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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to think about what causes meetings to be ineffective.
• To identify what can be done to make meetings effective.
• To introduce the acronym APPLE and explain how focusing on five simple themes will help participants ensure meetings are effective.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 60 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to think about what causes meetings to be ineffective.
• To identify what can be done to make meetings effective.
• To introduce the acronym APPLE and explain how focusing on five simple themes will help participants ensure meetings are effective.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
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I used this alongside "Pet's Meeting" as part of a short lunchtime session on effective meetings. It worked brilliantly. People loved the mnemonic and it was mentioned in several feedback forms. I followed the notes but also added extra exercises and slides for each of the letters (for Aim we wrote a purpose statement for an upcoming meeting, for Preparation we put together a 5 column agenda for the Pet's Meeting etc.)
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Jane Butler
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this module along with 'The ineffective Meetings' video and 'Meeting Costs - calculating the real cost of a meeting' as part of an in house Leadership Development Programme for a mixed group of 10 junior/middle managers and the response was fantastic. They found the simple acronym 'APPLE' easy to understand and implement into their daily working environment. What was particularly useful was that they all became very aware of how ineffective and costly the meetings they were holding had become and the introduction of 'APPLE' could not have come at a better time for them. An excellent combination, thank you Glasstap.
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Jayne Dark
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to think about how and what they communicate to customers, using a slightly unusual perspective.
• To encourage participants to think about the language they use when communicating with customers.
• To show that all communication tells the customer something about the organisation, and that sometimes that’s not the intended message.
• To demonstrate how brand is affected by every piece of communication leaving the organisation.
About
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. Aims:
• To encourage participants to think about how and what they communicate to customers, using a slightly unusual perspective.
• To encourage participants to think about the language they use when communicating with customers.
• To show that all communication tells the customer something about the organisation, and that sometimes that’s not the intended message.
• To demonstrate how brand is affected by every piece of communication leaving the organisation. Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size (working in small teams of ideally fewer than 6 people). Useful For:
Staff at all levels. You'll Need:
• A set of ‘Sign of the Times’ cards with enough for at least two cards for each team. (If you’re working with a very large group you may need more than one set.)You might like to add your own signs to the exercise, perhaps including some from the organisation itself.
• Plenty of sheets of flipchart paper.
• Coloured marker pens.
• Blu-tak.
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.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I recently used this exercise as part of an online workshop on recruitment for SME owners who were looking to take on new employees. I used it to highlight how the messages that companies put out to the public can influence what people think of them, and used that to move into talking about how their job ads reflected on the business. Linking marketing a product, or consumer branding to how they marketed a vacancy seemed to resonate very well, so will definitely use it again.
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Louise Holloway
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I recently used A Sign of the Times activity for a newly formed recruitment team. I used it as a short interactive activity to get the team to see how confusing some messages can be, or how images don't always match with the words displayed.
It was great for generating discussion and debate and acted as an ice-breaker as well as it pulled everyone into the conversation.
I would use this again as I have now laminated the pictures so that I don't have to print off each time I run it.
We actually spent about 30 mins on this and the team had the cards displayed on the walls for the remainder of the week.
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Pauline Weddell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants develop their communication skills and in particular their listening skills, their ability to share information effectively and their ability to explore problems objectively.
• To illustrate the importance of teamwork and develop the skills needed to work effectively with other teams – particularly where teams are small and geographically diverse.
• To understand that effective teamwork involves identifying and capitalising on all of the unique skills and talents of individuals within the team.
About
Time:
This game can be played in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants develop their communication skills and in particular their listening skills, their ability to share information effectively and their ability to explore problems objectively.
• To illustrate the importance of teamwork and develop the skills needed to work effectively with other teams – particularly where teams are small and geographically diverse.
• To understand that effective teamwork involves identifying and capitalising on all of the unique skills and talents of individuals within the team.
Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Communication skills, teamwork, collaboration, information sharing, information gathering, listening, questioning, attention to detail and problem solving.
Group Size:
A minimum of 2 participants are required for this exercise.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• At least two rooms or separate work areas, ideally one for each team.
• A mobile phone for each team (they can use one of their own, if willing).
• One OS Landranger map 125 and one OS Landranger map 124 for every two teams participating (available from the Ordnance Survey website).
• A brief for each team (Brief 1 for Team 1 and Brief 2 for Team 2).
• A length of string (at least 1 metre long) for each team.
Notes:
Each team will work with 1 other team (the partner team) in a separate location, who they should be able to contact by phone. (If there are only 2 participants involved, each team will consist of 1 person!) If it’s a nice day, the exercise can be very successfully run outside. Position teams as far apart from each other as you can.
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I have used this several times for team building and it is excellent. With the added benefit of passing on some map reading skills. It is so good for developing listening, checking understanding and communcation.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is so practical and enjoyable. I have used quite a lot during some of my experiential learning programmes. It's a great way to set up an outdoor activity especially if you want the team to do any orienteering or clue finding. Really brings home key learning about communication.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Phew - this is a very clever but tough challenge!
I tested this out with my own team and very glad I did, before using it with other groups. I didn't have time for a full debrief but learning points for me are:
- Ask questions in advance to check level of existing map reading knowledge. In hindsight I would have provided a few tips at the start.
- 45 minutes wasn't long enough, I would extend it to 1 hour.
- 4 people per team is definitely the maximum, simply due to being able to fit around the map! 2 or 3 may work better.
- Finding the start points was tricky, although one team used initiative - Google maps :-), so I gave the grid references fairly early on. I would probably give the grid references from the outset next time.
- Agree with a previous review about providing post it notes and sticky dots and reminding staff not to write on the maps.
Definitely tested patience and perseverance as well as communication skills!
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Alison Bucknall
rated this item with 4 stars.
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What a success! I ran this exercise with a team of people from across an engineering company. I had hoped that the fact that there are two teams communicating in separate rooms using a mobile phone for contact would replicate the real world situation of field based service engineers calling in to the office with queries. The feedback was that it felt real. Using two versions of the same map worked well and the fact that the place names were Welsh added to the confusion in communication. I would add in as a reminder on the Trainer Notes that the maps will be reused and i would add a pack of stickers or post it notes to your kit for this exercise.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I ran this activity with a very dysfunctional and underdeveloped team. The design is very clever and does a great job in provoking extreme emotions and reactions. The learning that came out of the de-brief was very valuable and we had a few light bulb moments of self-awareness. I set up the full experience and gave the teams a ruc sac with water bottle, sandwiches, biscuits, the map, a pencil, string and an anorak which went down well. It's useful to give the teams coloured dot stickers to stick on the map so they're not tempted to write on the map - so you can re-use. Thanks Glasstap for another brilliantly designed game - I would thoroughly recommend this.
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Lorna Logan
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used Welsh Holiday with a wide range of groups and learners. I have used the exercise to enhance communication skills and also as a team building event tacked onto some work related exercises. Most delegates find the exercise a real challenge and surprisingly those with some experience of the 'great outdoors' rarely fare any better than those who claim an affinity with couch potatoes! My most memorable delegate was a person who claimed that the exercise would be 'a piece of cake' as they ran trips with the venture scouts every weekend - oddly, as it turned out, they failed to notice the sea on their map, and were unable to steer their 'family' to the meeting point!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used this exercise to great effect when training Coaching Programmes for middle to senior managers. Often, in business, there is a challenge when we need to coach someone to get to an outcome when they see things very differently from us – they hold a “different map of the world” – or in the case of this exercise, a different map of Wales. Through questioning, each team has to establish what the other can see – before they can decide the best route to their outcome. The outcome is clear – the constraints etc are not – and they are not shared. It is important as a coach that we learn to respect the coachee’s “map” and then lead them from there to an agreed outcome while helping them around the constraints that they can see along the way – this exercise is perfect for this. Comments like “of course you must be able to see it” , and “there’s nothing to stop you doing that” are common – we are imposing our map onto our coachee – often a problem in business. Delegates love the exercise as it draws out all the learning and key skills of coaching at the attitudinal level. I would highly recommend using it.
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Rosemary Taylor
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• This exercise is designed for the start of a team session that reviews the previous year; in particular what went well, what people struggled with and what they learnt from it.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• This exercise is designed for the start of a team session that reviews the previous year; in particular what went well, what people struggled with and what they learnt from it.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of any size.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A balloon for each participant. (It’s preferable to have lots of different colours.)
• A whistle or claxon to tell everyone to stop.
• You will need a nice (indoor) space for participants to throw their balloons in the air and keep all the balloons airborne.
Notes:
You will need to plan a little in advance for this activity and be prepared to send out reminder emails to ensure the pre-exercise task is completed. Larger groups will necessitate a longer running time for the exercise.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants recognise how their behaviour/communication is experienced by others.
• 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.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To help participants recognise how their behaviour/communication is experienced by others.
• 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.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to about 20 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels. It can be particularly useful in management training and team building.
You'll Need:
• 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.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this activity with a group of duty managers where we needed them to recognise and reward more behaviour. This activity really helped get the point across of how easy it is to give recognition we then incorporated our own internal recognition schemes to make them aware of what is available.
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Jennifer Stevens
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this material as part of a management course about building an effective team. I used this alongside the module Building Rapport with Subordinates. This was very useful for managers to self-reflect on how they provide recognition to team members, and gave them food-for-thought about whether they 'neglect' staff members. I found it helped managers to consider the impact recognition has on team morale.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Found this exercise worked best with groups of people who were already quite well versed with giving and receiving feedback (most usually fairly experienced managers). It might also work if you’d already covered the basics of why, when, how in a previous session. It also brought out in some groups dissatisfaction. For those working in environments where they didn’t feel they were getting any recognition – the first exercise proved difficult and they then wanted to have a ‘rant’. OK if you’re prepared to deal with this – and it certainly highlighted individual differences in the ‘need’ for recognition/strokes. That lead to an interesting discussion about TA hungers and strokes. I think next time I use this, I will combine with some TA theory.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 3 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To define what effective feedback is.
• To introduce participants to the AID model for giving feedback.
• To give participants an opportunity to practise giving feedback using the AID model.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 60 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To define what effective feedback is.
• To introduce participants to the AID model for giving feedback.
• To give participants an opportunity to practise giving feedback using the AID model.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• The film: ‘Why Do I Always Get Them?’. (If you don’t have a Trainers’ Library membership that includes the option to stream this film you can purchase a DVD from Trainers' Library.)
• Plenty of AIDing Feedback Cards and Blu Tack.
Notes:
The video used in this exercise can also be used for customer services training using our module Why Do I Always Get Them?.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of asking a mix of open and closed questions to gain a clear and accurate understanding of a situation.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 35 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of asking a mix of open and closed questions to gain a clear and accurate understanding of a situation.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of between 8 and 24 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Teams will need to use a phone to communicate with you during this exercise.
• Break out space for each team to prepare their questions without being overheard.
• 4 plain envelopes to place the team briefs into.
• A copy of the Trainer Record Sheet for you.
