A to Z Review

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

A to Z Review
 
Every workshop or seminar leader (faculty) like you sincerely wants to find out how effectively he delivered his program. You wish to know if your program participants grasped the inputs you provided them. Can they correctly answer the questions based on the contents of your program? In addition to meeting this objective it is a good practice to recap the inputs given in your program in your last session before concluding the program. This helps improve the retention of the knowledge by the participants. The best way to achieve these twin objectives is to engage the participants creatively in the review of their learnings.

Prior to actually conducting your workshop/seminar, you will need to prepare 26 questions the answers to which will result in the comprehensive review of the entire contents of your program.

Write each question on one index card. Thus you will have 26 cards with you. On other side of the card, write an English alphabet starting with “A” on the first card and going right up to “Z” on the 26th card.

After you have conducted all the sessions of your program, in your last session of recap and review, divide the participants into groups, each group consisting of 4 to 5 participants picked up randomly. Give each group a bell.

Now list the 26 alphabets in bold font on single sheet of a flip chart and display them. Ask groups to select any alphabet randomly. Start with the first group first. Suppose the first group selects an alphabet say, “D”, then cross mark the alphabet “D” on the flip chart and pick out the index card “D” from the 26 cards you are holding. Read the question of this card “D” loudly and clearly.

Ask the groups to ring the bell if any of the groups know the answer to that question. The group that rings the bell the fastest will get the first opportunity to answer the question. If the group’s answer is correct, give the card to that group. If the answer is wrong, the group that rang the bell the second fastest will be given the opportunity to answer the question and so on. Finally the group answering correctly will get that card.

Second time the second group will pick up the alphabet from the flip chart randomly and the process as described above will be executed.

Thus the groups will take turns selecting alphabets. As they select alphabet, you will cross off that alphabet from the flip chart and read the question written on the corresponding card. When a question is answered correctly, you will hand over the card to the successful group.

The game/exercise will end when all the 26 questions have been read and answered. When none of the groups is in a position to answer the question correctly, you will provide its answer and keep that particular card with yourself.

The group that collects the maximum number of cards will be declared the winner. You may like to give a prize to the winner group. If number of groups are many then you may like to give prizes to top two or three groups.

Thanks the participants and conclude your 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

Candy Treat

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

Candy Treat

As an effective trainer or educator, you are always conscious and anxious about the following aspects:

• Are your participants really learning in your program?
• Are the participants retaining the learning?
• Are they enjoying your training sessions?
• Are they having fun learning?
• How can you make them to participate more and more?
• How can you involve all of them in the learning process?
• How to keep the energy level in your seminar room all the time at the peak?

Here is a simple energizer called “Candy Treat” that you can use to meet the above-mentioned objectives. It is a good intervention for an effective program review.

At the beginning of your seminar/workshop tell the participants of your program that you will surprise them with spot questions/quiz throughout the day. The questions will be directed at them any time you feel like asking them. The questions will be related to what you are teaching them. So they better be attentive.

You will also tell them that the persons who can answer the question will raise their hands. The person who raises the hand the fastest will be given the first opportunity to answer the question. If his answer is incorrect, the second fastest person will be asked to answer and this will continue with all the volunteers (who raised the hands) till the right answer comes out.

The person giving the right answer will win two candies. Also the first person raising the hand will win one candy. The candies will be distributed by you immediately.

The persons receiving the candies should retain the wrappers of candies. At the end of the day the person with the highest number of candy wrappers will receive equal number of candies. For example if the person winning the highest number of candies presents 7 wrappers, he will get 7 more candies from you.

Congratulate the mega winner as well as all the other winners of candies. Shower you appreciation on their enthusiasm.

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

Important, Urgent and Unimportant

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 particular management exercise can be done in the form of a demonstration by you as the program coordinator or workshop leader with the help of a volunteer from the program participants and other participantsbeing the keen observers. This exercise can be very successfully used in your sessions on time management and to explain the concept and model for prioritizationof the tasks.(You will be more equipped and effective to conduct this demonstration if you have a good idea about the four quadrant time management matrix for which you may like to refer: (Time Management) http://time-life-management.blogspot.com/)

You will need to two transparent jars of equal dimension and shapes made up of plastic or glass with wider mouths. Other materials required are:

• Sand or much shaped small pebbles of same size to fill in three fourths of one jar.
  
