free team building activities ideas (2) (1)

free ideas for team exercises and activities - for team-building, training, employee motivation, learning and development, recruitment, and other group activities

Ensure that team-building activities comply with equality policy and law in respect of gender, race, disability, age, etc. Notably, (because the legislation is relatively new) team-building facilitators should be familiar with the Employment Equality Age Regulations, effective 1st October 2006, (UK and Europe). For example, a demanding physical activity might be great fun for fit young men, but if one of the team members is old enough to be a grandfather then think again, because it wouldn't be fair, and it might even be unlawful. The same applies to any activities that discriminate against people on grounds of gender, race, disability, etc.

Team-building games and activities have to agreeable and acceptable to team members, and the exercises have to be fair.

free team building games (2)

free team building games - warm-ups, quick games and exercises, ice-breakers, exercises and activities

These free team building games and exercises generally last less than one hour, and can be adjusted to create longer team building activities, depending on the sort of team building, ice-breakers, training development activities required. Review and discussion are often useful and helpful after exercises which have raised relationship issues, or changed people's perceptions. Plan and practise all unknown aspects of the activities before using them. Logistics, facilitation and especially how you split the group into the numbers of team members per team are factors which have a big effect on how the exercises work and the experience for all. See the team building activities guidelines for tips and techniques.

See also the activities and exercises on the team building ideas page 1 on this website, and the quizballs quizzes, especially the management and business quiz for aspiring managers and trainers, and anyone interested in managing people and organisations.

free games, exercises and activities (2) (1 - more activities and exercises here)

the CRITWATNF game (warm-ups, icebreakers, and for demonstrating that things are rarely as crucial as they seem)

See the acronym CRITWATNF (Currently Residing In The Where Are They Now File).

Explain it to the group.

Ask the group to think of an example - any example, from their own personal life (not too personal) or from work or the world of media, politics, economy, anything.

Discuss the examples.

Discuss how and why things can seem crucial one day, yet often can soon become completely insignificant, given a little time.

Discuss the influences of emotions, peer pressure, zietgeist, the media, daft unquestioning management, personal mood, etc., on relationships, strategy, decisions, work, life, etc.

Would life/work/society be better if we could all be more objective and critical, and less led by our emotions and by others?

passion to profit exercise (life change, self-employment, business start-up and development, outplacement and redundancy support, career change, self-determination and independence)

This activity is for groups or individuals facing or desiring career change, especially a move into self-employment or starting up their own new business.

It's a simple formula - at a glance:

In more detail:

The exercise is not a substitute for conventional 'outplacement' counselling and training support, or for new business planning.

Instead it's an extra (quick and early) perspective, which for some people might be more help than traditional career advice, or complex business plans, since it focuses on making the most of your own passions and strengths, rather than being influenced by the job market or other market pressures.

Key introductory points:

• You will be successful and happy at work if your work is built on your own strengths and passions.
• Successful self-employment or freelance work is ideally based on your own personal strengths and passions too.
• So too would a successful new start-up businesses, if that's what you'd like to do.
• On the other hand, conventional miserable employment tends to be built on received or inherited or conditioned ideas of what work should be: the need to get a job, any job; the obligation to pursue aspirations of parents or other authority figures; the reluctance to or fear of change; and habits of lifestyle, social circles, spending patterns, etc., which constrain personal freedom and thinking.
• Employment is traditionally considered (and advocated by parents and teachers, etc) to be safer and more secure than self-employment and running your own business. Usually it's not, especially today. Being in control of your own work as a supplier or freelancer, or running your own business, is commonly the most reliable way to earn a living and build financial security and confidence.
• Whether you pursue your career through employment or self-employment or by starting your own business, the vital change is to see yourself as - and act like - a supplier, fulfilling a function which makes use of your passion(s) and strength(s).

This exercise seeks to:

• Suggest a more satisfying idea of what work is and can be.
• Reduce or eliminate dependence upon an employer for work and financial security.
• Offer a path - in achievable stages - away from miserable unsatisfying employment, especially if required due to redundancy or an unacceptable work situation (stress, travel, life-balance, or the simple need to be happier, etc).
• Encourage and enable self-determination, self-reliance, and independence.

The exercise is contained in the template below, and essentially follows the at-a-glance formula above:

For the purposes of this exercise, 'passions' are the things you love and enjoy, and typically that you are naturally good at too. 'Strengths' are your working and thinking styles - for example whether you are good with people or not; whether you are good with numbers, or machines, or processes; whether you are a logical or an intuitive thinker, etc. You will know your passions. The Multiple Intelligences Self-Test and the VAK Self-Test can help to confirm your natural strengths and preferred thinking and working styles. There is some overlap between passions and strengths, but essentially passions will tend to suggest what you can do and offer, whereas strengths tend to suggest how you will provide whatever offering you develop.

Experience, knowledge, skills and attitude can feature in, and for many people contribute to, both passions and strengths, but for the purposes of this exercise are best considered within strengths.

My personal situation provides an example of how a passion and strength can combine to create more meaningful work and a new business. One of my own passions is personal development. One of my strengths is writing. The combination of these two enabled me to develop this website. I am a better writer than a face-to-face trainer (although it took me a while to realise it). I know now that I can make very effective use of my passion by channelling it through written delivery. The internet offered a way to turn this into a new business. I'm not a web designer or programmer, but the combination of a passion and a strength proved powerful enough for me to overcome the technical challenges. The same will be possible for you: combine a passion with a strength, and amazing things are possible. I've seen it in very many people and the formula always seems to be similar.

Here's a different hypothetical example:

You might be stuck in work you hate. You have a passion for animals. You have strengths in working with people and organising and scheduling. Just a little research will confirm the enormous potential for all products and services related to animals. With some creative open-minded thinking, and adding in your other passions and strengths (all you are good at and love and enjoy - plus relevant experience, knowledge, skills and attitude), many possibilities for a new business or freelance service will begin to emerge. If you commit your time to develop and allow these ideas to grow (which is the essence of turning ideas or dreams into reality), then real choice and change inevitably follow, and an exciting new business if you want.

passion to profit template

Suggestions and improvements are especially welcome for this personal development aid. Please send them.

quick paper tower icebreaker (warm-up, creative thinking, and/or teamwork, skills and process analysis)

A quick table-top exercise for individuals or teams, and a quick version of the bigger newspaper tower activity.

Issue a single sheet of paper (A4 or international equivalent) to each group member (or one sheet per team if the exercise is to be played as a team game).

Instruction:

Using the sheet of paper only - no other materials - construct the tallest free-standing structure - in 5 minutes.

Points to review:

• Planning and timing - who planned and who ran out of time?
• Pressure - what were the effects on people and performance from the pressure of time?
• Innovation - what innovative ideas were devised?
• Risk - what observations could be made about high-risk and low-risk methods/approaches?
• Learning - would each team/individual be able to improve their result at a second attempt? (Almost certainly.) Discuss how and why, and the value of experience.
• Best practice - if the whole group were to be given the task to build a single tower what ideas would be combined, and what does this tell us about the power of collective ideas?
• Skills - what skills were found to be crucial for best performance of the task, and could you have guessed what these vital skills would be before the exercise, or did they only become apparent after actually attempting the task? And what does this tell us about the identification of skills (to be developed/taught) for a given task?
• (If played as a team game) what were the opportunities and challenges in enabling the team to perform the task effectively? Consider and suggest a process which would enable an effective team approach to the task: What elements and principles from this are transferable to normal operations and team-working?
• Process improvement - what single tool or additional material (no larger than the width of the paper sheet) would achieve the greatest improvement to the result?

Incidentally the best technical approach to this task almost certainly requires the construction and use of connectable tubular rolled or triangular telescopic sections, made from lengthways strips of the sheet. Using this technique it is possible to make a tower at least three times higher than the length of the sheet. If you know better and/or have pictorial evidence of a better solution please send it to share with others on this webpage.

