Alphabetic Introspection

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/)

As a program coordinator or workshop leader, you can use this management exercise for your sessions on personality development, improving internal motivation, inculcating wellness, enhancing personal and professional effectiveness, becoming a winner etc.

You can use this exercise as a starter of your program as a warm-up or energizing exercise or as an icebreaker.

Give each participant of your program a big blank white or colored card sheet of at least A3 or even bigger size. Let each them write his name on top of the card sheet.

Now, ask your participants to choose as many alphabets from A to Z as they want and start writing their good qualities or their strong points starting from those alphabets on the card sheet given to them. They can take one alphabet at a time and start introspecting as to which of their qualities start from that alphabet. After they are finished with one alphabet they should take up the next alphabet and start introspecting as to which of their qualities start from this next chosen alphabet.

They should do this for all the alphabets they chose for themselves.

Now on each one of their card sheets each one will have written all of the qualities one could think of for himself. Let them display their card sheets on the walls all over the place.

Now, instruct the participants to visit this exhibition keeping pen and writing pad with them. Tell them to read the qualities or strong points of their fellow participants by moving from one card sheet to other card sheet. In the process they will see many good qualities which others possess but they do not. Advise them to note down such of these qualities that they will like to develop for themselves in future. After everyone has finished doing this, tell them go take their seats.

Initiate a discussion on the exercise they just undertook- what did they feel about it, how they were benefited by it and what else they experience in undertaking the exercise.

Top it up by sharing your observations with them with any additional inputs you wish to give.

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

Do Not Forget to Renew

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/)

This management exercise is apt for explaining many concepts. As a program coordinator or workshop leader, you can use it in your sessions on illustrating difference between effectiveness and efficiency, establishing the need for building up production capability of resources, sorting out the dilemma in prioritizing various activities, need for renewal or rejuvenation to lead a stress free life etc.

Start with giving all the participants pencils with broken leads and asking them to write a paragraph of around ten sentences of their choice with it on their note pads.

They will obviously ask for the pencil sharpeners to sharpen the lead of the pencils. Refuse for some time and insist that they should use the pencils given to them to write.

Observe what each one does.

Some may still insist on getting the sharpener to sharpen the pencil.

Now give them some sharpeners to sharpen the lead of their pencils and let them circulate the sharpeners among the others even those who did not insist on asking for sharpener.

Let them sharpen and then resume writing. Let them note down the time they took to sharpen the pencil and time taken to write the paragraph. Let them workout the percentages. Let them decide which was the priority activity? Could a resource (a pencil or a machine or a human being) be used productively without maintaining it in a proper condition?

Initiate a discussion among the participants around these observations for some time. You can aid the discussions with your own inputs.

Now get two volunteers to who will be willing to cut a small block of wood by a hacksaw. Set up two blocks of wood of similar shape and dimensions and two hacksaws. One of these saws will have pretty sharp teeth and other saw’s teeth will be absolutely blunt.

All other participants of your program will be observers. They will record the time taken by each participant to cut the block of wood. Obviously the volunteer with sharpened saw will cut the wood while the other volunteer with blunt saw will not be able to cut the wood tough he appeared to be equally busy.

Start another discussion among the participants. Let the volunteers also share their experiences. With their discussions aided by your inputs, the participants will be able to clarify to themselves concepts mentioned at the beginning paragraph of this write-up.

Relate this exercise also to the importance of need for the human beings to take some time out from their busy schedules to renew or rejuvenate themselves.

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