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The Electronic Discussion on
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The Electronic Discussion on
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Ice Breakers, Energizers, And Other
Experiential Exercises
From the Electronic Discussion on Group
Facilitation
www.albany.edu/cpr/gf/
Revised
April 19, 1998
A special
thanks to Michael Kane and Karen Shuler for forwarding
many of
the exercises initially used to populate this FAQ and to
Mary
Margaret Palmer for the initial collection.
A
commonly used activity in r.o.p.e.s. is the group juggle;
it
encourages rethinking of paradigms to solve a problems. Start
with
all participants in a circle, standing.
Have 4 to 10 objects
tucked
into your pockets. Begin with one
object; toss it to one
person,
asking them to say their name and then toss it to someone
who has
not yet received it. After everyone in
the group has
received
it, ask that it be tossed back to you.
Now explain that
this is
a ________test (memory, IQ, training whatever fits your
program
or provides comic relief), that you will toss again,
keeping
the same sequence, and this go around will be timed. Start
timing
as you toss the first object and keep pulling objects out
of your
pockets, throwing them to the same person, and end the
timing
when the last object has returned to you.
Announce the time
as the
'benchmark' and explain that competition in their industry
is
getting fierce and they are going to cut the time in half (or
let
them choose a goal). Start again,
announce the time, encourage
a
signification reduction and observe the process the group uses
to find
solutions. The size of the group is not
a major factor
in
determining the time, nor is the number of objects (aha, one of
the
limiting paradigms!). Sometimes it
helps to ask the group
to
refresh its knowledge of the rules (there's only one), especially
if they
have assumed lots of rules. It has been
amazing to watch
groups
struggle with this seemingly simple exercise as they whittle
their
time from 1 or 2 minutes to 3 seconds (yes, 3, but don't tell
them that,
just challenge them to significantly improve their
performance.)
HINT: The participants move to touch
the objectives
instead
of the objectives being tossed to them.
Give
the participants the following instructions:
On a blank piece
of
paper draw a pig. Tell them not to look
at their neighbor's pig
and
give no further instructions other than to say the pig is of
the
animal variety! Do not influence how
the pigs are drawn. After
they
have completed the assignment give a good lead in about
personality
typing, M-B, etc and tell them this is a similar test.
Their
drawing will serve to interpret their personalities.
The
results are as follows: (Don't shoot the messenger, I didn't
draw
your pig!)
1. If the
pig is drawn toward the top of the paper you are a
positive & optimistic person.
2. If
the pig is drawn towards the middle of the page you are a
realist.
3. If
the pig is drawn toward the bottom of the page, you are
pessimistic & and have a tendency to
behave negatively.
4. If
the pig is facing left, you believe in tradition, are
friendly, and remember dates and birthdays.
5. If
the picture is facing forward (towards you) you are direct,
enjoy playing the devil's advocate and
neither fear nor avoid
discussion.
6. If
the pig is facing right, you are innovative and active, but
have neither a sense of family, nor
remember dates.
7. If
the pig is drawn with many details, you are analytical,
cautious, and distrustful.
8. If the
pig is drawn with few details, you are emotional, naive,
care little for detail, and take risks.
9. If
the pig is drawn with four legs showing, you are secure,
stubborn, and stick to your ideals.
10. If
the pig is drawn with less than four legs showing, you
are insecure, or are living through a
period of major change.
11. The
larger the pig's ears you have drawn, the better listener
you are.
12. And
last but not least . . . the longer the pig's tail you
have drawn, the more satisfied you are with
the quality of your
sex life.
A
variation on the sinking ship used in r.o.p.e.s. is called the
Porthole
or Through the Tire (everyone has to get through a
suspended
tire - with certain limitations - in x amount of
minutes).
A
classroom exercise toward consensus that can be highly
challenging
is the following. Seat everyone in circles, with up
to 14
people in each circle. Heads are bowed
and no communication
other
than the following may take place: one
at at time, going
clockwise
around the circle, each person says one word to
express
______ (e.g. the highlight of this training, the best thing
about
our company, the prettiest place in the world, or you make up
something). After going around the circle one time,
there will
undoubtedly
be a variety of words. Now tell them to
continue
the
circling, each person saying one word, until they have reached
a
consensus (i.e. everyone is saying the same word). If you have
some
strong people, that may take a dozen or more rounds. The folks
who
hold out the longest are often the visionaries of the group
(sometimes
instigators or rebels). It seems so
simple but you may
be
surprised.
Here's
an icebreaker I made up when I was faced with a group of 26
people. "What does the number 26 bring to
mind?" I asked myself
and
came up with The Alphabet Game.
1. Give
each person a letter on a post-it, and ask them to place it
somewhere on the front of their bodies (you
might want to give more
vowels, no x's, z's, q's. I also made the vowels a different color
than the consonants).
2. Give
them five minutes to form one word with at least 3 other
letters/people (a minimum of 4
letters/people per word)
3. At
the end of 5 minutes, take a look at all or some of the words
formed, depending on the time you have.
4. Give
each word-group a sheet of flip-chart paper and ask them to
form a sentence using that word to describe
their expectations of the
course (if done at the beginning) or how they felt about the course
(if done at the end).
NOTE: This reminds me of an ice breaker I
experienced once at a
GroupSystem
conference. Everyone was given a letter
and told that
the
letters went with other letters that form a word that in turn went
with
other word to create a slogan. There
was enough to form the
slogan
8 or 10 times. Good for large group
facilitation.
Hand
out decks of cards to teams. Each team
shuffles the pack of 52
cards
(no jokers) and take 25 cards - one at a time - off the top of
the
stack, placing each card on one "square" in a five by five grid.
Once
placed a card may not be moved. After
all have been placed, each
row or
column of five is scored like a poker hand (see below) and all
those
are totaled to provide the score for that round. Hoyle states
"the
usual plan is to try for flushes in the columns and full houses
or
fours in the rows.
In the
beginning of teambuilding you might see a lot of conflict
around
decision-making, requiring an hour or more, depending on
what
additional work you chose to do with conflict resolution.
If
several teams involved this can also lead to discussion of
competition. You can have teams do it several times,
timing it
as they
work more and more as a team.
