WorkSMART Blog

The more engaged students are in the learning process, the more they will absorb. While this makes intuitive sense, the assertion is also backed up by loads of brain research showing that when more areas of the brain are involved in an experience, the more memorable it becomes. So, to maximize learning, we must continue to engage the mind and the body, by offering physical experiences as well as cerebral ones and stirring up learners’ emotions. None of this will happen if the “sage on the stage” stands there lecturing. Instead, we need to replace talking heads with participation. Click for Participation Infographic. Participation 101 When I look at my kids’ report cards and their Schoology reports, I often see references and grades for “class participation.” When teachers or trainers ask questions, inviting learners to raise their hand to share a response, they put the onus on the student to single themselves out to share. I don’t know about you, but when I was a teenager, I wasn’t the most confident or outspoken student–only a handful of students in my classes were. I wasn’t particularly shy but was still unlikely to raise my hand with an answer unless I really knew it. I grew up in the pre-Growth Mindset world, but even in the Carol Dweck era of today, where failure is appreciated as part of the learning process, many students (young and old) are still reluctant to participate in a roomful of peers. Participation 202 Historically, we’ve thought of class participation in terms of participating in discussions or answering questions posed by a teacher or trainer. I think that’s what my kids are still graded on. However, as teaching formats have evolved, so must our understanding of what constitutes “participation.” Beyond talking and discussing, participation can involve, walking, standing, writing, drawing, clicking, and playing. The challenge for teachers and trainers is to link their teaching and learning goals with an appropriate type of participation. Goals might include the introduction of new material, practicing new techniques, improving memory, or committing to next steps. Depending on the goal, teachers may use a myriad of different tools to facilitate broad participation, rather than engaging only the handful of students who happen to raise their hands to speak. Let’s explore 7 teaching goals and ways to make those efforts more participatory. 1) Introduce material In place of lecturing, ask questions and have learners think through the material before divulging answers. Quick Response Answer Boards allow every participant to think up and jot down an answer. Have them raise their boards so you can quickly scan the room and get a sense of the group’s understanding. Audience Response Clickers give every person a chance to guess an answer, usually A-B-C-D or True-False. With these, facilitators can easily tabulate results. If everyone knows an answer, they can move along to the next topic. If not, they can take more time to delve into the correct and incorrect answers. Sometimes incorrect answers can lead to an extremely interesting conversation. Jeopardy games aren’t just for reinforcement. They can be a super fun way to introduce new information. By chunking their presentations into categories and questions, facilitators can help learners begin thinking about material to which they’ve never been exposed. Flash cards aren’t flashy, but they can be a great way to activate the mind and body, as they can require writing, flipping, shuffling, sorting, walking, folding, etc. 2) CHECK understanding Use tools that will allow EVERY participant to think of an answer, not just your fastest thinkers. Audience Response Systems (ARS) equip every participant with a clicker (or phone), so that players can key-in a response. Many ARS are best-suited to multiple-choice and true/false answers, but some do allow players to give more complex answers. If you prefer open-ended questions and free-thinking questions, rather than prompting the group with multiple-choice answers, try dry-erase Answer Boards. Find ready-made boards or create your own. A variety of dry-erase surfaces are readily available. Write it and Show it on Paper. If you don’t have the time or budget to get fancy, plain ol’ paper works really well too — and can be recycled! 3) Get Physical & Have Fun! If your goal is really just to get people moving around, you may not need to tie the movement to the learning curriculum. Simply getting the blood moving to different parts of the body can have a positive impact on learning. Energy Break Thumball. Catch the ball and act out the movement described on the ball. Tabletop Jeopardy. Have teams write questions for each other or come up and turn over a question card. It’s more active than listening to a question read by a teacher, for sure! Prize Wheels. Spinning a prize wheel can help groups pick questions, teams, categories, and prizes . . . or it can be a good excuse to get learners up and moving around. They can even spin to determine how many points they’ll get if they answer a question correctly. Be creative! Scratch & See. For maximum movement, have players stand up and pick a custom-made card, then scratch away. Make-your-own scratch tickets can also be great for prizes, team assignments, question categories, and more. Paper airplanes and paper balls. Rather than having learners raise a hand to ask a question, ask them to write it out on paper then fold it into an airplane or squeeze it into a ball. They can then toss it to someone else to read. 4) Practice and Quiz Play quick-response games to improve memory and retention. Be warned, however, that you run the risk of leaving slower thinkers behind. Following are some tools that reward quick recall, and ways to adapt them to include folks who need more time to think through their answer or feel shy about answering questions in a big group. Jeopardy game with Who’s First or Me First buzzer. Game buzzers add excitement to competitive games as teams race to buzz-in and answer questions first. They also help facilitators focus on the game content, rather than defusing arguments about who gets to answer a question. Adaptation: to engage slower thinkers in the game, you might require every player on a team to come up with (or understand, or be able to explain) an answer before the team rings in. Toss and Recall games. Toss a ball or Koosh and have them remember a fact or answer a question. Adaptation: invite recipients to consult with someone next to them before sharing with the bigger group. Create-Your-Own Thumball / Beachball / (or Write and Toss Dice). Write questions or discussion prompts on the ball. Then, give it a toss and ask the recipient to respond to the prompt or answer the question under their thumb. Adaptation: have student teams write on the content reinforcement questions/prompts and see if they can stump one another. Adaptation: create three balls of varying difficulty. 5) Commit to Action Ensure that learning is applied by asking participants to write down (and commit to) next steps. Start-Stop-Continue-Change. At the end of a learning module, discuss the takeaways. Ask the group what they’d like to START doing in the future; what they should STOP; whether they want to CONTINUE or CHANGE other actions. What? So What? Now What? The focus of these questions is: What have you learned? So what, what is the significance of the learning? Now what are you going to do or change going forward? 6) Spark Conversation For some, coming up with stuff to say can be a daunting challenge. A variety of tools call on visual metaphors, quotes, or discussion prompts to spark creativity and the flow of new ideas. And, they can be adapted to any topic in any discipline. Favorites include: Photo Decks, which offer an array of thought provoking images. Challenge your group to find an image that reminds them of an important fact or concept or have them choose an image that reflects how they’re thinking or feeling. Then they can discuss why they picked the image they did. Discussion Prompt Cards. On each card is an open-ended question. Pick a card and ask someone else the question or go ahead and answer it yourself. With discussion prompt activities, the facilitator can decide whether everyone should answer and discuss the same prompt, or let each person pick a different topic. Using the later approach, you might cover more material, but not dig in as deeply or engage in rich dialogue. Thumballs. These require players to toss a ball, catch it, and respond to the prompt under their thumb. When using a tool like this, consider how well the group knows each other and what sort of discussion topics would be welcome. Do you need to avoid uncomfortable silences? Get to know each other better? Or, dig into more difficult topics about Stress, Diversity, Goals, Team Dynamics, etc.? Finding Closure The variety of examples above reflect that participation can look very different depending on the age of a group, content being covered, or where the group is within a learning process. No matter what the specifics, participation will help bring closure to learning events and make material more memorable. Read more: 9 Ways to Increase Student Engagement    

I just happened upon the Pipe Cleaner Team Building Game, a popular STEM development challenge created by Dr. Laura Bottomley & Heather Smolensky, of NCSU. I quickly read through the very clever facilitation notes, and thought the game would also be an excellent, low-cost team building activity for adults. With the plethora of team building games available out there, I got to thinking about what makes this one so appealing. It isn’t just the low cost and ready availability of the supplies, but rather the care taken to construct a scenario–a reason for playing. In the case of the Pipe Cleaner Challenge, the situation is fun, engaging, believable, and can be easily be applied to real-life situations. In fact, many of my favorite team building games share these characteristics: FUN: Creating a scenario that’s different from people’s day-to-day work challenges will free players to “try-on” different roles and approaches. People are more likely to take risks when they are playing a low-stakes game, rather than trying to prove themselves in a job they already do. Moreover, the more fun and creative the scenario, the freer your group will feel to take risks. ENGAGING & BELIEVABLE : Beyond taking the time to create a story line that brings the challenge to life, stay “in character,” layering on additional detail and nuance to your story line. APPLICABLE: For any team activity, the true learning comes in the debrief, when you take the time to break down the details of what happened and why. Identify and discuss the productive behaviors that led to success and the actions may have side-tracked the team. The challenge In this quick, 10-minute exercise, teams of “engineers” are challenged to build the tallest free-standing structure possible with only 15 pipe cleaners. The facilitation First 2-4 minutes: tell the teams “there have been budget cuts and each team member must place one arm behind their back!” Next few minutes: stop the teams again and explain, “as engineers, you work in a global marketplace where people speak different languages. To symbolize this challenge, you can no longer speak.” Final 1-2 minutes: tell the teams that “business is booming and you now have the funds to hire translators, so you can speak again!” The debrief After a team building game, ask questions such as: if they all had similar ideas at first; how they came to agreement; the way they developed a process for building; ideas for how they could do a better job; roles they each played; was it helpful or detrimental to have (or not have) a leader; etc.