Notes:
This can be a very useful exercise for sales people, or anyone who needs to select and ask great questions in order to effectively gather information.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I included 'An Alien Challenge' in a Customer Service workshop that was aimed at a broad range of people, all of whom have customer contact. The group included senior and middle managers, customer service team members and some relatively new joiners; so my challenge was to hit the right level, without being either patronising or aiming too high and losing engagement. I am delighted at how well the exercise was received. It is a bit daft, but the message is clear and delegates enjoy it.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I've used this activity twice as it's been a hit. Highly recommend this.
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Piyanut Sangpattarachai
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To provide an opportunity to explore a variety of situations experienced during the working day and consider how best to handle each one assertively.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 20 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To provide an opportunity to explore a variety of situations experienced during the working day and consider how best to handle each one assertively.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of any size.
Useful For:
Staff up to managerial level.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this exercise in a workshop with women from a variety of businesses. It got excellent feedback and they thoroughly enjoyed the session. I did cut the discussion time back a bit and this did not have a detrimental effect. The subsequent feedback time really helped all those present and generated even more discussion. I love this session
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Nicola Richardson
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 25 minutes.
Aims:
• To understand the importance of listening skills.
• To illustrate the dangers of making assumptions.
• To provoke discussion about prejudices and stereotypes.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 25 minutes for completion.
Aims:
• To understand the importance of listening skills.
• To illustrate the dangers of making assumptions.
• To provoke discussion about prejudices and stereotypes.
Group Size:
Suitable for use with groups of almost any size. This module is also suitable for remote/virtual delivery – see separate note.
You'll Need:
• Pens and paper for every participant.
• The audio recording of the story, which can be streamed from Trainers’ Library if you prefer not to read it aloud yourself.
Notes:
If reading the story to participants, we suggest that you rehearse reading the story aloud a few times prior to delivery. This module has been endorsed by Show Racism the Red Card. For more information about the great work this charity is doing to educate against racism, visit www.theredcard.org.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I have used this resource a number of times over the years. It was particularly well received when delivered to a group of our lawyers and decision makers. Demonstrating the importance of listening and not making assumptions to improve decision making.
It's one of my favourite exercises to deliver!
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Marie Mostaeddi
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I love this exercise and have used it a lot over the years working with all levels in a wide variety of organisations. It's amazing to see how quickly people go to the assumption stage and the discussions are so powerful in highlighting what we need to focus on in our every day - at work AND at home!
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Lottie Skuthe-Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Witches of Glum is one of my most used resources across the whole of Trainers' Library. I use this in many different situations. Listening skills is always good to use this and get everyone up on their feet in a training session and moving about the room as they decide the answers.
It is great for challenging assumptions that people make and works well when using in Equality and Diversity workshops to really get into challenging assumptions in a non confrontational way.
An excellent exercise that is well written and works in many different situations.
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Ric Hayden
rated this item with 5 stars.
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A really versatile exercise that is quick, easy and fun. I have used it in communication courses, management programmes and Diversity sessions. It is a good alternative to the Goldilocks exercise. Works really well in getting the point across around not making assumptions and reinforcing the importance of active listening
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 5 stars.
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One of my favourite Trainers' Library exercises that never fails to get people thinking, usually in Diversity training. The powerful exercise brings to life how easy it is to make stereotypes and then generates powerful discussion around how this happens in the workplace and the impact it has.
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Emma Wynne
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used this exercise many times as part of communication skills modules on leadership development programmes. Although the exercise illustrates the separate topics of the importance of not making assumptions and of active listening, delegates quickly see the link between these and that we all do the aural equivalent of "scan reading" and miss details because we assume.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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As well as using this exercise to illustrate assumptions and stereotypes, I use it in my 'Minute Taking with Confidence' course. I read the story and encourage delegates to take notes (perhaps after a session on speed writing). I then quiz them - and many STILL make assumptions even though they've taken notes (eg the King is old). I then get them to analyse what should be included in the Minutes using ABCD eg what's vitally important (the Absolutes), what are the Basics or the Background to the story, what adds Colour to your minutes to bring the story to life - and what can be left out (the Dumps - eg Christina, the wheelchair etc)
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Sally Jones
rated this item with 5 stars.
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What I particularly like about this exercise is that it can be adapted to use in a variety of different sessions. I have already used it as an exercise on assumptions in a module on equality and diversity and I will also be using it in my helpline skills training on effective listening.
The exercise is a fun way to get across an important message, and the recording that is included with the downloads allows the trainer to rest their voice for a short time, which is a bonus for both trainer and trainees in most cases!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I love this activity it really increases delegates self-awareness on their listening skills and how easily they can make assumptions.
Before I run this activity I get the delegates to score their current listening skills out of 10, and then once they complete the activity then re look at their score to check this is a fair assessment.
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Jennifer Stevens
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I was planning some team-building activities to incorporate into our Business Skills series. I’ve since trialled your Witches of Glum on a group of B1-C1 level participants (Italian professionals, from the same company). The response was great, stimulated lots of discussion about stereotyping and gave way for a fantastic reflection session. All in English - as our business English courses and workshops always are.
One of the interesting 'take-aways' was that the fear of not understanding every word (the B1s) was greatly reduced as they were told they were going to hear a story. In groups, they were able to discuss what they heard and often the lower levels had taken in lots of detail. The problem with stereotyping also arose - which led into discussion about issues with stereo-typing internal and external clients.
As a trainer, I really enjoyed behind able to pick something up and run with it. It was a great time-saver. I could also work on what the activity could offer much more.
I would probably give the activity a 4.5. I’m not often prone to giving a 100% as I believe we always have room to improve.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 4 stars.
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We tend to train somewhat cynical engineers who really take a lot of engaging in order to deliver any Soft Skills. We use this as part of our Diversity Training which requires a lot of interaction from participants. This activity is great to disarm all participates from a “we know it already” stance to actually join in and actively participating. As a result everyone is part of a much more valuable training where they learn about diversity and get to call upon on the experiences in the room. A great start to a session! Thanks.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I use this a lot and it is easy to adapt to sessions on appraisals, feedback, objectivity, diversity and especially good where staff/managers are expected to record summary notes from conversations with customers/staff
One option is to get people to do it in pairs as thing brings in the likelihood that one of the pair had the right answer but was talked out of it despite having 'evidence' written down. (influencing)
It is also quite useful, once they have heard the story, to read all 15 statements as a summary and to ask if it sounds like a fair reflection of the story - most agree it is - then by reviewing each statement, participants see that all but two sentences were accurate.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a really great activity, either for a Listening exercise or for going down the Assumptions route. Use it for both Health and Safety training and also on the PTLLS course I run. Excellent!!!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Terrific. Can be shortened or lengthened as you need. I’ve used it as recommended to explore assumptions in equality settings, but also really well as an icebreaker for an interview skills workshop. Once I’d revealed how badly people listened, we went on to discuss the way some people assume they know what the question is about and don’t listen carefully enough to understand what the interviewer wants. I really liked the audio file, the story was familiar but different enough to be interesting and it made a change than listening to the trainers voice.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Both these modules (Assumptions – The Witches of Glum and Goldilocks – a Listening Exercise) are excellent for demonstrating the need for ‘active’ listening skills and how easy it is to make assumptions and ‘hear’ what you think was said. These modules worked extremely well and prompted lots of interest from the participants and also some key learning points were easily identified. It then required some simple facilitation skills to identify ways to become better listeners and again to highlight some easy steps that everyone could take to improve their skills.
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Previous Member
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We use the witches of glum as a useful exercise in the induction programme. As our company is a financial retail business we deal with all types customers from all walks of life. We teach new starters that they should not make assumptions on a customer’s appearance. Just because they look scruffy doesn’t mean that they may be poor. By reading out the story it is clear that people make assumptions to what the answers should be rather than actually listening to the facts. I then have a discussion with the group asking them why they made the assumptions and it really makes them think about it.
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Previous Member
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Successful eyeopener about the danger of making assumptions. One participant remarked afterwards: "I have just realised what a dreadful listener I am", which was a great learning point for all. However, some of the statements are ambiguous and biased towards eliciting an incorrect "true" answer. For example: "The king was an old man who could no longer walk." Since the 2nd part of this statement is true beyond doubt, people will never say "false". I solved this by reducing the statements to only one fact. Some examples: "The king could no longer walk".
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Previous Member
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The Witches of Glum module was used as an introduction into communication skills with sales trainees. The delegates appreciated the story and questions and quickly learnt through the course about the assumptions they had made and as a result, were easily able to relate this to how they communicate with customers and colleagues. This was an effective module near the beginning of the course; the delegates had an increased awareness of natural assumptions and listening skills which effectively introduced further modules within the course.
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Previous Member
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This week I ran a seminar for members of the local branch of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in Shropshire. The topic for the presentation was “Diversity for Dummies”. This was my first venture into this type of presentation of this topic as I have only recently begun to train in the topic with the Ford Motor Company. As an alternative to risking ‘Death by Powerpoint’ I decided to use “The witches of Glum” as a medium for getting across how easily we drop into making assumptions and the potential impact making those assumptions. I used the exercise exactly as provided and was delighted with the way that those present took to it and enjoyed the different way of making a valuable learning lesson. Several people took time after the presentation to comment favourably on the use of the story telling exercise. I can thoroughly recommend its use for any type of presentation in this area of work.
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Paul Brennan
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The Witches of Glum exercise has been used within our customer service course. It has allowed us to use a fun exercise to identify the pitfalls of assumptions and stereotypical situations. The delegates have found this to be amusing as it is a clear break away from the business theme of other exercises. The trainers notes are very well laid out and it is what all exercises should be, simple and yet effective.
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Previous Member
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I have recently used this exercise to introduce a session on cultural differences as the organisation was transferring its HR shared service to another country. The training itself was quite challenging as it was perceived to be a big change to how our managers currently operate however, I used the exercise to introduce the final part of the day. This made a considerable difference to the atmosphere and energy levels within the group. They began to understand the assumptions we make about other cultures and they became receptive to altering their communication style to ensure their interaction was effective.
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Clare Wilkes
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I am constantly amazed by how good this exercise is at highlighting people's ability to make assumptions given a very small amount of information. I've used this in a number of different sessions where it was important to highlight the amazing ability people have to fill in the gaps of the story with their ideas and remembered bits of old fairy tales. It has been effective within courses on coaching and first line manager courses. I have read the questions out from the materials and this worked just as well as writing them all out on the flip chart. This activity is so popular that staff often ask to do it again at other events.
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Helen Walker
rated this item with 5 stars.
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We are running a series of sessions on HR Skills for Managers , the first of which deals with Managing Diversity Are You a Fair Manager? Having identified what diversity is the trainer asks the delegates to sit back, listen to a story and expect to answer some questions about the subject afterwards. The story is, of course, Assumptions The Witches of Glum. This is a great little exercise that really demonstrates to the delegates how readily assumptions are made and how guilty of it they are. At least 50% of the delegates get less that 50% of the statements right each time we run the session perfectly illustrating the learning point. Give it a go, youll love the results!