A fun
team building activity that I have used that runs about 45
min to
1 hour goes like this: get enough sets
of tinder toys for
a many
4-6 person groups that you have. Break
up into groups and
ask
each small team to create a symbol of whatever it is you want
to get
into (i.e. how the team should work together, the attitude
about
customer service, etc.) Give each group
about 15-25
minutes
to create and then have each group present to the whole
group. Debrief by pointing out how different or
similar the
structures
were, what the experience was like, etc.
I
facilitate a class (adapted from Faultless Facilitation by Lois B.
Hart, available from HRD Press) on basic
facilitation skills which
reviews
three mainstay skills: observing,
listening and questioning
For me,
these are also three key skills in communication. In the class,
we
practice these skills in these short, simple, yet effective ways.
Observing
- One group member role plays (non-verbally) a behavior or
feeling
(provided by the facilitator on a 3 x 5 card) such as sad,
happy,
frustrated, etc. Other group members
must use observation
skills
to guess what the felling or behavior is.
Listening
- In this practice session the facilitator begins by giving
an
example of a time when they were distracted when trying to listen to
someone. The next person paraphrases what the
facilitator said and
asks
for confirmation. This person then
gives an example of when
they
were distracted and the person to their right paraphrases, and
so on
round robin style. The main point the
group usually picks up
on is
how hard it is to really listen when they are trying to think
of
their own *story* which they must tell
next. This is in fact
what we
as humans do most of the time. We
forget that it is okay to
listen
first, take time to think of our response and then reply.
Instead
we are always thinking of our *rebuttal* as the the person is
talking. We also talk about when it is appropriate to
paraphrase,
why and
how.
Questioning
- We use the game *20 Questions* to help teach us the
importance
of open ended questions. We then discuss how to phrase
and direct
questions, and how to handle and respond to answers.
A short
group facilitated practice session follows with a facilitator
practicing
questioning and an observer taking notes for feedback.
Blindfold
participants and put them in a space where they can't
bump
into anything dangerous, tell them to line up in order of their
mother's
birth dates SILENTLY. Sometimes the
biggest hurdle to
learning
for highly educated, very accomplished professionals is
admitting
they NEED to learn something. This is a
great, and safe,
way for
them to experience "hindered communication", similar to
what
might happen with people whose first language is not English
or
people new to their workgroup or people outside of their professional
field. It can launch some good discussions of
communication paradigms,
barriers
to good communication, etc.
Have
the participants to pair up with someone else.
If you would
like
the added benefit of using this as an ice breaker or a networking
opportunity
make sure they are pairing up with someone they do not
know. Ask them to decide which one of the pair is
A and which is B.
Ask the
A's to leave the room. Give the B's
these instructions,
"When
the A's come back into the room they will be blindfolded.
Your
job is to take them by the arm (like if you were leading a
blind
person) on a little field trip. You may
give them instructions;
such
as, "walk forward five feet".
Explain that their job is to get
their A
safely back to his or her seat. (This
takes a little advance
planning. You
must decide on the route ahead of time.
We did this
at a
hotel and the route was around the pool.)
To the
group of A's give these instructions, "You will be blind
folded
and your B partner will lead you on a little field trip.
They
may give you instructions and lead you by the arm but you are
not to
ask questions or give them any feedback whatsoever. Their
goal is
to get you safely back to your seat."
After,
the first half of the exercise is accomplished, the roles
should
be reversed and a different route established.
Only this
time
the there should be two way communication.
This will go much
faster
and easier with less stumbling by the blindfolded participant.
This
was a fun, easy, interactive way for participants to see first
hand
the difference between one way and two way communication. We
used it
to make a point and as an ice breaker.
It was extremely
effective.
Have an
ambiguous photo or picture. Take a
volunteer
aside to show the picture. The group doesn't get to see it.
They
note (he/she can write it down) 10 things (or # time permits)
about
the picture. When the volunteer rejoins the group, tell the
group
and volunteer that the volunteer is going to whisper information
about
the picture to the person on their right. The person listening
can
only take in the information without questions and without writing.
The information
is repeated in this way until all people have heard.
The
last person receiving the information tells the group what they
heard.
Then the facilitator can read the initial 10 things the
volunteer
wrote and show the picture. Laugh --- and discuss from here!
Lay a
jacket or shoe or some piece of clothing on a table/chair and get
a
volunteer. Tell them you don't know what _this_ is or what to do
with it
and you want them to train you as to its use. Usually people
jump
right into telling behaviors! As the "trainee", you can distort
the
instructions like grabbing a button when told to grab the collar.
And
have the volunteer turn their back on you when giving instructions
(like
with the line drawings) and don't ask or answer questions. Make
it last
just long enough to show minimal progress. Difficult times,
no
feedback, no interaction--- I guess one could be very cold if we
needed
_this_ in subzero weather!
Give
each member of the group an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, the
facilitator
needs one too. Have them close their
eyes. The
facilitator
issues the instructions and follows them as well.
No
questions are allowed. Instructions:
Fold the paper in half.
Rip off a corner
Fold the paper in half
Rip off a corner
Fold the paper in half
Rip off a corner
The
group can now open their eyes and find that there are many
different
shapes of paper. The debrief covers the
need for two
way communication
and that the different perceptions of the people
caused
the many different designs.
If time
permits the group can be put in pairs. Have the pairs sit
back to
back and repeat the exercise using two way communications
and
find that the patterns come out closer
A
common purpose is an essential foundation for a successful team.
I have
worked with a group in establishing a mission and value
statement.
Now, I want to introduce the finished product to the
entire
group and begin ground work for future team building activities.
I plan
to try an activity that I designed called "This & That" The
activity
is based on the concept that a team is not transformed
instantly
into a high performing work group -- improvement is gradual
but
continuous.
Team
development is a process of becoming "more of THIS and less of THAT"
The
staff will (hopefully) identify the THIS (the positive
attributes
the team needs to perform) and the THAT (the negative
attributes
that we need to leave behind).
To
break the ice the activity will start with the staff identifying the
THIS
and THAT values and behaviors in the following statements.
To show
respect for co-workers
we must
be more like ____________
and
less like ____________
To cooperate
we must be more like ____________
and
less like ____________
To
listen more effectively we must be more like ____________
and
less like ____________
etc,etc,etc.