One recent LinkedIN discussion that drew a lot of interest asked “Why do we use Training Games?” So many people liked and commented, that I wanted to synthesize the conversation and pull out the highlights. Whether you’re using games to improve communication and listening skills, advance leadership skills, or build teams, these 40+ reasons why they work so well are sure to inspire you. Thank you to all the contributors, and especially to Krzysztof Szewczak who posted the question. Following I’ve included an outline of the highlights, organized thematically. Below that are excerpts of contributor’s comments. Create a shared (and recent) experience Not-Real-World Experiences are liberating Reduce threat: Games take the threat out of what maybe a difficult or challenging subject, creates positive team and individual competition, adds the FUN into facilitation and fact finding. Helps support emotional learning without the vulnerability. Pat Tyler. Build confidence: Game experiences can boost confidence. Steven Drezner Time to reflect: After the game has finished it allows time to reflect on whether they have the desired skills for their role or have been conditioned by their experiences and have “learned habits.” Jonathan Pitchfork Safe environment: Experiential exercises allow teams to do very different work together and as a result see the ingrained patterns of behaviour that occurred in the game but also in their daily work together. Other exercises allow individuals to practice new awareness or a newly learned skill in a safe environment to help them embody and refine their understanding preparing them to effectively transfer that wisdom into their workplace. Jenn Lofgren CPHR, MCC Take risks: Humans love to play. Playing is more than a learning strategy, it is a simulation of reality, allowing us to try something different, take risks, experiment, fail, and grow, without pressure. Playing exposes our humanity without masks, letting us act “as real”, and making possible a whole new way of understanding each other, working together and achieving goals. Pablo Luengas Less threatening: Games are a fun way for people to review material and discuss relevance. They also make it less threatening to clarify any misunderstood info. Mark Evans Learn by doing Recent, shared experience: Games are a great way to create a first-hand personal experience related to the topic of the training, and the game experience then can be debriefed together with the group. I found that the depth of learning is much bigger when there is recent personal experience participants can relate to. So, games are not simply for breaking the ice, but for providing a fertile soil for learning. Robert Cserti Develop own insights: People learn best when they gain their own insights rather than being told. Simon Leckie Experience Ah-Ha Moments: Participants have their own ah-ha moments, rather than being told what the learning point is. Sujatha Menon Increase participation: Games and activities enhance participant engagement. It’s all to do with neuroscience. Julie Edmonds Learn more by doing: People learn by doing better than any other ways. When they play, participants get the sense of ownership rather than feeling guests to the training. Hany Adel Games are brain-friendly and aid retention Games are more memorable: From a cognitive standpoint, games create memory markers. The more vivid an experience, the more markers our brains create around an experience or chunk of information. When the time comes to recall information, if it was reinforced by many markers, it will be easier to recall. This is especially helpful when content is dry or formulaic. Throwing in a few games keeps the learners engaged, but also functionally improves their ability to recall (and later apply) the content that they might otherwise have glazed over. Suzanne Corbett High learning intensity: Learning and behavior change are most often linked to Explicit Memory (consciousness), Declarative Memory (facts and events) and Episodic Memory (experiences) – Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin – 1968. Games provide the highest learning intensity outside of trauma. Bill Yetman Evoke emotions: Training games are a great way of creating the space for people to work with any new knowledge they have acquired in the session and apply it. The experience can also help to anchor the learning – a positive experience will evoke emotions that are long remembered after the event itself. Recalling the experience reminds us how good we felt, strengthening the neural connections every time we bring it to mind. Simon Leckie Subconscious learning: Training games allow the learning to slip in by the side door so to speak. By passing the conscious gatekeeper enabling the subconscious to explore, analyse and accept concepts that may on the face of it have been rejected. Patricia M. Hands-on learning: Hands-on learning ensures a higher degree of emotional involvement as well as information retention. The experience in itself evokes positive emotions in most participants. Junie G Use of multiple senses: Training games use three senses not just one. Generally, laughter is involved too which is proven to activate memory receptors. Laughter, doing, thinking and listening are 4 ways to impress on the mind. David Featherstone Laughter: Learning and laughing at the same time, can really help learning stick in one’s memory bank! Chris James Fun: Games engage learners and allows them to integrate themselves into the content. They are also great disruption. They break up the monotony of training and if used correctly, leave a lasting impression on the participant. Because games are kinetic you tie muscle memory to the concept, which allows the learner to access that memory easier in the future. Aja Millar Bring out our “inner child”: When adults play, inhibitions, fear and anxiety turn off and we become more receptive to learning new concepts/topics. Also, games set in friendly, light and joyful environment register in the brain quickly and become positive, happy and long-term memories. Suchitaa Paatil Creativity: Games stimulate the creative and cognitive sides of our brains!! Pat Tyler Self-learning: Many adults don’t like to be taught. They prefer learning by themselves. Games often result in stronger buy-in and fit well with the adult learning theories. Tommy Fung Games change the tempo of a meeting Break the ice: Quite often I have to deal with diverse groups, where participants’ nationalities differ. Irrespective of the age, sex, nationality and level, people love activities and they work bring people together. Saif Rahman Unwind and relieve stress: Activities can help players unwind. They provide a break and some fun to those who are over-stressed from work and life. Saif Rahman Transition. I use activities to introduce new topics. Learning transfer is relatively easier. I use canvas sheets, colors ,symbols and detailed lesson plans for sequencing them. Flip time. Depending on the topic, I might encourage my participants to present a part of the session. I give them ample time to prepare and work as a Coach. I challenge them to present a topic and have activities. This works well as I believe that the best form to learn something is to teach and practice. Saif Rahman Change Tempo and allow for deep thinking: I like games to change the rhythm of the meeting, but more importantly, to let people explore and think more deeply about concepts that have been introduced. It’s a chance to let ideas percolate a little. Carol Bleyle Games impact the learning environment Improved focus and motivation: Although I could teach exactly the same thing in a simpler, traditional way, I prefer to use different methodologies, because it keeps students focused and motivated. Games can also create relaxing learning environments, allowing people to learn in a new and enjoyable way. Mihaela El Azzi Petrov Relaxation: The games help to relax the mind, and open up locked up/shut up mental faculties to be reactivated, this in turn creates active participation in the training. Erican Turyahama Break up the monotony: Games can also break up sections of a course that might be more information heavy (especially when dealing with technical or slightly dry topics), and there’s a lot to be said for energizing learners by getting them moving/up on their feet! Anna Bezodis Energy boost: I use games to boost participants’ energy and level of interest in the session. Munaza Azeem Fun: I train preschool teachers. The more fun they have the more engaged they seem to be and the more the material I am teaching them seems to stick. Trainings do not have to be boring. We need to train the brain and games wake up the brain! Renae Lingafelt-Beeker Games build community Group cohesion: Games help in bringing about group cohesion where each participant aids the others in attaining their goals. A well-planned game and the debrief that follows is much effective than a long lecture in hammering down a point. Vineetha Aravind Team-building: Games encourage collaboration and team-building. Laura Browder Engage quieter learners: Games stimulate the development of team building skills. They allow students to get to know each other and can help you identify leaders and followers. Facilitators can also identify and engage the quieter students. Greg Wills Improvement of class culture: Games increase the intensity of a peer learning environment. The social interactions provide an opportunity to relate with other group members in a positive way. This ultimately improves the class culture and facilitates meaningful learning. Jacade S. Hanson Appreciation of different perspectives: Using games helps people connect and be more open to various perspectives even if they contradict their own beliefs. Kavitha Prakash Opportunity to practice Change from within: A training is intended to bring a change in the individual. But change can come only from within. Training games help the participants to bring their learning into practice and thereby reinforce it. As they understand the need of change, they will be ready to change. Vineetha Aravind Moving from theory to practice: Most people understand the theory when it’s explained to them but going through the motions shows them that it’s often not that easy to do. It’s often easier to remember various steps after having made mistakes or to understand why you should say/do things differently when you’ve been at the receiving end of e.g. badly worded feedback. Minda Carl Opportunity to Debrief Transparency and explaining WHY: I think that beginning with a brief explanation of “Why are we doing this,” as well as a meaningful debriefing. are highly necessary. I saw great games spoiled by poor debriefing and simple games converted into a learning opportunity by an appropriate positioning at the beginning and a relevant debriefing after. Stefania Luca Reflection. Game expert, Thiagi, always said that the whole value of a game is in the debrief. The exercise or playing of the games just gives the fodder for discussion. It’s up to the facilitator to draw out learning points about, a) what happened; b) how it felt; c) what was learned from the experience; and d) how it can be applied to real-world challenges. Susan Landay What to call them? Not “FUN”: I really don’t like to use the words “game” or “fun” While lots of “activities” “experiments” and “exercises” are “enjoyable,” the moment a trainer tells me “we are playing a game and I am going to have fun,” I fear I will have anything but. Steve Robson Think C.O.R.E.: I use this language instead: Closers, Openers, Revisting and Energisers. rather than games and fun. Tracey Davis “Activities,” not Games: “Learning Activities,” not “Training Games.” Graham Nugent Don’t call it anything: You don’t need to give it a name, just ask your group to form themselves into teams and get going. Ryan Barretto Game Resources Trainers Warehouse HRDQ RSVP Designs (UK) Northgate Training Co. (UK)

Not sure which Thumball is perfect for your needs? Take a moment to complete this quick quiz and get a handful of ideas about which discussion prompts will be best for your team and what your Thumball Style is!  What’s a Thumball? It’s a soft ball imprinted with 32 discussion starters. Create-Your-Own or pick one that has content perfect for your needs: Cut through the silence with an Icebreaker Thumball or What If Thumball Discover shared interests and build new relationships with Common Ground Thumball or Which are You Thumball Get to know people better with the or Getting to Know You Thumball Dive into deeper conversations with a Team Dynamics or Diversity Thumball. Read more about… Finding the Right Questions to Ask

Life before stress looks like unadulterated happiness — laughter, dancing, and ear-to-ear smiles. Life after stress looks like the parents in the image above, who are watching the kids at play. To the extent that happiness and productivity are linked, we need to do more about having Stress Management Conversations at Work! Stress at work Work and stress seem to have a symbiotic relationship — work causing stress on one hand, and stress impeding work on the other. In addition to inhibiting productivity, it affects our relationships, impairs sleep, and may even lead to addiction. In order to create a healthy workforce, companies must do everything they can to eradicate stress. Unfortunately, most of the stress management literature I’ve read that lists “Top 10” ways to minimize stress, focuses on exercise, sleep, humor, hobbies, etc. These tips, like the squeeze balls that frequently accompany them, are simply not enough. While these playful tools might establish a more play-friendly environment and help individuals let off a little steam, which is certainly worthwhile, they’re unlikely to get to the root of the problem. To tackle Stress Management at Work, organizations must go a step further and equip managers, team leaders and colleagues to initiate honest and open conversations about the specific situations that are causing anxiety. Stress Management through great conversation! The Stress Management Thumball, featuring 32 discussion topics relating to stress, is just the tool to make such rich and important conversations easier to facilitate. About half of the discussion questions focus on sources of stress. Each prompt is open-ended, so that respondents can choose whether or not to share more personal information. Prompts are also thoughtfully crafted to allow colleagues to address common workplace challenges with sensitivity and respect. Sources of stress Questions that uncover the causes of stress might include: Which “urgent” tasks most distract you from important ones? Is saying “I’m sorry” hard for you? Is your space usually organized or cluttered? Do you care? What’s your most stressful month of the year? Why? For how long can you comfortably unplug? What work task would you most like to avoid? Who do you hope will cut you some slack? How does your mood affect your stress? Is trying something new more energizing or stressful? What are your most dreaded household chores? When you’re busy, what’s first to get cut from your routine? Do you know when to say “NO”? What most relaxes you? Do you get as much sleep as you need? Alleviating stress Beyond identifying the situations that promote stress at work, a second series of questions can help individuals reflect on which tips and techniques might help them manage stress. That is, rather than telling me, “You need to exercise more,” I’d rather be asked, “What activities cause you to lose track of time?” After all, when folks participate in the development of solutions, they are more likely to adhere to them. Questions to help people find their own stress management techniques might include: Where is your favorite “quiet” place? If you found $5000, how would you use it? What activities cause you to lose track of time? What forms of exercise are most enjoyable? Is there a new hobby you’re hoping to start? If you took a “1-minute mental vacation,” where would you go? If you had one day left to live, what would you do? When stressed, do you prefer company or solitude? How would you use two extra hours per day? When I’m stressed I __________. Who or what makes you laugh? What’s your favorite time waster? What are your favorite comfort foods? How would you like to change your diet? These questions help people to discover the types of activities they hope to make time for, lifestyle changes they aspire to, and ways to calm their own nerves. Find your smiles Once we start talking about and addressing our stress triggers, I hope we’ll look more like smiling, dancing children, and less like scowling adults.   Click here for more Stress Management Activities.

