Break and Make

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Break and Make

You are a workshop/seminar leader and if you are looking out for a game/exercise that does not ask participants to use pencil and paper, "Break and Make" is the answer. You can gainfully use it in your training sessions or modules on communication, leadership, motivation, team work, team building, strategy and problem solving. It also works as good energizer. It can be played in-door as well as out-door.

Divide your workshop participants into groups of around ten participants each. Administer  this game as a competition among these groups. The group that finishes the game the fastest will be the winner. If you like, you may announce a prize for the winning group.

Direct each group the way it is described in the following paragraphs.

Ask the members of each group to form a circle. Now a person in the circle will move towards the center of the circle. Simultaneously the person opposite him in the circle will also start moving towards the center. As both of them meet at the center of the circle they will clasp each others' hands. This act will be repeated by the set of two other members standing opposite each other in the circle. They too will clasp hands such that their hands are place over and above the clasped hands of the other pair. This way all the remaining members will also clasp hands by reaching the center and get entangled with the rest of the pairs. By now they would have knotted themselves with each other in a complex manner.

Now ask the members of the knotted group to disentangle themselves and return the circle to its original shape. Put a condition that in forming the circle they should not release the hands tied as pairs. They will be allowed to communicate and discuss with each other.

Observe how they demonstrate their strategy formulation, communication, leadership, motivation, team work/team building and problem solving skills.

Based on such observations, start a discussion among the participants after they have completed the "Break and Make" exercise. Let participants start talking group by group. Fill them in with your observations and comments.

Wrap up the game by giving any additional inputs that you wish to impart.

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

Psychological Strokes

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 you to come out as a brilliant faculty or workshop leader of this topic on “Psychological Strokes” using the management exercise given here, it will be advisable to get a good grasp on this subject before trying out this management exercise. You will get benefited by reading a comprehensive write-up on psychological strokes titled “Positive Strokes” on the website: (Positive Strokes) http://positive-strokes.blogspot.com/

While on this subject, you may also like to refresh your fundamentals on its other related topics on transaction analysis and life positions by referring articles on: (Transaction Analysis- TA) http://transaction-analysis.blogspot.com/ and (Life Positions and OKness) http://life-positions.blogspot.com/

OK, now coming back to this management exercise on psychological strokes; use this exercise to elaborate on the following various types of strokes and to disguising between them:

1. Positive conditional stroke.
2. Positive unconditional stroke.
3. Negative conditional stroke.
4. Negative unconditional stroke.
5. Neutral or indifferent stroke.

This management exercise is in the form of a role play and is capable of arousing a lot of interest and fun amongst your audience in your workshop or seminar on the topics like “Psychological Strokes”, “Positive Strokes”, “Transaction Analysis”, “Motivation”, “Leadership” etc. So, it may work as an energizer too.

You will need five volunteers from your participants’ batch. These five volunteers will act like five employees of a department of an organization. You will also need a sixth participant to enact as their boss or manager.

Ask the rest of the audience to observe the role play attentively and also ask them to take notes on the kind of exchange of communication that will take place between the boss and each of the subordinates one by one.

Each volunteer who is acting like an employee will go to the sixth volunteer who is acting like the boss, turn by turn to show the work that each one has accomplished. The boss will enact one of the five psychological strokes from the ones listed above, preferably in that serial order by speaking out certain dialogues using an appropriate tone befitting that particular stroke which will construe that particular stroke.

After the five enactments are over, ask the participants to identify the strokes that were meted out by the boss to each subordinate. Let them also evaluate the impact of each stroke on its receiver. Ask them to tell you which of the strokes they found to be more effective and why?

You may also initiate a discussion on how well or effectively the strokes were given by the boss?

Supplement the discussion by your own observations as the faculty of the program and provide some additional inputs on the subject to finally wrap up the 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

Be Quick

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/)
It is a very simple yet very effective management exercise or game. It is a group or participative exercise. You as a program leader or workshop facilitator can use it for your sessions on productivity, work study, method study, work measurement, business process reengineering (BPR), creativity, innovation, layout planning, team work, team building, leadership and motivation. It is also a good warm up game, an icebreaker and an energizer.

Instruct the participants that all of them form a manufacturing and selling organization. Each participant represents one department of the organization. The complete process of manufacturing and dispatching an item as desired by the customer gets completed only when that particular item passes through each and every department (i.e. the participants). Touching the item by one hand by a participant indicates that the department has completed its operation as part of the total process. The item is then passed on to the next participant (department) who also touches it by one hand signifying that he also completed the task assigned to him for that item. This way the item gets circulated from the first participant through the entire chain of participants one by one. The task is reckoned to be completed only if every participant touches the item by his one hand. Otherwise the task is thought to be incomplete.

As soon as all the participants have done their part of the activity on the item i.e. touching the item by one hand at least once and thus have completed the task properly, you will record the time taken to complete the entire task.

You can use any item (for example, a note pad) for the purpose of playing this game.