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Tracy Croft
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a manager and how to approach them with the right balance of ethics and pragmatism.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a manager and how to approach them with the right balance of ethics and pragmatism.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of between 4 to 18 participants.
Useful For:
Learners who are brand new managers (or very soon will be), particularly if they have been promoted from within the team.
You'll Need:
• Playing pieces, one per team.
• Small prize for the winning team.
• 60 second timer or stopwatch.
• Facilitator Traffic Lights.
• At a Crossroads Conundrum Cards.
• At a Crossroads Diversion Cards (3 per team).
• At a Crossroads Game Board.
• At a Crossroads Suggested Answers (for the facilitator).
Notes:
This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 18 participants. It is run as a competitive game, which is a race to the finish and played in teams of two or three players. We do not recommend having teams with more than three participants. All the scenarios contained in the cards are based on actual experiences faced by managers in their first year of managing a team. It is a particularly useful exercise for people who have been promoted from within the team to become the manager and who are struggling to adapt to their new role with people who were once their peers.
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I recently used this during a two day introduction to management course. The participants loved and it was a great resource to use that was fun but achieved important, relevant learning outcomes. This will be a resource that I will continue to use with the added advantage that the gameboard can be used with the performance management cards, when I run the next course for managers on coaching and mentoring.
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Sue Bartlett
rated this item with 5 stars.
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On Tuesday this week I used the At a Crossroads activity from Trainers Library with a group of 4 newly appointed managers.
What a great activity. We had full interaction and the conundrum cards really threw up some challenges that the participants could relate to. It was great to be in control of the traffic lights so that we could really discuss each challenge and hear the different perspectives on how each individual would potentially deal with that challenge.
We didn't get through all the cards, however the participants have asked for round 2 at our next workshop because they enjoyed the activity so much.
I am aware that you can download the road map and cards however I made the small investment and bought the resources from Trainers Library as I know this will be used time and time again.
Great resource, easy & fun to use and definitely encouraged much debate and thinking.
If you've not used it then try it.
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Pauline Weddell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This exercise provides a lot of different scenarios for managers to consider how they would respond.
I have used a slightly adapted version of this exercise as a warm up for management development training. I have a series of workshops focussing on different aspects of management behaviours, with the same group of participants each time, and used this as a warm up exercise for workshop 2. Instead of using the board, I asked the teams to pick a card from the deck and read it out. Team A picks and reads then Teams B and C have 30 seconds to come up with a response. Team A picks their favourite response and awards that team a point. Then move on to Team B. I repeat this to cover 9 randomly picked cards. Each card read gives an opportunity for discussion around the best way to handle the situation.
As there are so many cards, I will probably repeat this as the warm up for workshops 3 and 4 too.
Another great resource from Trainers' Library!
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Lisa Lester
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a trainer and how to approach them effectively.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a trainer and how to approach them effectively.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of between 4 to 18 participants.
Useful For:
New trainers or those looking to build their skills and review challenges they might face or have faced.
You'll Need:
• Playing pieces, one per team.
• Small prize for the winning team.
• 60 second timer or stopwatch.
• Facilitator Traffic Lights.
• At a Crossroads Conundrum Cards.
• At a Crossroads Diversion Cards (3 per team).
• At a Crossroads Game Board.
• At a Crossroads Suggested Answers (for the facilitator).
Notes:
This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 18 participants.
It is run as a competitive game, which is a race to the finish and played in teams of two or three players. We do not recommend having teams with more than three participants. All the scenarios contained in the cards are based on actual experiences faced by trainers.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To explore some of the challenges participants will face whilst managing the performance of individuals in their team.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explore some of the challenges participants will face whilst managing the performance of individuals in their team.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of between 4 to 18 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone who is responsible for the performance of others, or who soon will be.
You'll Need:
• Playing pieces, one per team.
• Small prize for the winning team.
• 60 second timer or stopwatch.
• Facilitator Traffic Lights.
• Conundrum Cards.
• Diversion Cards (3 per team).
• Game Board.
• Suggested Answers (for the facilitator).
Notes:
This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 18 participants. It is run as a competitive game; a race to the finish, and played in teams of two or three players. We do not recommend having teams with more than three participants.
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I recently used this activity as part of a development centre for aspiring leaders. It was really well received by the group. We had about 18 people split into 6 teams. The intention had been to run the activity for 45 minutes but the group enjoyed it so much it went on for over an hour and we still hadn't got close to a winner. The scenarios generated lots of debate. I would perhaps suggest starting with smaller groups at first as it is difficult to facilitate with such large group sizes
I used the board game pack that I purchased, and whilst this did provide a nice visual to accompany the activity, the conundrum cards would have worked perfectly well without the board game if used as discussion topics. An excellent activity that is guaranteed to get the group engaged (Just make sure your answer sheet matches your conundrum cards!)
At the end of the session the group asked for a further full days session dedicated to discussing these types of scenarios and for me that says it all about how good the activity is.
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To identify key barriers to effective communication.
• To explore why such barriers occur.
• To identify 'good practice' principles that will help to avoid the barriers to effective communication identified.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 50 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 75 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To identify key barriers to effective communication.
• To explore why such barriers occur.
• To identify 'good practice' principles that will help to avoid the barriers to effective communication identified.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff up to supervisor level.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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The handouts played a vital role in unlocking the minds of those who participated. The group work is also very effective and do enhance the interaction between the learners as well as myself - building good rapport amongst each other.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To identify what gets in the way of internal customer service.
• To consider ways to reduce or eliminate the barriers to internal customer care.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 55 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To identify what gets in the way of internal customer service.
• To consider ways to reduce or eliminate the barriers to internal customer care.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Post its, pens and flip chart paper.
• The Activity Link and your PIN.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants recognise the difference between features and benefits.
• To demonstrate the importance of identifying customer needs and selling to these.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed within 10 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete the module.
Aims:
• To help participants recognise the difference between features and benefits.
• To demonstrate the importance of identifying customer needs and selling to these.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
Whilst this module has been designed with sales staff in mind, it is equally applicable to anyone who needs to think about how they influence others.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants understand what their leadership (and followership) style is through physicalising part of the leadership process.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 50-60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75-90 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To help participants understand what their leadership (and followership) style is through physicalising part of the leadership process.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of any size, however the exercise works much better with larger groups.
Useful For:
Managers, directors and others in leadership roles.
You'll Need:
• Blindfolds.
• A large, empty space (see notes).
Notes:
This exercise can provide participants with a very different insight into their leadership style (and their style as a follower). It is particularly useful for exploring trust and being hands on and hands off. You need a large, empty space for this exercise. Any chairs should be placed against the walls of the room, leaving as much space as possible. It is possible to do this exercise outside, for example on a lawn. There is the risk of people knocking into each other, a wall or furniture in this exercise. Make clear that participants guiding another colleague are responsible for that participant’s safety at all times. * Although you can run this exercise with less than 8 participants it works much better with larger groups.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To show participants how we tend to mirror the body language of others when rapport is established.
• To discuss what happens to body language when rapport is absent.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To show participants how we tend to mirror the body language of others when rapport is established.
• To discuss what happens to body language when rapport is absent.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels. It can be used with people who don't know one another at all, or who have met/worked together previously.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
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I used this activity as an icebreaker to Negotiating and Influencing Skills; it worked well because this course followed from Assertive Skills so it acted as a good link between the two. Delegates commented that they found the activity interesting and will naturally be more aware of people’s body language in every day life in future. This activity works well with small or large groups so long as there are enough for 3 in each group.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of taking a step back and understanding our role in the relationships we have with others at work.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 40 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of taking a step back and understanding our role in the relationships we have with others at work.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at supervisory level.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this material as part of a management course about building an effective team. I used this alongside the module Acts of Recognition. I feel it helped managers to think about how they currently relate to their team members, where there is room for improvement and how this can affect team performance. Useful scenarios which are very relevant to real-life in a busy working environment.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I really liked the use of case studies to explore how rapport works in practice and how easy it is in the workplace to let it slip. Before we reviewed the case studies, I added in a short exercise where I asked them to work in 3’s. Two people would have a discussion (about what they did last night), the 3rd would be an observer. At first the partner would listen well when in the conversation. Mid-way through they were directed to stop listening. The observer then fed-back about body language, speech patterns, attitude etc and how it affected the conversation. I found this really helped people ‘get into the case studies’ and imagine how the ‘characters’ felt.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider planning and preparation as part of leadership.
• To facilitate discussion around playing to the team's strength.
• To consider factors that motivate staff to perform well.
• To encourage staff to self assess, review and reflect on performance.
• To encourage leaders to consider their communication skills.
• To encourage leaders to consider the question of keeping people motivated.
• To demonstrate leadership skills in a practical task.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 55 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 75 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider planning and preparation as part of leadership.
• To facilitate discussion around playing to the team's strength.
• To consider factors that motivate staff to perform well.
• To encourage staff to self assess, review and reflect on performance.
• To encourage leaders to consider their communication skills.
• To encourage leaders to consider the question of keeping people motivated.
• To demonstrate leadership skills in a practical task.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
First line managers and supervisors.
You'll Need:
• Broadsheet newspapers (one per team).
• Sticky tape (one per team).
• A tennis ball.
Notes:
In this exercise, participants will be working in teams of 4 or 5. Each team will need one broadsheet newspaper (for example, the Financial Times) and a roll of sticky tape.
In addition, you will need a tennis ball (or similar) to test the strength of the teams’ structures.
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I ran this as an icebreaker for a couple of reasons, firstly I had 1 manager on screen from our India team - and secondly we have some managers who are very hands on and do a lot of the doing, leaving them little time to lead their team.
It worked brilliantly by appointing the remote manager as a Team Leader as he couldn't physically contribute to the activity and choosing another manager for the opposite team that has a development need around stepping away and letting her team work through cases.
I used 5 sheets of flip paper per team (didn't have newspapers) and this worked perfectly.
The de-brief worked brilliantly, especially with targeted questions to the team leaders and "their team"
Lots of laughter, but a great focus on time management and linked to service level agreements we have, quality assurance, motivation and leadership.
I'll definitely be running this one again.
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Helen McGowan
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this activity for a teambuilding exercise and it really defalted the team. I think it is important for the team to be in close proximity even in separate rooms. I think it works better for the teams to be in the same room in corners of the room. A lot of running around for the facilitator and a lot of newspaper is needed!
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 3 stars.
