worked out an answer.
Write the answer on the back of another question card. After a suitable pause, ask each player to turn over the question card so the written side is facing down. Ask players to pass the question card (with its blank side up) to the person on the left. Warn participants not to turn over the card they receive to see the new question. Instead, ask them to write the answer (that they thought of during the previous round) on the blank side of the card.
Read and laugh. Ask participants to pass the card to the person on the left. Each participant now has a card that contains a question on one side and an answer on the other. The question and the answer are related to each other—and that is what makes them amusing. Ask participants to read the question and the answer and laugh at the incongruous combination. Invite participants to share the most humorous combinations to the other seated nearby.
Christy's question-and-answer combination was rated as the most humorous combination:
Question: Why do some leaders get assassinated?Answer: Because they are great at motivating and inspiring people, but not good at paying attention to details and implementing their ideas.
If you are curious about how the other questions and answers turned out, here they are:
Anne's question: Why are charismatic leaders incapable of producing sustained results?Answer: Because when leaders gather a lot of followers, they also collect a lot of enemies. In the process, some leaders polarize people. Sometimes their enemies become so jealous and enraged that they murder popular leaders.
Bob's question: Why do most people prefer autocratic command-and-control leaders?
Answer: Because they think that it is cool to be a leader and boring to be a manager.
Dave's question: Why do people make a big issue of differentiating between managers and leaders?Answer: Because most people are too lazy to think for themselves and to make decisions. They prefer to have someone to tell them what to do, what to think, and what to believe.
For extra credit, see if you can match each question with its answer.
Game Plan for WHY
Step Facilitator Participants
1. Write questions. (2 minutes)
Give instructions.
Write a question that begins with “Why”.
2. Exchange questions. (1 minute)
Give instructions.
Give your question card to the person on your left. Read the question on the card from the person on your right. Think of a suitable answer but do not say or write this answer.
3. Write answers. (2 minutes)
Give instructions.
Turn the question card over and pass it to the person on your left. Write the answer (to the previous answer) on the blank side of the card you received.
4. Read questions and answers. (2 minutes)
Give instructions.
Pass the card to the person on your left. Read the question and answer on the two sides of the card you received. Share with others if the combination is humorous.
1. Divide the participants into two or more teams of three to seven members each.
2. Ask each team to identify an opportunity or a problem. Ask them to convert this opportunity or problem into a question, using the format suggested by Van Gundy: In what ways might we . . . ?Give an example to illustrate the task. Here's one that I use:
In what ways might we sell books to professionals on the internet?3. Ask the team to transform this question into four higher
levels of abstraction, one level at a time. Give an example such as this:
Original question: In what ways might we sell books to professionals on the Internet?
Question at the next higher level: In what ways might we sell books on the Internet?
Question at the next higher level: In what ways might we sell things on the Internet?
Question at the next higher level: In what ways might we sell things?
Question at the next higher level: In what ways might we persuade and influence others?4. Distribute five index cards and a rubber band to each team.
Ask the teams to write their five questions, one on each card. Then ask them to put the question cards on top of each other, with the question sides on top. The most abstract question should be visible on the top card and the other questions should be hidden below. The most specific question (the original question) should be at the bottom of this packet of question cards.
5. Ask the teams to place a rubber band around the packet of question cards, give the packet to another team and receive a packet from yet another team. (No two teams may exchange their packets with one another.)
6. Ask the teams to read the question on the top card and spend 3 minutes brainstorming alternative responses. The team should record its answers on a flip chart or a piece of paper.
7. After 3 minutes, ask the teams to remove the top card and to read the question on the next card. As before, team members should brainstorm alternative responses for this
question for the next 3 minutes, building on the earlier responses.
8. At the end of 3 minutes, ask the teams to read and respond to the question on the next card. Repeat this procedure two more times to end with responses to the most specific form of the question.
9. Ask the teams to return their packet of question cards along with the lists of brainstormed responses to the appropriate teams. The teams should review the responses, select the most useful ideas, and integrate them into an action plan.
(ZOOM is one of the games from Thiagi's forthcoming book, More Creativity Games. You will find a model for the creativity process and several games for profiting from opportunities and solving problems in Thiagi's earlier book, Creativity Games.)
Improv Game
ZOOMING AROUND by Kat Koppett
The same series of events or information can be transformed into a myriad of stories. This exercise helps the storyteller work like a movie camera—zooming in for close focus, zooming out for a broader picture—in order to highlight elements of a process that is being relayed. The storyteller can zoom in or out on an action, a descriptive detail or an emotion.
The key element of this interactive story is that the storyteller tells the story and is periodically instructed by a “director” to “zoom in” or “zoom out”.
Purpose
To review and reinforce key steps and principles in a work process.
Participants
Any number, organized into pairs.
Time
10 to 20 minutes.
Flow
Divide the participants into pairs. Have the pair identify one person as “A” and the other as “B”. Ask B to act as the storyteller and A as the Director.
Explain how the storyteller and the director interact with each other:
The storyteller begins telling her story. The director periodically instructs the storyteller to zoom in. The
storyteller focuses on a detail within the story and provides additional information.
From time to time, the director instructs the storyteller to zoom out. The storyteller moves to a higher-level view.
Sometimes the director may say “zoom in” or “zoom out” more than once in a row to get wide variations of levels in the story.
The director continues in this way until the process is finished or time is up.
Announce a suitable time limit of 5 to 10 minutes. Ask storytellers to begin. Start a timer.
Circulate among participants, eavesdropping in on different stories. However, don't interfere with the flow of the activity.
When the allotted time is up, stop the activity.
Ask the directors and storytellers to exchange roles and repeat the process.
Variations
Have participants work alone, writing their stories on paper. From time to time, call out “zoom in” and “zoom out” to the whole group.
Use the technique as an interactive lecture. Encourage participants to direct you to zoom in and out during your lecture presentation.
Have members of one team tell a story while members of the other team direct the flow of the story.
A Sample Application: Telemarketing
Facilitator: Please begin.
Storyteller: Once upon a time there was an outbound sales rep named Peter. Every day, Peter called prospects from his database.
Director: Zoom in.
Storyteller: He clicked on the dial icon on his computer and waited for the dialer to ring a prospect. Once the prospect answered, Peter said, “Hello.”
Director: Zoom out.
Storyteller: Peter greeted the prospect and attempted to make a sale.
Director: Zoom in.
Storyteller: Peter probed to uncover the prospect's needs.
Director: Zoom in.
Storyteller: Peter asked open-ended questions about the prospect's current situation.
Director: Zoom out.
Storyteller: After identifying the needs, Peter asked the prospect how he might help him. Working with the prospect, Peter some services that his organization could provide.