You already know that learning requires an investment of time and mental focus. Listening to a lecture, reading a book, playing an experiential game, or watching a video can only get you so far. The real learning happens when you apply Thinking Methodologies to digest, discuss, and process the learning. Tools for Reflection and Thinking Methodologies Whether you’re processing and reflecting on material you just learned in school or training, an activity you experienced, a project you completed, or something else, Thinking Methodologies can help you debrief and process — that is, draw out meaning and apply learning down the road. From the range of Thinking Methodologies available, choose the model that’s best suited to your content and needs: Rose-Thorn-Bud The Rose-Thorn-Bud model hones in on achievements, opportunities and obstacles. The versatile tool can be used to process the day’s events, a learning experience or even be used as an icebreaker. Questions that go with each prompt include: ROSE What was the highlight of your day? How have you been successful? What did you like? Describe efforts that blossomed What are you most proud of? THORN What went wrong during your day? What was most stressful? Identify causes of difficulty What impeded your efforts? What are you most fearful of? Did you experience pain points in the process? BUD What are you looking forward to tomorrow? Describe opportunities that energize you What possibilities need growth and nurturing? What? So What? Now What? The What? Model is ideal in situations where different people might have different ideas about what was learned and its significance. The “Now What?” questions forces people to consider and commit to next steps, making this methodology ideal as a team-building game or meeting wrap-up. Start-Stop-Continue-Change Start-Stop is easily applied to a broad range of experiences and is a particularly useful construct for groups to evaluate current projects and processes. Body Smarts Body Smarts is a creative way to draw out observations and consider take-away learning points, using parts of the body as thought triggers: Brain- a new idea Hand – a helping hand you might need Heart – feelings you experienced Ear – something you heard that gave you pause Eye – something you saw differently Feet – an important take-away task Design Thinking Design Thinking is a popular methodology used to solve complex problems. The five-part model focuses on Understanding, Problem Definition, Ideation, Prototyping, Testing. Putting Thinking Tools into Action Facilitators, managers, and team leaders can use any of these Thinking Methodologies to frame discussions on the fly. However, participants might get more out of the experience if the leader plans and structures the conversation, giving participants time for individual reflection, small group sharing, then larger group discussion. The facilitation, sometimes referred to as "1-2-4-All," would look something like this: Individual reflection: Request that individuals jot down their thoughts on a sheet of paper or a Sticky Note (use different colors or icons to signify different questions/prompts). Small group discussions: When they’re ready, ask them to take about five minutes to discuss their ideas with others at their table. Encourage tables to continue to take notes either on a worksheet, Tabletop Whiteboard, or on the Sticky Notes Large group discussion: When the energy seems to drop, open up the conversation to the larger group, using either of these methods; Sticky Note Method: invite them to post their Sticky Notes on a poster, wall, or board at the front of the room. Then, group similar comments together and see what themes begin to emerge. “Spokesperson” method: have one person speak on behalf of each group. Use a flip chart or overhead to capture ideas and refer back to them. If ideas are mentioned more than once, add a check mark to indicate the popularity of that idea. Equipped with some playful sticky notes and a structure for your conversation, the time spent in your meeting is sure to yield worthwhile insights! See also . . . Take Time to Debrief Memorable Debriefs

If your group would feel more relaxed and benefit from knowing a bit more about one another, try this Quick Response Board activity. Have each person write on the board a most unusual fact about themselves (oddest job, a phobia, worst nightmare, proudest accomplishment, etc.) Then ask everybody to pass boards around from person to person (without looking) until you say, “STOP!” At this point, have each person, in turn, hold up a board and guess the original author, with the help of others in the group, if needed. Have them write the name on the board. When all participants have been discovered, have the group quickly return the boards to their original owners. Whiteboards have so many uses! Quick Response Whiteboards can also be used: in learning environments to check for understanding, as every participant has an opportunity to answer your question. as a study or practice device, allowing you to write-on and wipe-off answers Find Whiteboards in multiple colors and sizes! As Quick Response Whiteboards have grown in popularity, the number of varieties have also expanded, making it easy to get just what you need. Size STANDARD: 2-sided Quick Response Whiteboards are 6″ x 7-3/4″. EXTRA EXTRA: If you need even more space, you slip a piece of paper into DocU-Sleeves (8.5 x 11, 11 x 17, etc), and write on the clean-wipe surface. This solution is also great if you want a custom grid or design on paper, instead of a blank sheet. COLOR We call them “whiteboards” but they really don’t have to be white! Briteboards are bright, neon colors with the same write-on, wipe-off surface. These can be used for teams, or just to energize the environment. “Erasability” If you don’t buy your boards from Trainers Warehouse (which have been thoroughly tested!), be sure to test them for erasability, as not all boards are created equal! If you forget to erase whiteboards and leave the ink on for a long time, you might need to use one of these tricks to clean them up: Use a whiteboard spray cleaner or Windex. If you have a permanent marker stain on a whiteboard, you can often write over it with a dry erase marker, then erase it. I’ve also found a bunch of recommendations online including Comet, coffee grinds, Ben-Gay, Toothpaste, WD-40, Magic Eraser, etc. We’re in the process of trying each of these methods! Find Quick Response Whiteboards at Trainers Warehouse. Click here for more on Getting to Know You.

On a recent LinkedIN Conversation in the Effective and Fun Training Techniques group, Jason Hughes asked for some recommended icebreakers, energizers, tips or tools for the face-to-face training of his small team, who generally already know each other. Often, he trains just a couple people at a time. Below is a synthesis of the conversation and recommendations. Make it worthwhile! As usual, whenever the topic of icebreakers is raised, a debate ensues about the utility or futility of such activities. The consensus seems to be that it should always have a purpose and be tied to your content. Here are a couple of reasons that might make it worth the time (you can read more on this topic here): Allow participants to express their expectations Introduce participants to one another Build a sense of community Introduce the content Set the tone for the session Help get conversations going Help people remember names Get people on their feet and get the blood flowing Engage participants in the learning process and set the tone for participation Give participants a sense of ownership over the learning Break down barriers between the trainer and the participants Encourage participants to think differently Understand the knowledge and experience of participants Enable participants to network with each other so they can use one another as a resource after the training has ended Bearing in mind that having a purpose is important, some of the most-liked tips include: 6 Thinking Hats Ask the group if they have workplace issues they want to address. This team activity focuses on problem-solving. I divide the group into teams and provide each team with a dice that has a colored hat on each side (representing De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats). Team members roll the dice and have to approach the problem I give them from whatever color turns up on the dice. The next person then has to address the previous person’s comment as well as make their own comment based on the color that they roll. Info about 6 Thinking Hats can be found at Mind Tools. Mary Grace Dear Jane… Have partners write a letter, out loud/verbally, one word at a time. They each add a word and punctuation to build complete thoughts. It begins with “Dear, Name” and ends with “Sincerely, Name.” This shared activity connects the two to each other and can be catered to any topic. Regarding customer service, have partners role play a customer and a provider. Give them 2minutes, then 1minute, then 30 seconds, then 15 seconds, then 5 seconds to provide service. Compare and contrast how time affects their relationship with each other. ROI … Richard O Improv 2 Truths and a Lie The first person in the group says 3 things about him/herself, one of which is a lie. The first person to guess which is the lie is the next to say 3 things. Work around the group until everyone has gone. David Weimer  - See more notes on this activity Photographic metaphors Find pictures representing a metaphor of the content to be delivered (e.g. a road in construction for continuous development, a nice, clean and ordered park for teams applying procedures etc.) and ask people what do they see and how do they think the picture is connected to the content. That way you will know also how do they feel about the topic and what are their thoughts. Stefania Luca Exaggerated Role Play Ask each participant to exaggerate the worst experience they’ve had with the topic at hand in any place not necessarily relevant to the work situation. e.g. poor service: what they felt, how they reacted, what impression did it leave? Then walk them back by asking why it didn’t work and what options would work better; why they would and how to apply those solutions to the topic at hand. Zolia Rumble Who was I When? For groups who know each other pretty well, I like to use the Shaped by Our Past Thumball. The prompts get people to think back to the experiences who shaped them. Then, for an added twist, ask how that experience affects how they approach the training topic at hand. Share a Best Practice Task the participants with seeking out and sharing a “Best Practice.” Have them bring to every new session an example of something operational that links to the subject you’re running – a good and bad example and what they did / how they’d like help to deal with it. Stephen J. Whitton Paper Cut (or Geometric Draw) Give each person an identical piece of paper and tell them to close their eyes. Then, give a series of instructions to fold and tear the paper as you direct. When you instruct them to open their eyes, have each person unfold their paper and share it with the group. You will see how each person interpreted the instructions differently! This quickly shows that everyone has their own way of processing the training and it usually gets me off on the right foot each time. Maryanne Muigai A variation on the Paper Cut activity is to get pairs to sit back to back. Give one person a geometric design to describe while the other person attempts to draw it, so many aspects of effective communication in a fun exercise. Oonagh Cullen Pick a Positive Word I get the team to choose one positive word each and explain to the rest why they choose this positive and link it to the topic. I have experienced this sets a positive mood for the day. More interesting, later I will also use some of the participants’ explanation during the session. This creates some kind of happiness in the participants as their contribution is being valued in the session. Muniandy Pachiappan 2 extra hours… For a time management course, I start by asking if I could give you an extra 2 hours per week what would you do with it. Then I ask them not to tell me but to draw it and set a time limit of 1 minute. Josie Tata Complete the Sentence One activity I used is “Complete the sentence.” It draws out their existing views on the respective subject. e.g. “Time Mgmt is …”, “Customers are …”, “My nightmare on letter writing is …” Koh Thong Joo Celebrity Spot Ask your participants to write down on a piece of paper the name of the celebrity that looks like them or inspires them, and hand over the papers to you. Then, call each celebrity names and ask the group if they can spot who’s who. It works better in a small group of less than 20. Palesa Kubu Ask or Brainstorm: What would you like to learn? When I have small groups, and not much time, I’ll often start by asking them what they would like to learn or what their biggest struggles are with the topic. I’ll make a list on a whiteboard as they share. Then I use the time to work through their list. They always have ideas for each other too! Everyone gets something out of the session. Kelly Hammontree – Floyd Start with a Story Have a participant roll the Story Cube dice (which you can buy or make), and whatever picture (or word) it lands on, they have to tell the group about a story related to them (or the topic at hand). Rebecca Jones Pick the Perfect Hat Maybe a bit of an ‘off the wall’ answer but a while back I went into a charity shop and bought a load of hats. For one session, I threw them out and got participants to choose a hat that fits their personality! Bernard Genge Personal Infographic (drawing skills not needed!) While your group may know each other, they don’t always know light or funny things about each other. Have your group do an Introductory infographic about themselves. Give out colored construction paper, markers and colored pencils and give them 10 mins to draw 6 to 8 images, pictures, or shapes to describe the things most important to them. Then have them share their work and explain the meaning of each shape. It’s Fun, Empowering, Informative Dina Bell Nance Beachball or Thumball Inflate a beach ball and use a sharpie and print different questions all over the ball. As the ball is thrown from player to player, the person who catches the ball has to say their name and answer the question that their left thumb lands on. Tamasin Artru M.Ed If folks want to save a bit of time, the Silver Series Thumballs by Trainers Warehouse are ready to go with pre-printed content that can be used for Session Openers, Icebreakers, Getting to Know You, Leadership, Stress Management, Safety, Team Dynamics, Diversity, Communication, etc. https://www.trainerswarehouse.com/Thumballs/products/268/ Susan Landay More links here: https://icebreakerideas.com/icebreakers-for-team-staff-meetings/ https://www.funergizers.com/programs/team-meeting-activities https://www.trainerbubble.com https://icebreakerideas.com/icebreakers-for-team-staff-meetings/ https://www.wilderdom.com/ https://gamestorming.com/ www.trainerswarehouse.com https://www.emeroleary.com/icebreakers-with-a-twist/