The
staff is encouraged to add as many ideas they can to the lists
of THIS
and THAT. The staff responses are used
a diagnosis of the
training
needs. For example staff identify
"trust" as a THIS and
"distrust
or suspicion" as a THAT; then a future activity would be
based
on establishing and building trust. A
copy of the final product
is
given to all staff. You can also wanted
to tie this activity into
establishing
group norms.
1. As
an icebreaker, I ask people to sketch a portrait of
themselves and then explain it to the
group. I've often discovered
the most interesting and surprising things
about my colleagues in
this way!
2. In
group sessions, I ask each group member to draw how they
perceive themselves in relation to the
group. This I do at different
intervals in the development/maturity of
the group and then get the
group to look at their pictorial depiction
of their forming, storming,
norming process. This is also a good
activity for drawing out the more
reticent people in a group.
3. I
ask the group to make a collage to depict ideas or concepts.
In one session, I asked a group to depict
their ideas for their future
strategies and direction. The resulting
collage was a powerful
discussion tool for the whole group and
resulted in the generation of
lots of new ideas!
One of
the most energetic energizers I've seen recently was at a train
the
trainer session locally. The lady that was to conduct the session
snuck
in and sat at the back of the class. When she was introduced she
stood
up and greeted everybody by saying that
those who purposely sat
in the
back of the room were now in the "front" of the room. (good
chuckle
and got their attention).
She
then threw out wadded up "balls" of brightly colored paper and told
the
group if they caught one to throw it to someone else. They were to
keep
throwing the "balls" around until she said stop. If they were
caught
with one of the "balls" at
that point they came to the "front"
of the
room.
They
then opened up the "balls" to find words written on them in big
letters.
Next they were given 3 minutes to arrange the words to form
a
sentence. The correct answer was "If you do what you always did
you'll
get what you always got." She then
got into "changing"
classroom
situations to keep the learners
involved.
#1 On a
flip chart, divide the page into four equal parts. In the
upper
left corner draw a big square. In the
upper right a big triangle.
In the
lower left a large Z, and in the lower right a large circle. Then
ask
participants which symbol they feel most represents continuous
improvement
(or life-long learning, or some similar concept) be sure
to tell
them there is no right or wrong answer.
Then ask for a show
of hands
of who thinks its the square.
Turn to
another page that has the square drawn and some words like:
logical
task oriented
analytical
Explain
that a good team (group, etc.) should have some of these people
on
it. In fact it should have some of each
group on it.
Next
ask for a show of hands for the triangle.
Go through the same
process
for each symbol. The pages should have
the following:
Triangle:
Leadership, Visionary, Determined
Z:
Creative, Risk taker, Fun loving
Now ask
for a show of hands for the circle (usually most people select
this
one). Now turn to the circle page and
have the following written:
Constantly
preoccupied with partying and sex.
Explain
that you just wanted to get a feel for the types of people in
class
and now you have.
NOTE: If you don't like partying and sex, or think
it's inappropriate
you can
substitute things like sports and shopping, or anything else.
Tell
participants you want to do a quick psychological profile to
help
them learn more about themselves. They
will grade their own
papers
at the end and no one else will see the results. It's strictly
confidential. NOTE:
I will put the grading information further down
this
letter in case you want to take this test yourself, it's kind of
fun.
There will be four questions in all.
1. If you died and could come back as any
animal you wanted,
what would that animal be? When you have decided what animal
you would like to be, write down 3 adjectives
describing that animal.
2. What
is your favorite color? Now write 3
adjectives describing
that color.
3. What
is your favorite river? (You don't have
to have ever been
there)
Now write 3 adjectives that describe that river.
4.
Close your eyes and try to imagine being in the situation I will
describe. You are surrounded by a brilliant
whiteness. Everywhere
you turn, all you see is whiteness. Think about being in this situation
for a few seconds. Now open your eyes and
write 3 adjectives that
describe your feelings when you thought
about being in that situation.
Now we
will grade the papers. Answers to
follow
Question
#1 The 3 adjectives you wrote are how you perceive yourself.
Question
#2. The 3 adjectives are how other people perceive you.
Question
#3. The 3 adjectives are how you perceive sex. (or making love)
Question
#4. The 3 adjectives are how you perceive death. I had a
psychology
teacher do this in her class many years ago and went on
to
explain the validity of the test. It's
not very valid but the
reasoning
goes something like this.
Question
#1 - We usually want to come back as an animal with
characteristics
we admire. example: I said porpoise and wrote:
intelligent,
graceful, free. (I have a high I.Q.,
have always been
very
active in sports, and I'm an independent thinker. When we
admire
certain characteristics we tend to want to emulate them.
Question
#2 - We again usually like colors because they have
characteristics
we identify with. I wrote red at the
time but
can't
remember why. I've have since change to
purple. An example
would
be a person who chooses sky blue because its peaceful, calm,
relaxing,
or red because its exciting, dangerous, energetic.
Question
#3. - Had something to do with Freud.
Question
#4. - Based on stories of people dying and coming back to
life
and walking towards a bright light or being bathed in a bright
light.
The
reason I like this icebreaker is that everyone writes good things
about
themselves and gets them excited about taking it home and doing
it to
their spouse. Feel free to leave out the river one or even the
death
one if you like but I have never had any problems and get the
greatest
laughter on the river question.
Ask
participants to draw 2 pictures. The
first as they see it now.
The
second. If this conference is
successful, how will it look in
10
years. They then comment on the differences.
The
facilitator interviews each participant prior to the initial
session,
asking them what unusual thing they have done in their
life or
something unusual that has happened to them.
Things like
"lived
for 8 months in a tent" or "I got shot once" have come up
in my
interviews. Then, you take one item per person and put
together
a list, leaving a blank space next to the event. The
list
looks like this:
Got shot once __________________________
Lived in a tent for 8 months __________________________
As the
icebreaker, people have 5-10 minutes to fill in as many
blanks
as possible with the name of the person who did the thing.
The
person who gets the most names gets a little prize for their
efforts.
Afterwards, we discuss 2 main points of the activity -
1) people
have done more unusual things than they think and these
life
experiences will help them in having new experiences at
work,
and 2) the people who do know each other usually discover
something
new about the other person so it brings home the point
not to
assume you know someone so well that is why they do the
things
they do or make the decisions they make.