The exercise can be adapted to suit your situation, for example giving group members 15 minutes for the task and issuing an extra practice sheet of paper will increase the depth and complexity of the task and the review.

tree swing games (awareness and cooperation between teams, departments, divisions, corporations, nations, planets, etc)

In conjunction with the new collection of Businessballs tree swing cartoons, ask your people to draw tree swings to illustrate their own particular departmental culture/issues/challenges/priorities/relationships.

Or focus the exercise on illustrating the culture/style of competitors, suppliers, and any other significant internal or external group.

Focus especially on the differences in expectations between mutually depending groups. Ask people - what does each tree swing look like?

What does their own tree swing look like, and what tree swing do they expect of others? What sort of tree swing is expected of your team/department? And what can you best provide?

When you understand the differences it's easier to work on bridging them, so the differences have to be considered and shared first, or the gaps persist indefinitely.

Drawing - especially given an unusual perspective like the tree swing - is good for creativity and for exploring and sharing feelings and opinions - especially about gaps and matching expectations - which otherwise might not surface in normal discussions.

Rather like the poetry activities below, artistic tasks get people thinking in new ways.

Split the group into relevant teams - threes usually work well, although the exercise is adaptable for any numbers provided the team split reflects the development aims, and the exercises are facilitated to keep everyone involved.

Prompt ideas by showing the treeswing pictures, and then asking questions like:

• What would your department's tree swing look like?
• What would the (xyz) department's tree swing look like?
• What do our own customers want their tree swings to look like?
• What does head office expect your tree swing to look like?
• What would your own personal tree swing look like if you could make it any way you want (for the market, or for any other perspective that's relevant to the group - subject to guidance from the facilitator)?
• What does the boss's/teacher's tree swing look like? And what does your own tree swing look like?

The exercise does not aim to produce brilliant artwork - instead it aims to produce fresh thinking and simple visual ideas about the issues which cause outcomes to differ from expectations.

Successful work, business and organizations largely depend on matching needs and delivery in one way or another.

The tree swing provides a simple way to consider the differences between what's asked for, and what's provided, and then to explore which qualities in each are actually fair and valid, with a view to bridging the understanding and expectations gaps.

The activity is adaptable for young people in schools, as well as for grown-ups in any sort of work situation.

For everyone of course, there is also the opportunity to work with different media - even if it's just a few boxes of cheap coloured pencils from the pound shop.

As with so many of these self/mutual awareness activities, Johari Window is an excellent reference model.

poetry activities (poems exercises, creativity, icebreakers, johari awareness, thinking outside of the box, fresh perspectives)

Thursday 9 October is National Poetry Day in the UK, although you can be anywhere in the world to enjoy poetry.

Helpfully in 2008 the theme of National Poetry Day is WORK.

Poetry is great for creativity, fresh perspectives, and improving self/mutual awareness - (refer to Johari model).

Here are some ideas for bringing poetry into your workplace or school, whether for development activities or for the pure fun of it:

Icebreaker ideas/group discussion questions -

• Define the word 'poem'.
• Why is poetry appealing to us? It's just words, isn't it?...
• What is your favourite poem/extract/line and why? (Everybody can think of at least a line from a song..)
• Are all song lyrics poetry? Is rapping poetry?
• Could Desiderata be adapted to be a corporate/societal values statement? If so, how?
• Does Rudyard Kipling's poem If serve as a modern set of personal values? If not how would you change it?
• Can you suggest how the bereavement poem Do not Stand at My Grave and Weep has become so hugely popular around the world, and relate this popularity to the way society behaves?
• Is Philip Larkin's poem 'This Be The Verse' a valid perspective on society? And how do these notions relate to the responsibilities of developing others, to parenting, teaching, especially of young people? (Warning - the poem contains language that could offend - which gives rise to another discussion question about how the context of words and language determine the actual meaning and sense, far beyond the words themselves).

Other group ideas -

• Create a short poem for the purpose of promoting a product/service/department/initiative/educating/informing/memorising something/your team.
• Write a limerick about yourself/the organisation (agree the structure/rules of a limerick first).
• Write a haiku verse for a lesson/value/significant point in life or work (agree structure/rules of a haiku verse first).
• Issue a page of a newspaper to people working in pairs - ask them to re-structure any chosen paragraph of news into poetry, with or without changing the words.
• Same as above - changing the words into the style of Shakespeare/Chaucer/Byron, etc.

Individual ideas -

• Put a poem on your notice board or intranet, and see what happens.
• Send me a poem you've written about any aspect of work or personal development, etc., and I'll publish it on this website.
• Send me a poem about charisma - and enter the charisma definition competition.
• Next time you meet someone for the first time, ask them what they think about poetry, and see where the discussion takes you.

You will think of many more ideas for using poetry to add fresh perspective to work and play. Send your own ideas, and I'll add them here.

Incidentally the word poem is derived ultimately from the Greek word 'poema' (precisely 'póēma'), meaning 'thing made or created'. The word poet comes from Greek - poētēs - meaning 'maker'.

the 'what did you learn yesterday' exercise (icebreaker, self-development, life attitude, self-awareness, discussions about what learning and development means)

This is a powerful activity. Simple idea, and so potent.

Ask any group (to consider individually): What did you learn yesterday?

Review answers through discussion, brief statements, or presentations.

Optionally you can first establish what sort of learning qualifies to be mentioned, or leave that aspect open because it's obviously an interesting debate in itself which tends naturally to arise from the discussions prompted by the question.

Review angles:

• If you can't think of anything you learned yesterday, how far back do you need to go to find something?
• Was it learning for work, or life, or both - and what's the difference anyway?
• How did you learn it?
• How could you measure/quantify/apply it?
• How might you transfer it/teach it to someone else?
• What will change now you've learned it?
• What further learning does it prompt or enable?
• Can you analyse the learning in terms of the Kirkpatrick model?
• Can you analyse the learning in terms of Johari Window model?
• Can you analyse the learning in terms of Multiple Intelligences and/or VAK learning/thinking styles?
• What level of Maslow's theory does it impact?
• What aspect of Erikson's theory does it impact?
• What value would you put on it?
• What would you have paid to have learned it some while ago?
• What could you do to maximise the learning that naturally comes to you every day, for free?

You will think of lots more angles, and plenty more suggestions will arise in discussions.

Variations:

• What is the most useful thing you learned in the last week/month/year/previous life?
• What did you learn at the watercooler/pub after work/party at the weekend/on holiday?
• What did you learn on your social networking website when you should have been 'working'?
• What's the most valuable learning you've obtained in the past month/year and how did you get it?
• What's the most you've learned for the least cost/effort and the least you've learned from the most cost/effort?
• List an example of your own recent learning for each of the categories: skill, attitude, knowledge, experience. (See Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains for useful reference relating to this aspect, and the exercise as a whole.)

Larger groups can be split into smaller work teams to explore what teams have learned and the extent to which learning is shared and assimilated and applied.

(This exercise was inspired by a story which featured a reasonably famous autobiography about a father who always asked his children at the end of each day, "What did you learn today?", and this habit was said to have been very significant in forming the young person's positive approach to life and lifelong learning. If you know the book - I can't remember it - please tell me.)

tactical team shove ha'penny (icebreakers, teamworking, tactics, strategy, problem-solving, assessing and countering competitor threats)

Equipment: a table (at least four feet diameter) with a smooth surface, some coins, and (optionally) blu-tack, paper, colouring pens and scissors.

The activity also adapts as a larger-scale ball game on ground-level, explained at the end of this item.