Many years ago, Diane Schabath posted a question on LinkedIN, asking for icebreaker suggestions to use at a company-wide meeting. “The challenge,” she said, is that it needs to be something that people complete as they arrive; we want people to mix and meet each other but not wait until all 90 team members arrive. Folks wrote in with tons of suggestions. Here are some highlights: Piccles – a drawing icebreaker Here’s one I picked up and wanted to share! Create a login at app.piccles.com. Here’s how it works: Create an icebreaker question – it can be anything… a goal for the day… how you’re feeling right now… a favorite hobby… NOTE THE “CODE” so you can give it to participants. Ask participants to JOIN by visiting app.piccles.com on their phone, and typing in the code. Participants DRAW THEIR ANSWER and click DONE. The drawing instantly appears on the shared board. CHOOSE a drawing and ask the creator to “tell us about it.” – Optionally, GIVE AN AWARD to that participant. M&Ms * Skittles * Gummy Bears Assign a fun question to each color like, “If you were on a desert island what one thing would you bring?” or “What’s a secret place near where you live?” You could put them into groups as they wonder in and give them a bag of candy. Then as they draw a piece (without looking into the bag), they answer the question and eat the candy. And it goes around the circle that way. To help with the mingling, you could have them change groups from time to time. ~ Catherine Branner Give each person a bag of multicolor gummy bears as they arrive (if you want 6 groups in the end, then each bag has 6 colors). Instruct them to find people and trade for one specific color so that they end up with all gummy bears of one color. Its great because some will start to collect red, but then get stuck and have to switch to blue. You can order the single colors on this site: https://www.albanesecandy.com/individual/ ~ Pam Malloy Quotes For discussion: Have some thought-provoking quotes written up and stuck around the walls. Search for Deming, Churchill, Ghandi, Buffet, Jobs, Branson – look for something that’s profound and insightful. Upon entry, have a sign that invites people to read the quotes and think about the message, then discuss the quotation with others in the room. There’s no pressure to participate with a game, there’s encouragement to speak to others. ~ Dave Smith Unscramble the quote: For each quote you select, write each word separately on a sheet of paper (preferably different coloured sheets); scrumple each into a box or bag. Ask each participant to take one of these crumpled sheets. If for example a sentence contains 14words-you will have on ground these 14 participants-instructed to open up their paper, read and say the word out and then network around to try to match their words with other participants; Each word is to be laid on the floor (please not taking anything for granted-hoping the meeting room is well carpeted or decent flooring ) forming a “Paper Sentence Scrabble” which will read a quote or a definition or…as you the Trainer designed. ~ Caroly Solanke Community Puzzle Distribute a blank puzzle piece to every participant. Have them decorate their piece however they wish, perhaps including their name, interests, illustrations, etc. Have them explain the meaning of their design to a few fellow participants. Then assemble the puzzle into a colorful mosaic that they can all enjoy and explore over the course of the training session. You could also distribute a piece before the session and have them bring it with them. The possibilities are endless. For instance, you might ask them to write or illustrate a learning they hope to gain. It’s also a great debrief at the end of the session — to review what they hoped to learn and see if those expectations were met. Jigsaw Puzzle Since there would be about 90 participants, buy a few jigsaw puzzle packs with not more than 10 pieces each. Let’s assume, you will have 9 packs in hand with 90 pieces altogether. Mix them all. Put individual pieces in small envelopes with simple instructions to find other individuals in the group, and complete the picture. This will help you overcome all your limitations you currently face, and also kick in some fin and excitement without making it too complicated. ~ Prabhaker N Thakur Name Tag Fun Have people’s name tags set out. Again, depending on the group they may be blank or they may have the name on. I have instructions nearby asking them to take their name tag and using coloured pens, if they wish, to then draw three symbols representing who they are. The symbols can be generic or related to the topic. I offer suggestions and leave it completely open. The instruction sheet then asks them to find two or three people who they do not know and share their stories about the symbols. I find it can be a good way to mix and to start work on the reason they are present at the training event. Some people relish the creative aspect, others do it quickly and move on, it allows for variety and involvement from the beginning. ~ Chris Harkess Postcard connections Have a 100 small items and or postcards or ask participants to bring something. They will need to choose something that relates or means something to them. Let them partner up with someone or a small group of say 5 as they come in randomly. Ask each person to describe the item or picture, then discuss: Why I choose this; What it means to me; One word to describe how it relates to my personality / thinking. ~ Sharon Wint-Gordon I won a million dollars Ask people to share what they would do with the money if they won the lottery. BUT, instead of saying “I would do this or that,” have them phrase it as if they’d already done it: ” I bought my mother a brand new 4 bedroom house with a view of a golf course, a pool and a tennis court!” or “I am driving my Charcoal grey, outside and wine colored leather seated new convertible with the top down, MB right out of the lot today!” or I set up the ST. Jude’s Hospital with an endowment of $1,000,000 that grows every year to help their research.” It’s also a great lesson for teaching GOALS and VISION. ~ Judy McKee Paper Airplanes Have on hand old newspapers/magazines and black marker pens. Ask participants to make paper planes using the materials, then ask them to write their name and one thing they can be identified by… ( color of clothing, height, accessory, etc…). Then ask them to randomly shoot the paper plane into the group. Each participant must then pick up a random paper plane that lands by them and go in search of the person who launched it. This forms a human network as each participant who finds the person on a paper plane also gets introduced to those already in the network ~ Carmel Ellis 5-minute handshakes As they arrive, ask people to mingle and talk to someone for 5 mins and find 3 things they have in common with them and three things that they are different on. Tell them to write the answers on the back of the other person’s business card and keep it. Ring a bell or buzzer every 5 minutes to get people to move around. Also, in the debrief or before you move on start the meeting, if you ask people which was easiest, they will probably say finding things in common. It leads into the power of asking questions and listening as well as finding common ground and being interested in other people, which are all communication and influencing skills. Have some blank cards for those who don’t have business cards. ~ Teresa Cook Happy Families As people arrive, give each one a playing card from a set of “Happy Families” cards. Then ask them to go and find the rest of their family (7 in each family) – during registration/welcome coffee. Once they had found each other, they were all asked to converse and find two things their family had in common (things that were not obvious like being bald and wearing glasses!). We gave them 15 minutes to find family and agree on two items. Then we entered the main conference room and to get started and really break the ice we asked each family to come up and tell us their two things (10 families, 1 minute each) Total icebreaker time including welcome coffee /breakfast 40 minutes. Can be done in 30 if people are punctual. Excellent for people who do not know each other and for seminar event. ~ Sally Ann Moore Real time Survey If you have internet access and a good projection system, try an online survey. As people file in they complete the online survey. As the results are tallied, the results change (are updated) on the screen. This creates ideas about what participants would like to gain from the program. It also generates discussion. If you can run two screens up front (or a split screen), have one side show the survey and the second side how comments on the survey. It will not only grab their attention, it creates the feeling of community. ~ Debra Brown Thumball Thumball can be another great Icebreaker. ~Naresh Sen We had a volleyball that had general “tell me something about yourself” questions on it. We would throw it to one of our participants and on whatever question their hand landed on, they would share that with the rest of the group if they were comfortable doing so. This was for a ‘beach themed’ training during the summer and it worked really well for us. ~ Elizabeth Bennet I use a Fire or Ice icebreaker. It is a series of opposites of sorts. One person asks the other and the other person chooses one of the words and explains why. Then the pair exchanges roles. Opposites include Fire or Ice, Sun or Moon, Winter or Summer, 0 or 100, letters or numbers, student or teacher… ~ Meghan Freeman Crayon Craze People select a crayon when they enter the room or they have crayons at their table. Then at various points during a workshop they find others who have similar colors or opposite colors. It’s a great way to create partnerships or small groups. ~ Debra Brown Birth order I split the room into zones and put up signs; the eldest, the middle one, the youngest, the only one and ask people discuss what life lessons they learned from the position they held in their family. ~ Wendy Garcarz Find a match I have used beer mats as an energizer. Cut beer mats in half in a random way. Make a hole in the rounded part of each half beer mat and put some string or ribbon through. Everyone puts their half beer mat round their neck and goes round introducing themselves to everyone trying to match up their mats. Gets everyone talking while they are look for their ‘other half’~ Gail Page Chain Reaction This one requires smaller teams of 20 each and ask them to form longest connected chain using all the resources available with them but nothing external. Ask them to share with each other one thing they like most. Each person has to repeat what the earlier participants said by speaking in the sequence their name and what they like most, then adding their own. This activity brings out the importance of listening attentively as part of effective communications. in the first round prompting is permitted. ~ Vijay Batra Have people standing near each other to create a chain of commonalities or connections. After they put themselves in “order” have them link to another group. In the end, everyone will be linked to everyone else. ~ Susan D. Community Mural Prepare 10 blank posters on the wall and supply ample pastels/crayons. Distribute participants evenly among them as they come in. Tell them to fill the poster according to the theme identified at the top, “Happy Moments” “Fondest Dreams” or even… My Dream Company. Ask every member to contribute to every poster, so that the whole paper becomes filled. ~ Jalini Alias Networking is hard! Those of us who are extraverts think of icebreakers as a wonderful way to facilitate networking. Those of us who are introverts look at those same events with a mixture of trepidation and dread. Jim Barker’s Monday Cartoon, captures the essence well.