One I
have used is to "toss the ball around." Get some sort of
safe
ball, (kush ball, plush ball,...). Facilitator tosses the
ball to
someone and that person says their name as the catch it.
Then
they toss it to a second someone who says their name as the
catch
it, and so on, til everyone has caught the ball and said
their
name. Then you go around again, only the person throwing
the
ball has to say the name of the person they're throwing to.
Keep
doing that until everyone can throw the ball to anyone and
say the
name as they throw. . . . There is
another wrinkle to
"toss
the ball around" that does this. As in the "going around
the
circle," time how long it takes for everyone to touch the
ball
and say their name, and tell them to improve their
performance.
That wording of the instructions is extremely
important.
They will probably come to the idea of getting close
together,
each touching the ball, and saying their name all at
once.
Here's
a "new" one that I came across this week, and have tried
it with
four groups so far. I don't know the author but it is
someone
who presented at a Teaching & Learning Forum in South
Africa
last year.
It's
purpose is two-fold. Firstly, to encourage everyone to
remember
everyone's name and secondly, to illustrate that the
only way
to complete this exercise is for everyone to participate
(like
in the new company structure). Also, since the participants
seem to
be the managers, you can use the principles of management
to
illustrate any of the "learnings" that may arise.
Steps:
1.
Group members form a circle, preferable not seated at desks.
2. The
facilitator says their own name and each person then says
their's,
going in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
3.
Repeat step 2 but time it and record the time on a board.
4.
Repeat step 3 until the times become consistently the same.
5.
Repeat step 2 but in the opposite direction and time it, record it.
6.
Repeat step 4.
Points
can be highlighted like "what happened when there was a
break
in the group?" "how could we improve the time?" "what are
we
doing to facilitate this process?" "how is this activity like
managing
a business?" etc.
Then we
have the fun learning part :-)
7.
Facilitator to say their own name and the people on either
side of
them are to say theirs. The idea is to have the names
going
in both a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction at the
same
time.
8.
Record the time (and differences) when both names get back to
the
facilitator. Often there is a 10-20 second difference.
9.
Repeat step 7 & 8 until the times become consistently the
same.
Obviously
the first time step 7 is attempted, the group usually
breaks
down because several people have to say their own name
very
quickly, twice, and indicate which direction the "work" is
going.
You can illustrate the learning points here in many ways.
One is
to highlight the fact that double the amount of work was
done by
the group in roughly the same time as when they only went
in one
direction. i.e. productivity has increased (output
increased
for the same costs). Another is to focus on what the
group
did differently when the names were going in both
directions.
You can have a ball with this. I used it in some
management
courses this week and I had the participants plan
their
targets before we started, measure the actuals and then
examine
the variances. You can even give a brief introduction
into
statistical process control.
Hope
this is clear because it is hard to describe such a dynamic
process.
As a rule-of thumb, with 10-20 participants expect the
times
to be around 7-12 seconds, even when the names go both ways
round.
It's fast, furious, energizing and certainly different.
I admit
that my favorite learning names ice-breaker is incredibly simple.
You
probably already know it. It is this to simple have each
person
introduce themselves with some relevant data . . . and a
word
that describes themselves that starts with the same letter
as the
letter that starts their first name. It breaks the ice in
a
direct way and it's fun. If an individual gets stuck others are
allowed
to help. The exercise allows people to see each other in
a new
light. It doesn't take too long, you can use the years data
in a
variety of ways i.e., how long you've been doing it the old
way...
patterns developed are hard to change.. that's why we are
here....
etc.
Addendum
>From Facilitated Solutions <tedebear@ozemail.com.au>
Annamaire's
response can be taken a step further, especially if
the
[participants] have been strong competitors. Instead of
introducing
themselves, they have to introduce someone else.
However,
to make it non-threatening, they have to find out
something
about the other person that no-one else in the room
knows!!!
This usually ends up being quite hilarious and "frees"
up the
big group.
Also,
if there are more than 20 people in the room, get them to
share
the information in smaller groups to save time, and then
ask for
one of the the most unusual things from each group that
was
discovered about one of their members.
Respect
each other
Attach
ideas not people
Be
specific
Comments
made here stay here
Comments
belong to the group
One person
talks at a time
Be
punctual
Avoid
passing judgment
Avoid
killer phrases like "we already tried that"
and "it will never work" and
"yes, but . . ."
Be
supportive of the other team members and their contributions
Silence
and absence is consensus
Practice
active listening
Keep
discussion relevant
No side
talking
One
conversation at a time
No
backtracking for people who are late
No
beepers/cellular phones
5-minute
rule (any one can call 5 min rule--to close out a discussion
going no where)
Define
acronyms
Everyone
is equal
One
person speaks at a time
Allow
people to change
Balance
consistency with flexibility
Check
assumptions before acting
Criticize
ideas, not people
Do not
retaliate
Follow
through
Interact
Keep an
open mind
Keep communication
lines open
Share
responsibility
Speak
for yourself
Speak
up
Be open
to the ideas of others
Take
responsibility for your own learning
Keep
things specific, real, here.
Full
confidentiality
You
have the right to pass
Be as
open as possible but honor the right of privacy.
Information
discussed in our group is confidential.
Respect
differences.
Don't
discount others' ideas.
Be
supportive rather than judgmental.
Give
feedback directly and openly;
You are
responsible for what we get from this team experience.
Ask for
what you need
Use
your time wisely
Focus
on goals, avoid sidetracking, personality conflicts and hidden agendas.
Start
and end meeting on time.
Absenteeism
permitted if scheduled in advance with the leader.
Review
and agree on agenda at start of meeting and then stick to it.
Publish
agenda and outcomes.
Everyone
is expected to help facilitate the meeting.
Critique/evaluate
meeting.
Everyone
is expected to participate and to respect and support the
right to be heard.
100% focus
and attention while meeting.
Be
willing to forgive.
Share
air time
Phones
and/or pagers on vibrate, instead of ring or beep
Be open
to new concepts and to concepts presented in new ways.
One
person talks at a time.
Job
titles are left at the door.