Split the group to make at least two teams - maximum three people per team. Five teams of three per team is fine, so is four pairs or other similar splits. Size of teams, number of teams, and number of coins can all be adjusted to suit the situation. Increase the number of coins to increase the complexity and duration of the game, and to enable more players per team.

Issue each team at least six coins - ideally different sorts of coins, and ensure each team has the same number of similar coins. Different size coins create more tactical options.

Then, (optionally) instruct the team to create a team logo or emblem and to cut out and colour the shape and fix to their coins using the blu-tack, like a little sail. This is to make it easy to tell the difference between the teams when the coins are in play.

Otherwise, ensure that (when the coins are placed flat on the table) each team somehow differentiates their coins from the other teams. (For example if two teams are playing, one team can be heads and the other tails. Or you can issue coloured sticky spots or stars, etc.)

The object of the game is to shove the coins, one coin at a time, from the table edge, to create the closest grouping of coins on the table compared to the efforts of the other team(s).

Each coin should be moved once only by pushing it 'shove ha'penny'-style, using the pad of the hand at the base of the thumb: Place the coin (about a third of it) off the table edge, and strike it from the side against the edge of the table, using the pad of the hand.

The facilitator must be able to demonstrate this, and allow some practice for the teams to get used to the method and speed of the table, and for the teams to decide who in the team will do the shoving.

Rules:

1. The winning team is the team to achieve the most (of their own) coins grouped into a specified area, which can be designated and measured by the facilitator before play commences by cutting or tearing a hole in the middle of a sheet of paper, to use as a template. The smaller the area, the more difficult the game is made. Around 12 inches diameter is a reasonable target area. (Do not put the paper on the table; use the paper to measure how many coins are in the groupings at the end of the game. Groupings can be anywhere on the table provided no coin is closer than 12 inches from the table edge.)
2. Coin groupings must be at least 12 inches (30 cms) from the edge of the table (i.e., any coin closer to the edge of the table than 12 inches does not count towards the grouping).
3. Each coin can be shoved once only.
4. Coins may be shoved so as to move coins of own team, or teams may shove their coins to disrupt the groupings of other teams (which makes the game very tactical, and is reason for each team having similar coins since big heavy coins are generally advantageous and easier to use than small coins).
5. Teams take turns to shove and only one team may shove a coin at a time (although for icebreakers and big quick games a time limit can be given instead within which teams can shove their coins freely, which creates different tactical implications).
6. Toss a coin or draw lots to decide the order of play (which can be offered as a tactical option in its own right).
7. State a time limit for tactical discussions between shoves.

Review points:

• Choice between disrupting competitor and building own position.
• Strategy at beginning, and how it changed during the game.
• Different approach next time in light of experience?
• Strategic advantage in order of play?
• Were the types of coins used at the best times? (Larger coins can be more disruptive, which is useful at the end of the game, but they also help in the early stages to crate stopping points and positions of strength at the early parts of the game.)
• Effectiveness of team in considering strategic options and making decisions.
• Extent to which other teams' strategy was observed or anticipated.
• Fairness of result - element of luck versus skill.
• Name the 3-5 key capabilities that a winning team would need to perform consistently well at this game.
• Relative importance of strategy, tactical adjustment, decision-making, and skill - any other major factors?
• If you were the national coach for this game how would you coach a winning team?

N.B. Before the game the facilitator should consider especially the timing of this game. It can take a long time if you have lots of teams and lots of coins. To speed up the game and/or create a quick icebreaker exercise, split the group into pairs, issue three coins per person, and change the rules so that all coins must be shoved in no order (a free-for-all basically) and the game completed within 30 seconds. This format has different tactical implications.

Bigger groups, more teams, and more coins, all require a bigger table.

Bigger scale indoor or outdoor versions of this game are possible using coloured tennis balls on a playground or a suitably marked floor or grass area, in which case a hula-hoop serves as an ideal measuring template.

ageing society exercise (icebreaker, creative analytical thinking, trends, forecasting, ageism, demographics)

The aim of the exercise is to get people thinking creatively and analytically.

The subject is how the increasing proportion of older people in society will change the world, but actually the subject can be about any large-scale trend.

The activity will prompt the use of visioning and imagination, and the consideration of big system changes, consequences, causes and effects.

In the case of an ageing society these changes are already upon us, so it's not a hypothetical exercise. The activity obviously also encourages people to think about ageism and age equality issues.

Specifically ask group members to consider and decide what they believe will be the single greatest effect in the next 1/2/3/5 years of the ageing population on their area of activity/responsibility/market-place - or on society generally - (years and area of impact decided by the facilitator, depending on the interests/responsibilities of the group).

The views of the group members can be discussed or presented or debated depending on the facilitator's aims and constraints of the session.

Review points can include:

• collective group decision as to the most perceptive suggestion
• what suggestions are the most visionary and forward-seeing
• how different suggestions might impact on each other
• the extent to which group members suggestions and views differ according to age of the group members
• early evidence or indicators of the reliability of each/any of the predictions
• what information is lacking for more reliable predictions
• where information might be found if required
• what differs about this type of thinking compared to day-to-day decisions (proactive deeper thinking compared to reactive shallow)
• whether drawing diagrams and/or discussing and/or any other methods assist this sort of thinking (for example, is this sort of deeper complex proactive thinking easier when more senses are stimulated, or when more people consider and share ideas?)
• does this exercise teach us anything about the power of thought as a way to anticipate and develop solutions/responses to situations rather than simply waiting for things to happen?
• do the collective views of the group seem to support (or not) the notion of 'the wisdom of crowds'.
• is effective forecasting and predicting of far-reaching effects chiefly based on creative imagination or analytical logic, or equally both?
• to what or particularly relevant or local trends could we usefully apply the same thinking?

Exercise variables at the discretion of the facilitator:

• thinking/preparation time (icebreaker requires 2-3 mins - bigger exercises could extent to 30 mins or more preparation time)
• group members to work individually, in pairs or threes, or as two debating teams
• people could be asked to suggest two or three effects, not just a single effect
• method of presenting suggestions - discussion, presentation, debate, diagrams, role-play?... anything else? use your imagination
• the main subject can be varied to focus on any other significant trend - for example: increasing world population, increasing power of new economies (China, India, Brazil, etc), advancing technology (in any market), energy costs and demand, gender or ethnic trends, etc.

political qualification game (job skills, training, competence - and many other issues relating to competence and suitability)

Appreciating fundamental issues of competence and job profiling necessary for determining suitability, training and qualifications is quite a dry subject.

It can be brought to life by applying the thinking to a different situation - different from normal work.

Here's the exercise (in pairs or threes, or a discussion group):

Imagine you are responsible establishing a professional qualification or NVQ for a politician.

A parliamentary MP, or a government minister, or perhaps the prime minister.

Agree/nominate parliamentary role(s) as appropriate for the exercise.

• What competencies would the job require?

If helpful structure your answer in terms of skills, knowledge, attitude/behaviour/personality style, experience.

• How might these be defined, measured and tested?
• How might a professional qualification be structured and accredited?

And a couple of bigger questions of a more philosophical nature if you have time for them:

• Why in actual fact does the job of a politician escape all normal requirements of professional accreditation?
• And might this explain why politicians are arguably so incompetent compared to their counterparts in industry?

The facilitator can adapt this basic idea for group size, timings, and the precise training aspects of job profiling and candidate selection, development, qualification, etc., as will fit the group's needs and interests.

(Incidentally if anyone comes up with constructive and enlightened answers to the last two questions I'd love to see them..)

positive behaviour exercise (understanding positive behaviour/behavior concepts, karma, law of attraction, etc)

'moneygram' activity/icebreaker (expressing and sharing perceptions about organizations, structures, systems, etc - and creativity sessions and teamworking)

This flexible activity is based on using coins to create a 'picture' or diagram of an organizational system or structure which is relevant to the group's work or learning.