Trainers Warehouse provides tips and tools for effective assertiveness exercises. These assertive vs. aggressive communication exercise options provide trainers with high-quality activities and empower them to perform their jobs more effectively. In addition, those participating in assertiveness exercises can, at times, experience the benefits of increased self-confidence. Following is a compilation of our favorite assertiveness tips and assertiveness group therapy activities. The language helps make Assertiveness Exercises Effective There are different frameworks through which to view assertive and non-assertive behavior. The following are but two. 1) One is based on behaviors being characterized as Passive, Aggressive, Passive-Aggressive, and Assertive. 2) The second distinguishes these psychological stances: Dependent, Counter-Dependent, Independent, and – rarest of all – Interdependent. Familiarity with these related concepts will help you and your trainees have a deeper understanding (and recognition of themselves and others). “Introverted behavior is not by itself a particularly good indicator of non-assertive or passive behavior, this is doubly true if one looks at behavior of ISTJ’s or (even more) INTJ’s. Don’t mistake not being outspoken on a regular basis for lack of assertiveness. Conversely, ENFP’s may talk and interact a lot, but often take a stance of being (compulsive) helpers, lieutenants instead of captains, etc.” Others expressed that level of assertiveness can, at times, be linked to self-confidence.” ~Arthur Lerner To make this fun, you can discuss a variety of TV characters that fit each of these profiles. You can also how would “X” respond to a situation such as someone sitting in their pre-assigned seat. ~ Posted online by Susan Goldstein Assertive vs Aggressive Communication Exercises Two ways to enter a circle Right off the bat, before sharing names or “stats”, have your group stand in a circle for two “meetings.” The first time, ask them to go to the center of the circle as if they were getting onto an elevator. Of course, they will all be reserved and full of “excuse me” and keeping our bodies, eyes, and voices mostly to ourselves. After a quick “What was that like?” (2 min max), have them enter the circle as if they were arriving at a reunion or a party where they were happy seeing folks we hadn’t seen in a long time. Suddenly, you will see eye contact, handshakes, hugs, happy greetings with inviting questions. This is a great discussion starter — seeing how drastically different behavior is for the different settings, and how each of us actually felt more comfortable with the group, even though we still didn’t know each other’s names. 🙂 ~ Posted online by Dawn Walker-Elders An Assertiveness Exercise for Small Group Discussions Plan small group activities where groups report back. Typically, it’s easier for introverts to talk in groups of 3 or 4. You could assign each group to identify and demonstrate common behavior patterns for different types of people — aggressive, assertive, passive, etc. They can discuss eye contact, physical space, stance, etc.) ~ Posted online by Stephanie Legatos Handling Aggression – a planned outbreak! One of my favorite assertive vs aggressive communication exercises involves staging a “planned outbreak.” Unbeknownst to the participants, I have someone primed to burst into the room claiming angrily that they have booked this meeting room and can we please leave so they can set up. Then we will’ freeze’ the ‘intruder’ and discuss different options for responding to this aggressive outburst, before trying each one out to see what effect it has. ~Posted online by Sue Duraikan Assertive Communication Skills Activities Discuss leadership strengths and opportunities Identify opportunities for leadership growth and practice talking assertively about these meaningful topics. Just toss the ball and talk about the topic under your thumb. The ball is playful, yet raises meaningful conversation topics. Get a whole audience to stand up I once attended a workshop where there were about 80 people and the facilitator had us come out to the front of the audience one by one – the aim was for us to get the audience to stand up …..it was amazing, very few people could actually get them to stand up – this demonstrated the difference between aggressive people (no-one stood); passive people (no-one stood) and assertive people – the audience stood. And he gave none of us any directions. ~ Posted online by Ann Andrews Incorporating Practice and Role Play into Assertiveness Exercises When I run Assertiveness training, I get participants to practice specific techniques such as “broken record”, “saying ‘no’ without making excuses”, “receiving negative feedback with equanimity”, “making ‘I’ statements (rather than ‘you’ statements) etc. This can be done in pairs, or in 3s with an observer in each group. ~ Posted online by Jon Trevor I use pair role-plays where one is the boss scolding the other for a mistake. The other attempts to respond to the boss using I’m OK – You’re OK language and posture. Start with one pair to allow the group to observe and comment, and then ask the pair to redo the role-play. It is always much better! Then everyone pairs up and has a go. ~ Posted online by JoAnne Freeman Start with some scenarios drawn up on posters and posted around the room, such as ‘A stressed colleague tells you she really needs you to stay late to help with an unexpected event. You already have social plans.’ ‘You are making a presentation and an audience member interrupts to ask a question you can’t answer.’ Have participants go and look at them all, discuss them, and then stand by the one they would find hardest to deal with. Then launch into a discussion of how our thoughts and feelings affect our level of assertiveness; how we need to recognize and manage both before we can speak and act assertively. ~Posted online by Sue Duraikan A variation on a live role-play, that may be less threatening, is to do it as a written exchange: Get people in groups to think of a situation in which they need to be assertive. Have them write out a summary of the scenario, plus their assertive response. Ask groups to pass their scenarios to another group, so they can write out what the other person might say in response. Then, they write another assertive response, which goes back to the other group for a reply and so on. Obviously, you can have lots of these going on at once. You can then read out the conversation and discuss the learning points. Aside from not feeling “put on the spot,” it gives people time to think and discuss positive ways to respond. ~ Posted online by Derek Hughes Try Non-verbals Working in triads each person communicates emotion with only non-verbal language. The two others try to determine which emotion is being communicated. As the practice goes round the triad, each gains skill in using congruent non-verbals, and each strengthens skills in recognizing and interpreting emotion. In fact, non-verbal is often the strongest part of the message. ~Posted online by Margo The Chair (or chocolates) Ask someone who you feel is fairly strong and able to behave assertively to sit on a chair in the middle of the room. Select 4 other people and assign them a behaviour type – assertive, aggressive, passive, passive-aggressive and advise them that their task is to persuade the person on the chair to relinquish the chair. It puts the behvaiours you have already discussed into context. I have always found that it works extremely well. ~Posted online by Fosties A variation on this “assertive vs aggressive communication exercise” is to give the person in the chair a box of chocolates and have people take turns getting them to share those. Fists Assertiveness exercises like this one will help people draw the line between assertiveness and aggression. Split the group into pairs. Half the members will receive one set of instructions; the other half a different set of instructions. Person A’s instructions read: Person B will make a fist. You MUST get that fist open.Person B’s instructions read: make a fist. Person A is going to attempt to get you to open your fist. You must NOT open your fist unless he/she asks you politely and assertively. Most people will try to pry their fingers open, which is why I added the caveat about physical contact. ~Posted online by Karyn R Ask Line . . . “NO” Line Assertiveness exercises can teach important skills like negotiation. Often assertiveness is hard when you face a challenge or need to ask for something. For that reason, I like this Negotiation exercise. The participants form two lines. One line is the “Asking Line.” They ask for anything from a pay raise, extra resources, time off, etc. The other line is the “No Line.” Their job is to say no. Encourage them to be realistic in their delivery but to find a reason to say no. The Ask Line is then forced to ASK a what, how, or why ONLY question that forces the No Line to elaborate. In this assertive vs aggressive communication exercise, no “yes/no answers” are allowed! The Ask Line then reformat their ask with the new information from the No Line. The No Line then offers the honest reconsideration of the request. The facilitator coaches participants one at a time, but each pair goes fairly quickly. This really helped us overcome the anxiety of the No and cultivated our ability to bounce back and be assertive by asking probing questions and re-stating the Ask. The lines then switch. (Source of activity Ji Eun (Jamie) Lee at a Smith College Women’s Leadership Conference,https://jieunjamie.com/work/). ~ Posted online by Nathalie Ais Sample Situations for Assertiveness Exercises and Training Here are a handful of examples of situations, (sound threatening and some not), together with one or more possible responses. During these assertiveness group therapy activities, ask your group to identify whether the response is assertive, passive, or aggressive. Alternatively, ask if they can think of a better way to respond. For example: Situation #1: The barmaid serves you the wrong drink in the pub. Response: “What do you call this? I asked for a shandy, not lager – get your act together, love.” Situation #2: A new colleague, with whom you share an office, smokes continuously. You dislike the smell of smoke. Response: “Gosh, I’ve really got a headache, but then smoky atmospheres always bring on my migraine.” Situation #3: You are feeling put upon at work and decide to ask for a higher grade. Response: “I’d like to talk about my grade with you. Please could we meet next week to discuss it further?” Situation #4: You are waiting to pay for some shopping but the two sales assistants at the till are deep in conversation and appear to be ignoring you. Situation #5: Your employer expects you to take on extra work but your existing workload is already very heavy. Situation #6: You make a mistake at work and your supervisor tells you off in a very abrupt and angry manner.   For more on assertiveness group therapy activities and passive Aggressive behavior in the workplace, explore this infographic from Visme.