Build
self-esteem.
No
finger pointing - address the process not the individual.
Rotate
responsibilities
Frequently
check for understanding - summarize and/or paraphrase
Work
towards understanding consensus.
Include
everyone in the discussion
Do not
accept the first idea - go for the second and even better
the third.
Start
and end on time.
Everyone
is responsible for the success of the meeting.
Have
fun
Communicate,
communicate, communicate
Don't
interrupt someone talking.
No
killer statements (don't shoot down ideas).
Be open
to ideas
Everyone
participates.
Differences
or conflicts are handled positively.
Share
your knowledge.
Be
honest.
Ensure
everyone participates at least every hour.
Provide
key point notes to participants.
Respect
each person.
Share responsibility
Criticize
only ideas, not people.
Keep an
open mind.
Question
and participate.
Attend
all meetings.
Listen
constructively.
Ask a
question when you have one.
Feel
free to share an illustration.
Request
an example if a point is not clear.
Be an
"Adventurer" not a "Prisoner".
Practice
active listening.
Be a
team player.
Be
yourself.
Ask
questions.
Relax.
Make
mistakes.
Have a
different opinion.
Listen
alertly and take accurate notes.
Participate
enthusiastically.
Confine
your discussion to the current topic.
Give
freely of your experience.
Appreciate
other points of view.
Keep
confidences and assume others will.
Share
the limelight.
Say
"Thank You".
Stay
focused on the task and the person of the moment.
Ask
why.
Keep
up-to-date.
(1/2 to
2 hours) Scatter stuff on the floor or the ground (things
symbolic
of the company or the people are nice, otherwise use
nerf
balls, hula hoops, cans, boxes, etc.);
use rope or sticks
or
chalk to mark boundaries around the field (usually a rectangle
but
another shape may be more metaphoric for your group). The
task is
for some or all of the group members to move from one end
of the
field to the other touching none or X number of objects
(e.g.
the people are the raw product, the field is the
manufacturing
process, the objects represent defects in the
process). This can be run through a number of times,
with
various
'handicaps' (personal challenges) which usually encourage
participants
to experience from different perspectives.
Arrangements
of people can include: any number of
people going
through
the field at one time; any number of
coaches for the
person/people
in the field (e.g. one-on-one, 7-on-one).
Handicaps
range from communication (non-verbal,one-syllable
words, "hard-
nosed" (as the group defines that - maybe one
chance
to go through and that's all?), only positive but vague
feedback,
only one coach speaks at a time) to physical (no
touching
by coaches, coach has to be outside of the field, person
inside
the field must be "blind").
My experience with this
exercise
is that going through it a number of times, allowing the
group
more and more control of some parameters while the
handicaps
are made tougher (even putting more objects in the
field
to lessen the empty space) has often resulted in an
appreciation
for different needs and different strengths.
I've
done this using the TV game show "Family Feud" as a format.
Using
this with Commercial Bankers, I asked questions like "what
are the
top five things customers like to hear from a teller?"
answers
included "thank you", their own names, "how may I help
you
today", etc. Also, did the
"what do customers NOT want to
hear?" answers "you'll have to go see . .
.", "that's against
our policy",
"NO". etc. Ideas are
unlimited and participants
really
enjoyed it. Debrief as appropriate.
The
exercise below, called "House" can also be used to
demonstrate
the value of two way communication.
Before
presenting
it, the instructor draws a figure on a flip chart or
overhead
and conceals it. The figure should look
something like
this:
++
||/\
|/ \
/ \
| |
| |
| |
+----+
He or
she then tells the group that they will be given instructions to
perform
a simple task and that questions are not permitted.(If someone
asks a question,
I usually answer it by repeating word-for-word what I
just
said). The instructor then repeats the
following:
"Place your pencils on the blank
space on your page. Draw two
parallel lines. At one end of the parallel lines, draw a
line
at right angles to to them. At the
other end of the parallel
lines, draw an inverted 'V.' On one leg of the 'V,' draw two
parallel lines. At one end of the two
parallel lines you just
drew, draw a horizontal line at right
angles to them."
After
the pencils are down, the instructor asks how many got it right,
then
reveals the picture. Take the
discussion to communication, to
giving
orders, to all types of topics.
There
are FOUR kinds of participants in most training events.
There
are PRISONERS, who are there against their will (usually)
because
their boss told them to show up. There are VACATIONERS,
who are
there because training is like having time off from work
- they
are relaxed and (hopefully) refreshed and renewed as as
result
of their attendance. There are
CONSUMERS, who are
trainees
who have a specific learning agenda ("really want to
learn
how to coach my subordinates"), and there are ADVENTURERS,
who are
like Consumers without a narrow, specific agenda. They
want to
learn whatever is available. I've asked people to choose
which
role most closely resembles themselves, which two roles
most
closely resemble themselves, which role the trainer becomes
if the
group is comprised primarily of one type or another, etc.
I've
had groups in mandatory training reveal they are ALL
prisoners,
and so we've used a few minutes to acknowledge what
that is
like before plunging into the material.
from
Creating Culture Change: The Key to Successful Total Quality Management by
Philip E Atkinson
If you
haven't encountered this before, give it a go now, and count the
"f"s.
The solution is at the end of the text.
I normally allow 40 seconds
(using
an OHP) for this, then repeat the exercise, allowing 50 seconds.
"The
necessity of training farm hands for first class farms in the
fatherly
handling of first class farm livestock is foremost in the
minds
of farm owners. Since the forefathers of the farm owners trained
the
farm hands for first class farms in the fatherly handling of farm
livestock,
the farm owners feel they should carry on with the family
tradition
of fundamental training of farm hands of first class farms in
the
fatherly handling of livestock because they believe it is the basis
of good
fundamental farm management."
Hope I
spelt everything correctly! If I did, there are 38 "f"s in the
above
text. In my experience, most people count between 26 and 32.
Some
get part way through, and guess the rest!
Give
each group a box of straws (not flexible straws) and a box
of
paperclips. Check that the paperclips
can fit snuggly into
the end
of the straws.
Give each
group a task (you can use the same one for each group
if you
want) and let them go.
Sample
tasks: Build the __________ structure
as a group.
tallest
strongest
longest
most creative
most functional etc.
