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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hot Hat or Hot Basket

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia Management Universe at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/
Refer high quality Management eNotes http://management-enotes.blogspot.com/

For free tutorials on “Train the Trainers” program, refer: http://train-trainers.blogspot.com/


Hot Hat or Hot Basket
"Passing the hat" is an intelligent game/exercise that you as the program coordinator or workshop leader can use for review of your entire program at the end of the program or you can also use it at the end of every session/module of your workshop or seminar. Through such review method, you can check out the extent of learning by the participants of the topic(s) under review by giving the participants active role and responsibility in the review sessions. This game also facilitates the recap of the entire program or any particular session/module. The participant's learnings also get reinforced by this kind of
review.

The game/exercise is a good energizer and it is quite participative. It gives you an excellent feedback on how well the participants are responding to your way of facilitation or teaching and then, you can bring out suitable modifications in it.

You will have to announce about usage of this method of review by you right at the beginning of your seminar/workshop. You will also need to give them the details of this methodology (which will become clear to you as you read on). This announcement is sure to make them sit up and pay more serious attention in your program- that's your and participants' big advantage.

Whenever during your workshop you decide to review the level of absorption of the learnings by the participants, you can ask the participants to write review questions for the topic(s) under review. Each participant will write one review question related to some aspect of the session/module you just concluded and which is under the recap now. They should write their names on the papers on which they wrote the questions. They should write the question without consulting each other.

Go with a hat or a basket around the seminar room and ask each participant to drop his review question that he would have written on a standard sized piece of paper, into the hat/basket. Now this hat or basket has become hot with questions and so, we will call it "hot hat" or "hot basket".

Shuffle the contents of the hot hat/basket well. Now randomly choose any one participant, go near him and ask him to pick up one piece of paper and let him read out loudly. And ask him to answer that question. Make sure that the piece of paper he picked up was not written by him. If he does so, ask him to choose another question.

Keep picking up many participants randomly one after other and let each one pick up a question not written by him and answer it. Encourage rest of the participants to fill in any gaps in the answer given by that particular participant.

If you still feel that the answer was not complete, add your own explanation.

When you realize that all the important and significant aspects of the topic(s) under the review have been taken care of, you can conclude the session by congratulating the participants for having done an excellent job of the recap. Let them celebrate their success by loud clapping by all them and you too can join in.
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:

  1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
  3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  4. 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

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Change One Word

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia Management Universe at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For free tutorials on “Train the Trainers” program, refer: http://train-trainers.blogspot.com/

Change One Word

This exercise is a kind of fun game for achieving the serious objective of review or recap of the workshop or seminar.  You, as the program leader or coordinator, can use it gainfully towards the end of the entire program or even at the end of some of the important sessions of the program when you wish to check the level of understanding of the sessions by the participants.

The exercise makes an individual sit up and work seriously and then contribute towards the group effort. Therefore, it is an individual as well as group exercise. It is a good motivator and energizer.

You may also use it as an icebreaker as one of your initial sessions of the program to let the participants voice their expectations from the program or for setting up the ground rules (code of conduct) of the program.  

The participants continue sitting in their normal seating positions in the seminar room.

Depending on the topic of your session(s) or your entire program which you wish the participants to recap through this exercise so that you can also review their understanding of the subject(s) covered by you, you will ask the first participant sitting nearest to you to shout out a phrase consisting of two words that relates to the topics/subjects under review. The two words should point at one of the concepts or techniques or piece of knowledge covered by you in your session(s). Let us look at an example as given below:

Say you have conducted a few sessions on "Time Management" and you now wish the participants to recap their learnings related to time management and you also want to find out their level of absorption of knowledge on time management. So, you instruct the participant to speak out one phrase of two words related to some aspect of time management.

Say, the first participant says "Task Prioritization".

Now the next participant will have to change one word of this phrase and make another phrase by choosing one new word and combining it with one word of the earlier phrase.

Say, the next participant says, "Task Analysis". Now it the turn of the third participant to construct another phrase of two words in the same manner i.e. changing one word of the earlier phrase.

Say, the third participant says, "ABC Analysis".

Then let us say that the fourth participant says, "Analysis Urgency".

Another one may say, "Urgency Importance"

And this way each and every participant keeps contributing towards the session's recap and review.

You can carry on till all the participants have contributed. If you find that you need to continue the second round, by all means do so till all the aspects of the topic under review and recap are fully covered by the participants.

Now if you find that certain aspects of the topic are still not recalled by the participants, add them from your side. Conclude the review session by thanking the participants for their excellent understanding of the topic. In case they fared badly, give your constructive critique and re-explain the parts of the topic not absorbed by the 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:
  1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
  3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  4. 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

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Handshakes and Laughs

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia Management Universe at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For free tutorials on “Train the Trainers” program, refer: http://train-trainers.blogspot.com/

Handshakes and Laughs

This is an excellent fun game and can be administered to a normal group size of 20 to 25 participants as well as to an even larger group. It is a great icebreaker and energizer. You as a workshop or seminar leader/coordinator can use it at the beginning of your program. It is a highly participative game or exercise. It is one good way for mutual introductions and fellowship.

Ask each of your seminar participants to choose a number to themselves from 1 to 3 if the group size is 20 to 25 (if the group size is large, you can ask them to choose from number 1 to number 4). They should not reveal their chosen numbers to anyone; they must keep it in their minds.

