Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 25 minutes to complete (but can be shortened if necessary). In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 50 minutes to complete this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To encourage participants to think about how and what they communicate to customers, using a slightly unusual perspective.
2) To encourage participants to think about the language they use when communicating with customers.
3) To show that all communication tells the customer something about the organisation, and that sometimes that’s not the intended message.
4) To demonstrate how brand is affected by every piece of communication leaving the organisation.

This module is suitable for use:
With groups of almost any size (working in small teams of ideally fewer than 6 people).

It is suitable for:
Staff at all levels.

You'll need the following additional resources:
In addition to the Sign of the Times cards provided, each team will need sheets of flipchart paper, marker pens and blu-tak. (You'll need to be able to fix the sheets to a wall when complete too).

Notes:
This is a powerful exercise that really gets participants to think about the way organisations communicate. It is a useful addition to any customer service training but it is of particular use with groups that are responsible for brand and the way the organisation portrays itself to the outside world. This could be managers within the marketing department, branch managers, recruitment managers etc.

It is suitable for all types of organisation, including public and charitable bodies.

Please note:
The Sign of the Times cards are a particularly large file (10mb) and may take a few minutes to download.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 20 minutes (or 30 minutes with the optional extension). In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To help participants recognise how their behaviour/communication is experienced by others.
2) To encourage participants to increase the positive acts of recognition they give to others, and to create a working atmosphere in which people feel accepted and recognised.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to about 20 participants.

It is suitable for:
Staff at all levels. It can be particularly useful in management training and team building.

You'll need the following additional resources:
Post-it notes and flipchart paper.

Notes:
This module can be used alongside Land of the Nutritos in a diversity programme and as part of a programme on giving feedback or team working.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 20 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing at least 30 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To allow participants to get to know each other in a fun manner.
2) To encourage groups of participants to work as a team.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to about 18.

It is suitable for:
This module is particularly suitable for use with junior staff, perhaps as part of an induction or in other situations where you want to make the point about the importance of helping each other and sharing knowledge.

You'll need the following additional resources:
You will need a pile of 21 question cards, which should be shuffled and three plastic boxes, each containing 7 large pieces of chocolate (1 box of dark, 1 of milk and 1 of white).

Notes:
This icebreaker can be used as a starter to a course, as a longer energiser and as a fun exercise if participants are looking tired!

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing at least 40 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To encourage participants to gather as much information as they can to solve a problem.
2) To introduce participants to one another in a fun way.
3) To test participants listening skills.
4) To provide participants with an activity to complete at home after the training.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to 16 participants.

It is suitable for:
Teams, work groups, manager groups and informal groups.

You'll need the following additional resources:
1) One packet of flower or vegetable seeds per participant. (The handout contains a suggested list of plant seeds to include but you can download the Word version of the handout and substitute those we’ve listed for others if you prefer. Aim to choose popular and easy to grow varieties.)
2) A plain envelope for each packet of seeds and one 6 inch diameter plastic plant pot for each participant.
3) One copy of the handout for each participant.

Notes:
This icebreaker can be used at the start of a course or as a quick energiser say, after lunch.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing at least 50 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To help participants to consider how it feels to be different from the majority.
2) To encourage understanding of the sources of prejudicial feelings and ways of behaving that can make others feel uncomfortable.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to about 15 participants with enough to encourage discussion.

It is suitable for:
Staff at all levels.

You'll need the following additional resources:
None, other than a flipchart. There is one PowerPoint slide, but this can easily be replaced with a flipchart diagram.

Notes:
This exercise uses an imaginative method for raising awareness of prejudice and really gets participants thinking.

It is important to use this activity within a diversity course in which ground rules of showing respect for individual opinions and experiences have been established. The content is potentially sensitive and it is important that the trainer monitors conversations during the group work to pick up on any intrusive questioning of minorities within the group, which could mirror the unhelpful behaviour described in the imaginary scenario.

The module consists of four activities:

Part 1:
1) Reading the scenario.
2) Discussion of the experience of imagining yourself into the scenario.
3) Input on where the attitudes and feelings may come from and the unhelpful behaviours that may follow.

Part 2:
4) Discussion in groups of what the two sets of people in the scenario could do to encourage acceptance and integration.

Article overview:
This provocative article from Italian-born Carlo Scodanibbio looks at the history of business since the industrial revolution and suggests that few of today's businesses are truly Lean; instead carrying the burden of principles that were developed for the 20th Century and which no longer apply. This one will really get you thinking and will provoke lots of discussion.

Opening words:
There is a problem in industry: We have gone into the 21st century with enterprises, organisations and business structures conceived and designed in the 18th and 19th centuries to perform well in the 20th.

The principles that gave origin to industry were conceived back in 1776, when the British economist Adam Smith published his famous book entitled "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations". Considering that in those times there was practically no industry, some very excellent principles, conceived by a real genius, were laid out. Smith visualised that the future wealth of the world would be founded and based on industry. Smith also went a step further, engineering practical principles for the future would-be industry, including his famous principle of "Division of Labour" (the whole job to be sub-divided into a number of elementary tasks, each assigned to a dedicated, single-skill worker).