The subject(s) chosen for the 'moneygrams' (coin pictures) are at the facilitator's discretion, and/or can be suggested by groups, depending on the situation.

For example, a subject could be a team, department, division, or an entire corporation, or a market including suppliers, customers, competitors, etc. Or a school, college, a community or an industry sector, or even a region or country, or view of the world.

If the main aim is to express/share perceptions of a work or business structure, then the choice of structure is obviously is significant, and the facilitator should ensure a suitable choice. If the main aim is instead to get people working creatively together (for instance young people in school, or a creative workshop session) then the choice of structure is not significant, aside from something that the group will find interesting, and the facilitator can allow the group to choose a structure for their 'moneygram'.

The room layout must enable people to make a display on a table or floor and for others to see the display clearly, or for the whole group to work around on a single large display on a table.

Coins are of course various values, sizes, colours, years and designs - both sides - and can be stacked, and some stood on their edges. As such coins are potentially a really interesting medium for creating pictures/patterns/diagrams which express ideas and themes of all sorts. The exercise provides a completely different way (unlike normal words, discussion, diagrams, etc) for people to interpret and present their own view of a particular situation. This enables a tactile, fresh, liberating and more objective way for people to express and share their perceptions.

The facilitator obviously needs to consider and decide the best way to equip the group with sufficient 'materials' (coins) for the activities. For example a mature adult group could be asked to use the coins from their own pockets and purses. A less mature group should ideally have the coins provided by the facilitator.

Complex themes and big require lots of coins. Happily 1p and 2p copper coins very inexpensive materials - in fact probably cheaper than plastic counters and play-money nowadays - and it's useful to have a plentiful supply of coppers, or whatever is your currency equivalent. Foreign coins add international interest and diversity if you have some. If the situation allows, you can ask group members to bring in their piggy banks. The creative use of banknotes, cheques and credit cards is not recommended for obvious reasons. Messing around with loose change carries few risks; bigger values are not appropriate for play materials.

If you have any doubts about using real money in the exercise then playing cards can be used instead, which offers another perspective and different interpretations.

Be mindful of the time available for the activity and limit the complexity of the subjects accordingly. You cannot expect anyone to map out the global commodities market or the future of the world wide web in a five minute icebreaker with a pocketful of change.

See also the organizational modelling activity (teambuilding games page 1), and the baking foil modelling games (this page below) which take slightly different approaches to the same idea.

The Johari Window is a useful reference model by which to explain and review the benefits and issues surrounding mutual awareness and perceptions.

The money slang and history page offers some entertaining facts and trivia on the subject.

As with any exercise much of the value comes from reviewing and discussing the issues arising from the learning experience, and where relevant encouraging people to determine their own preferred reactions. See the notes on experiential learning for additional guidance in this regard. An activity of this nature will tend to highlight various opportunities for future clarification and follow-up actions, especially for work-team leaders.

new world exercise (ice-breaker, or bigger exercise for leadership/team roles, multiple intelligences, life skills, analysis and reaction)

This is a flexible and fascinating scenario-based activity for groups up to 12 people and all ages. Split larger groups into teams and adapt presentations and reviews accordingly. Schools could potentially develop various extensions to this activity.

Ask the delegates to discuss in a group and answer the following question:

Scenario: Imagine the world suffered a catastrophic event like a meteor strike, plague or nuclear war, which destroyed most human life and all of the developments of the past century. A mixed group (age, gender, ethnicity, religion) of a few hundred lucky people has survived (it's helpful to agree where - anywhere - because location will influence some aspects of the approach to the question).

Question: If this group is to thrive and develop, what initial leadership structure would you suggest, stating 6-12 key roles? (Optionally and ideally ask delegates to justify their suggestions.)

Agree timings and presentation/review in whatever ways are useful to the delegates. The number of roles can be the same as the number of delegates, especially if you choose to extend the activity.

The exercise can be extended by adding any of the following supplementary questions, which can (optionally) be approached as if the delegates are the survivors leadership team, allocated the key roles identified.

Roles can be allocated via volunteering or some other group process, at the facilitator's discretion.

Optional supplementary questions:

• What basic laws would you introduce for the group of survivors?
• As the leadership team, what would be your ten immediate main aims?
• What 3-5 main difficulties would you expect in leading the group and how would you try to handle these challenges?
• What lessons from the modern world would you find most valuable in rebuilding the new world?
• What would be your five main medium-long term aims?

You - and/or the delegates - will be able to devise further questions relevant to your own training/learning situation.

There are potentially thousands of useful reference sources which can be incorporated within an exercise like this, really anything you are currently seeking to bring to life and provide context for application. Here are a few examples:

• Tuckman's team/group development model
• Multiple Intelligences theory
• Erikson's life stages model
• Fisher's change model
• Kubler-Ross's grief/bereavement model
• Delegation
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
• SWOT analysis

The activity is very flexible. It can be shortened to a two-minute icebreaker, simply to agree the 6-10 roles, or expanded to incorporate all sorts of issues and reference models and tools, depending on the development aims and needs of the delegates.

To shorten the exercise into a quick icebreaker simply state the scenario and ask delegates to take 1-2 minutes to think of 3-6 leadership roles. Then quickly gather and count the suggestions on a flip chart or wipeboard, and close with a quick review of the most popularly suggested team roles. Relate to Multiple Intelligence theory or Belbin's team roles theory or another suitably relevant team roles/skills reference model.

helium stick games (team building, assumptions, organising tasks, problem-solving)

This is a classic teambuilding game, and an amusing exercise around which to design icebreakers.

For teams of three upwards, subject to the type and length of 'stick' used in the activity.

This explanation includes games variations, and very easily improvised ideas for the stick equipment - as the facilitator you do not need to buy anything.

The basic exercise requires all team members to:

• support a long stick or tube - each person using one finger
• lower the stick to the ground
• with no fingers losing contact with the tube.

The tendency is for the stick to rise, hence the name of the exercise, because the collective force used to keep fingers in contact with the stick is greater than the gravitational force (weight) of the stick. For this reason use a stick for the exercise that is light enough for this effect to occur, given the number of people in the team. For example a broomstick is too heavy for a team of three people, but would be fine for a team of ten. See the suggestions for stick types per team size below.

Other rules and guidelines:

• The stick (or any alternative item being lifted) must be rigid and not too heavy to outweigh the initial 'lift' tendency of the team size. If it's not rigid it makes it easy for team members to maintain finger-contact.
• Start with the stick at about chest height.
• Team members can be positioned either on one or both sides of the stick - depending on stick length and team numbers.
• The team must return the stick to the starting position if any finger loses contact with the stick.
• The stick must rest on fingers - the stick cannot be grasped or pinched or held in any way.
• Typically teams are instructed to rest the stick on the outside (nail-side or 'backs') of fingers, however specifying a side of the finger is not critical to the activity.
• Optionally you can instruct that a finger from each hand is used, which increases the lifting effect and the difficulty of the task. The length of the stick and the number of team members are also factors in this, i.e., two fingers per person requires a longer stick.
• Clarify the point at which the stick is considered 'lowered to the ground' - underside of fingers or hands touching the ground is easier to monitor than actually depositing the stick onto the ground, which depending on the ground surface can be very tricky.
• There are many ways of improvising sticks. Some people use inter-connecting tent-poles, but these are too heavy for very small teams (the gravitational force is greater than the collective lift, which makes the task too easy). Use your imagination - any rigid lightweight stick or tube will do, and if you can't improvise a stick then other materials and shapes can be used instead, as described below.
• Team size of just three people is not ideal - the activity works best with six to a dozen per team, or even more subject to having a stick long enough. Teams of three would be used mainly for splitting a group of six or nine when a competitive element is required.
• The bigger the team, the longer the activity will take to complete successfully. This is an important point - for example given a limited time you'd be better splitting a group of twenty into two or three teams rather than run the risk of failing to complete the task, which is not great for teambuilding or for creating a successful mood.
• Two fingers per person (one finger each hand) creates more lifting effect and challenge but requires a longer stick than one finger per team member.
• Positioning team members on both sides of the stick enables bigger teams, but can make it more difficult for the facilitator to monitor finger-contact.