Before starting the exercise, you must tell them that they should complete the task as quickly as they can. The time taken by them to complete the task will be recorded by you and announced to them.

After the first round of the task completion, tell them the time taken by them and make a comment, “Well, that’s too much time taken by you all. Why don’t you undertake the exercise again and do it quicker to reduce the time?”

Repeat the same comment even after the second round and third round or even fourth round.

By now they would have achieved significant improvement in their timings but you must say, “I think you guys have potential to do it still better. Just think about the ways and means by which you can achieve some dramatic results.”

Let them think about news methods of doing the same task and for each method share with them the time taken by them and as recorded by you. All you know, they might come out with some brilliantly creative and innovative ways of doing the same task.

After some time when you find that they have exhausted their ideas, give them you own piece of mind on how else the task can be done with minimum efforts and minimum time.

Let them discuss the game they just played for a while and wrap it up by giving any new inputs you have planned for the 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

Shapes

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/)

The management exercise “Shapes” is recommended as an effective exercise for sessions on strategy formulation, communication, giving and following instructions, leadership, motivation, team work and team building. It also works as an effective energizer and icebreaker.

The exercise is administered by you- the program leader or workshop facilitator.

Divide the participants in groups of 12 persons (or as you think appropriate) in each group. Follow the random group formation method given in the games described earlier. As a ready reference, you may refer the exercise called “Pass the Message” if you are forming more than two groups or the exercise “Arrange” if you are forming two groups.

After forming the groups, take all the participants to a hall adjacent to your regular seminar hall which should have enough open space without any furniture in it. If such an extra room is not available, adjust the furniture in your existing seminar hall in such a manner that you create adequate free space in the hall. The exercise can be carried out out-doors also on plain level ground.

Ask the participants to blindfold each other by using the handkerchiefs. Instruct them that each group’s task now is to arrange its members in such a manner that they form the shape of a square. Each group may appoint a coordinator if necessary. Before physically arranging themselves they can have an internal discussion about the strategies and methods they plan to follow to complete the given task. The participants will remain blindfolded throughout the exercise.

After each group declares that it has formed the shape of the square by positioning its members that way, ask the members to open the eyes and check how well they formed the shape of the square. Also note down the time taken by each group to accomplish the task.

The group(s) that made the correct shape within minimum time will be declared as the winner(s).

You may repeat this exercise by asking them to form other additional shapes like rectangle and triangle etc. You should ask them to use their experience of doing the previous exercise in carrying out the next exercise.

After the exercise is over, request the participants to give you their feedback of their experiences and learnings from this exercise.

Conclude your session by sharing your observations and analysis for each group and filling them with additional inputs as required.

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

Building Blocks

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/)

"Building Blocks" is an effective group and participative game. It can be used in the sessions on observation skills, memory effectiveness, leadership, followership, communication, giving effective instructions, motivation, time management, team work and team building. The game is also a good energizer and icebreaker.

You are the program leader or the workshop facilitator and you need to do some preparation before administering this game. To start with, you have to have one master set of many square, rectangular, triangular and such shapes of blocks made of wood or plastic or any other such solid material. The blocks should be of various colors. From these blocks you should be in a position to make stable structure of blocks. Next step is to make such 3 to 4 more sets depending upon the number of participants in your program or workshop and how many groups you wish to form. Each set will have identical combinations of blocks of various shapes and colors.

Before the session in which you plan to play this game, build up a stable structure using the various shaped and colored blocks of your mater set of blocks in a room adjacent to the conference or seminar hall in which you are conducting your session. In case a separate room is not available, cover this structure of blocks in such a manner in the same seminar room so that the participants can not see it.

By now you are pretty familiar with the method of random formation of the groups. To refresh on the methodology, you can refer the previous management games and exercises. Using this method divide the entire participants in the groups of around 6 to 7 persons in each group randomly.

The members of each group will sit together. Give one set of blocks that you had already prepared to each group. Ask each group to appoint a group coordinator.

Now the game starts. The coordinators of each group are asked to go to the structure and observe it carefully. At one time the coordinator of each group can not stay near the structure for more than one minute. The coordinator will report back to his group about what he saw. He will describe the structure to them. He will give instructions to his group members on how to construct the replica of the master or model structure that he saw. The other members of the group can have a dialogue with the coordinator. However, the coordinator is not allowed to touch the blocks or physically demonstrate how the construction should be done. He can just about describe how the master structure looked like.

The group can send the coordinator to have a second look at the structure. In fact there is no restriction on the number of times a coordinator can visit the structure to observe it. But he can not spend more than one minute near the structure observing it during each of his visits. Groups are also free to change their coordinators during the game as many number of times as they want.

When all the groups declare the completion of their structures using their building blocks, their structures will be compared to the original or master structure.

Get the participants to start discussing their experiential learning from this game. How they would like to play the game if asked to do it again?

Give your observations and analysis on what went right and what went wrong and why. Provide additional inputs if necessary or planned and wrap up the 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