Debriefing
included describing teamwork and situational
leadership
skills used as well as how different models are needed
to
accomplish different tasks.
A
couple of years ago I attended the Ventana conference and where
I
attended a presentation by Eugene J. Quidort of Samovar
Consulting
on a facilitation technique called Music As Metaphor
where
he used music for problem solving. Of
course he oriented
the
process using GroupSystems V but you don't need electronic
meetingware
to use it.
When
working with a group the intent is to establish a working
vocabulary
of musical type definitions. Each type
of music has
distinctive
elements: rhythm and meter, melody, harmony, and
texture. Each type produces a distinct impression on
the
individual
members of the group.
Play a
musical passage that reflects the type of music (15-30
sec). Ask the group to record their
impressions. Repeat playing
and
recording for five to seven different types of music.
Briefly
ask each member of the group to review their impressions
and
definitions for each musical type"
Then have them share with
the
other members. "The intent is not to reach consensus on the
music
but to explore the breath or similarity of feelings in the
group.
Next
ask the group a series of questions about the problem the
group
is facing. Ask them to relate the
problem to a type of
music
previously defined and most important ask them to identify
why
this type of music applies. Discuss the
issues that arise.
It is
not important what type of music the group identifies.
What is
important is the reasons for choosing that type and the
agreement
or lack of agreement within the group as to why the
type
applies. This technique will surface
problems and other
areas
for discussion that do not surface under normal probing.
Ideas
for type of music: jazz, bluegrass,
Rhythm and Blues, Rock
n Roll,
Disco, Caribbean, classical, country, folk, modern,
cajun,
etc. You get the idea. The information come from the
paper
in the proceedings and written by Mr. Quidort.
For more
information
call 607-754-3534 he does train the facilitator
trainings.
Hold up
cup. Ask audience to look at it and
call out what it is.
Ask
"we all agree this is a cup?"
Hold up cup again walking
around
room. Ask audience what we use it
for. Ask "we all agree
that
this is a cup and it's used to hold liquid (drink from,
whatever
group consensus is).
Explain
principles of "generalization."
We as a group
"generalize"
that this is a cup. Some generalizations are good --
if we
had to rediscover the purpose of a cup or door each time we
encountered
one, it'd be a tough world. Some generalities are not
so good
-- such as "all blondes are dumb" usually gets laughter
because
I'm blonde -- use other examples pertinent to group --
maybe
"teams don't work here"
(Get
creative here!) Say: While we
generalized that this is a
cup, it
could also be a hat (place on head), a toy (walk it
across
table top), half of a modern telecommunications system (my
client
happened to be in that business), etc..
Then
say: Today, we need you to set aside
your generalizations
of the
way things are done, the way the organization is
structured,
the way people do their work, etc. Now, I'd like to
introduce
you to the future of XX Corporation.
Tell
them this exercise is about cooperation, and how it works.
Get
them to stand in a circle, facing in, groups from 6-12,
shoulder
to shoulder, closer,closer.! Then tell
them to close
their
eyes, and put both hands into the center of the circle.
Then
say "with your right hand, take one hand of one other
person. pause "Now with your other hand, take a
hand of someone
else" When all hands are taken 1:1, say "open
eyes, and you will
see
that you are in a Human knot"
Ask,
"Do you think that it is possible to undo this knot without
breaking
hands?" (Subtle suggestion of a rule, and a challenge)
Very
often they will start immediately to try and undo it as a
group
task, and will have a lot of fun doing it.
At the end they
will
often stand around for some time, still holding hands.
Process
the activity by asking the group what they did, what
happened,
and after getting a couple of whiteboards full, how
this is
like their working together in work terms. A very
powerful
experience, and informative about the actual group
dynamics
I
always have fun with the toilet paper opener!
Pass a roll of
TP to
the first person closest to you and merely say "Take as
much as
you think you need and pass the TP to the next person".
Don't
offer any more information. Once the TP
has gone around
the
room. Say to the group, "For every
square that you tore off,
tell
the group something about yourself".
Then watch their
faces,
I get a charge out of who is proud that they only picked
one
square, and the others that picked 20 squares!
This works at
any
level of people in the room.
Objective: The objective of the game is to land your
respective
aircraft
(or to be landed) safely and efficiently.
Room
set-up: Each person is designated to be either an air
traffic
controller or an airplane (max. 3 airplanes per
controller). Airplanes are blindfolded. Air traffic controllers
and
airplanes are placed around the room.
The airplanes will not
be
allowed to talk. Air traffic controllers will guide the
airplanes
to a safe landing. There will be obstacles around the
room. Bumping into them would be bad for the
customers and will
cause a
delay in the arrival time of the plane (i.e., facilitator
detains
airplane or walks them to a more distant location).
NOTE:
Depending on numbers of people, this can take up to 20
minutes
to setup. It is a good idea to have an
assistant to help
in both
setup and policing quality during the exercise.
Facilitator
role: The facilitator will have pause exercises and
stop
questions during the run of the game.
Pause exercises may
include
the use of more effective ways to communicate and
creative
approaches as well as recognizing what does work. Some
stop
provoking questions are: If you are a
front line person,
can you
see what might be frustrating your attempts?
What is
working? What is not working?
Strategems
and considerations: Front line people
must often
perform
in the midst of chaos and land the plane.
In other
words,
walk in their shoes.
-
Efficiency - The sooner you land the plane the better because
more are coming in.
-
Quality - Delays will occur when airplanes bump into things.
-
Multi-task - Can you handle more than one thing at a time?
And
if so, at what sacrifice? Who
will suffer or get the short end?
- How
good a communicator are you?
- How
much initiative will you take when risk is involved?
- What
about quality vs. efficiency trade offs?
My idea
for an ice breaker is to break into smaller groups
(tables)
and have each person write down two things that the
others
do not know about them and a third that is made up, or not
true. Have each individual share their 3 items
with the group
and the
group tries to guess which one is not true. Its fun and
get's
people to know one another better.
One
idea which we used in teambuilding was to have everyone form
in a
circle. Then you would start with one
person introducing
themselves
using their first name preceded by a descriptive
adjective
- for instance - you might be "Marvelous Mary" and I
might
be "Righteous Roy."