Games variations:

• Split large groups into teams, each team with their own stick, and have a race between the teams for the first to lower the stick to the ground. Watch for cheating. If appropriate appoint and rotate observers for say three rounds or a knockout contest.
• Use a suitably sized square or other shape of cardboard instead of a stick. This achieves a closer team grouping for large teams and adds a different element to the activity if team members already know the stick activity. Cut a big hole in the shape ideally so you can monitor finger-contact.
• Use a hoopla hoop instead of a stick - a hoop also offers better visibility than a sheet of cardboard.
• Start with the stick (or whatever else is used) at ground height, raise it to shoulder height and lower it back to the ground. The challenge is stopping it rising beyond shoulder height when it gets there.
• Issue two sticks per team - one finger for each stick - very challenging.
• Mix up the teams for different rounds to explore the dynamics of working in a new team even after all members understand the challenge and the solution.
• Just before starting the exercise ask team members to press down hard with their outstretched fingers onto the edge of a table for 30 or 60 seconds. This confuses the brain still further and increases the tendency for the stick to rise.

Ideas for sticks and team sizes (rough guides):

• joined-together drinking straws (3-6 people)
• houseplant sticks (3-6)
• kite struts (3-6)
• rolled sheet(s) of newspaper (3-10)
• straightened-out wire coat-hangers (6-10)
• wooden dowel rods (6-12 - cheap from most hardware stores)
• bamboo poles (5-20 people)
• telescopic or interconnecting fishing rods (6-20 people or more)
• inter-connecting tent poles or gazebo poles (6-20 people or more)
• drain clearer/chimney-sweeping rods (10-30 people)

Review points examples:

• Why did the stick rise when we wanted it to go down?
• Did we anticipate the problem?
• How did we fix the problem?
• Having achieved the task with this team was it/would it be easier/as difficult with a different team?
• How did we feel when fingers lost contact?
• What are the effects of time pressures and competition?
• How might we coach or prepare others to do this task?
• And countless other possibilities, many of which you'll see while running the exercises.

As a facilitator use your imagination. The 'helium stick' exercise is amusing and effective its basic format, and can be adapted in many ways to support many different themes related to team-working and problem-solving.

david davis resignation speech

The remarkable 12 June 2008 David Davis resignation speech provides a wonderful unfolding case study for all sorts of teaching and training areas.

See the discussion examples, tips and clip on the training clips page.

secrets of success exercises (ice-breakers, demonstration and discussion of what enables business success)

This activity takes about three minutes in its basic form and requires just a flip chart or equivalent.

Ask the group to take a few seconds to think (silently and individually) of someone they know who is successful in business. Tell the group that they do not need to name the person they are thinking of.

Then ask the group to think (again silently and individually) :

"What is it about that person that enables them to be successful?"

After ten or twenty seconds, ask the group to call out the words they are thinking of.

Write the words on the flip chart.

When you have about eight or more words on the flip chart, ask the group for their comments and observations about the words.

Specifically:

"What type of characteristics are (most of) these words?"

The answer every time is that the words will mostly or entirely describe attitudinal characteristics. Not skills, not knowledge, and not experience. The words will always largely represent attitudinal factors.

Develop the discussion in whatever way suits your purposes and session.

With positive attitude we can do anything. Attitude also governs how we develop skills, knowledge and experience. Attitude - in whatever way works best for each of us, because we are all different - is the singlemost important factor for success in anything.

The exercise most obviously relates to demonstrating the enabling factors for business success, but the factors and exercise can be applied to any other success in life too.

This basic activity is a simple quick controlled exercise led by a facilitator using a flip chart, but the idea can be developed in many ways to add extra interest, group interaction, and depth, for example:

• For large groups split into teams of three. Ask each person to identify three success factors. Ask each team of three to produce a list of the top three factors identified within their team. Display and compare the top three results across all teams.
• Ask half of the group to think of a successful man, and the other half to think of a successful woman. Compare the identified characteristics for men and women. Link the findings to style and personal strengths and effectiveness, and potentially to discussion about gender and equality.
• Take similar approach to illustrate and compare characteristics of successful people in different age brackets. This can be linked to discussions and issues concerning ageism and age discrimination.
• Take a similar approach for illustrating characteristics of successful people according to any other relevant way of categorising people (to your situation or session aims).
• Apply the exercise to identify success characteristics of teams or companies.

Useful reference models and materials are Blooms Taxonomy (to appreciate the difference between different types of personal development), Erikson's Life Stages Theory and Personality Models (to help understand what influences our attitudes). Also NLP and Transactional Analysis are useful models to help understand how it is possible to change our attitudes.

change exercises (illustrating and experiencing dealing with change)

Here are some simple quick ideas to help demonstrate the brain's reaction to change. They are based on having to accomplish a simple everyday task in a different way:

• do left-handed a simple task normally done right-handed (or vice-versa)
• blindfolded or with eyes shut (be mindful of safety issues)
• outside (instead of indoors - maybe even in the rain/wind - which tends to create radically different circumstances)
• in pairs (when normally the task is one person's - like using a pair of scissors - which highlights pressures resulting from team changes)
• by someone other than oneself, to oneself (which highlights fears around personal control and trust)
• upside-down against a wall being supported by a colleague (task and trust pressures)
• turn the task upside-down (for example a keyboard - strangeness, unfamiliarity and re-learning pressures)

Examples of simple tasks to which the above alternative methods might be applied (where safety and practicability allows):

• cutting paper shapes with scissors
• tossing a ball of paper into a bin
• typing on a keyboard
• cracking an egg into a bowl
• making a cup of tea or coffee or a sandwich
• writing or drawing
• using mobile phone
• putting a wristwatch onto the opposite arm
• applying make-up or tying a neck-tie
• tasks involving counting, sorting or building things (playing cards are ideal for all of these)

Not all tasks can be matched with all methods, for example making a cup of tea blindfolded is not very safe. Using a keyboard outside in the rain is neither safe nor practicable. Use your imagination and common sense to devise interesting and memorable combinations.

Different methods (types of change) create different pressures - on different parts of the brain - and these effects vary according to the individual.

It does not matter that the methods are mostly ridiculous - the point is to demonstrate and experience the different pressures of different types of change.

Observe and review how different people react in different ways to different methods. We do not react to change in the same ways. Empathy for other people's feelings is therefore crucial in managing change affecting other people. Motivational and attitudinal models such as those developed by Maslow and Erikson help explain why people react differently to change. One person might feel terribly threatened by a certain change which another person can take in their stride. Personality has a big affect too, for example, steady dependable people can find change more challenging than spontaneous intuitive people.

Change of any sort is difficult ultimately when:

• change requires the brain to overcome fear (of failure and self-doubt, etc) and uncertainty of the change itself (which can be extreme for certain people/personalities), and
• change requires the brain (and often the body too) to learn something new, or to re-learn or accept something in a different way.

Change can be especially frustrating if it involves re-learning something which under a previous method or system was achievable competently (see conscious competence model) - because the brain can imagine and remember being competent, which can cause a sense of loss or failure relative to past experience.

The tasks and different methods above a just a few examples. You will think of many others more suitable to your own situation.