Stress management is a frequent topic on LinkedIn and so many have shared their wonderful exercises and activities. Here are some that stood out as most “liked.” Stress Management Activities 1. Stress for Success This is a useful exercise to explore the importance of creating systems, staying organized, mindfulness, not trying to do too much at once. IMPLEMENTATION: Ask participants to stand and form circles of about five to eight people. Give each group one stress ball. Let them know that each player must remember who they throw the ball to next. When you say, “go,” Player 1 will toss the ball to another team member. Players should continue passing the ball from person to person until everyone on the team has received the ball just once. (Do not have them throw to the same person twice until all members have gotten it first.) The last person in the group to receive the ball should toss it back to Player 1. Remembering the original sequence of tosses, the team should circulate the ball again, a little faster the second time. Repeat the sequence until that group has it down pat. When they do, introduce another ball—then another, and then another, until you have 5-6 balls in rotation. It will become quite a circus when balls start dropping and rolling, but encourage them to pick them up and keep going. FACILITATING THE EXERCISE: If there is only one group, you can be part of the group. However, if you have more than one group, you should move around the room and feed them extra balls. PROCESSING: After about five minutes, have everyone sit down and identify what they can learn from the activity. Strategy – besides understanding the difficulty of juggling so many balls, what did they learn they had to do to be successful? Mindfulness – How many thought of what they would eat for dinner, etc.? This is a great lesson on mindfulness, as people are totally in the present, and thus would be an ideal activity for DBT groups when addressing the subject of mindfulness. Overcommitting – Point out that life is like this activity—we all juggle many things at one time, sometimes taking on more than we can handle. When we do, we tend to “drop the ball.” Focus – We need to stay focused on the task at hand. If we focus too much on the past, the stress balls will pound and bombard us if we are not alert. Posted online by Judith Belmont 2. Straw Activity Take a straw and place it horizontally on the table. Now hold both ends firmly and start twisting them in such a manner that they overlap each other and form an air bubble at the center. Now ask a volunteer to step forward and burst the straw air bubble with a thumb or finger (as if hitting the stricker on the carrom board). The bubble with burst and will create a lot of noise. Debrief: Human beings are like straws, bottling up stress & tension, which we consider as a part of our lives and routine, we become fragile over a period of time and with the slightest ‘tick’ will burst. It’s healthy to admit and recognize your individual triggers to de-stress, which allows us to bounce back!!! Posted online by Pooja Whig 3. Start talking! A useful starting point may be to introduce a tool such as the stress drivers questionnaire that the whole team can do together and to use this as a basis for starting a conversation. Posted online by Deryl Dix 4. Stress Management Thumball – a Stress Management Activity FAVORITE! The Stress-Management Thumball is an excellent way to initiate conversations about the causes and remedies of stress. See sample discussion prompts here. 5. Consider the Consequences One interesting thing about stress is that in 90% of cases there isn’t anything to actually stress you up, but the very thought gives stress. And it’s all cooked up stories in our own minds. For example, I have yet not shared my report with the boss, but since I know him to be really crooked, I keep thinking about his various possible reactions and consequently get stressed. Here is an activity that helps to understand that: Ask participants to think about something that gives them stress. Ask them to think about various consequences and reactions that might take place. They keep thinking about the same for approximately 5 minutes. You may give them directions to intensify the thought. All of a sudden SAY – Stop thinking. Ask them how do they feel. Ask- has anything of that yet happened? And so stress in most cases is just your own mental makeup. The more you think about something, the more stress it will cases. The important step here is to catch yourself while cooking stressful thoughts and remind yourself that nothing has happened yet. So let’s just prepare. Posted online by Richa Sahay 6. Help from Colleagues This exercise works best with a team that already works together. I use it halfway through the day – usually after lunch. Get everyone to write their name at the top of a piece of paper. Then add the following:- What I need my colleagues to do when I’m stressed is …. (fill in the blank) What I need my colleagues NOT to do when I’m stressed is … (fill in the blank) The information is collated and every member of the team is given a copy for future reference. I have seen huge turnarounds with teams using this exercise. The understanding that occurs through discussion in the workshop is amazing because people recognize very quickly that we all have different needs and should never assume that what you need/don’t need is the same as for others. Posted online by Gail Page 7. Quick Calm Deep Breathing Exercises Quick Calm is an easy deep-breathing exercise that I use with every audience. I have an audio demo of it on my homepage: https://www.thestresscoach.com There’s a trainer-friendly video demo of the same technique along with other exercises on my YouTube channel (accessible via the YT icon on the homepage). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoPD0cVquPo Posted online by Jordan Friedman 8. Take your Stress Temperature I start a workshop by asking participants to put a “dot” (I use a red circle sticky) on a thermometer drawn on a flip chart that represents their stress level as they begin the workshop. At the bottom, write “Centered and Calm.” At the top, write “About to Explode.” Add other descriptors as you see fit. At the end of the workshop, I ask them to place a blue dot on the same thermometer for their current stress level. It’s interesting to see the shift towards the bottom of the thermometer. I emphasize that it doesn’t take a lot of techniques to better manage stress, but that when we ARE stressed when we most need to practice the techniques, we may “forget” to do any of them. I then have them identify the 1, 2, or 3 techniques or tools we covered that they feel best “fit them” and have them plan for how they WILL use them. Posted online by Vicki Legman 9. Taking Control – Stress and the Body On a flipchart, you draw the shape of the human body and draw in different colors where stress affects the body i.e. tension in the neck, stomach aches, chest pains, etc. Invite participants to do the same, it allows the participants to see what stress is actually doing to their bodies and how much they put themselves through. Also discussed is what we like to do for ourselves and how we can build these things into our lives to help alleviate the stress. Posted online by Catherine Conlon 10. Stress Wheel I use the wheel approach (similar to the performance wheel used in coaching) to measure a person’s stress. I ask the audience to name causes of stress and ask them to note these down on the blank wheel handout provided, scoring 0 – 10 (0 being stressed – 10 not an issue). Some examples have been ‘relationships at work, relationships at home, salary, workload pressures, personal finances and so on. Individuals choose 6 that are pertinent to them and then complete the wheel. This allows participants to identify their key areas of stress. Participants are asked to share with the person next to them initially. Further into the program we look at tools and techniques to cope with the stressors identified on the wheel. This approach allows the audience to deal with ‘real time’ issues. Posted online by Jane Worthington 11. Practice… Ask your group to make a list of all the things they can think of that make them angry. Next to each trigger, have them write the reaction that they ‘already’ do. Then, ask them to write the reaction they ‘wish’ to do. They can discuss the reaction and ‘wish’ with you and their training-mates if they choose. Then they can spend some time visualizing moments where one of the anger triggers happened and reverse the situation replacing the action they usually do with the action they wish to do. They can practice this for just 5 minutes daily… Posted online by Doaa K (Trainer’s Box) 12. Balloons!. Use a large balloon and a drawing pin. Tell people that you are going to pop it at some point during the period, but you are not going to tell them when. Then you can ask how they feel, and engage in a discussion about the different anxieties that build up before a person actually feels “stressed.” Posted online by Paul M. I’ve used balloons for getting people to blow their stress into the balloons and then either let them go outside OR pop them. This helps them feel as if they are taking back control. Another option is to have them draw symbols on the balloons, representing how they feel. Posted online by Gail Page 13. Pressing their Buttons If yo have an hour or so, you can have people make “buttons” as in, the things that press their “buttons” and produce stress. Start with listing specifically what their button issues are, then get them to construct their buttons out of a variety of crafts and office materials, then they can wear them, and encounter each other to describe what’s on their buttons. It’s a great lighthearted and creative way to own what bugs us on a daily basis! Posted online by Kymberly Dakin 14. Trigger Points Have each participant list 3 priority stress areas which they find difficult to handle. Ask them not to write their name on the list. Later, shuffle and distribute the lists. Have participants read the list he/she received and ask them to share how they would handle those stressful situations. Posted online by Ashok NaraYanan 15. Pass the Cup of Water Have your group stand and give them a half-full cup of water to pass around. Instruct the group to pass the cup around clockwise or counterclockwise. When you think they’re ready, add another cup of water . . . then another . . . and soon another. As the group continues, increase the challenge: take some half-full cups out of the rotation and add 3/4-full cups, add more cups, and ask a few people to step out of the circle, making the group smaller. Pretty soon you will find that each person still in the circle has two cups each and is continuing to pass them around faster and faster. Then call “stop.” Debrief: Have the group discuss how they all felt about the people who were in the room, about passing the water (which was in this case the customer in the call queue) how they felt about being pulled out of the circle, how they felt about being in the circle and having to pass things faster and faster with few people. The use of water is effective because while mostly un-harmful there is something inherently fearful about spilling it that is human nature. Those who do step out of the circle, they may assume that they can’t jump back in to help. It creates a very rich discussion. Posted online by Thomas Cameron Read More… Tackling Stress Management at Work Stress Management Worries vs. Warriors Leadership Activities for Challenging Times 10 Viable Solutions to Manage Workplace Stress  

Emotional intelligence, acceptance, empathy, and understanding are hot topics in companies, schools, and homes around the world. Some folks are just gaining awareness of the implicit bias and prejudice surrounding them. Others have grown up with it. Well-crafted diversity games allow groups of all kinds to address diversity, equity, and inclusion topics with sensitivity and appreciation of differences. Following is a synopsis of various fun diversity activities our colleagues have posted online. Before we get into any specifics about these DEI games, we should remember Lee Duffy’s words of wisdom: “When facilitating any activity to do with diversity, it is so important to be prepared for strong emotional responses from participants, as you dig and get to the bottom of issues such as bias and inequity, which is where these activities invariably head. People don’t like having the things that make them human exposed in public forums generally.” Diversity Thumball The Diversity Thumball is one of our favorite diversity games that tackles a tough topic with smarts and sensitivity. Thumball™ is a soft 6″ stuffed vinyl ball that looks like a soccer ball and has 32 panels pre-printed with questions suited for adults and teens. Toss it around in a group and ask participants to share their reactions to whatever prompt lies under their thumb. Samples of discussion prompts for this fun diversity activity include: When did you first become aware of racial/ethnic differences? Share a situation when you were in the minority Describe a time you witnessed discrimination Your best experience with a person of a different race/ethnicity What makes you different from others in this game? How do your thoughts about diversity differ from your parents? Describe a time you experienced prejudice Where do you see prejudice? How do you respond to jokes that are demeaning or derogatory? Why do you seek out people similar to you as friends? Do you feel your friends are more similar or dissimilar to you? If you prefer not to toss a ball in this diversity game, pick a prompt from an UNZiP-IT! Deck or Remote PowerPoint Diversity Deck. Community Puzzle This DEI game is one of the most fun diversity activities to try. With the Community Puzzle or Community Mosaic, have players illustrate a blank puzzle piece with colors, shapes, patterns, pictures, or designs representing an aspect of themselves. Have them present and explain their puzzle piece illustrations to the rest of the group. Assemble the puzzle for an instant “tapestry” reflecting the diversity of the participants. A picture’s worth… Choose a favorite deck of photographic cards for this diversity game and have participants choose a card that uniquely… Reflects current emotions or feelings Represents an aspect of their personality Reminds them of a meaningful or memorable experience Once participants have chosen a card, you can have them share its meaning with the whole group or conduct a “pair and share,” where they share the card’s meaning with just one other participant. In fact, photographic card decks have endless possibilities as a diversity game! Face Value For this non-verbal fun diversity activity, all you need for this one is a deck of cards. Before beginning, explain to the group that you will be handing each participant a card, and they are not to look at their own card. Participants will treat each other based on the card’s value without using verbal cues. For example, if a person has a high-value card, you may want to bow, or if someone has a low-value card, you might want to snub them. Hand each participant of this diversity game a card. Explain that when they are told, participants are to put their card on their forehead (without looking at it). Once everyone has a card, have the group put the cards on their foreheads. Begin this DEI game by letting the group mingle for 3 to 5 minutes (for a large group, you might need to add a few extra minutes). After a few minutes of mingling, have the participants form groups based on what they think is the value of their card. High cards on one side, low cards on the other, and middle cards in the middle. Once each group is formed, participants may look at their cards. Debrief questions for the Face Value Diversity Game: How did you know if you were a high card? Low card? Middle Card? How did you treat high cards? Low cards? Middle cards? Who decided which cards are more valuable than others? How about Aces? Are they high cards or low cards? How were they treated? How does this activity relate to how we communicate in everyday life? How do we treat people that we do not know how to value? NOTES: Potential challenges to conducting this fun diversity activity: For smaller groups, you may have to choose the cards rather than hand out cards at random. To play this diversity game, ensure a good mix of high, low, and middle cards is available and include at least one ace. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to answer. Participants need to look at how they actually reacted rather than how they think they should have reacted or will react in the future. Source: Michelle Cummings, M.S. Playing With a Full Deck. United States: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2007. Posted online by Monica Miller Share a story Everyone has had times when they felt they didn’t “fit in.” (This is one of the diversity games where you can share a personal story.) Then say, “Think back to a time when you felt different. Everyone has felt different…. no matter who they are, where they lived, or how they grew up.” Then ask, “What happened? How did you feel? What did you do? How did you overcome it? Encourage sharing in small groups first, then poll the group. Apply/summarize what they say about diversity. Posted online by Chris Corrado Mr. Potato Head I use Mr. Potato Heads for this diversity game. We have a collection of over 50 and a bunch of pieces and parts for our DEI games. In the end, they are all Mr. Potato Heads but all very different. The classes generally fun. Then, when you line them all up, you get a nice visual of the diversity, too. Posted online by Gary Higgins, Ed.D Danger of Labels I have used an exercise as one of our fun diversity activities, where you print out labels for everyone. Some say, “I never pay attention,” ”I disagree with everybody,” etc. Put the labels on the person’s forehead without them reading it. Then have interaction to see if they can figure out what their personality is. This diversity game opens a discussion on how we perceive different people and how we treat them accordingly. Posted online by Deborah Chandler The Single Story After discussing how we form perceptions and how they lead to stereotypes, I use the movie clip by Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian novelist who has given a talk on TED.com called ‘The danger of the single story.” It is a beautiful 15-minute talk on stereotypes and the impact of having single stories about people and places. Then I start our game by asking people to share in small groups: How their narrative has been misunderstood by others. How they have misunderstood others’ stories. To share something of their story that others do not know. How they can go about avoiding single stories about others. I have been amazed at how people open up and share meaningfully. The talk is easily downloaded from www.TED.com. Posted online by Heidi Pasques MORE DIVERSITY GAMES & ACTIVITIES We keep adding new ideas for DEI games and fun diversity activities. If you have favorites, please share them with the group!

I’ll say it again. I love the Olympics! I love watching the athletes’ concentration, performance, and emotions. I’m fascinated by how the human body adapts to different sports. I wonder at that commitment and training it takes to become an Olympic athlete. I’ve also thought about all of the positive learning attributes are associated with the Olympics and considered what we could do in our training centers to build off the energy, excitement, and excellence of the games. How can we bring Olympics-Inspired Learning into our training rooms and classrooms? NOTE: The Tokyo 2021 Summer Games have inspired me to update the post! To me, the Olympic spirit symbolizes these winning (and classroom-appropriate) qualities: Hard work Persistence Determination Mental and Physical health So the question is, how can we bring the Olympic spirit into the classroom? Olympics-Inspired Learning — Get in the spirit! Go ahead and play the Olympic Fanfare to energize your group. Olympics-Inspired Icebreaker Questions If you could do one Olympic sport, which would it be and why? If you could view any Olympic event live, which would it be? What would be the best thing and worst thing about training for the Olympics? If you could invent an Olympic event (sport) that doesn’t yet exist, what would it be? Olympics-Inspired Training Activities  Go for the Gold – Create a series of questions. Start with “Olympic Trials” and gradually work up to the final event. Award your Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists. The Olympics Commentator – Challenge teams to come up with an Olympic-style Commentary on their interaction with your course content. They can discuss how they got started with the material; where they ran into adversity; how they overcame it; what led to their success. Leadership and Coaching – Discuss what makes Olympic coaches effective. How do they respond to their athletes when they succeed? Do coaches respond differently when the athletes don’t perform at their best? How do they prepare them for adversity? Team Excellence – Ask the group to reflect on high-performing Olympic teams. What makes them successful. The Google Project Aristotle study, suggests that team performance is more about “psychological safety” than having the top-performing individuals on the team? Is the same true in the Olympics? How did gymnast Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from certain events affect the success of the team?  