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I've used this activity twice: once as a leadership exercise and once for teambuilding (requiring only a slight change in emphasis on the debrief). Students want to get straight onto the bridge-building phase rather than spend time on planning their bridge. However, when debriefed, they comment that they understand the importance of planning, and recognise that it's something they perhaps need to do better in their day jobs. This often comes from the team who don't succeed with the task - they acknowledge that better planning (and also leadership) could have helped. Using it as a leadership activity, you can focus in the debrief on the role of the leader, on leadership styles/approaches, and what it might have felt like had they not had a leader. For teambuilding, you can still draw out issues about leadership (because someone in the group might have evolved as a natural leader, without having been appointed, and this is something you might want to comment on) as well as focusing on the positives of teamworking - so if you are running this activity with a team who are not working well together, you could praise them (without patronising) on how well they worked together to build their bridge. It can be adapted easily with or without appointing a leader, or observers. I ran it with much shorter time-frames than recommended - only 10 minutes for planning and 20 minutes to build the bridge, but it still worked - it just got participants working harder and faster. There's a real energy in the room as teams strived to build a better bridge than their competitors! (You can always make the point of course, that they were asked to build a strong bridge, not to beat their competitors, but inevitably the element of competition will appear!). Leave the bridges on show for the remainder of the training course/week - they're a talking point. I even had one team nominating someone to "body pop" underneath the bridge to music from their iPod - real flair, creativity, leadership and teamworking coming out.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this exercise very successfully when training a group of new managers on communication styles and teamwork. The exercise was very simple to run and needed very few props - and those which it did need were inexpensive and readily available - perfect!. The groups had a lot of fun and it was really interesting to notice the creative thought process - I guess the exercise could also be used for problem solving situations. We used an observer for each group who was able to give great feedback on the group dynamics and interactions - picking up on key words and phrases used which were useful - and of course, those which were not so useful. The exercise demonstrated the key learning that I wanted to draw out - it was quick - and the group had a load of fun doing it. Can't get better than that really.
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Rosemary Taylor
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 35 minutes.
Aims:
• To recognise the impact of imposed change on people.
• To remind participants how easy it is for progress to be lost and for things to slip back to the way they were before.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 20 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 35 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To recognise the impact of imposed change on people.
• To remind participants how easy it is for progress to be lost and for things to slip back to the way they were before.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of almost any size.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
You may want to read the article ‘When Change Really Hurts’ by Sheila Williams, which is available in Trainers’ Library. This provides background information about the change curve, which you may want to reference in your discussion.
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This is an excellent exercise which allows participants to quickly identify their feelings towards change, how these are impacted by the limited information / unrealistic expectations and to then link these feelings towards a wider discussion about Change Management. It's a quick fun exercise, very easy to run and debrief on it's on as an intro to Change Management, or can be used to introduce a longer module. The times I've used it, it's always had a great result with delegates and raised the energy in the room as well.
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Debbie McNamara
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Excellent activity. I have used this many times in different team building events for different reasons. With one team I used this activity to explain why employees become disengaged when changes happen in the workplace. However, it was a valuable lesson for the manager to also realise how staff feel when more and more changes are put upon them.
In a different team, this activity was also used in a fun way with no underlying message. It was undertaken with enthusiasm and enjoyment, and most attendees had their own epiphany in understanding that they are capable of so much more, even when they think they have exhausted the challenge.
All-in-all it is one of those activities I fall back on time after time.
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Tracy Windross
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the significance of body language in communication.
• To encourage participants to think about the difficulties the lack of body language creates when communicating by telephone.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the significance of body language in communication.
• To encourage participants to think about the difficulties the lack of body language creates when communicating by telephone.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A blindfold for each participant.
Notes:
The subjects used in the exercise are deliberately controversial so it is advisable that you do not pair people together who you believe may struggle to get along together.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I recently delivered a Telephone Techniques course and as part of that I used the 'Communicating Without Body Language' module. I must admit that I was slightly apprehensive about asking learners to discuss a controversial subject but I tried 'should cannabis be legalised' anyway! The discussions and activities following this resulted in some excellent learning points and really set the scene for moving on to the use of tone of voice. I would definitely recommend this activity.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Since the workshop involved telesales I felt it was important to talk about the impact of Body Language when we communicate and to illustrate how it is still important when selling over the phone. More importantly to encourage the participants to think how this can be done effectively when visual cues are obviously absent. This is a simple module that can be run quite quickly and illustrates the key points of body language very effectively. The participants enjoyed the activity and the subsequent discussion quickly identified the key elements of body language that are missing when communicating over the phone. It was then very easy to facilitate a discussion around what things could be done to enhance the communication skills and we identified a number of practical tips that people could put into action quite quickly.
It is important to select the more talkative / confident members of the group to demonstrate this in order to ensure a good conversation illustrating the key points. Although in one workshop, whilst the actual body language cues were in the main missed by those watching it was quite easy to ask a few questions and still bring out the key learning points.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants develop guidelines for dealing assertively with aggressive behaviour.
• To encourage participants to develop and demonstrate one appropriate and one inappropriate response to aggressive behaviour.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be complete within 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 50 minutes to complete the module.
Aims:
• To help participants develop guidelines for dealing assertively with aggressive behaviour.
• To encourage participants to develop and demonstrate one appropriate and one inappropriate response to aggressive behaviour.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
We recommend using this module only when participants are able to recognise the difference between aggressive, submissive and assertive behaviour. (See the module, What is Assertiveness?). This module has two alternative handouts – one with work based scenarios to discuss, and one with non-work based scenarios.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I have used this activity as part of a managing difficult behaviour which is really useful part of the program and demonstrates practical ways of dealing with aggressive behaviour
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 4 stars.
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This was a very useful activity for delegates to practice being assertive in potentially difficult situations. The delegates found the ‘fogging technique’ to be a very useful tool for dealing with aggression. I used 4 of the 6 scenarios (2 work-related and 2 personal) and this worked well in the suggested time.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I recently used the course module on ‘Dealing with Aggressive Behaviour’ with a group of people who dealt with internal customers. The group found this module really useful and there were several ‘lightbulb’ moments throughout the room specifically with the ‘fogging’ method. This is a really simple, yet effective technique for diffusing situations and my participants were able to relate this directly to the situation they commonly deal with and devise strategies, using this technique of handling these situations more positively in the future. Another cracker from Trainers' Library.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To introduce participants to the subject of delegation.
• To explore what constitutes effective and ineffective delegation.
• To consider best practice when delegating.
• To identify some pitfalls to avoid when delegating.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module can be completed within 40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 60 minutes to complete the module.
Aims:
• To introduce participants to the subject of delegation.
• To explore what constitutes effective and ineffective delegation.
• To consider best practice when delegating.
• To identify some pitfalls to avoid when delegating.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Team Leaders and managers.
You'll Need:
• Plenty of blank sheets of A4 paper.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Even with my poor amateur dramatic skills then this is a great exercise. It is fun to run, energises the group and as with all TL exercises generates powerful discussion and learning points. Have used this for years and everyone is always so proud of their boats and often take them home!
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Emma Wynne
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This session was brilliant. Such a visual and real activity that got everyone understanding how to effectively delegate. The frustration of so many of the delegates allowed for a very amusing activity which was enjoyed by all.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This activity worked brilliantly for stirring up responses.
I was very vague about what was expected in the boat building activity and then immediately made myself unavailable. The end result was really interesting - some delegates were so irritated they couldn't ask questions and with was such little information to go on they refused to build a boat. They felt it was a waste of time trying, because they just didn't know enough to do a good enough job. Brilliant for generating learning points.
Great thing was, there was an aeroplane in the fleet of boats, on the basis that, 'I know how to make a paper plane so I'd prefer to do that well, than make a bad boat'
This drove some really interesting behaviours.
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Julia Anyan
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I was delivering a course on delegation and needed to emphasise the point of poor delegation to the group that was in the training. This activity is excellent to do this. Sink or Swim is based around an imaginary organisation called Bob’s boats, where delegates are given A4 paper with little clear instruction and asked to build boats. The poor instructions and the role play that is used to demonstrate a lack of enthusiasm for their efforts is a great way to demonstrate how delegation should not be done. Everyone who did the exercise really enjoyed it, and it really made the delegates think about how delegation could be improved.
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Shaun Gagie
rated this item with 5 stars.
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It is always popular with delegates and shows brilliantly how poor delegation can lead to problems including frustration, confusion and most importantly not getting the job done that was wanted. It demonstrates the important learning points whilst being great fun – a brilliant mix. We have also used this for train the trainer courses in terms of not training people properly.
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Emma Wynne
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Just a few thoughts on 'Sink or Swim'. I ran the exercise as part of a section on delegation with a group of team leaders - all of whom had expressed an interest in improving their delegation skills. The first section requires minimal materials - handouts, a supply of plain paper - and is easy to set up. After the initial shock, the delegates threw themselves into [the exercise] with varying degrees of success and enthusiasm while I was 'out to lunch'. The review of the exercise was very effective, bringing out how not to do it and for generating thoughts on more effective means of delegation. The next phase was an evaluation of what successful delegators do. This worked well with the review slides supplied with the exercise. The final part (the story around the Tsunami) worked well as a reminder about setting boundaries and empowering delegatees. I found the exercise took about forty-five minutes. At the end I also added some discussion and slides around the benefits of delegation and reasons why we don't delegate. These generated some 'lively' discussions. In future courses, I may have these discussions, before the exercise. All in all a really good exercise for delegates to experience and think about delegation. Thanks Trainers Library!
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Nigel Baynes
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I've used Bob's Boats which was a successful excercise for Delegation and left many of the participants actually wanting to finish making their boats after the course had finished! It was a good excercise to get everyone involved and participating and helped them understand the importance of always making sure that the tasks delegated have been followed up.
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Previous Member
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Bob's Boats always, always gets the most amazing response. One client I visit where I used it about 3 years ago I still get comments "here's Bob's or Burton's Boats". What fantastic recall.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To understand why we delegate.
• To understand how to delegate effectively.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30-45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To understand why we delegate.
• To understand how to delegate effectively.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A supply of Lego, with at least 15 large pieces for each team of 3-5 participants.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library - Building an Understanding of Delegation.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To illustrate the importance of customer service.
• To demonstrate how little changes can have a big impact to customers’ perception of the service they receive.
• To illustrate the importance of people to customer service.
• To identify improvements that can be made to customer service within the participants’ teams/organisation.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module will take about 50 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 75 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To illustrate the importance of customer service.
• To demonstrate how little changes can have a big impact to customers’ perception of the service they receive.
• To illustrate the importance of people to customer service.
• To identify improvements that can be made to customer service within the participants’ teams/organisation.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• The Activity Links and your PIN.
• A mobile device for each team (laptop/tablet/mobile phone) that can receive emails and play sound.
• Breakout space for each team to listen to the story in the Activity Link without being overheard.
Notes:
Most of us have stopped in hotels. This simple, yet powerful, exercise uses those experiences to demonstrate how little things count when delivering excellent customer service.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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A brilliant exercise used as part of a one day workshop in Delivering Excellent Service. It really opens the eyes to the participants how different attitudes come across and how it makes people feel.
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Lottie Skuthe-Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this module just this weekend, with a little twist, I gave two separate
groups of participants a script each, taken from the two scenarios a week ahead of time and asked them to act out the scenes. It was very effective as it brought out "how bad service looks" and led to very good discussions on the cost and benefits of going the extra mile.