There are many more activities on this website which address change from more of a mental perspective instead of the physical examples above. Johari Window activities address a particularly useful aspect of change, i.e., self-awareness and exposure to other people's impressions of self.

charades icebreaker (session warm-ups, icebreakers, creativity, alternative sources of ideas and inspiration)

This icebreaker or exercise combines the traditional charades party game with thinking about work/management (or any other) principles, the central themes and meanings within them, and the value of using non-verbal themes ('vehicles') in conveying an idea, concept, etc.

The activity is relevant for any group with roles or interests in training, teaching, team-leading, coaching, presenting, advertising, marketing, design, and communications generally.

Basically the exercise is for group members individually to think of and then silently 'act out' a song, a film, a book or a play, etc., which illustrates a particular aspect of work, business or management, or any other key message relevant to the group.

The exercise teaches and practises the method of using a vehicle (in this case a book/play/song/film - or other categories if you wish) to convey (and illustrate and emphasize) a message (or a concept or any other important communication).

It's for young people as well as grown-ups, and encompasses many of the 'multiple intelligences' - potentially connecting bodily/artistic/musical with logical/language/interpersonal capabilities.

The task concentrates people's minds on the central message and meaning within their chosen principle, and also prompts thought and discussion about using themes and different media and senses to reinforce or deliver an important message, as distinct from using words alone, which are often not the most powerful or memorable way to convey an important point.

The sequence of the activity is:

1. Think of a simple message or rule or principle of management/business/or other relevant function.
2. Now think of a book or a play or a film or a song which represents this principle - the 'vehicle' which carries the message.
3. Next think how you can act this book/play/song/film silently to the group, using only gestures (as in the party game charades).
4. Finally each member is given a minute to perform their charade to the group in turn, while the group has to guess the book/play/song/film, and (not so easy) the principle that the 'vehicle' represents.

The task also demonstrates the value of using simple clear themes and communications - especially non-verbal signals - that an audience (staff, customers, or any other target audience) can readily relate to and recognize, without the need for lots of explanation and description.

If necessary brainstorm and agree the rules for charades, or prepare a rules sheet and issue it, so that everyone has an equal chance for the charades stage of the activity. Here is wikipedia's charades rules. You can use a much shorter set of rules to speed up the exercise, since the point of the activity is to think about themes and messages rather than become experts at charades.

You can also award points to group members and to performers for correct guesses of book/play/song/film, and for close and correct guesses of the principles represented.

The activity can be run as a much quicker icebreaker by removing the charades element, and simply asking group members for their suggested themes and vehicles rather than acting them out.

seasonal icebreaker (session warm-up, icebreaker, discussion-starter for virtually any work-related subject)

For groups of between four and twenty people - minimum eight ideally.

Duration of activity is between five and fifteen minutes, although the exercise can be extended if further discussion is warranted, for example if exploring implications of issues arising.

Split the group into four teams.

Draw lots to allocate a season to each team: Spring, Summer, Autumn (Fall), Winter.

The task for each team to identify as many seasonal factors related to and influential upon work/business/sales/customer-service/HR/recruitment/training (or any other function relevant to the group, at the discretion of the facilitator) for their allocated season.

Give a time limit for the task - anything between a minute and five minutes will be okay. Of course you can give longer if you want to make the exercise more challenging and strategic, rather than seeking quick headline points as would apply for a speedy icebreaker.

Organise/facilitate presentations and discussion accordingly.

This extremely flexible exercise encourages and enables thinking and subsequent discussion about how situations, demands, needs, priorities, etc., change according to circumstances (predictable events, trends, etc).

Discussion can be extended to the implications of the identified effects and how to deal with them.

The principle - using seasonal perspectives - obviously focuses on seasonal factors, but can be used to emphasise the need for awareness and adaptability in management, planning, self-motivation and awareness, etc., in relation to all types of changes in causal and influential factors.

The more we think about what is likely to happen, then the easier we can plan, and the fewer surprises we have.

dice exercise (sales planning, marketing, sales strategy, selling effectiveness, time management, maximising your productivity)

N.B. Die is singular for dice not plural, as I ridiculously stated when I first posted this item, (thanks M Burgess).

This is a quick simple activity for a meeting or training session. The activity illustrates some important lessons.

Approach a salesperson (or person with similar responsibilities) with a handful of dice. Hold out the dice, handing just one to the person. Avoid encouraging them to take the other dice.

Then ask them to throw six 'sixes' in thirty seconds to achieve success or win a small prize, while you (as the facilitator) continue holding the remaining dice in your open hand.

Expect the thrower to build up to frenzied activity as you count down the seconds aloud.

Some succeed, some don't. The lessons of the exercise are in the review.

The learning points are:

• The chances of hitting sixes increase with the number of throws - a big part of selling is a numbers game, in which percentages and ratios are significant. So why not throw quickly from the start to increase your chances? Why wait for the deadline to increase energy levels?
• The thrower could have asked for more dice. (As the facilitator explain in the review that you would have given them more if asked.) Obviously the more dice being thrown, the more sixes are likely to appear. We can expand our range or opportunities by simply thinking how to maximise our effectiveness at the outset of a task. We can ask ourselves (and others) when we approach a new project - What other ways and potential exist? For example, working together in a business to look for cross sales for other departments. And looking for additional distribution methods and market sectors, which can also dramatically increase potential.
• Also, (prior to the exercise) the facilitator can doctor some of the dice to have an extra six. The facilitator keeps the doctored dice among those retained in the hand. Use correction fluid to make extra dots - fours and twos easily convert to sixes. These doctored dice represent the availability and neglect of methods which offer better returns than the initial assumption, or 'received wisdom'. This demonstrates the value of research, and perhaps testing, of methods and targets which produce a better rate of success.

You will uncover more examples related to your own situation which will arise from this powerful yet simple little exercise.

Chiefly the exercise is for sales people, but can be used for anyone with responsibility to plan how to use their time, and especially how best to direct their efforts in order to maximise results and rewards.

Anyone with average skills can easily out-perform the most skilful operator if they target their effort more strongly and effectively.

Success does not only depend on what you do. Success depends mostly on where and how determinedly you do it.

Note: Technically 'die' is the singular for dice, and dice is the plural, as in the famous expression 'The die is cast', which is an interesting item of trivia, not least because it is also connected to the expression 'crossing the Rubicon', if people are likely to be interested.

Thanks to R Chapman (no relation), for the contribution of this excellent exercise.

shoe-wear and foot wear (icebreaker exercise, discussion about self-awareness, different people-types, johari-type development)

Mind and body are connected.

Here are some simple quick questions to prompt thought and discussion about that notion. The activity is useful as an icebreaker especially because it is active and usually humorous.

Look at the backs of the heels of your shoes. Do you wear your heels down on the inside or the outside, or in the middle? Is the wear the same for each foot?

To what extent is there a relationship between our personality and the way we walk? And additionally (or alternatively), how does our footwear reflect us as individuals?

Discuss with other people your and their reactions to these questions.

The facilitator can organize the groups, feedback, discussion, etc., to suit the situation. The Johari Window model is helpful in explaining the value of self- and mutual-awareness.

Discussion can be developed in various ways. 'Nature versus Nurture' (genes v upbringing) is often an interesting perspective when considering what makes us the way that we are. Also, the subject of our feet has several strong emotional and cultural connections, which can raise interesting questions about human behaviour and feelings from various angles.

Other ways to develop ideas about mind-body connections, for self-awareness and awareness of other people; types, personalities, styles, attitudes, needs, etc:

• graphology (handwriting analysis) - including self-assessment instrument
• multiple intelligence theory and learning styles - also including self-assessment instruments
• personality theories - within which the four temperaments is a great introduction which everyone can relate to
• self-hypnosis/visualisation exercise - adapt the format to suit your purposes
• stress management - many mind-body aspects
• and for young people especially - fantasticat

N.B. Given the nature of this subject, the facilitator should consider any potential discrimination implications.

how many 'f's?... (icebreakers, assumptions, checking details, the mind plays tricks, seeing is not always a basis for believing)

A quick puzzle with various uses.