  

• Around 10 bigger stones or rocks that can be inserted into the jars.

Paste white paper on all the 10 bigger stones.

Now on 8 of the bigger stones (on the papers stuck on them) write by a black ink marker brief descriptions of certain important tasks like seeking opportunities, improvement in competencies, expansion project of the organization, advancement in educational qualifications, relationship building, vacation with family, upkeep of health, children’s education (you should feel free to replace these suggested tasks by any other important tasks you may have in mind).

On the rest 2 big stones (on the papers stuck on them), write the descriptions of certain urgent tasks like attending to an important customer who might cancel a huge order if you attend to him urgently, attending a breakdown maintenance of a vital machine of your organization or the production will stop (you should feel free to replace these suggested tasks by any other important tasks you may have in mind).

Place the jars on the table in front of your audience. One jar will be three fourths filled with sand or small sized pebbles. Request for a volunteer from among your seminar participants to come forward and help you.

Request the volunteer to read the label on each of the large stones (rocks) and decide if he will like to undertake that task on priority. If yes, he should insert that stone inside the jar that is filled with send (or small pebbles). Likewise he should treat all the 10 large stones. However, he will not be allowed to insert the stones if they overflow out of the jar. So, in the process if he may find that the bigger size of few particular stones is coming in the way of accommodating other big stones in the jar. Then he can decide to keep them outside the jar and not insert them inside it. That means that under the existing conditions he will not like to undertake those importantor urgent jobs and they may suffer.

Soon he will find that despite his not liking it he has been forced to keep off some important or urgent tasks and thus postpone doing them.

Now, you as the workshop leader should ask him if he can think of some other way of filling the jar such that he will be in position to accommodate all the 10 big stones in the jar without sacrificing any important tasks.

He will soon realize the better method by himself or by being prompted by the audience of first undertaking the important and urgent tasks on priority i.e. filling in the bigger 10 stones first inside the other vacant jar and then as the next step by filling all of the sand (or small pebbles) from the other jar on top of these 10 stones.

To everyone’s surprise with this kind of new prioritization, not only was he able to accomplished all the important and urgent tasks but even the not so important tasks represented by the sand (or by the small pebbles).

Wind up the session with some participant discussion around the topic of time management and your additional inputs.

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

Many Cooks Need Not Spoil the Broth

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 trainer, workshop coordinator or seminar leader, you can use this management exercise to emphasize several aspects like:

• Many brains are better than one.
• Provided appropriate system of mutual discussion is adopted by the people involved in a group, it is possible to carry out meaningful dialogues and arrive at useful conclusions (many cooks need not spoil the broth).
• Without getting adversarial or personal or emotional, it is possible for various people with different viewpoints to pool in their creative ideas together.
• Thus, synergy works.

The exercise brings in excitement and enthusiasm and thus is an energizer too.
Think of any topic where the participants in your seminar may have different points of views and opinions.

Give them that topic. For example that topic may be related to addressing the environmental hazards affecting the individuals and how to safeguard oneself from them. Or you can choose any other topic.
Now request the participants of your program to discuss on the topic given to them by you on the following points progressively step by step and come to an agreement on each point (you should moderate their discussions making sure that despite having conflicting views points among them, the participants do not become adversarial with each other. You may use techniques like “six thinking hats” http://six-thinking-hats.blogspot.com/ or “brainstorming” http://brainstorming-technique.blogspot.com/ or “problem solving” http://problem-solving-skill.blogspot.com/ or “seven problem solving tools of quality circles” http://quality-circles.blogspot.com/ etc):

• What is the real problem? Steer the discussions towards arriving at the problem definition (problem well defined is half solved).
• What are various important issues involved?
• What are the possible solutions?
• What is/are the best solution(s) as agreed by the participants of the group with consensus?

At the end of this exercise the participants will themselves experience the power of appropriate group process, teamwork and synergy. You may initiate some discussions around these themes among the participants based on this exercise undertaken by them.

Fill them in with any additional inputs you wish to give 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

All Management Games and Icebreakers at One Place

This page will provide you the most comprehensive collection of all management games and icebreakers.

One management game or icebreaker will be posted every day.

Welcome.

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

(If you are interested in management case studies, management anecdotes or funny little stories of the corporate world, you may like to refer them at: http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)