Now ask them to mingle around the seminar hall. Without talking each person should shake hands with each other. Number of shakes (of hands) should be done equal to the number the participant chose. And as the participant is shaking hands he should laugh the same number of times that is equal to the number he chose by saying, "Ha, ha, ha (If he chose number 3)." The shaking partners should exchange their names with each other as a part of getting introduced to each other.

If the two participants shake hands and laugh (ha, ha) the same number of times, they will stay together and move around to try and find others of like shakes and like laughs.

If the number of shakes and laughs are different, the participants go their own way to find their type of shakes and laughs.

Finally, the entire participant group will end up in maximum of 3 or less distinct groups.

That indicates the end of the activity.

Ask entire group to laugh out loud.

Thank them and move on to your next session.


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:
  1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
  3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  4. 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

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Creative Numbers

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia Management Universe at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For free tutorials on “Train the Trainers” program, refer: http://train-trainers.blogspot.com/

Creative Numbers

If you are conducting a seminar or workshop on "creativity" or "creativity and innovation", you can use this exercise with benefits. It involves solving a few brain teasers involving some numbers. It allows participants to brainstorm. The exercise can be taken up individually by the participants or they can also do it in small groups. This also serves as an excellent energizer particularly after the lunch break. It is a also a very effective icebreaker.

If you wish to conduct this exercise in small groups, then divide the participants in small groups of two to three persons in each group formed randomly. Otherwise, you may as well allow each participant to tackle the exercise individually.

The exercise has three parts to it:

Part 1: Write down the equation given below on the white board or on the flip chart and show it to your participants:

5 + 5 + 5 = 550


Now instruct the participants to add one straight line to make it a correct statement.

Invite as many solutions as possible and conclude the exercise when you get the most correct solution.

Part 2: Now write down the number given below on the white board or on the flip chart and show it to your participants:

IX

It is the Roman number for 9. Instruct the participants to add a line to convert this odd number into an even number.

Invite as many solutions as possible and conclude the exercise when you get the most correct solution.

Part 3: Now write down the numbers given below (in the given sequence) on the white board or on the flip chart and show it to your participants:


8, 11, 15, 4, 14, 9, 1, 7, 6, 10, 3, 12, 2


Tell them that these numbers range from 1 to 15 but the numbers 5 and 13 are missing.


Request them to suggest the reasons for lining up the numbers in this particular sequence. Also, simultaneously request them to place the two missing number 5 and 13 in their appropriate places in the lineup of the numbers.


Let them continue to give as many answers to these two questions as they come out with till the time someone comes out with the correct answers.
Having done, thank the participants for their wholehearted involvement.

Take their feedback on the exercise and let them share their experiences in tackling these creativity and brain teasing exercises.

Fill them up with some relevant creativity concepts like out of box thinking, brainstorming and lateral thinking etc.


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:
  1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
  3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  4. 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

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Introductions by Way of Mutual Interests and Tastes

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia Management Universe at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For free tutorials on “Train the Trainers” program, refer: http://train-trainers.blogspot.com/

Introductions by Way of Mutual Interests and Tastes

You as a trainer or workshop/seminar coordinator can use this exercise for the introduction of participants with each other in a very interesting manner. The exercise can be conducted by you at the beginning of your seminar or workshop. It is a very effective icebreaker. It is a participative exercise.

In this exercise, you will facilitate uncovering the interest and taste of each participant on variety of subjects/objects one by one i.e. by taking one subject/object at a time and then keep grouping and re-grouping the persons with similar tastes and interests in one group. Then, you will let the participants get introduced to each other in their own way by discussing the topic of their common interest with each other.

We will now explain it little more elaborately.

To start with, as an example, you can write on the white board or project a PowerPoint slide on the screen giving say four or five choices of the types of food.

1. Indian food
2. Italian food
3. Chinese food
4. Mexican food
5. American food

Now, ask the participants, "How many of you like the Indian food the most among the five types of food listed? Please raise your hands." The participants who like the Indian food as their first choice will form the first group and requested to sit together forming a circle in the seminar room.

Now repeat the same question and find out, by using the above-mentioned method, the persons who like the second listed food type i.e. the Italian food the most. These persons will form the second group.

This way you are likely to divide the entire participants into a maximum of 5 groups. Let each group sit together forming a circle.

Now allow them say, 5 to 7 minutes to get introduced to each other in each group by a proper handshake and by exchanging information about each other. Encourage them to discuss around the topic of their common interest/taste;  the topic being the type of food. 

You can re-group the participants the second time by selecting out another topic, say the type of movies: 

1. Comedy
2. Family
3. Romance
4. War
5. Mystery

Now the group formation will be somewhat different; the members in each group may not be the same. This way the participants will get a chance to know additional participants.

Repeat the group formation afresh by suggesting another topic, say, the type of music:

1. Country
2. Jazz
3. Classical
4. Rock
5. Soul

This time the group formation may come out to be still different. More participants are now likely to get to know each other.

You may stop this exercise when you find that all the participants have met and got introduced to each other.

Having done, thank the participants for their wholehearted involvement. You may like to get their feedback on the exercise and move on to the next session of your seminar/workshop. 

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:
  1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
  3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  4. 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