See "How Many Fs?" on the puzzles page.

'a senseable friend' cards activities (icebreakers, problem-solving, creative thinking, hidden issues, johari, etc)

'sell a region' diversity game (diversity awareness, teambuilding, presentations, research, understanding other cultures)

For group sizes of nine and upwards ideally. A group of eight split into four pairs is probably the minimum. Whatever, split the group into the teams you'd like to work together. Team sizes can be between two and five people. Teams of three generally work well. For larger events bigger teams will work well, subject to finding roles for everyone. Consider the total presentation time available and the total group size to arrive at optimum size of teams.

For example - three teams of three would be fine for a small group event, or ten groups of five would be okay for a conference. For groups of more than 50 you can devise supporting roles (coordinator, props, equipment, MC, scheduler, creative, etc) within teams to enable bigger team sizes.

This activity requires that people are given time before the event to research and prepare. It is possible to run the exercise in a 'lite' version by offering research facilities at the event, but the benefits of the activity are much increased if people and teams have the opportunity to discover information.

The exercise can also be adapted for individuals to work alone, and could potentially be used in a group selection recruitment event, in which case group members people should be given time for research and preparation before the presentation day. A smaller group size, say four or five people, is viable for the exercise if based on individual presentations.

Having determined the teams, allocate a part of the world to each team (logically relating to the regions/countries that chiefly feature in your diversity issues) - or invite the the teams to choose their own countries/regions, subject to your guidelines and situation.

Each team's task is to prepare and then deliver a team presentation 'selling' their region to the group or conference, imagining the audience to be seeking a holiday home or the holiday of a lifetime.

Team members are responsible for researching and preparing the following aspects for their presentation. The number of aspects is variable and at the facilitator's discretion, and should ensure there is sufficient for each team member to be involved:

• leisure and sport
• entertainment
• history and culture
• food and drink
• places to visit
• language and custom
• industry and commerce
• transport and travel
• people and places
• connections with other parts of the world
• amazing facts you never knew about (the region/country)

During the presentations, for which you should issue appropriate timescales, the members of the conference or group vote on the best presentations according to pre-announced criteria (examples below), and as an additional incentive you can ask each team to buy a prize (representing their region up to a stipulated value, depending on your budget.

The winners of each category can choose their prize from the pool.

Awards categories examples:

• overall Wow! factor
• presentation style and quality
• star presenter
• specialist categories according to above presentation criteria, e.g., best historical item, best entertainment item, best amazing fact, etc.

The activity offers lots of flexibility for adaptation to suit your particular circumstances and development aims. It challenges people to discover new positive things about other parts of the world, to work in teams, and then to share their discoveries with the group.

A neat addition to the exercise, if the situation allows, is to appoint some team members as roving 'cultural advisors' to other teams if among the group you have people with background or knowledge in the allocated regions, and if you are very clever you could actually select and allocate the regions with this in mind. To achieve a competitive balance each team should be able both to offer an adviser and to benefit from the help of an advisor from another team.

This exercise can also be adapted to provide a more modern and meaningful interpretation of the desert island or plane crash stranded survival exercise, which essentially encourages group members to identify resources and to formulate a plan of action.

To do this, adapt the presentation instructions thus:

Purpose of the presentation: to identify a plan for surviving and thriving on a personal or business level (in your allocated region/country).

This obviously does not carry the aspect of desperation present in the traditional 'stranded' exercise - instead it gets people focusing on real issues of diversity and personal challenge in a more useful sense.

animal perceptions exercise (self-awareness, team discussions and mutual awareness, johari-type development)

This is a simple, enjoyable and thought-provoking activity for workshops and team-building. This exercise should be positioned as mostly fun and to prompt reflection, discussion, etc. It is not to be presented or used as a scientific assessment of personality or attitude, and certainly not as an assessment of good or poor skills or temperament.

I am grateful for its contribution by Shwetha Singh, a post-graduate in psychology, Punjab University, India.

Ideally start the activity with some discussion about how other people affect one's own self-perceptions - for example:

"How do significant people in our lives affect the way we perceive ourselves?"

This discussion should prompt people to think about their own self-perceptions.

Next, ask group members individually to rank the animals below in order of their personal preference.

Group members do not need to reveal their chosen order, but may do so if happy to in the subsequent discussion.

When group members have decided and written their list of the four animals in order of preference, you can then reveal the key for interpreting the results.

You must emphasise that this is mostly for fun and to stimulate reflection and discussion. People may keep their preferences and interpretations private if they wish.

Some discussion points:

• To what extent do we shape our self-image and aims according to the influence and opinions of other people?
• To what extent do we understand how we are actually regarded by others?
• To what extent does what other people think of us matter?
• Should the influence of other people today affect what we seek to be in the future?
• If you could list different animals - or substitute people/role-models instead - what would the list be and what might it tell you about yourself?
• Whether the exercise produces accurate results is not the point - the point is to encourage thinking about who we are and who we want to be, in more depth than we normally consider these things.
• The Johari Window model is a useful reference for this exercise and surrounding discussions.

Underpinning theory and further reading if desired: Carl Rogers' ideas about Ideal Self and Real Self, and Sigmund Freud's theories, notably relating to animal personalization and influences of significant others (people in our lives).

I am grateful to Shwetha Singh for the contribution of this exercise and assistance with its adaptation. This exercise is not presented as a validated or scientific instrument. Please use it carefully.

christmas quizzes

Free Christmas quizzes - Quizballs 48 (30 questions and answers) - and last year's Quizballs 29 (20 questions and answers)

listening games (listening, interpretation, understanding, speaking, creativity)

Exercise 1. First here is a quick self-contained ready-made listening exercise (ack Claire Leach) which focuses on listening only.

Exercise 2. The activity which follows is different to the ready-made game above - it enables a group to devise their own exercises and therefore includes aspects of creativity and team working in addition to listening.

This second exercise is an activity idea chiefly for demonstrating and developing listening, understanding and interpretation abilities, but also for general communications and creative and competitive team working.

Split the group into two or more teams of up to five people per team. Split larger groups into more teams and adapt the exercise accordingly - it's very flexible.

Each team member (or a given number of people per team) must read out a passage from a newspaper or other suitably detailed text to the opposing team or teams.

Rotate the reading around the teams in turn rather than have each team perform all its readings one after the other.

Teams must listen to the readings so as to answer questions later, posed by the team asking the questions. Taking written notes while listening is optional at the discretion of the facilitator. If useful and relevant to the skills required then include this aspect.

When all the passages have been read, each team must then devise and ask the other team 5/10/20 questions in turn about the passages they've read.

Optionally the questions can be devised before the readings, which makes the listening challenge easier since there is no interruption or distraction between the readings and the questions.

The winning team is the one to answer most answers correctly. The facilitator can award bonus points for answers which demonstrate particularly good interpretation of the subject matter included in the readings.

Adjust the many variables of this activity to suit your situation, notably: structure teams number and size, number of readers, length of passages, number of questions, etc., according to time and group size, and level of difficulty required.

Here's an example:

• group of 10
• two teams of 5 people
• 3 readers per team (self-appointed by teams)
• passages to be max 100 words or 30 seconds
• 5 mins allowed for teams to decide passages (newspapers contain ideal content)
• 3 mins total time for reading the six passages
• 5 mins for teams to construct 5 questions based on their passages
• 5 mins to ask and answer 10 questions, 5 questions each team, asked/answered alternately one from each team
• winning team is team with most correct answers/points including bonuses
• total time including set up, excluding review and discussion, about 30 mins

The activity format can be varied too, for example breaking the questioning and answering into two different sections, so that teams have a chance to work on their answers, which adds the extra difficulty of noting or remembering the questions properly too.

