Management Games and Icebreakers

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Monday, July 28, 2014

Demonstrate Many Uses

"Demonstrate Many Uses" is a highly participative and fun exercise. You as a workshop leader can use it as a great energizer as well. Therefore it is quite apt for your afternoon sessions when the participants generally develop some sluggishness.

The exercise is most appropriate for sessions on brainstorming technique, creativity, teamwork, team building, synergy, intragroup communication, presentation skill etc.

Divide the participants of your training workshop so that each group can have around 5 to 7 persons. Use the random grouping method earlier described in the management exercise titled “Pass the Message” at URL http://management-games-icebreakers.blogspot.com/search/label/Pass%20the%20Message

Ask each group to choose a person in the group to document the ideas generated by the group members. Let him also act as the group's coordinator. Allot a serial number to each group. Better still if the group members can discuss among themselves and coin funny sounding names for their group.

Handover to each group coordinator one of the following items, thus giving each group a different item:

A chalk stick
A paper container
A paper towel
A handkerchief
A plastic scale
A foot long string
A marker pen

If you have more groups you can decide on similar additional items of everyday use.

Now instruct the participants to work in their respective groups. In each group the members should brainstorm to think of many usages of the item given to them. Encourage them to find as many uses of the items as they can think. Suggest them to go wild and out of the box in their thinking and imagination.

You may like to announce an award to the group that comes out with the largest number of uses.

Give them 15 minutes to complete the task. Stop them after the given time.

Now ask the groups to choose their presenters. The presenters should be good at not only in their verbal presentation but they should also be able to demonstrate the uses of the items in an interesting and hilarious manner.

At the end of each presentation ask all the members in the audience to suggest even more uses of that particular item. It will make the exercises still more interesting and participative.

After all the presentations are over, declare the winner and give an award to the winner group.

Ask the winner group as well as the other groups if they could have done still better and how. Ask them why they missed out to do those things in their group work?

Summarize what happened in the entire exercise. Share your observations with the participants. Provide any additional theoretical inputs you wish to impart to your participants related to the exercise.

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com

Additional Reading Opportunities

Alphabetic List of of Management Topics and Their Site URLs
(The term "management" here does not limit itself to just about business management but it encompasses management of all kinds of things like life management, home management, family management, health management, travel management, food management and so on).

Home Pages for All the Topics

1. (Home Pages for Brief Introduction to All the Business Management Topics) http://management-universe.blogspot.com/, http://management-universe-enotes.blogspot.com/ and http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com

2. (Home Page for All General and Psychological Counseling) http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/

3. (Home Page for All Home Tips: Home and Family Management) http://home-tips-tricks.blogspot.com/

4. (Home Page for All Products: Products Knowledge Management) http://products-all.blogspot.com/

Topics Starting with Numbers

(5S Housekeeping) http://5s-housekeeping.blogspot.com/
(5S Housekeeping at Home: Home Management) http://5s-housekeeping-home.blogspot.com/

Topics Starting with Alphabets

A
(ABC Analysis or Pareto Analysis or 80/20 Rule) http://abc-pareto-analysis.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2011/07/20/abc-analysis-or-pareto-analysis/
(Activity Based Costing- ABC) http://activitybased-costing.blogspot.com/
(Advertising) http://advertising-mass-communication.blogspot.com/
(Anecdotes in Management) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/
(Anger Management) http://controlling-anger.blogspot.com/
(Articles, blogs and knols of Shyam Bhatawdekar: Home Page) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com/
(Assertiveness) http://assertiveness-skill.blogspot.com/
(Assessment Centers) http://assessment-centers.blogspot.com/
(Authentic and Free Management Notes) http://authentic-management-notes.blogspot.com/
(A to Z of Management Systems) http://a-z-management-systems.blogspot.com/
(A to Z of Quality Techniques) http://a-z-quality-techniques.blogspot.com/