A long long time ago, Trainers Warehouse used to sell humongous nine-inch dice as a training tool. The product lost popularity, probably because they were a little too big, but the notes we created back then on ways to use dice in training still offer some good ideas. When I saw a question posted on LinkedIN about “Activities using dice,” I decided to dig through the archives and find those old notes. I’ll continue to add new ideas as they’re shared. Some of the the ideas shared below would require customizable dice. 1) Game Board Advancer Toss die to generate the number of spaces to advance on a game board. For this use, you might number the writeable card sections from 1 to 4 and then include one or two spaces that say “Back one space” or “Advance 2 spaces.” 2) Game Points Awarder Toss die to determine how many points the next question will be worth. Using this method, you can either have players advance this number of spaces on a game board, or simply tally the number of points each team accumulates. For added fun, label one section “Double the points of your next toss.” 3) Question Selector When playing a question-and-answer game, toss die to select which category of questions to ask each group. The die toss determines the topic from which the question will be asked. If the team responds correctly, points are added to their tally. If they respond incorrectly, points will be deducted. To add additional excitement, add either a “Bonus” question category – valued at double point value – or “Lose a turn.” Another variation is to add “Pass” cards. Simply hand out 2 “Pass” cards to each team. If a team decides to use one of these cards, they do not have to respond to the question and risk losing points. Instead, they can choose a competing team to pass along the question. The receiving team will have points awarded or deducted, depending on the quality of their response. 4) Prize Winner Selector Assign each player a number or use a numbered roster that has been copied to a transparency and can be projected on your training wall. For this application, you would create as many “write-able cards” as you have players. If you have multiple prizes, divide your group into teams and select one team to receive the grab bag of prizes. 5) Contestant Selector Toss die to select a player or a team to answer a question or complete a task. Simply assign numbers to each participating member or team. 6) Time Selector Toss die to select the amount of time teams have to complete a task or the amount of minutes of the next class break. 7) Letter Selector Toss die to select a letter from the alphabet. Allow the tossing team to pick a discussion topic that begins with this letter. (Option: Use a second tosser to determine how many minutes will be spent on this topic.) The group that “got” the letter will either lead a discussion on that topic or present their thoughts on that topic. 8) Discussion Starter Create a toss die with six of your own topics for discussion. Toss die to select which topic will be discussed. Alternatively, prepare a set of 10 to 12 questions for each topic. Then, divide the group into teams and let each team toss the die to determine which question category they must answer. If they respond correctly they get to advance 1 space on the board or receive a designated number of chips or points. If they respond incorrectly, this completes their turn. Consider “upping the ante” by designating a number of points for each question, depending on its difficulty. 9) Scenario Creator This application requires 2 Dice.For die 1, prepare a range of ‘subjects’ such as: customer, manager, client, etc.For die 2, prepare a range of ‘issues’ such as: invoice, performance appraisal, delivery date, progress report, co-worker, etc.Then have a team toss each die to select and report on their random scenario. All of the above is © Trainers Warehouse. Written by Susan Doctoroff Landay, 1998. 10) Selling Skills Activity Prasad Narayan Susarla offered these additional suggestions. I use dice in communication and selling skills training effectively. Give a dice to the participants and ask them to roll the dice to draw a 6. Let them record the number of attempts they needed to roll a 6. Continue this activity for a couple of minutes to average out the number of attempts needed. (I run this for 5 minutes Ask them what it would take to improve their chances of rolling a 6 in lesser attempts. List out their thoughts on a flip chart. Now hand them another dice and repeat the exercise and let them find if their chances of rolling a 6 have improved. After 3 minutes, record their findings. Ask them once again what would it take to further improve their chances of rolling a 6 in fewer attempts. This time, the obvious answer would be another dice. Hand over another dice and let them find how drastically their chances of rolling a 6 has improved. Debrief for Communication Skills: Each dice represents a word. Increasing your vocabulary gives one the power and choice of using the right/appropriate word (rolling a 6) to communicate effectively. Debrief for Selling Skills : The more number of customer calls one makes (each dice representing a customer call) the better are ones chances of closing a sale (rolling a 6).  

When I read this idea I was struck by how versatile it could be. A great way to get your group up and moving, getting to know one another, and digging into their goals or the session content. The idea is that participants create a paper aircraft. They write their name on one wing and a question or expectation on the other wing (you can tailor this to your workshop needs). The idea was posted on the “Effective and Fun Training Techniques” LinkedIN group by Nandini Nayar Sharma. The Take-Off Have the group sit in any classroom formation you like. Give them each a sheet of paper and ask them to fold their sheet into a paper airplane or aircraft. Then have them write their name on one wing, and on the other, they could write one question or expectation pertaining to the program they’re attending. Now tell the class to get their aircraft ready for take off and blow the whistle. They need to fly their planes towards each other making sure it’s not a short flight to the guy next door. It’s fun to watch the planes go all over the place, crashing, lifting up high etc. Next, explain that this was a test flight and everyone needs to pick up one aircraft each again, and this time the take-offs must be simultaneous. You can get them to do this 3 -5 times. Creates a bit of buzz and laughter in the room. Each person reads out the name and question on the aircraft and you get to the who’s who. As a trainer, you can either manage the expectations through this activity or get the aircraft fixed on the walls with blutack, informing the class that we will come back to base (the wall) during and at the end of the workshop and answer the questions asked. This helps review the learning and how well the participants have absorbed concepts etc. Another “take” on the Take-Off exercise would be to have folks write reinforcement questions on the second wing. When participants pick up an aircraft they can read off the name, question, and give their answer. If they can answer correctly, they get a point; or they can hand it off to the group for a discussion.