Introduce more fun or additional technical aspects by issuing amusing or obscure or very specific reading material.

money exercise (ice-breaker, talking point, focus on observation, taking things for granted, noticing things right in front of us)

This is a quick and very easy ice-breaker or scene-setter.

Everyone uses money - notes and coins - most days of their lives. Coins and banknotes are a part of our lives, and yet like other vital and ever-present aspects of our lives, their familiarity and constant presence cause us to ignore their details.

The same can be said of our friends, our families, colleagues, our own bodies, the world around us. We go through life taking it all for granted, and only miss something when it is gone.

To illustrate the point ask people (individually to write down) how many designs they are aware of on a pound coin. In countries other than the UK choose a suitable equivalent coin or banknote which has many variations.

Then ask people to look in their pockets and purses (manbags?... the world is changing, another story..), and show and tell as a group how many actual different pound coin designs exist. You will be surprised.

Arguably no harm comes from failing to appreciate the detail, variety and subtlety and purpose of all the designs of our coins or banknotes, but could we pay (pun intended) more attention to the detail, variety and subtlety that exists in other aspects of our world - people especially? The world opens to us when we become more open ourselves to what and who are in it - then we see more clearly the opportunities and bigger priorities we might have been ignoring. Ask the person next to you: "Tell me something important about you that I don't know." Again you will be surprised. With a little effort we can see and enable more to happen, or we merely continue (quite understandably) to focus on our own very narrow priorities and view of the world, which when we take a wider view often don't seem to be so important after all. The picture shows nine of the pound coin designs. How many others can you find? What do they denote? There are fourteen in circulation (as at 2007). See the Royal Mint pound coin page for full details. For more supporting trivia and information about (mainly British) money see the money history and slang page.

conkers and acorns activities (various themes for discussions and exploration)

A seasonal activity if ever there was one. These ideas are more for young people than for grown-up work environments, although for some there will be connections with work issues. Usefulness and effectiveness will partly depend on openness to intuitive learning and exploration. Various exercises and opportunities arise from these fascinating fruits, for example:

• Take the group outside to the local park and have them collect conkers and/or acorns. Fresh air and a nostalgic revisiting of simple childhood fun is good for the soul. Be careful if the (big) boys want to throw big sticks up into the trees.
• Trees are very spiritual and symbolic of many modern issues and challenges, and can be used to prompt all sorts of discussions and ideas. Time, maturity, age, seasons, growth and rest, converting energy and fuel (sun, rain, soil minerals) into life and beauty, design, balance, quality, etc.
• Ask people to close their eyes, think and then explain their associations and feelings triggered by (physically holding, handling) conkers or acorns. The real thing is far more sensory and emotive than a picture. This illustrates the power of the subconcious and unconcious mind, which is very relevant to our behaviour, as featured in personality, NLP, and Transactional Analysis, for example. For many grown-ups it demonstrates the deep-rooted feelings anchored in our childhood.
• A good old-fashioned conkers competition. You need a drill and string. Goggles and health & safety disclaimer as appropriate. Have the group design the structure of the competition so that all stay involved from start to end.
• Explore/develop the selection and preparation of the most competitive conkers. Old conkers are the best. Drilling produces a stronger hole than forcing through a nail or an awl, which creates weaknesses liable to split. Does vinegar really work? Apparently softening with moisturiser works better..
• Write the rules of playing conkers so that an eight-year-old would understand them.
• The pros and cons of regulations in proper competitions which forbid the use of personal conkers. How do rules affect the nature of the competition and the appeal to potential contestants and audiences, in turn affecting the 'market' development?
• Cultural/diversity discussion - Conkers and acorns have strong British associations. What are the equivalents in other regions/cultures?
• Acorns symbolise growth and potential: "Parvis e glandibus quercus" - Tall oaks from little acorns grow, is the old anonymous Latin saying. What other imagery and analogies are associated with trees?
• What are the origins of the words? - chestnut (from Greek 'kastanon' - not the modern English words chest or nut), conker (probably from conch, meaning shell, because apparently early versions of the game were played using snail shells, and/or associated with the word conquer) and acorn (Old English different spelling 'aecern' evolving into modern form by combination of 'ac' meaning oak and 'corn' meaning kernel as in nut - sources Chambers and Cassells).
• The design of the conker and its prickly casing are a marvel of evolution. Why is it like it is? Why is the acorn like it is? How did that funny little cup arrangement evolve? When we think about the function of fruits we can imagine how they evolved their amazing designs. What can we learn from nature's evolution and design that might be transferable to organizations and society? To what extent should we encourage and enable design and evolution of organizations and policies and systems via external influences (customers especially) rather than internal arrogance and guesswork?
• Conkers (horse chestnuts) are not to be eaten by people, yet they are safe for certain animals, including horses. The North American Indians used a lot of acorns in their diet, yet acorns are poisonous to horses. How did that happen?
• Extend the exploration to sweet chestnuts, which of course are very tasty roasted or toasted under a grill and rather easier to prepare than acorns.
• Or find the best propellors from the sycamore/maple trees. You'll discover a lot more in the park. Maybe combine with a visit to the swings. (See the quickies below). Or just go feed the ducks and the squirrels. Beats spending your lunch-break at your desk any day.

world conker championships

wikipedia conkers

North American Indian acorn recipes

how to whistle an acorn

competitor-partner exercise (competitor intelligence, competitor research, different perspectives, seeking and finding positives and opportunities instead of difficulties and threats - choice over instinct - collaboration rather than conflict)

The assumption is normally that a 'competing' organization or person can only ever be a competitor and a threat, to be attacked, defended, undercut, or beaten or fended off in some way.

Such tendencies commonly stem from instincts which give rise to basic human survival behaviours like: tit-for-tat, retaliate before being attacked, to see threats rather than opportunities, and to defend rather than expose our own vulnerabilities, etc.

There are good reasons however for taking a more modern rounded collaborative view of people and organizations that operate in our personal or business space or field or market.

The first law of cybernetics explains a crucial benefit resulting from considering and choosing our responses rather than defaulting to instinct (or worse still defaulting to the assumed or inherited instinct of others, or convention, tradition, status quo, expectation, etc).

Much energy is wasted developing and implementing competitive strategies, which often can either be avoided altogether (because the threat is vastly lower than believed) and/or which can better be channelled into collaborative partnership strategies (which can produce far better outcomes for all concerned).

This exercise (which can be simplified or extended) encourages a more sophisticated approach when responding to organizations in markets (or people within work teams) normally viewed as competitors or threats.

Split the group into teams or pairs or individuals as appropriate for your situation.

Allocate or ask the participants to identify an organization (or group, but can be a trend or a development) that they consider to be a competitor or threat. In certain situations choices can be kept private, for example where the exercise deals with people and relationships.

Validate the selections (in light of the remainder of this exercise, so that the subjects are relevant and helpful). Obviously this is more appropriate for commercial competitor situations. Where the exercise is used for private personal relationships just ask people to double-check themselves that they have chosen a suitable subject.

Ask people to think carefully about their chosen person/organization, according to the factors in the appropriate grid below (the grids are different for organizations and people), and particularly to cast aside all assumptions and historical beliefs and practices.

The factors can be adapted according to the circumstances, and for more complex situations (notably commercial competitor and market analysis) can entail quite detailed research (separate from the session, or part of the session, depending on the time available and local situation).

Essentially the exercise weighs the pros and cons of each factor from the perspective of competitor and partner.

Emphasise to participants when making the assessment to look continually for a fit between the other organization and their own situation and capabilities and needs.

You will often be surprised that there are far more reasons to collaborate than to persist with habitual aggressive or defensive competition strategies and responses.

This is the age of collaboration. We can all benefit by checking old assumptions.

market competitor/partner grid