B
(Balanced Scorecard) http://balanced-scorecard-system.blogspot.com/
(Basic Statistics) http://statistics-basic.blogspot.com/
(Behavioral Safety) http://behavioral-safety.blogspot.com/
(Benchmarking) http://benchmarking-system.blogspot.com/
(Body Language or Non-verbal Communication) http://body-language-communication.blogspot.com/
(Books- Best Books) http://best-book-list.blogspot.com/
(Books- Best Management Books) http://best-management-books.blogspot.com/
(Boundaryless) http://shyambhatawdekar.blogspot.com/
(Brainstorming) http://brainstorming-technique.blogspot.com/
(Branding- Personal/Professional Branding http://professional-branding.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/
(Business Ethics and Ethics in Management) http://business-management-ethics.blogspot.com/
(Business Plan) http://business-plan-preparation.blogspot.com/
(Business Process Reengineering- BPR) http://business-process-reengineering-bpr.blogspot.com/

C
(Career Planning within Organizations) http://organizational-career-planning.blogspot.com/
(Case Method) http://case-method.blogspot.com/
(Case Studies in Management) http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/
(CEO Roles, Qualities and Competencies) http://ceo-qualities.blogspot.com/
(Change Management) http://manage-change.blogspot.com/
(Child Development: Stories for Children) http://stories-children.blogspot.com/
(Children’s Behavior Problems: Family Management) http://child-behavior-problems.blogspot.com/
(Coaching) http://coaching-skill.blogspot.com/
(Communication) http://communication-for-business.blogspot.com/
(Competencies- Life Management) http://shyam-bhatawdekar.blogspot.com/
(Competency Matrix/Competency Mapping: Success by Building Competencies/Skills) http://competency-matrix-mapping.blogspot.in/
(Competency Mapping) http://competency-map.blogspot.com/
(Competency Matrix) http://competency-matrix.blogspot.com/
(Conflict Management) http://manage-conflict.blogspot.com/
(Corporate Governance) http://corporate-governance-policy.blogspot.com/
(Cost Management) http://cost-management-control.blogspot.com/
(Cost of Quality- COQ) http://cost-of-quality.blogspot.com/
(Counseling at Workplace)http://counseling-skill.blogspot.com/
(Counseling: Psychological) http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/
(Creativity- Out of Box Articles) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/
(Creativity and Innovation) http://creativity-management.blogspot.com/
(Critical Thinking skills) http://critical-thinking-skills.blogspot.com/
(Cross Cultural Etiquette and Manners) http://cross-cultural-etiquette.blogspot.com/
(Customer Orientation) http://customer-orientation.blogspot.com/
(Customer Relationship management- CRM) http://customer-relationship-crm.blogspot.com/

D
(Daily Management) http://daily-management.blogspot.com/
(Decision Making) http://decision-making-role.blogspot.com/
(Delegation) http://delegation-skill.blogspot.com/

(Democracy) http://democracy-liberation.blogspot.com/
(Design for Manufacture) http://design-for-manufacture.blogspot.com/
(Dining Etiquette and Table Manners) http://dining-manners.blogspot.com/
(Discipline at Work) http://discipline-at-work.blogspot.com/

E
(Effectiveness and Efficiency) http://effectiveness-efficiency.blogspot.com/
(Effectiveness Management: HSoftware) http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/
(Efficiency Techniques: Work study: Motion and Time Study) http://work-study-measurement.blogspot.com/
(Efficient Work Methods or Practices) http://efficient-work-methods.blogspot.com/
(Email Etiquette) http://email-etiquette-manners.blogspot.com/
(Emotions) http://emotion-feeling.blogspot.com/
(Emotional Intelligence) http://emotional-quotient-intelligence.blogspot.com/
(Empowerment) http://employee-empowerment.blogspot.com/
(Enterprise Resource Planning- ERP) http://erp-management.blogspot.com/
(Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur) http://entrepreneurship-entrepreneur.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment Management- English Movies) http://popular-movies.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment Management- Hindi Movies) http://hindi-movies-choice.blogspot.com/
(Executive Etiquette and Manners) http://executive-manners.blogspot.com/
(Exit Interview) http://exit-interview.blogspot.com/

F
(Financial Ratios and Financial Ratio Analysis) http://financial-ratios.blogspot.com/
(Financial Services) http://finance-related-services.blogspot.com/
(Free and Authentic Notes on Management) http://authentic-management-notes.blogspot.com/
(Functions of Management) http://functions-of-management.blogspot.com/
(Food Management: Recipes, Easy to Cook) http://easytocook-recipes.blogspot.com/
(Food Management: Recipes, Exotic) http://tastetherecipes.blogspot.com/

