Hot Hat or Hot Basket

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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

Billionaire

This management game can be used as a management quiz at the beginning of the workshop or training program and also at the end of the program. The game works like a quiz to test the knowledge of the program participants. They also come to know the correct answers to the management questions. It is quite participative and engages the minds of all the participants.

You as a program facilitator or workshop leader will have to carry our some prior preparation for this. Based on the contents of the program that you plan to cover, design at least 60 questions. Each question will have four options as its possible answer. The participants will be asked to choose any one of the answers out of these four options. Make PowerPoint presentation of these questions with options given. One set of question and answer will occupy one slide of PowerPoint presentation. Start with simpler questions in the initial slides and gradually include tougher questions in the subsequent slides.

In the seminar room, divide the entire participants in two groups. The groups will be treated as two corporate companies. Request the participants to choose the names of their companies thus formed.

Then, brief the participants that they will be shown one slide, at a time, on the screen with a question on a management topic of the program with four options as the possible answer to that question. First slide will be tackled by the first group (now a corporate company). Within a minute the individuals forming the first company will have to confer with each other and choose an option out of four options as their answer. If the answer is correct, the first group will earn $100 otherwise they do not earn anything. The second slide with another question and options for answers will be tackled by the second company. Within one minute, the second group will provide the answer after their internal discussion. If the answer is correct, the second company also gets $100.

Now show next set of two questions, one question at a time. This time choose tougher questions. Also increase the reward for the correct answer to say, $500. For a wrong answer, introduce a penalty.

In this manner, show all the 60 questions one after the other and let each team (company)provide its correct answers. Gradually increase the toughness and complexity of questions and also increase the reward dollars as well as increase the penalty for wrong answer. In case they are not sure of the answer, they can say "pass" and choose not to answer the question. Even for a "pass" you may introduce some penalty. At the end of each question, declare the correct answer in case they fail to give the correct answer.

Motivate them continuously throughout the game to achieve the billionaire status. The game will last about 30 to 40 minutes. Within this time, the company that earns more dollars will be declared as the winner.

After the game, tell them your impression on how well they did and what has been their knowledge level on the subjects or topics of the program.

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