PS: the entire room also enjoyed the mini skits and some of the "actors" even brought along props.
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Nadia Mardenborough
rated this item with 5 stars.
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An excellent exercise used in 'Professional receptionist 'training. Much discussion generated by the two different / parallel scenarios and delegates agreed that this was an effective way of demonstrating that customer care can cost nothing other than a positive attitude!
Robert Corteen
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Robert Corteen
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This case study worked very well during a 2 hour session on exceptional customer care for 6 administrators whose jobs had changed to include telephone based customer service. I was skeptical about not telling them there were 2 versions of the case study at first, but this worked really well and they had lively debate about the differences once they realised. They agreed there was little difference in cost or effort but huge benefits in repeat business with the excellent customer service version. They then engaged in useful action planning to improve service from their own company (a beauty products retailer).
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Melody McMillan
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Diamond or Glass is a fantastic customer service exercise and works well for us. Also The Hungry Chick Inn has been very successful. They are both practical and travel well i.e., from the UK to Australia! Our people in the building industry can relate to both scenarios.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To show participants a five-step model that will help them establish the need for a difficult conversation and plan for a successful outcome.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To show participants a five-step model that will help them establish the need for a difficult conversation and plan for a successful outcome.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone.
You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To create a situation where participants have to manage change driven by one department, affecting the work of another.
• To identify some key learning points about managing change.
• To test information gathering and sharing skills.
• To demonstrate the importance of effective questioning, summary and clarification and active listening.
• To consider the pros and cons of different leadership styles.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 45 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 70 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To create a situation where participants have to manage change driven by one department, affecting the work of another.
• To identify some key learning points about managing change.
• To test information gathering and sharing skills.
• To demonstrate the importance of effective questioning, summary and clarification and active listening.
• To consider the pros and cons of different leadership styles.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Each team will need a space to work where they cannot be overheard by the other team (s).
• Each HR team will need an egg timer that takes 3-4 minutes for the sand to pass from one side to the other.
Notes:
As well as useful in programs concerned with change, this exercise can also be used as a general communication exercise, or in training concerned with internal customer care.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library - Dinner Party Mayhem - Managing Other Teams.
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I recently used this team exercise as part of a companywide team-building programme. The delegates included senior leaders, all people leaders and key subject specialists. The framework for the programme was Patrick Lencioni's '5 Dysfunctions of a Team' and my challenge was to find an exercise that demonstrated how ambiguity can impact negatively on individuals' commitment in a team. The exercise was run in two cohorts and was equally successful in each. The simplicity of the exercise is the key; all the competing teams have to do is arrange a seating plan; however they only have partial information. Some of the missing information provided in a hurried and unsystematic way by the 'HR' team was vital. The frayed emotions and frustration were very real, which made this feel 'real life' rather than a training exercise. I would recommend its use for team-building, post-restructuring culture building and in leading change through uncertain conditions.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used it as the very first activity in a one-day module of our Leadership Development program called “Communication for Change”. What I liked about it was that it could be run with almost no preparation – just print out the briefs, give them to the teams, and away they go. The teams did all the stereotypical things while participating that gave us some great discussion in the debrief – e.g. confusion about what the other team was doing, poor communication, competitive streaks coming to the surface, time wasting through lack of information sharing, too much focus on the task and not enough on the people etc. It was a great intro to our workshop, and was extremely engaging for the participants. Next time I would probably elaborate a bit more on the briefing to make it clearer that it is a CHANGE. For example, that the dinner party was all organised but then the restaurant changed the tables available etc. This would make a slightly smoother transition into the program topic I’m including it in. Overall it worked really well and generated very useful discussion. I will definitely continue to include it in this program.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 4 stars.
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This exercise did not work very well as it was far too easy with the corporate team solving the problem within 10-15 minutes, therefore not having to adjust to any change. Further complications could be added in order to make the exercise more challenging, such as reduction in time or the facilitator acting as the HR team and taking a variety of approaches to directing change. The current time of 45 minutes to complete the exercise is far too long. I recognised this and reduced it to 30 minutes yet this was still too long and the learners felt that they got nothing from the exercise, other than demonstrating how clever they were!
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Nick Lennon-Barrett
rated this item with 2 stars.
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If you want a great activity to use for topics on change management, this is the one. From understanding change, planning change and implementing change, this activity has the versatility to be used around any of these topics. When I first joined trainer’s library I used it nearly every month for about 2 years – a great activity that can really help delegates understand how individuals react differently to change. I do feel that it is Important to have 2 facilitators so that notes can be made on the behaviours people demonstrate during the activity. A brilliant activity that I continue to go back to…
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Gary Shewan
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants understand the importance of only using discounts at the appropriate point in the sales process and the risks of using them too soon.
• To help participants understand how buyers attach value and the relationship between value, desire and discounts.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To help participants understand the importance of only using discounts at the appropriate point in the sales process and the risks of using them too soon.
• To help participants understand how buyers attach value and the relationship between value, desire and discounts.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone involved in sales.
You'll Need:
• To prepare one set of Sales Process Cards for each team participating. (We recommend laminating the cards so they can be reused.)
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims:
• To enable participants to test their communication skills.
• To test participants’ abilities to get their point across effectively whilst building an understanding of others’ feelings.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 50 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To enable participants to test their communication skills.
• To test participants’ abilities to get their point across effectively whilst building an understanding of others’ feelings.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Ideally, you will have breakout space for the teams to hold their discussions away from the other team(s).
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To raise awareness of self-awareness, the first strand of emotional intelligence.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module can be completed in about 40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 60 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To raise awareness of self-awareness, the first strand of emotional intelligence.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to about 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A flipchart, pens and the handouts provided.
Notes:
This module forms part one of a two-part introduction to emotional intelligence. (Part 2 can also be used alone to explore awareness of others and empathy as a skill.) This module (Part 1) looks at intra-personal intelligence - self-awareness - and the ability to notice and regulate or manage our own emotional state or mood. Part 2 examines interpersonal intelligence – being able to distinguish other people’s emotions, moods and temperaments. It is important to have an understanding of emotional intelligence and the effects of discussing it with a group of participants. You will find Mike Bagshaw’s Article in Trainers’ Library useful for this.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this module alongside part 2 with a group of staff who became more expressive with their emotions (at detriment to each other) following a period of change. It was a really useful, non-threatening introduction to self awareness before moving on to part 2.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I recently used this module for team leaders and deputy team leaders when delivering a session on Emotional Intelligence. The grades of emotions exercise worked very well. It was good to share how aware the delegates were of others emotions and how their own behaviour can influence others. I received a lot of positive feedback following the session.
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Shirley Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 100 minutes.
Aims:
• To develop an understanding of the importance of awareness of others, the second strand of emotional intelligence.
• To allow participants to practice empathy as a skill.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module can be completed in about 80 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 100 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To develop an understanding of the importance of awareness of others, the second strand of emotional intelligence.
• To allow participants to practice empathy as a skill.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to about 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module forms Part 2 of a two-part introduction to emotional intelligence. This part examines interpersonal intelligence – being able to distinguish other people’s emotions, moods and temperaments. Part 1 looks at intra-personal intelligence - self-awareness and the ability to notice and regulate or manage our own emotional state or mood. This module can also be used alone, for example as part of a customer service skills course, to explore the importance and value of empathy as a skill. Before using this module it is important to have an understanding of emotional intelligence and the effects of discussing it with a group of participants. You will find Mike Bagshaw’s Article in Trainer’s Library useful for this.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this module following part 1, for a team to be more aware about how their own emotions may affect others, and how they can empathise with each other. One of the learning points that came out was the fact they used these skills with their 'clients' but not with one another. I'm going to use it again as part of a Resilience session.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this module along with Part 1 Self-Awareness when running a session on emotional intelligence. The empathy exercise in this module worked really well it worked well to discus the difference between empathy and sympathy and how you don't have to agree with someone to be empathetic and what it felt like to get feedback with empathy and then with no empathy. i received some positive feedback following the session.
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Shirley Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims:
• To provide participants with an opportunity to practise responding assertively to a range of situations.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 70 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 90 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To provide participants with an opportunity to practise responding assertively to a range of situations.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This activity is designed to be used as a conclusion to training around assertive behaviour. It provides participants with an opportunity to practise responding assertively to a range of situations - whether it's with managing upwards, dealing with peers and colleagues or in personal situations. This exercise is easily adapted and can be used in a variety of ways depending on your participants and the time available. For example, you can run it: • As a small group discussion.
• As a role-play exercise with 2 participants role-playing and an observer giving feedback.
• By asking each participant to work on one scenario and then role-play it with the trainer with feedback from the rest of the group.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I’ve used this activity at the end of training, to practice what has been learned. If I’m stuck for time, I give each delegate a different scenario (depending on group size of course). It helps delegates to see that they CAN be assertive and that it just takes practice and effort, thinking about what they are going to say and how they will approach a situation.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To test participants' planning and communication skills.
• To demonstrate the importance of listening and using summary and clarification to check understanding.
• To consider what makes communication effective and the dangers of getting it wrong.
• To energise a group of participants.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To test participants' planning and communication skills.
• To demonstrate the importance of listening and using summary and clarification to check understanding.
• To consider what makes communication effective and the dangers of getting it wrong.
• To energise a group of participants.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Whistles (one for each team).
• A stopwatch.
• Skittles and hoops (or similar-see note).
• Prizes.
We don't often develop exercises specifically for the outdoors, but this is a simple exercise that can be used by anyone with access to a park, lawn or yard. A great energiser for sunny days and one which really does contain some important lessons about communication and the importance of checking understanding.This exercise does require some preparation as you'll need to devise a 'course' for your participants to follow. Preparation will take about 5 minutes once you have the items you'll need. The course maps show three different routes through the same course, which means you won't have to change the course itself if playing more than one round. We suggest using hula-hoops for your 'pens'. If not, you can mark the 'pens' out using other things like rope or giant pick-up sticks. Skittles, cones or balls can be used to mark out the rest of the course.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Fantastic Activity for teambuilding, communication and leadership! I would use it over and over again. Simple to set up, and you can get creative with the equipment I used squeeky toys so when people had blind folds they would step on them which added even more humour to this activity. I would highly recommend this to any trainer that is teambuilding and has some space for the pens. I was a littly reluctant to use it at first as I had never used it before and have no sense of direction myself - once zoe explained the footprints and the direction of the footprints the penny dropped and away I went!
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I had to run a Team Building event with the members of the Inbound Sales Teams; a couple of the Team Leaders were new to the company and the associates had recently been asked to make a few outbound calls at quieter periods, which they were not happy about. As a result they blamed the Team Leaders for not standing up for them. The situation had deteriorated a bit and it was time to bring the department together. I got my inspiration from Trainer's Library and I selected Glasstap Sheep Trials as an exercise. The results were amazing! The participants were a bit weary at the beginning and they were not talking too much amongst each other. By the time the first group started the exercise all participants were discussing the other group's performance amongst themselves and asking their team leader to communicate with them in a different way or using the same techniques if those were working. When the exercise finished I was very pleased to notice the complete transformation of the dynamics and communication of the department. There was laughter all round and they were all very keen to participate during the debrief. The questions suggested by Glasstap were fantastic at getting the message across and the relationship in the department improved dramatically as a direct result of the team building day. What a fantastic activity to run! Thank you Glasstap!!!!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to communicate effectively in order to gather all the information available.