G
(Games and Icebreakers for Trainers) http://training-games.blogspot.com/
(Gemba Kaizen) http://gemba-kaizen-improvement.blogspot.com/
(General Knowledge Management- GK) http://general-knowledge-gk.blogspot.com/
(General Knowledge Management- Top 5/Top 10 of Everything) http://top-five-everything.blogspot.com/
(Genuine Professional- Long Article) http://professional-genuine.blogspot.in/
(Global Mindset) http://global-mindset.blogspot.com/
(Goal/Target Setting) http://goal-target-setting.blogspot.com/
(Good Boss) http://good-boss.blogspot.com/
(Great Professional) http://professional-genuine.blogspot.in/
(Group Discussion) http://group-discussion-gd.blogspot.com/
(Group Discussion for Job Seekers and Students) http://group-discussion-gd.blogspot.com/
(Group Dynamics) http://group-dynamics-process.blogspot.com/

H
(Health and Safety Management) http://safety-health-management.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Cholesterol Control) http://controlling-cholesterol.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Homeopathy) http://homeopathy-medicines.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Exercises) http://exercises-plan.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Quit Smoking) http://quit-smoking-plan.blogspot.com/
(Health management- Swine Flu and Its Prevention) http://swine-flu-precaution.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Walking) http://walking-plan.blogspot.com/
(How to Be a Good Boss?) http://good-boss.blogspot.com/
(How to Get Promoted?) http://get-promoted.blogspot.com/
(How to Save Money?) http://save-money-ideas.blogspot.com/
(How to Save Money?- Long Comprehensive Article) http://manage-moneysaving.blogspot.in/
(Home Management- Home Page for All Home Tips) http://home-tips-tricks.blogspot.com/
(HR Dynamics) http://hrm-dynamics.blogspot.com/
(HR Strategies and Functions) http://strategic-functions-hrm.blogspot.com/
(Human Capital Architecture) http://human-capital-architecture.blogspot.com/
(Human Relations) http://human-relations-aspect.blogspot.com/
(Human Resource Management- Comprehensive Coverage of HRM) http://human-resource-management-hrm.blogspot.com/
(Human Resource Planning) http://human-resource-planning.blogspot.com/
(Human Software- HSoftware) http://human-software-hsoftware.blogspot.com/

I
(I Am Liberated- Life Management) http://i-am-liberated.blogspot.in/
(I Am OK, You Are OK) http://life-positions.blogspot.com/
(Icebreakers and Energizers) http://management-games-icebreakers.blogspot.com/
(Internal Motivation or Self Motivation) http://internal-motivation.blogspot.com/
(Interpersonal Relations) http://interpersonal-relations.blogspot.com/
(Interview Skills) http://interviewing-skill.blogspot.com/
(Interview Preparation for Job Seekers) http://interview-preparation-jobs.blogspot.com/
(Interview Questions) http://interview-question-bank.blogspot.com/

J
(Johari Window) http://johari-window-model.blogspot.com/
(Just in Time Management- JIT) http://just-in-time-management.blogspot.com/

K
(Kaizen) http://kaizen-improvement.blogspot.com/
(Knowledge Management) http://knowledge-management-initiative.blogspot.com/

L
(Lead Time Management) http://lead-time-management.blogspot.com/
(Leadership) http://lead-max.blogspot.com/ and http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com
(Lean Enterprise) http://lean-organization.blogspot.com/
(Learning Organization) http://learning-organization-profile.blogspot.com/
(Life Management- Latest HSoftware Model) http://life-effectiveness.blogspot.in/
(Life Management- I Am Liberated; Freedom from Shackles and Burdens) http://i-am-liberated.blogspot.in/
(Life Management: Success in Life) http://success-complete.blogspot.in/
(Life Management: My Exotic Dream: World Peace and Other Good Things of Life)

http://exotic-dreaming.blogspot.in/

Thursday, July 24, 2014

How Would You Like to be Remembered?

This management exercise "How Would You Like to be Remembered?" is a bit on the serious side. And so it's that much more important.

Professionals engaged in conducting workshops/seminars on goal setting or target setting, self-concept, personality development and time management can use this exercise for the benefit of their audience.

You as the workshop leader will conduct this exercise as an individual exercise as against a group exercise. The exercise is to engage each individual in your audience to think about and project his lifetime objectives- what goals each one will like to achieve during his entire life.