Now here
is the catch, when it is your turn, you first have to
say
everybody's name before you. If I was
the 2nd person after
you, I
would have to say "Marvelous Mary", "Righteous Roy." If
ticklish
TOM" were the 3rd person, he would have to say "M..
M...",
"R... R...", "Ticklish Tom." Needless to say, it does
provide
some interesting results, it breaks the ice, and it gets
people
to know each other on a more informal, first name basis.
It is
also good for improving memory skills through association.
The
second method I have used in more informal, social functions
when
there are a bunch of folks. Get out a
bunch of labels and
start
writing down the names of well known characters such as:
Mickey
Mouse, Caesar, Humphrey Bogart, Julia Roberts, Roy
Orbison,
Michael Jackson and on and on... As the
group gathers
together,
you give them the instructions that they need to figure
out the
name of the character that is written on their label. To
do
that, they are allowed to ask one question only of each person
they
talk to. Then you simply walk around
and place the labels
on
their backs. This forces them to mingle
and it is really a
great
ice-breaker. When someone successfully
figures out the
name,
they get to move the label to the front - then you put
another
label on their back -- no one gets off too easily. The
one
with the most labels wins if you even care about winning --
most
people just enjoy talking to each other by that time.
You can
try a set of cards with 15 values written on and given to
each
person. Then, have them order by
priority, discard five,
discard
5 more. Then, they can discuss in
groups of 5-7 what
their
remaining 5 are and how they relate to their own views of
project
management. Each group can report to the whole group.
Have
participants count off by fours to get into four groups of
10. The topic for each group is to have each
person give a 60
second
introduction of himself or herself and tell what they want
to
accomplish at the meeting. Then each
group selects a
spokesperson
who gives the entire bunch of 40 a summary from
his/her
group of (1) generically who is in the
group and the
non-overlapping
list of what the members of his/her group want to
accomplish.
This
gets them going with each other, helps them get to know each
other a
bit and, most important of all, gets the various needs
and
agendas out in the open.
Give a
flipchart page to each participant and ask them to
complete
the following statement 10 times:
" I am the kind of person
who..."
This
statement is difficult to answer with work-related responses
and
forces members to share more intimate information. Using less
than 10
responses becomes too simple and does not achieve
intimacy.
Participants then place their page on their chest (like
a
sandwich board) and circulate silently, reading each others'
lists.
Participants generally discover things about one another
that
they did not know before and have fun doing it. Charts are
then
posted on the wall for the duration of the session.
Each
corner of the room is labeled: Strongly agree, Agree,
Disagree,
and Strongly disagree. The facilitator lists statements
related
to the content of the workshop on a flipchart - one per
page.
These statements should be clear and strong assertions that
will
likely provoke a range of opinion. One at a time expose the
group
to these statements and ask participants to go to the
corner
that represents their opinion. Once there they find others
who
share that opinion and they are given five minutes to discuss
the
statement and their views. The
facilitator then asks for a
report
from each group and relates their opinions to the course
content.
The next statement is shown to the group and
participants
again move to the corner of their choice and repeat
the
process. I usually use 3 or 4 such statements ( they might
represent
common misperceptions about the topic) and by the end
of the
exercise participants have engaged with most of the other
group
members in a fun way. In addition they are more aware of
some of
the key concepts they will be addressing during the
session.
The
group is divided into teams of 4 or 5 and asked to prepare a
flipchart
that lists individual differences - things that are
unique
to that individual, and similarities: qualities,
activities,
interests etc., that all team members share. Third
they
are asked to list each team members expectations for the
session.
How this is arranged on the flipchart pages doesn't
really
matter. When completed each team goes to the front and one
at a
time members give their uniqueness, a similarity they share
with
others, and their own individual expectation for the
session.
With 40 people this will likely take too long but it is
a good
multi-purpose icebreaker that I find myself using over and
over
again.
Place a
sheet of paper on the floor, that is the raft. Everyone
"swims"
around the raft until I shout "SHARK!" and everyone has
to get
onto the raft before you have counted to five.
After each
"shark
attack" half of the sheet of paper is removed. The group
has to
find ways of surviving as a group. (You
can get up to 15
people
on a piece of A4 (letter size).
Everyone
walks fast around the room. They must
all try to be
aware
of each other and, after a while they must all slow down
together
and eventually come to a stop in unison.
The
group stands in a circle with eyes closed and tries to count
to 21,
one person after another. The rules are
that the counting
must NOT
go consecutively from one person to the next around the
circle,
no "systems" can be used
(setting up of sequences,
etc..)
and no two or more people can speak at the same time. If
any of
the rules are broken the group goes back to "one". Once
they
have reached twenty-one they can try and get back down to
one. (The clue is - how many people are in the
group and what
are you
trying to do).
The
group holds hands and, slowly, they move together,
intertwining,
and generally getting themselves tangled up.
Once
they
have gone as far as they can, they pause, and then try to
untangle
themselves without breaking hand contact. Then do the
exercise
again closing their eyes before untangleling.
The group
is split into teams, each member of each team taking a
number. Numbers one and two of the first team start
an improv on
anything. Then "three" will enter when ready
as another
character
who will move the action in another direction.
Then
"four"
will enter, then "five", and so on; each "number" will
influence
the action of the impro with their own ideas. The
objective
is to have a lot of people on "stage" interacting
whilst
keeping the improv interesting and successful - not as
simple
as it sounds.
Possible
Scenarios (you can make up your own).
Team A:
1. A couple on a hill.
2. An under-cover KGB agent.
3. A tramp.
4. The spouses of the first couple.
5. A distraught
parent looking for it's child.
Team B:
1. A shoplifter.
2. The shoplifters neighbour.
3. A jogger.
4. Armed raiders.
5. A Hari Krishna devotee.
6. Someone who think's he's/she's Batman/woman.
Team C:
1. A fisherperson.
2. The pilot of a broken-down airship.
3. Rowers in a boat.
4. The man who paints the Forth Road Bridge.
5. A talking dolphin.
6. A pair of evangelists.
Elicit
uncertainties which members of the group have about the
future
and support them in clustering groups of related
questions. We could leave the questions wide open - or
focus
more
narrowly on the area within which their organisation is
working.