• To encourage participants to think about how they communicate.
• To encourage participants to work co-operatively to solve a shared problem.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module. Aims:
• To encourage participants to communicate effectively in order to gather all the information available.
• To encourage participants to think about how they communicate.
• To encourage participants to work co-operatively to solve a shared problem.
Group Size:
The optimum number of participants for this exercise is 8, however it can be used with fewer. If you have more than 15 in your group, split them into teams. Useful For:
Staff at all levels. You'll Need:
Nothing, other than the materials provided. Notes:
This communication exercise is based on a logic puzzle. You will need a minimum of 8 participants, which is the optimum number for the exercise. However, we have included additional Gossip Cards that enable the exercise to be used in groups of up to 15. (If you have more than 15 in your group, split the group into teams of 8 or more and get each team to complete the exercise separately.) Please note that where there are more than 8 participants in a team some of the ‘gossip’ will be duplicated.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I love this exercise! I have used it on several occasions and there always seems to be some new learning that can be drawn out. I use it mainly for problem-solving facilitation as a wrap-up exercise. I have used it face to face and remotely, using a Jamboard so the delegates can collaborate virtually. For the remote version I have created a number of cards to match the number of delegates, making sure I include all the facts. The tricky thing is you don't always know exactly how many delegates you'll get on the day! In the face to face version I just hand out more cards per person.
It's great for illustrating listening, team work, understanding a task, data visualisation - the list goes on!
I would highly recommend this exercise.
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Lisa Lester
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I've used Gossip on numerous occasion when I want teams to understand how important it is to ensure every piece of information is used to get the right result. It also helps individuals to understand how different people take in information in different ways, for example some people only come to life in this exercise when they are allowed to see the information written down in a visual format. Great exercise, easy to use but it's vital that the debrief is carried out effectively.
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Richard Linder
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is an excellent exercise and probably my favourite of all the Trainers Library ones. I have used it for a number of years as the opening exercise on various management programmes where the focus of the day has been effective communication. It is fascinating observing the group as they try to decipher the task. I have yet to have a group that have not enjoyed the exercise. It can seem a bit awkward for the first 5 minutes with some groups but persevere as they always start to open up. I recommend you make plenty of notes of the behaviours you observe throughout. The debrief at the end is as much fun as the exercise itself. There are so many important points you can cover off at the end. It is really thought provoking and with a well facilitated discussion at the end you can create a real buzz in the training room. I have groups that were talking about this exercise months after they did it. It really hits the mark. I would highly recommend this
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a brilliant exercise. I used it when we brought together 2 teams from different locations for training. It really got them working together and highlighted the benefits of working together for the good of the organisation rather than in isolation. It also demonstrated transferrable skills. I'll be using this again and again.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I've used Gossip! on several occasions now and it always delivers the learning experience I'm aiming for. Delegates move from perplexed to organised to motivated as they explore how to complete the exercise and demonstrate the range of behaviours needed for a really good debrief around team communications skills. I also like the flexibility it offers to add more than the standard 8 participants so, if I get a no-show or have higher delegate numbers, it doesn't matter.
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Jo Wilding
rated this item with 5 stars.
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What a fantastically versatile exercise Gossip is. I have used this on numerous occasions and it never fails to deliver! Whether you want to use it for team or communication skills it works brilliantly. Thanks for another superb exercise. Andy, Motiv8 Development Ltd
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Andy Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used the activity Gossip as part of a communications course. I had a group of eight so it worked out just right. I did have to give them a couple of hints to get them on the right path to start with but they succeeded in coming up with right solution. This is a great activity to put across the importance of good communication especially questioning and listening skills and not making assumptions. I will be using this activity again.
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Previous Member
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I have recently used the above exercise on two different communication skills programmes. The first programme had 12 delegates so I had 4 observers which worked really well as they got an opportunity to practise feedback skills which we had covered in the previous session. The remaining eight delegates were each given the pre prepared laminated cards and given the basis instructions. It was interesting to see that once they had read the cards they then asked me what they were supposed to do now! Calmly I repeated the basic instructions! After a couple of minutes they all started to discuss what was on their cards and established the tasks they were required to complete. There were many issues with how they went about the task, and it was clear that although we had discussed, practised and agreed many aspects of effective communication, including things like questioning, listening and preparation, this all went out of the window in this exercise! The best things about this exercise are the many learning points and varied situations where this can be used. The delegates all found it interesting either as a participant or as an observer. This is definitely one that will be in my tool bag for many different situations!
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I facilitate multi-disciplinary teams of healthcare professionals working in cancer care. Benefits of this sort of working are that each discipline contributes to decisions about treatment options for patients. Not all teams either listen or value other members' opinions. Tried out Gossip with a large team of 16 split into 2 groups. Worked fabulously well and showed them how problems cannot be addressed properly unless everyone in the team has a voice and that they record things logically and systematically. Thank you.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider their attitude.
• To encourage discussion around optimistic versus pessimistic outlooks.
• To recognise the impact that attitude has on performance.
• To enable participants to identify personal traits that might be holding them back.
• To encourage leaders to consider how they might deal with negative attitudes in their team.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider their attitude.
• To encourage discussion around optimistic versus pessimistic outlooks.
• To recognise the impact that attitude has on performance.
• To enable participants to identify personal traits that might be holding them back.
• To encourage leaders to consider how they might deal with negative attitudes in their team.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module provides an excellent opportunity, when working with a wide range of participants, to consider how attitude can impact on performance. Topics where the inclusion of a module looking at optimism/pessimism might be beneficial include:
• Managing change.
• Problem solving and decision making.
• Customer service.
• Selling skills.
• Leading a team.
• Strategic leadership.
• Communication skills.
• Planning and scheduling.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This is a very powerful activity the first part allows for self reflection on what the individuals preference tends to be - am I more half empty or half full? There are then a series of questions that give the group great discussion opportunities I have used this activity as part of managing change workshop and fits in really nicely in terms of what the individual can do to help themselves and how powerful their own attitude can be and how this might impact others and themselves.
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I ran 'Half Full' as a stand-alone module to encourage people to think about the relative draw-backs and benefits of different perspectives on the world. As directed, the delegates completed the questionnaire on their own and then read the handout. They then started to answer the questions on their own too. One delegate found this very difficult so we stopped writing and opened the whole thing up as a discussion. Very quickly all delegates were involved in talking through the merits of pessimism and optimism. We identified some key learning points - not to bring up barriers when others don't act as you'd want, that optimists should think about analysing risk and pessimists can look to improve their outlook. We also had a very intense and productive debate about the value of constructive feedback and how one goes about it. All in all, the exercise 'did what it said on the can' and I've been delighted with it.
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Tracy Croft
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To explore the difference between Assertive Behaviour and more Passive or Aggressive approaches.
• To understand how to deal assertively with customers.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 50 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explore the difference between Assertive Behaviour and more Passive or Aggressive approaches.
• To understand how to deal assertively with customers.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone.
You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
Before running this activity, review the scenarios in Handout 2 and decide what you think is the appropriate action for your participants to take. There are two versions of this module – this one for external customers and another where the examples are focused on internal customers.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To explore the difference between Assertive Behaviour and more Passive or Aggressive approaches.
• To understand how to deal assertively with internal customers and colleagues.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 50 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explore the difference between Assertive Behaviour and more Passive or Aggressive approaches.
• To understand how to deal assertively with internal customers and colleagues.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone.
You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
Before running this activity, review the scenarios in Handout 2 and decide what you think is the appropriate action for your participants to take. There are two versions of this module – this one for internal customers and another where the examples are focused on external customers.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of exploring customers' needs through questioning, listening and checking understanding.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 50 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of exploring customers' needs through questioning, listening and checking understanding.
Group Size:
For this exercise you will need groups of 4 or 6. Where necessary make up the numbers by participating yourself. Where you have more than 6 participants, run the exercise concurrently in more than one place.
Useful For:
Staff up to team leader.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This exercise can form a useful part of any training for those new to a sales role. It encourages participants to focus on the needs of the customer, rather than their own sales patter.
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A great exercise I have used a lot in various forms of Customer Excellence training. It's well relatable for the participants and opens their eyes to how to listen, ask the right questions and act with customers.
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Lottie Skuthe-Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Worked brilliantly. A scenario everyone could relate to, so they all understood the ‘process’, but really got them thinking about the questions they ask, the way they phrase them and how/if they listen! The ‘speed’ of the activity generated lots of energy. I used it after lunch as a great way to review pre-lunch learning and to liven the group up in the post-food slump. And the de-brief section of the trainer notes, contained really helpful guidance. Terrific all-round communication skills exercise.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used the Happy Holidays exercise during a Sales Fundamentals programme for people working in a high pressure, high target sales situation. It worked brilliantly. The exercise is really simple to run – and as the delegate is taking the part of both the customer and travel agent at different times – they are noticing what questions work, and, of course, which don’t. The learning highlights for me were: How many delegates noticed they used questioning as a “checklist” or questionnaire – using mostly closed questions.
How poor the note taking was to allow them to match the holidays to the customer needs.
How often they were trying to move into the “sale” before getting the information – even though they were told not to.
Not listening to the customer’s answers. All in all, a quick, high energy game which gets everyone involved. Even the 2 delegates who acted as observers got a huge amount from the exercise. Thanks again Glasstap!
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Rosemary Taylor
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants understand their current use of assertive behaviour and identify areas for improvement.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be complete within 10 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete the module.
Aims:
• To help participants understand their current use of assertive behaviour and identify areas for improvement.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff up to supervisor level.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module includes a simple quiz to help participants identify the behaviours they currently feel comfortable with.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I sent the quiz to the delegates prior to my session, and asked them to complete this as pre-course work and bring it to the training. This saved me a bit of time and allowed delegates to think about why they were attending the session in the first place. Then at the start of the training, I invited comments and we discussed some examples. Following this activity, I used ‘Yes but, No but!’ and that seemed to flow really well.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a really powerful tool. The instructions suggest that you do the quiz yourself as the leader of the group. I have found that to be very helpful – a bit of self disclosure first really helps to open up discussion. You do need to tell people it is for their own personal use and that the scores for individuals will not be discussed. Having said that 9 times out of 10 people are more than willing to blurt out their scores! No-one is very surprised at their score. My areas of problems are to do with conflict and being bullied into things, then doing it resentfully. That comment does help the opening up, because at least one person will have one of these context specific problems. I have even found this immensely useful in one to one coaching – even though that is not what it was designed for originally. The questionnaire really does allow for quite deep personal discussion very easily.