Tell the participants of your workshop that working out the lifetime objectives will make it easier and meaningful for them to look at their long-term (say 5 to 10 years period), medium-term (around 3 years) and short-term (say 1 year or less) goals. If they start from whole to part (i.e. first deciding the lifetime goals and then the other types of shorter period goals) the shorter period goals will be in tandem with the lifetime goals, snugly dovetailed with each other. Thus their energies, efforts, activities and time will be focused only on what they should really be doing and not on non value adding actions.

Now, in order to facilitate them to come out with their lifetime goals ask them to answer the following question:

"How would you like to be remembered? (after you have lived your entire life or after you have left this world for good)."

The answer could be in the form of a narrative spanning at least one A4 size page or it could be in the bullet form.

To facilitate further, you can present to them some more questions like:

What kind of legacy you wish to leave behind in terms of your achievements or help to your family, profession, the society at large?
What kind of person you made of yourself by the last day of your life?
What kind of praises the people would shower on you when you are no more around to hear them?
What kind of things you did might inspire the generations to come?
What is it that you want people to remember most about you?

You can add some more questions and hints/clues of your own too.

Provide adequate handholding particularly to those participants who would need it in your workshop.

Depending on how the workshop participants are performing in this exercise, decide the time you wish to allot them to complete this exercise. As a rough guideline, 30 to 40 minutes should be alright.

Once all the participants finish writing, invite them to make the presentation of their lifetime goals.

Coax the persons in the audience to ask questions to the presenter. Make your comments too. Your comments will go a long way in making further improvements in their process of fixing the lifetime goals.

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Don't Break Your Egg

This is yet another fun-filled and effective game if administered well will establish you as an ace workshop/seminar leader. The game is highly participative. It can also prove to be a great energizer. And so, its a great candidate for your afternoon sessions.

The game is most apt for sessions on team building, teamwork, synergy, creativity, strategy management, intragroup communication, conflict management, consensus building, motivation, leadership/followership etc.

Divide the participants of your training workshop so that each group can have around 5 to 7 persons. Use the random grouping method earlier described in the management exercise titled “Pass the Message” at URL http://management-games-icebreakers.blogspot.com/search/label/Pass%20the%20Message

Ask each group to choose its coordinator. Group members should discuss and make their choice.

Handover to each of the group coordinators a set of following items:

An egg
A small piece of thermocole or foam/sponge
A newspaper sheet or any other paper of approximately that size
Glue
Cellophane tape (small size)
Around 3 feet of string
A pair of scissors

Now instruct the participants to work in their respective groups. Tell them that by using the set of material allotted to them they are supposed to make a gadget. They will then use that gadget to drop the egg from a height of some 10 feet on the ground/floor making sure that the egg does not break.

Give them 15 minutes to make the gadget.

Now ask the coordinators of the groups to drop the egg to let it fall on the floor using their gadgets. After all the group are done, inspect the eggs. The group whose egg breaks or cracks will be declared as disqualified. The ones whose eggs remain intact will be declared as winners.

Within the winners you can rank order the groups based on the creativity and innovativeness of their gadgets. You may like to include economies of the materials used as an additional criterion.

Initiate a group discussion. Guide the participants to discuss the process of making the gadget:

Did they formulate any strategy, what kind?
Did they draw the design of the gadget on paper?
What principles they used to ensure that egg would not break on hitting the floor?
How innovative was their final product and why? Was creativity of each member of the group tapped or was something lacking in their group process?
Were they satisfied with their teamwork. Could it be improved further?
Did they get into conflicts and how they resolved? How was the consensus finally reached?
Were they challenged and motivated to undertake the task?

Summarize the group discussion. Supplement the group discussion with your observations. Provide any additional inputs you wish to impart to your participants.

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com

Additional Reading Opportunities

Alphabetic List of of Management Topics and Their Site URLs
(The term "management" here does not limit itself to just about business management but it encompasses management of all kinds of things like life management, home management, family management, health management, travel management, food management and so on).