In our LinkedIN group, Effective and Fun Training Techniques, Noreen Clifford recently posed a question about competitive games: Here’s a challenge! I’m looking for a 5 minute competitive exercise that gets people working together, but also challenges them. So many great ideas have come from the discussion, that I wanted to collect them and make them more available for our reference. Many thanks to all who contributed! Competitive Games for Teams and Workplaces Helium Stick This is quick activity that promises to be fun. I usually break my groups into two teams to add the element of competition. The challenge if for teams to rest a long thin plastic rod on every participant’s index fingers and slowly lower the stick to the ground. If anyone loses contact with the rod, the group must begin again. Although these can be hard to travel with, Helium Sticks that fold down like a tent pole are available from Trainers Warehouse. Alternative: As an alternative to helium stick you can use hula hoops. The dynamic is different because they face each other. I try to have 6 or 7 per hoop and of course, you can get the hoops anywhere. Posted online by Larry Riggs Alternatively, you can look for 2-6′ plastic rods used to hold balloons at a party supply store] Posted online by Tammy Rahamut Missing Piece Get a fairly simple picture and photocopy it onto a fairly heavy card. On the back draw random lines to make a homemade jigsaw of 7 to 9 pieces. They should each be different having unique pieces. Cut up the pieces, then take the middle piece from each jigsaw and swap them so that none of the pictures will quite work out. Put each jigsaw in a zip lock bag. Either in teams or as individuals it is a race to see who completes theirs first. Eventually, they realize that they have to ask others to find their missing piece. Posted online by Dorothy Persic Human Knot Have two groups of 8-10 people stand in a circle shoulder to shoulder. They all reach their right hand into the circle and grab someone else’s hand (WHO’S NOT STANDING NEXT TO THEM)… Then do the same with the left hand-the left hand must grab someone different than the right hand. Then the exercise is to get untangled without letting go of one another’s hands. If you pit two teams against each other and see who can do it fastest, it quickly builds in some competition. You can have the groups do it twice. The first time around, have them do the exercise without speaking. Then let them do it using words. It’s a great example of communication, team building, and leaders emerge as well. You can also see who is more strategic in their thinking and who is more tactical. Posted online by Beth Standlee Photo Finish I found this one in Feeding the Zircon Gorilla . All you need is a rope for the Finish Lin and maybe a Polaroid or Digital Camera (optional). The objective is for everyone on the team to cross the finish line at exactly the same time. Instructions: Everyone must start behind the starting line and go toward the finish line and cross the finish line at exactly the same time. If someone finishes before or after anyone else, the whole team tries again from behind the starting line. The team has an unlimited number of tries.Teams like it because it shows how we can think the task is so simple and we can get it done without much fuss; yet, that tricky human stuff gets in the way. I’ve always had a rich debrief at the end of this exercise. Posted online by Bill Woodruff Get them to Draw it — Discover assumptions Give one person a piece of paper that has a circle, a square, and a triangle drawn on it touching each other. Be sure to hold the paper so that the group cannot see what is on it. Tell that person their task: to get the group to draw what’s on the paper without using words to describe a shape (such as circle, square, box, triangle, pyramid etc.) After a few minutes of them being unsuccessful, take the drawing and turn to the group, show them the paper, and say “Draw this.” This demonstrates that we all bring assumptions based on past experiences to current tasks, which can impede our success. (I never said the group couldn’t be shown the paper) Posted online by Bruce Cooper Another variation: Draw random shapes on a page (squares, triangles, oblongs – doesn’t matter). Have some of the shapes touch each other, intersect, run parallel, different sizes etc. – you can let your imagination run wild. Don’t make it too simple and put a couple of unusual shapes in there too. Pair everyone off and have them sit back to back. Give one of the pair the page with the shapes and the other a blank piece of paper and a pen. The mission is for the person with the blank piece of paper to replicate the shape drawing as accurately as possible.The pairs can’t look at each other during the exercise – all they have are their voices and they can speak freely to each other during the exercise – ask each other questions etc. Give them 5-10 minutes only. Very few pairs manage to get the picture exactly right and some very funny results emerge! This exercise generates some great discussion around the importance of listening skills, questioning skills, paraphrasing, interpretation, giving accurate instructions, having a clear voice, etc. It’s particularly effective for staff who customarily talk to customers over the phone. Posted online by Sharon Ritchie Object memory Create a list of at least 30 words. They can be words related to your topic, or just random words of things (iPod, pencil, cell phone, candy, rock, etc.). Project the list on the screen, give everyone 1 minute to remember as many words as they can. After 1 minute, hide the list on the screen and ask people to write down as many words as they remember. See who can remember the most. Next ask people to share their list with one or two other people to come up with a master list. They will quickly see they remember more words when they collaborate. Debrief and discuss assumptions about working individually vs. collaborating. Posted online by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D. Arm Wrestle In this quick and easy activity, pairs are set up in what looks like an arm wrestle challenge. It’s up to each team of players whether they approach it as a “wrestle” or as an opportunity to create more value for both. The debrief uncovers our tendency to make assumptions and approach negotiations as a win-lose game. More here… Group Juggling Maybe you could shorten this one to five minutes. Start with one ball, in groups of 7 or more (I’ve done it with 19), ideally an odd number. Groups of five will make it much easier and quicker, for reasons you’ll see below. The challenge is to figure out a way to keep as many balls in the air as possible. As soon as they add a second ball, they’ll see the need to communicate and problem-solve. At some point, two balls will come to the same person. Setting the rule that you can’t throw to the person next to you, how many balls can the group juggle? Throwing and catching one ball with two hands, the group should be able to keep the same number in the air as the number of the people in the group (plus one, if they don’t through simultaneously). Here’s the most common “solution” to maximizing the number of balls in the air:1) They figure out that they have to throw to the same person every time, then2) They figure out they need to keep their eyes on the person throwing to you, then3) They may figure out that the optimum path of the ball is a star pattern, although I’ve seen overlapping loops (especially a group with even numbers of jugglers). Pit groups against each other. Typically the group that listens and integrates ideas well beats a group with a dominant “leader”, just as in the knot exercise. Posted online by James Foley You’re listening . . . are you paying attention? After people have been working together for a while I ask them to stand back to back and describe what the other is wearing. It creates a lot of energy and laughing because they realise that although they have been in a workshop for an hour or longer, they haven’t really paid attention to or observed others properly. It takes only a couple of minutes but feedback is good. Posted online by Heather McLaughlin Alphabet Exercise Allocate a number of letters of the alphabet to each group. Give them 5 minutes to point to as many objects in the room as possible, which begin with one of their allocated letters. With no real rules, you’ll find that people get very creative. They’ll bring items in from outside the room, point to body parts, empty handbags, etc. Creates great energy and fun. Posted online by Noreen Clifford Create an advertisement Divide the participants into groups of four or five. Each group is given some unusual product for which they must create an advertisement. Time for preparation is about five minutes. Then they come together to design a script and decide their roles. It creates a lot of fun. I often amaze at their creativity. Posted online by Suresh Kumar Assemble the quote Preparation: For a group of 30 people, print 5 or 6 quotes or phrases on a paper (i.e. Face that launched a thousand ships; Fools rush in where angels fear to tread; Picture is worth a thousand words; Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely; etc.) and cut that printed paper so that each word of each phrase is a separate piece of paper. Fold up each of these 30 or so bits of paper and give one to each participant. Activity: When you say “go,” have everyone simultaneously open their folded paper, then move around the room and find other words related to a possible phrase, from people in the room and try to complete the phrases. When they have feel they created a phrase, they can check in with the facilitator. This involves people to suddenly get energized, both in mind and body. Posted online by Vikas Chandwani Teach a dance step For any “working together” exercise I split into teams (minimum of 3 participants in each team) and get them to teach each other a dance step (each team has a different step). Really easy stuff, gets them working and to a deadline. They have to rotate the teacher to the other teams so in the end they all know all of the steps. People love it. If you have anyone with a disability they can still do it with verbal instruction or make them all teach it with verbal instruction only, it’s even funnier! Posted online by Jane Bowen Human Pipeline I just facilitated “Pipeline Challenge” for a team of 14. Split the group into two teams of 7. Give a golf ball, plus 4 or 5 “pipe” sections (if you don’t want to purchase half pipes, you can use folded cardboard and some mailing tubes) to each team. Each team had to get the ball through the pipe from point A to B, which should be a distance larger than the sum of the pipe sections. To accomplish this, each person must hold a piece of the pipe at least once and they can’t stop the ball once it begins moving. (To complete the task, team members have to figure out how to pass pipe pieces down the line so the ball can keep moving). Then I had them join up as one group, took out a few pipe pieces, and had them try it as a unified team. The activity brings up a lot of good points on how to communicate (effectively or poorly, depending on how they did), and how to identify and handle stress. They find all kinds of analogies with work (i.e. “keep the ball moving,” “know what’s coming down the pipe,” etc. View versions of it on YouTube. Posted online by Sapna Padte Knot or No Knot I use a 20′ blue and white rope but you can use a single color and a different length. When the group is not looking or before they arrive I put the rope in a lump on the floor. The object is to get the group to make a unanimous decision. When they pull the ends there will be a knot or not? In almost every case there will be those who feel strongly one way or another. One very important part is to have the group decide on a consequence if they get it wrong. Make it something silly but something they really don’t want to do. If any feel strongly but decide to go along with the group that’s when I start with the questions. “What if I gave you the final say? Would you still go along with the group? What if the consequence was severe? What would it take to get you to stand your ground?” With rope games, the supplies are inexpensive and the possibilities are endless. With the right questions, you can produce some great processing opportunities. Posted online by Larry Riggs Seeing the Point In the Seeing the Point puzzle each individual or small team has 7 pieces and is simply asked to create a number of identical shapes using the components supplied. The first few are relatively easy, but getting that last shape requires creativity and collaboration, as it can only be made once players look at the “negative space” between two shapes. The exercise brings to life a common issue facing many teams –being asked to do more with less, and then hearing “it can’t be done!” from your team members. It’s also an interesting and engaging way of introducing the concepts of ‘alignment’ and ‘synergy’: the solution to the puzzle is a visual representation of ‘doing more with less’. Posted online by Susan Landay

Last week, as a member of the National E-tailing and Mailing Organization of America (NEMOA), I conducted a breakfast roundtable for a group of small business owners. Typically at breakfast roundtables, you sit with one table of eight to ten people and stay there for the duration of the event. You are only privy to the conversation at your own table. I wanted to create an environment where people could engage in discussions around several topics, meet more people, and get the highlights of what others had talked about at the other tables too. And just like that, the “Roundtable Roulette,” an amazing, fluid, content-relevant, large group icebreaker, was born. Roundtable Roulette Preparation: My first question was about what topics to cover. To answer this question, I sent out a survey before the event, asking several questions about the top issues facing this group of small business owners. With the data, I was able to devise spot-on table topics and create table signage in advance. Facilitation: I began by presenting the results of the survey and highlighting some of my observations (while they ate breakfast). Next, I explained how the “roulette” would work and introduced the topics in the following manner: Explanation Tell participants they will have 10 minutes (or 15 minutes — I found 10 to be a little brief) at each of 2 (or 3) tables of their choice. Explain that participants will have three tasks: 1) quickly introduce themselves; 2) select a note-keeper; 3) discuss challenges and best practices regarding their topic. Let folks know they will repeat this process 2 or 3 times, and that all discussion highlights will be shared at the end of the session. (Don’t forget to equip note-takers with flip charts, tabletop easels, index cards, or note pads). Review the table topics. If you come prepared with too many, quickly survey the group by a show of hands to find out which are most popular. Table Topic Discussions For the first round, have folks stay at the table where they ate, and tell them to begin. Be sure to announce time as it’s running down, so they can plan accordingly. Alert the group when time is up, and instruct them each to find a new table. When all are settled into their new tables, have them begin their roundtable — intros, note-keeper selection and discussion. If time allows, repeat for a third round. Review At the end of the session, go topic-by-topic and have note-keepers (or other participants), share the best practices and suggestions. Record these on a flip chart, take notes, or collect the notes, so that you can circulate them later. Notes and Facilitation Options Be sure to gauge your group as the roundtable is going on. You won’t know how they are doing unless you walk around and listen in. You may need to adjust the time up or down depending on how long the “quick” introductions take. If folks are having trouble moving from “challenges” to “solutions” You might also need to specifically ask groups to come up with 3 concrete suggestions. You might also choose to have tables record their suggestions on a flip chart, tabletop whiteboard, or on index cards, so they can more easily be shared later.  

Although Trainers Warehouse doesn’t focus on many content-specific board games, I’ve come across a few really good ones recently. I’ll continue to add to this list as I learn of more. Admittedly, these aren’t all “Board” games, but they’re off-the-shelf, ready-to-play.NOTE: prices are listed as they are understood at the time of posting. They may be subject to change. Business Education BIZ WIZ® – a business education game, teaching business overview, serving customers, measuring success, financing, operations, forecasting and more. (the Universal, self-study edition is $59.90; the simulation is $1295.) Cash Flow 101: How to get out of the Rat Race, by Robert Kiyosaki – a cash flow, financial independence game; includes 3 CDs and a true-to-life board game that teaches you how to invest. ($195) Communication and Listening Colourblind – by RSVP Design Wearing blindfolds to ensure total dependence upon the quality of their verbal communication, and holding a collection of small, irregular, coloured plastic shapes, a group works together to gather information that will allow them to solve a puzzle. For groups between 4 and 28 players. ($424) Challenging Assumptions – by RSVP Design So simple but such a powerful message! This activity lasts between 10 and 20 minutes and is an ideal way of raising the awareness of a group of learners about the preconceptions and assumptions we bring into new situations. In the puzzle context, they make assumptions about what colors go together, about what side of the piece is the top, or about where corners and edges go. ($139) Teamwork Card Deck Challenges The four games in this category all use decks of “clue cards,” which participants are dealt. While players can verbally share what’s on their cards(s), in order to come to a team solution to the challenge, they may not show or trade their cards. Zin Obelisk – teams must work together to solve a complex problem (download notes and create-your-own cards) Counter Intelligence – by RSVP. Participants are dealt a few task cards, each of which contains one clue about the way a pile of colored tokens should be arranged to form a specific shape and distribution of colors. Information printed on the cards can only be shared verbally and must come up with their final solution within 15 minutes. ($111.00) Guess Who? – A team problem-solving challenge. There are two sets of 9 clue cards that provide enough information to solve each problem. When the information is shared, the problem can be solved. Most groups find a solution in less than 10 minutes. ($44.95) More Team Games Marble Maze – 6 people must lead a marble through this heavyweight, durable maze, without letting the marble fall into a trap. The 3 maze inserts differ in shape and difficulty, and the two varying-sized marbles keep the challenge exciting. ($146.00) Blindfold Maze – Teams must work together to uncover the invisible path on a large floor grid. Square by square, they move through the grid from start to finish, starting over each time an incorrect square is stepped on. Increase the difficulty by setting two teams against each other, or having them beat the clock. ($99.00) Project Management – Planning and Implementation Simbols – by RSVP Designs. Players receive printed coloured cards which have to be assembled, under challenging conditions and a tight time frame, into a specific, finished pattern. The participants must quickly establish an efficient method to describe the cards they’ve been dealt, then determine the correct way to lay them out. All interaction is verbal until the last minute, when it’s time to “launch” their solution, laying out the cards in correct pattern, before the deadline. Requires 45 minutes, plus debrief. ($525.00) Negotiation T-Trade (by RSVP Design; $509)  This exercise is designed to be used in a context in which business negotiations are important for success in achieving individual or organisational goals. It illustrates the need to build strong relationships between groups as they try to achieve individual goals, maintaining dialogue over a series of rounds as they negotiate for scarce resources. T-trade involves three groups, each trying to achieve the best business outcome for themselves but needing to ‘make deals’ with other groups in order to be successful. The exercise takes some time if the negotiation process is allowed to develop and build. The basic exercise needs 90 minutes, plus time for briefing and de-briefing. Ideal numbers are three teams of 3-6 people, each working in a separate location.