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Phil Hawthorn
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The questionnaire worked well to elicit what people felt. Positioned this as “be as honest as possible to gain the most from the exercise” – might be worth annotating to the exercise. Also try not to think too much into the questions – you are trying to gauge your immediate reactions to a particular situation as some dwelt unduly on certain areas (perhaps setting a time limit would help e.g. max 1 minute). I used the notes and the briefing as a positioning tool and it worked quite well. The inference on the general use of the “prey” and “predator” approaches, I would not use again as it created a bit of controversy over their validity (some challenged the basic premise) which detracted from the key message for a time. Whereas the ‘fight or flight’ I would use again as this met with general approval and it made a lot more sense against the “submissive \ aggressive” banner and why we might react the way we do to certain situations.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 65 minutes.
Aims:
• To provide participants with a way of understanding behaviour and improving communication.
• To provide a very basic introduction to transactional analysis.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module will take about 45 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 65 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To provide participants with a way of understanding behaviour and improving communication.
• To provide a very basic introduction to transactional analysis.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff up to junior managers.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module is intended to provide a very simple introduction to transactional analysis, a theory developed by Eric Berne in the 1950s. If you are not familiar with transactional analysis you will need to read through all the notes carefully plus the additional material in the handout. Go through the exercises on your own first so that you can see the rationale. If you have time, try to observe the different types "in play" in your own interactions with people.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Great simple introduction to Transnational Analysis, helping individuals see what their dominant ego state may be and how they communicate may influence a particular response. I have used this for an introduction to management, communication skills and assertiveness courses. I also have two sets of three circles laminated and place them on the floor to get some movement through the ego states - gets people thinking about where they are communicating from and therefore what invitation they are giving others. Simple yet powerful!
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Straight forward introduction to TA that you can pick up and
run with. The check for
understanding exercise is good as people can ‘see’ TA in action. And the
dominant states exercise was good.
Personally I added a little bit about the functional model
as I find it helps people get their minds around the positive and negative
parent and child states. But that
was easy to add into this activity.
The complementary or crossed communications exercise was helpful, and again
to make it a little more practical I gave them discs and sticks and got them to map out the transactions to
help their thinking process with each example. Found this worked well.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I used this material in a coaching workshop for managers. The exercise was used in the context of giving effective feedback and what problems may occur when our communication style is crossed rather than parallel to the person we’re working with. It is structured such that the topic of transactional analysis is very easy to understand and everyone was able to identify with the states of being an Adult, Child or Parent. It begins with an exercise to consider what your reactions would be in five situations - which you later come back to and label the state in which you responded – many people were surprised that many of their immediate reactions were very much in a Child state! I followed this exercise with a coaching role-play, where the manager had to give feedback to an ‘employee’ about his/her performance which helped the participants to use a more appropriate state when giving feedback.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of building a clear understanding of needs and feelings in negotiation, through effective questioning and listening.
• To show the importance of separating people and personalities from the problems.
• To show the value of a shared problem/creative solution finding approach to negotiation.
• To provide an opportunity to practise negotiation, teamwork and problem solving skills.
About
Time:
This game can be played in about 70 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 90 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of building a clear understanding of needs and feelings in negotiation, through effective questioning and listening.
• To show the importance of separating people and personalities from the problems.
• To show the value of a shared problem/creative solution finding approach to negotiation.
• To provide an opportunity to practise negotiation, teamwork and problem solving skills.
Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Negotiation skills, communication, leadership, teamwork and collaboration, and problem solving.
Group Size:
This game involves participants working individually (or in pairs) representing one of 3 or, ideally 4 tribes. So each game requires a minimum of 3 participants and a maximum of 8. You can have several games running concurrently alongside each other.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels who are involved in negotiating but managers in particular.
You'll Need:
• An island map for each group of 3 or 4 tribes and ideally they should be A3 or larger and laminated.
• A different brief for each tribe.
• Chinagraph pencils (or similar) and wipes are recommended if your maps are laminated.
Notes:
It’s best to run this exercise module without too much explanation. This exercise has many different potential solutions – the learning comes from the experience of trying to find one that all parties can agree to.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I train our new starters to become Recruitment Consultants. I decided to run a group interview evening, using a couple of the Trainers Library sessions. This one was perfect for identifying who got involved in the exercise, who was too eager to take over and those who sat back and let others lead. I used printouts of the map and it worked but I would definitely order the maps next time.
The game was fun and really helped us to identify who to recruit, so I will definitely use it again!
Caroline
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Caroline Kemp
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I love this exercise because after preparing the materials you can almost sit back, relax and watch the complete lack of negotiation skills most people have. I always emphasis at the start how important it is for each tribe to get what they need. Having done that you can guarantee lots of folded arms and shaking of heads. I always make sure that the negotiator is different for each round and that I have plenty of maps available to draw on. Occasionally the result is agreement but I've also had many occasion where I've ended up with a beautiful island all to myself. Give it a try, as the discussions after the exercise really do help explain the art of negotiation.
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Richard Linder
rated this item with 5 stars.
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What a flexible session this is. I have used it in sessions for Team building,
influencing, conflict management, assertive behaviour and planning.
The best result I have had with it is in a team building session. They discovered
how they treat each other and the impact it has in the team whilst learning
their own behaviour and bought into it how they treat other teams too. They were astounded at how easy it is to deal with other parts of the business to gain support and solve problems together instead of constantly hitting brick walls and not achieving their goals. They did this by taking the emotion and history out of the problems and getting everyone's needs out in the open before they tried to solve anything.
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Karon Campbell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I joined a little over one month ago and recently used the team building exercise Island of Opportunity at a senior managers three day transformative conflict/mediation workshop. I chose this activity as an evening event on Day 2 because the exercise allowed for team building, some fun and laughter after two days of role-playing conflict scenarios, and it also contained key learnings for trainee mediators. Specifically the exercise- - was aligned with the general workshop content (negotiation, understanding of needs and collaboration to reach a solution Vs aggression and conflict provoking tactics). - allowed for team building as some participants did not know one another but worked in the same unit. - provided light relief after 2 full days of discussing conflict which produces low energy in the group. - can be used to discuss cultural aspects of teams/organisations and how they might deal with differences/disputes. I provided a bag of wigs and party hairpieces, beads and other materials for those who wanted to create their own ‘tribal’ attire. Each of the teams in the exercise (4) used the gear or made their own tribal dress. No coercion on my part to dress-up. The exercise worked very well and completed the day with a huge amount of fun. I left the debrief until the following morning (Day 3) when everyone was a little more focussed! Very versatile exercise with good learning points for teams and you can use it with or without the hairpieces.
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Previous Member
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I used Island of Opportunity for team negotiating on a Negotiating skills course recently. I had teams of two representing each of the tribes who arrive on the island and need to decide how to divide it according to their needs. I found it worked really well and better than a previous team negotiation I had used on this course. Island of Opportunity really helps the negotiators to think about what everyone’s needs are and to negotiate according to need in a problem-solving way, instead of taking up positions. Occasionally, they were in danger of taking positions but the brief provides enough information to enable them to think of ways to barter and that reinforces the idea that you may have something you can offer easily which will be valuable to the other side. It provided some good learning points for team coaching, as the new information being offered by other tribes in the negotiation prompted discussion between team members, and helped them to realise the need to present a united front. Everyone enjoyed it and I was able to give lots of good feedback about the constructive negotiating behaviours they had displayed.
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Valerie Fawcett
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have recently used the Island of Opportunity Excercise as part of a training session incorporating Influencing and Persuasive Techniques. I used this excercise at the end of a day long session and it certainly help embedd their knowledge and it was an excellent way for them to hone the negotiation and persuasive techniques that were learned during the earlier training session. I am planning to incorporate into our Communications Course as our staff got a huge benefit. I look forward to running more sessions with this really fun and easy to adapt excercise.
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Previous Member
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Island of Opportunity has provided a really useful exercise within an assertiveness course. It allowed delegates to practice being more assertive through negotiations and pulled out some very interesting and useful learning points.
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Tracy Barlow
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I was in the middle of designing a 3-day sales training course when I ran out of inspiration for exercises on negotiation skills. I decided to check Trainers' Library and I came across "Island of Opportunity". I have now been using this exercise for about 10 months as part of the sales training induction for new outbound and inbound starters. Island of Opportunity opens up my 3-day sales course as it is a great icebreaker and it really gets people talking to each other. On the other hand, it also allows me to get to know all my delegates quite in depth; it is really easy to spot the quiet ones, bossy ones, argumentative ones, logical ones, etc. I really like the fact that delegates have a lot of fun with this exercise while learning the skills that they will need in order to sell and negotiate with both internal and external customers. The debriefing questions suggested at the end of the exercise are extremely effective at highlighting the key learning points of the activity. All in all this is one of the best exercises I have ever used and as a result I have also used it as part of Negotiation Skills training and Coaching Training for Team Leaders, as the Island is fantastic at ensuring that participants realise the importance of communication skills and understanding other people's point of view. Many thanks for a great activity!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The delegates found being part of a tribe was fun. The brief does state to start the activity with as little explanation as possible, I did explain the basics of the activity and found that some were confused by this; in future I will give them the information and leave them to work it out. This activity works better for people who do not know each other; there is more scope for aggressive negotiation, rather than group discussion.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 120 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants develop their negotiation skills and in particular their ability to establish their needs and wants, and those of the other party, prior to commencing negotiating.
About
Time:
This game can be played in about 90 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 120 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants develop their negotiation skills and in particular their ability to establish their needs and wants, and those of the other party, prior to commencing negotiating.
Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Communication skills, leadership, negotiation, teamwork and collaboration, and problem solving.
Group Size:
This exercise involves participants working in four teams. You’ll need a minimum of 2 participants in each team and a maximum of 6.
Useful For:
Managers, and particularly those at a more senior level.
You'll Need:
• Access to the Internet, to use our online scoring tool, necessary to assess teams’ performances and a printer to provide participants a copy of the results. (Only you will need this, not your participants.)
• Plenty of space. Ideally each of your four teams will have a separate breakout room to work in.
• A calculator for each team.
• Highlighters, pens and pencils for each team.
• A small prize for the winning team.
• A bell (optional).
Notes:
The exercise can also be used at the end of a training event focused on negotiation, allowing participants to apply new knowledge and skills.
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I have to agree with a previous reviewer that this exercise is a great concept, however it falls down because it is over complex. I have had a high degree of success using Glasstap Case Studies and Exercises with a team of capable Directors and Senior Managers, however "Jess Blonde" confused them and they failed to grasp the key points, getting somewhat lost in the film world details. However, I feel that with a clearer brief and fewer parameters for success, this could work well with senior people.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have enjoyed using products from Glasstap to date, however I'm sad to say that this one, Jess Blonde, did not work well with my group of 9 reasonably experienced negotiators today. The main issue - it's way too complex, so people spent most of the time trying to work out how on earth the film market works, and no where near enough time trying the negotiation tactics I'd been teaching them. As a result, it also went way over time. I did it in 4 chunks instead of all in one go, and I'd estimate it tool at least 3 hrs all up. Would love to see it reworked as a more simple version.