Home Pages for All the Topics

1. (Home Pages for Brief Introduction to All the Business Management Topics) http://management-universe.blogspot.com/, http://management-universe-enotes.blogspot.com/ and http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com

2. (Home Page for All General and Psychological Counseling) http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/

3. (Home Page for All Home Tips: Home and Family Management) http://home-tips-tricks.blogspot.com/

4. (Home Page for All Products: Products Knowledge Management) http://products-all.blogspot.com/

Topics Starting with Numbers

(5S Housekeeping) http://5s-housekeeping.blogspot.com/
(5S Housekeeping at Home: Home Management) http://5s-housekeeping-home.blogspot.com/

Topics Starting with Alphabets

A
(ABC Analysis or Pareto Analysis or 80/20 Rule) http://abc-pareto-analysis.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2011/07/20/abc-analysis-or-pareto-analysis/
(Activity Based Costing- ABC) http://activitybased-costing.blogspot.com/
(Advertising) http://advertising-mass-communication.blogspot.com/
(Anecdotes in Management) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/
(Anger Management) http://controlling-anger.blogspot.com/
(Articles, blogs and knols of Shyam Bhatawdekar: Home Page) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com/
(Assertiveness) http://assertiveness-skill.blogspot.com/
(Assessment Centers) http://assessment-centers.blogspot.com/
(Authentic and Free Management Notes) http://authentic-management-notes.blogspot.com/
(A to Z of Management Systems) http://a-z-management-systems.blogspot.com/
(A to Z of Quality Techniques) http://a-z-quality-techniques.blogspot.com/

B
(Balanced Scorecard) http://balanced-scorecard-system.blogspot.com/
(Basic Statistics) http://statistics-basic.blogspot.com/
(Behavioral Safety) http://behavioral-safety.blogspot.com/
(Benchmarking) http://benchmarking-system.blogspot.com/
(Body Language or Non-verbal Communication) http://body-language-communication.blogspot.com/
(Books- Best Books) http://best-book-list.blogspot.com/
(Books- Best Management Books) http://best-management-books.blogspot.com/
(Boundaryless) http://shyambhatawdekar.blogspot.com/
(Brainstorming) http://brainstorming-technique.blogspot.com/
(Branding- Personal/Professional Branding http://professional-branding.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/
(Business Ethics and Ethics in Management) http://business-management-ethics.blogspot.com/
(Business Plan) http://business-plan-preparation.blogspot.com/
(Business Process Reengineering- BPR) http://business-process-reengineering-bpr.blogspot.com/

C
(Career Planning within Organizations) http://organizational-career-planning.blogspot.com/
(Case Method) http://case-method.blogspot.com/
(Case Studies in Management) http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/
(CEO Roles, Qualities and Competencies) http://ceo-qualities.blogspot.com/
(Change Management) http://manage-change.blogspot.com/
(Child Development: Stories for Children) http://stories-children.blogspot.com/
(Children’s Behavior Problems: Family Management) http://child-behavior-problems.blogspot.com/
(Coaching) http://coaching-skill.blogspot.com/
(Communication) http://communication-for-business.blogspot.com/
(Competencies- Life Management) http://shyam-bhatawdekar.blogspot.com/
(Competency Matrix/Competency Mapping: Success by Building Competencies/Skills) http://competency-matrix-mapping.blogspot.in/
(Competency Mapping) http://competency-map.blogspot.com/
(Competency Matrix) http://competency-matrix.blogspot.com/
(Conflict Management) http://manage-conflict.blogspot.com/
(Corporate Governance) http://corporate-governance-policy.blogspot.com/
(Cost Management) http://cost-management-control.blogspot.com/
(Cost of Quality- COQ) http://cost-of-quality.blogspot.com/
(Counseling at Workplace)http://counseling-skill.blogspot.com/
(Counseling: Psychological) http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/
(Creativity- Out of Box Articles) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/
(Creativity and Innovation) http://creativity-management.blogspot.com/
(Critical Thinking skills) http://critical-thinking-skills.blogspot.com/
(Cross Cultural Etiquette and Manners) http://cross-cultural-etiquette.blogspot.com/
(Customer Orientation) http://customer-orientation.blogspot.com/
(Customer Relationship management- CRM) http://customer-relationship-crm.blogspot.com/

D
(Daily Management) http://daily-management.blogspot.com/
(Decision Making) http://decision-making-role.blogspot.com/
(Delegation) http://delegation-skill.blogspot.com/

http://exotic-dreaming.blogspot.in/