Each cluster could 'seed' two possible futures - each
represented
by one set of outcomes from the uncertainties. Groups
can
have a lot of fun turning such a cluster into a coherent
story
of the future - drawing up a timeline to illustrate how
this
future unfolds, devising newspaper headlines which bring it
to
life, and dramatising their presentation of the future to the
other
group(s). Moreover - the fun leads them into stretching
their
imaginations in a way which will help the strategic
planning
task.
From
Robert Fulghum (of _Everything I Need to Know I Learned in
Kindergarten_fame)
gives in his book _Maybe, Maybe Not_.
It is
basic
musical chairs. He plays the game until
someone emerges
the
winner: usually the biggest, strongest,
loudest, most
competitive
individual (usually male.) Then he
starts over
again,
only with a new rule: when the music stops, everyone has
to find
a place to sit. People shove over, make
room, let people
sit on
their knee. The pace is different. Instead of the mad
scramble
and shoving, there is slow consideration of options and
choices. As the number of chairs decreases, there
starts to be
interesting
dynamics as to who gets to sit on whose lap.
Finally
there
is only one chair, and when the music stops, a slow and
deliberate
process starts of one person sitting down and then
daisy-chaining
person on next person's knee until the whole group
is
poised on one chair. Then he takes away
that chair, has
everyone
form a circle and turn face-to-back all around the
circle. Then on signal they all (slowly and carefully)
sit down
on the
lap of the person behind them and all are sitting with no
chairs. The difference between the two games is then
discussed.
Have
everyone take out their wallets and spread the contents out
on the
table in front of them. Offers amazing
insights into
parts
of self usually kept hidden and commonality of the human
experience.
<Nigel.Higgs@innovation.co.uk>
The
objective of this game is to count from 1 to 21 and then back
down to
1 again, as a group exercise. The Group
stands in a
large
circle, close but not touching. The rules are as follows:
*
Anyone may call out the next number at any time but,
* It's
back to 1 when two people call a number simultaneously,
* No
one may call out two numbers in a row - back to 1.
* Any
obvious pattern (e.g. two people alternating, bouncing
numbers between specific people,) and it's
back to 1,
* No
discussion beforehand,
*
Silence apart from calling out numbers,
*
Everyone must close their eyes.
Note to
leader: This exercise requires
sensitive listening,
openness,
an acceptance of giving and strong teamwork.
Most
groups
don't get very far, particularly if one or more people
attempt
any form of control - trying to call out as many times.
If the
group gets stuck, you can give them a clue.
Ask them to:
"think
about how many people are in the circle".
If they still
have a
problem then add the point "What number are you trying to
count up
to?" The group should be able to
complete the exercise
after
that. (Or at least make a significant improvement).
The
group is to start moving briskly about the room. They can go
anywhere.
The objective is to gradually slow down and come to a
complete
stop and freeze at exactly the same moment. The only
restrictions
are that there is to be complete silence and no
signals
used - just be aware of what is going on around you.
This
exercise is simple and feels good when it works (and usually
does). Again, the key is for nobody to try and
control the
group.
If it doesn't work, point this out and try again.
<Nigel.Higgs@innovation.co.uk>
In
pairs, standing. A & B. A starts a simple mime (e.g. ironing)
The
quality of the mime is unimportant. B asks "What are you
doing?"
A replies with something completely different from what
he is
miming (e.g. "fishing"). B then has to mime this (fishing).
A then
asks "What are you doing?" and so on. Objectives are speed
; no
repetition and always unconnected ideas.
<Nigel.Higgs@innovation.co.uk>
The
group stands in a circle, holds hands and closes their eyes. The
objective
of the exercise is for the group to send a "Pulse" around the
ring of
hands in a continuos loop.
Rules:
*
When/if you feel your shoulder touched squeeze the hand of the
person
on that side,
* When
you feel your hand squeezed then squeeze the hand of the
person
on the opposite side - i.e. if you right hand is squeezed then
squeeze
your left hand.
The
group leader/facilitator will start the process by tapping or
touching
one person's shoulder.
Once
the initial pulse is going further pulses can be introduced by
tapping/touching
other participant's shoulders.
In the
room there will be about 10 quotes/posters with
philosophical/existential
thought-provokers on them. (These can
be
distributed to the participants pre-day). Alternatively they
can get
this on a piece of paper to read and then select - but a
bit of
mingling to read the posters - physical movement - usually
gets
some mental flow going - most conferences are too much mind
and not
enough body.
Participants
are invited to stand by or select the one that they
regard
as the most interesting personally, the one that most
resonates
with their vision/mission/passion, position in life at
the
moment/experience - which one turns them on.
In
groups of max 6 ( some popular quotes will need to have a
number
of groups) invite them to:
1.
Briefly describe why this one is relevant and its essence for
them
2
Consider what element of this that turns them on / is operating in the
organisation
at the moment
3 How
can they support the growth of the quality they are talkign about?
4 Group
create a slogan, song, mission statement, acronym - some way of
representing
how they believe this can be best recognised AND
implemented
in the
organisation.
5 Groups
present to other groups as a group i.e. not a spokesman doing it
for
them
6 Allow
them five minutes to connect with one other person in a
group
whose idea/presentationsong etc was particularly appealing
to them
as individuals and find out more about the other idea.
Quotes/statements
type (maybe - these are mine from a recent
training
styles congress): "if my curent
belief were not true,
what
could be the advantages? "What is
at the moment impossible
to do
in your organisation, but which would fundamentally change,
vitalise
and enhance the organisation if you only could do it?"
"People
always succeed at over-acheiving golas they have been
allowed
to create themselves." (Gordon Dryden: Our of the Red).
"You
don't stop playing when you get old, you get old when you
stop
playing." "Management is
doing things right; leadership is
doing
the right things."
(Drucker/Bennis) "When I
was teaching
safety
in driving skills to truck-drivers, I played Dolly Parton
music
as they came to the session - and they liked it. The choice
of
music gave them the message that they were welcome." (charels
Schmid,
founder of the LIND Institute)
"having only one model of
managing
and leading, rewarding and judging people is totally out
of tune
with the fact that we are all individuals" (adapted From
Howard
Gartner). "The only stupid
question is the question you
are not
asking." (Paul Macready)