Suitable reading for:
Managers, including senior managers to board level, and anyone who wants to examine strategic thinking and customer focus at a high level.

Notes:
The author has confirmed that trainers can download this article and use it in their courses to provoke discussion and thought, as long as the 'about the author' bit remains intact.

Time:
The exercises in this module will take about 75 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 90 minutes to complete this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To explore the way underlying beliefs can drive behaviour.
2) To help participants to identify beliefs that they share even where the observable behaviours seem unusual.

This module is suitable for use:
With groups of up to 15 participants. The exercises work best with groups of eight to fifteen. It can be used with smaller groups, but participants may be more reflective as they will have to explore their own beliefs and assumptions more.

It is suitable for:
Teams, work groups and/or their leaders who wish to explore cultural differences between nationalities, age groups, or departments and organisations.

You'll need the following additional resources:
In addition to the Belief Cards and Team Brief, provided, you’ll need:
1) A pre-prepared sheet of flipchart paper with a rough diagram of an iceberg.
2) Sheets of coloured sticky dots for all participants.
3) A small pile of Post-it® notes for each participant.
4) Five blank flipchart sheets, which should be fixed to the walls at various points around the room.

Notes:
This module can be used as an introduction to diversity training as well as a team-building exercise. The activities explore different behaviours and beliefs without judgement so is ideal for organisations with cross-functional teams or cross-cultural business units.

Article Overview:
In this interesting article, Carlo Scodanibbio explains the concept of Kaizen, the process of continuous improvement that originated in Japan.

Opening Words:
If you consider your house more than just a shelter and a place in which you eat and sleep, in other words if you consider your house a "home", a cosy, warm nest for you and your family, you will probably take great care of it and will gladly dedicate time, effort and money to making it even warmer, cosier, more functional and better looking. You will not just maintain it in its present state but you will try to render it better and better. You will renew plumbing and electrics in due time, paint or polish doors and windows regularly, add new pieces of furniture or replace some unsuited ones. You will shop around to find some nice pieces of soft furnishing, or wall pictures, or antiques. You will place flowerpots and ornamental plants here and there. If you really love your home, this will be an endless process.

The process you are following with your house is a Kaizen process. The Japanese word Kaizen means "step-by-step, continuous improvement”.

Suitable reading for:
Managers and those responsible for continuous improvement.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing at least 80 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To challenge participants to rank the qualities of a manager.
2) To allow participants to develop an understanding of the more important qualities that a manager can have, and what makes a great manager.
3) To discuss the differences in perception between what managers think and what their teams think.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to about 15 participants with enough to encourage discussion.

It is suitable for:
First time managers, work groups and teams of managers who wish to explore the expectations that teams have of their managers.

You'll need the following additional resources:
Prior to the start of the course, print off and cut out the 54 ‘Quality Cards' and laminate them if possible to make them more hardwearing. You will require one set of 54 cards per team.

Notes:
This is a thought provoking module that is a powerful way of getting participants to think about the qualities they need to demonstrate as a manager.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 50 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing at least 70 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To help first time managers to recognise and discuss some of the things that they need to do to build awareness of the team and monitor its performance.
2) To help first time managers understand the importance of spotting potential problems quickly and taking appropriate action to help the team overcome these.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to about 18.

It is suitable for:
Teams, work groups and/or their leaders who wish to understand the elements of monitoring a team.

You'll need the following additional resources:
None other than the handout provided.

Notes:
This module can be usefully followed by any of the First Time Manager modules.

It can also be a useful inclusion in any training intervention around coaching teams.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing at least 60 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To allow first time managers to become familiar with the important aspects of being a manager.
2) To help participants understand the three key roles of a manager.

This module is suitable for use:
For groups of up to about 20 participants.

It is suitable for:
First time managers who are starting out in the role or managing a new team. This module is particularly useful for those individuals who need to understand some of the underlying principles of the role of manager.

You'll need the following additional resources:
A copy of Handouts 1 and 2 for every participant.

Notes:
This module can be usefully followed by the following modules:
1) Any First Time Manager course module from Trainers’ Library.
2) Any Leadership module from Trainers’ Library.

Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 10 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes for this module.

The aims of this module are:
1) To let participants know who is who within the organisation in a fun way.
2) To explore assumptions and stereotypes.

This module is suitable for use:
With groups of any size. It is designed with induction in mind, so we'd expect group sizes to be relatively small.

It is suitable for:
New staff at all levels.

You'll need the following additional resources:
This exercise takes a little preparation. For each pair of participants, you’ll need:
1) An organisation structure chart. These should include job titles but no names. Ideally the structure charts will be laminated for repeated use.
2) A photograph of each manager represented in the structure chart (you can create individual cards with these on) together with their name.
3) A card for each manager containing an interesting, non-work related fact about them. (The managers’ names should not appear on these cards.)
4) A supply of blu-tak for each participant.

In addition, you’ll need for each participant:
5) A handout showing the correctly completed structure.

Notes:
This is a great exercise that makes a dry subject fun, allows participants to get to know the faces within the organisation and helps them understand that managers are human!

We’d like to thank Sandra Walsh for the idea for this exercise and for giving us permission to include it in Trainers’ Library.