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Rob Pyne
rated this item with 2 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To assist job applicants in understanding what the employer is looking for when advertising a job.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To assist job applicants in understanding what the employer is looking for when advertising a job.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels especially those returning to work after a career break or job seekers. This module may also be used as a framework for 1:1 coaching sessions.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This is the second module in the Job Application series of short workshops taking participants through the whole job application process – from selecting the most appropriate jobs to preparing for interview. Alternatively it can be run as a stand-alone exercise.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 70 minutes.
Aims:
• To help job applicants write a compelling CV.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 70 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To help job applicants write a compelling CV.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants
Useful For:
Staff at all levels especially those returning to work after a career break or job seekers. This module may also be used as a framework for 1:1 coaching sessions.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This is the fourth module in the Job Application series of short workshops taking participants through the whole job application process – from selecting the most appropriate jobs to preparing for interview. It may also be used as a short, stand-alone session. We’ve provided two alternative briefs for Exercise 1, one for more senior, experienced groups and one for less experienced candidates.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To introduce managers to the subject of employee engagement.
• To help managers begin to understand why employee engagement is central to being a successful manager.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 10 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To introduce participants to a simple 4-step process to follow when dealing with an unhappy customer.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels, especially those in a customer-facing role.
You'll Need:
• Flipchart and pens.
Notes:
This exercise works very well as a follow up to The Shoe Shop – A Customer Service Dilemma.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To introduce participants to the Ladder of Inference.
• To help participants understand how quickly we can leap to assumptions about other people, which in turn can harden into deep-rooted beliefs.
• To understand how our beliefs impact on our communication with others.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 60 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To introduce participants to the Ladder of Inference.
• To help participants understand how quickly we can leap to assumptions about other people, which in turn can harden into deep-rooted beliefs.
• To understand how our beliefs impact on our communication with others.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 15 participants. This exercise works best when the teams have 3-4 participants in each, but you don’t want to have more than 5 teams in total, or the exercise will become too unwieldy.
Useful For:
Everyone who interacts with others at work.
You'll Need:
• An internet connection, the Activity Links and your PIN if you’d like to use the videos.
Notes:
This exercise can be useful in any communication skills course or workshop, though it is particularly relevant in training that explores difficult conversations, decision making and negotiations.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To explore the challenge when solving a problem where a number of people are involved, particularly when those people may have other obligations that mean they can’t give your problem their complete attention.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explore the challenge when solving a problem where a number of people are involved, particularly when those people may have other obligations that mean they can’t give your problem their complete attention.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of almost any size. Where you have more than 12 participants, you should consider splitting your group and running two versions of the exercise separately in tandem.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A stopwatch.
Notes:
This exercise requires a minimum of 6 participants. Where you have more than 12 participants, you should consider splitting your group and running two versions of the exercise separately in tandem. It is important that all of the cards are distributed and that every participant has a card but some participants can receive more cards than others – in fact it’s better if they do.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To draw up some guidelines for making and refusing requests.
• To describe and practise a number of assertiveness techniques.
• To test participants’ understanding of assertive behaviour.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To draw up some guidelines for making and refusing requests.
• To describe and practise a number of assertiveness techniques.
• To test participants’ understanding of assertive behaviour.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff up to supervisor level.
You'll Need:
• Half of the participants will need Handout 1 and the rest will need Handout 2. Everyone will need a copy of Handout 3.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this activity as a consolidation of learning following "What is assertiveness?" and "How assertive are you?" modules.
All my participants really enjoyed having a practical application using a fictional situation. The debrief encouraged many deep and meaningful exchanges, whilst highlighting the importance of using the right techniques and language to achieve better results when requesting or refusing assertively.
I finished the session with a similar activity but using the participants' real case scenarios (which I asked them to bring to the session) and it resulted in a lot of confident people leaving the workshop!
All in all, a very enjoyable and successful exercise!
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Rene Garcia-Evans
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This was a very useful activity to test what delegates had learned about assertive behaviour, and to also give them a technique for making and refusing requests. I drew out the key learning points and came up with a model for making and refusing requests, which I displayed on a powerpoint slide. Really good activity!
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To show participants how we all interpret information differently.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To show participants how we all interpret information differently.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This is a fun way to explore how we all see things differently. We recommend a minimum of 5 participants for this activity to work well.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This is one of my favourite exercises! So simple and causes lost of laughter - I've used it lots of times in a course around building impact and influence to explain how we see things differently. There's also lost of great insights afterwards. I've used this with people globally on a virtual session and it works well with people whose first language is not English too.
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Elaine Stephens
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To understand the importance of setting clear performance objectives for team members.
• To understand what makes an objective SMART.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 35 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 50 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To understand the importance of setting clear performance objectives for team members.
• To understand what makes an objective SMART.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• 2 clipboards with pens for the assessors.
• 2 copies of the Assessor’s Brief, each sealed in a separate envelope.
• A copy of the handout for every participant.
• A stopwatch.
Notes:
For managers, we strongly recommend following this module with Using SMART Objectives, which will give participants an opportunity to create SMART objectives for specific members of their team.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library called Objectives - Introducing SMART.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To identify why potential customers don’t like receiving sales calls.
• To consider the skills that sales consultants will need to use to get their message heard by potential buyers.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed within 30 minutes if working with a group of 10-12 participants. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45-50 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To identify why potential customers don’t like receiving sales calls.
• To consider the skills that sales consultants will need to use to get their message heard by potential buyers.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Telesales staff.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module can be used as an effective introduction to telesales training. As the training progresses, you are likely to discover that, having identified the skills they should be using, participants may fail to actually apply these in practical ‘role-play’ or simulation type exercises, and instead slip into bad habits. So we recommend that you encourage participants to use the lists of ‘good’ behaviours they generate to refer to when planning and then reviewing their performance in later role-play/simulation tasks.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I had always found it quite difficult to find an exercise which introduced outbound sales to a group of new starters; and then I came across Sales Blocks. I always divide the group in pairs; this has always worked really well for me as some pairs think about issues that other participants had not considered. We end up with a very interesting and accurate list of dos and don'ts which then I display in the training room for the duration of the course. I will also refer to these lists after role-plays if any of the participants has covered (or not) any of the points raised during the Sales Blocks exercise. I highly recommend this activity as it gets those sales skills out in the open at a very early stage of a sales course.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 3 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of body language in communication.
• To identify the positive and negative signals we give off in conversation.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of body language in communication.
• To identify the positive and negative signals we give off in conversation.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module has been written from a UK perspective. Body language can be interpreted very differently in different regions of the world.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To examine common problems/conundrums associated with call centres and telesales and discuss ways of overcoming these.
• To highlight and share best practices and tips for making calls successful.
About
Time:
This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To examine common problems/conundrums associated with call centres and telesales and discuss ways of overcoming these.
• To highlight and share best practices and tips for making calls successful.
Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Telesales and telephone skills, customer service, communication skills, effective questioning, building rapport, creative thinking and problem solving.
Group Size:
In this exercise participants can play individually, although we recommend they play in pairs/small teams.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A counter for every team.
• Dice.
• A 'Pitfalls and Trampolines' game board and a set of Pitfalls cards and Trampoline cards for each game in play.
Notes:
Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. It can be used at any point within a training event, but is perhaps most useful as a tool for reviewing key learning points and for sharing knowledge and ideas. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampoline cards and remove any that aren't relevant.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage discussion about customer service.
• To identify common pitfalls to avoid in relation to customer service.
• To highlight and share best practices for satisfying and delighting customers.
About
Time:
This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage discussion about customer service.
• To identify common pitfalls to avoid in relation to customer service.
• To highlight and share best practices for satisfying and delighting customers.
Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Customer care, communication skills, teamwork and collaboration, creative thinking and problem solving.
Group Size:
In this exercise participants can play individually, although we recommend they play in pairs/small teams.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels especially those in a customer facing role.
You'll Need:
• A counter for every team.
• Dice.
• A 'Pitfalls and Trampolines' game board and a set of Pitfall cards and Trampoline cards for each game in play.
Notes:
Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. It can be used at any point within a training event, but is perhaps most useful as a tool for reviewing key learning points and for sharing knowledge and ideas. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampolines cards and remove any that aren’t relevant.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
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I played this game for the first time yesterday at the end of a customer services skills course and it went really well. I was surprised how competitive they all got - insisting on playing right through to final place when I would happily have let them end when we had a winner. It was a really good way to re-cap what we had done. The game is also favourably mentioned in the majority of the feedback forms as a highlight which is
great.
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Harriet Ray
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I’d recently just finished a 10 module project on Customer Service with a regular client, and was looking for something, fun exciting, and motivational to use as a review of the customer service work we had done. A quick search of Glasstap and I found the Pitfalls and Trampolines exercise!
Woohoo! – What a find. Easy to follow instructions, great game flow, fantastic concept and easy to use cards and pertinent real life scenarios made this activity a hit with the team and was an excellent way to review and apply the learned content!
Thanks team – looking forward to the next gem!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I’ve used the Pitfalls & Trampolines (Customer Service) in some recent customer service training I’ve ran with Estate Agency and Reception Staff.
I didn’t use the board as I felt with 12 delegates it might not be practical. In pairs, delegates went through the cards discussing how they would deal with the pitfalls or discussing tips for ‘trampolines’. Some cards prompted lively group discussions, whilst others prompted some role play from some of the more enthusiastic participants!
A really great activity that I will definitely use again and again in various ways depending on their level and group size. Once again, five stars Glasstap!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Loved it. Used it most recently with a group of leisure staff all at different levels in the organisation and everyone competed well. The concept of the exercise is easy for them to grasp as it’s so familiar to them, and the challenges are really good. On one occasion, I started the game early on, then later in the course asked the groups to write some of their own challenges (relevant to their own scenarios) then switched these for the ones provided to conclude the game. Fun and appropriate for all levels of experience in customer service.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I have recently completed my first training session on The Customer Experience and used the module Pitfalls & Trampolines. This was excellent, it involved all the delegates who thoroughly enjoyed this fun exercise and many commented on the fact that they were learning whilst having fun.
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Karen Malbon
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We use this as part of our induction. Firstly to identify transferable skills of new recruits and secondly to lay the foundations of the Customer Services skills we expect. We don’t always use the board. Often we will ask the questions and award points. Having put the group into pairs the ones who gather the most points are the winners and we award small prizes/privileges etc. Works very well to set expectations.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 2 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To examine common problems/conundrums associated with giving presentations and discuss ways of overcoming these.
• To highlight and share best practices and tips for making presentations successful.
About
Time:
This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To examine common problems/conundrums associated with giving presentations and discuss ways of overcoming these.
• To highlight and share best practices and tips for making presentations successful.
Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Presentation skills, communication skills, influence and persuasion, planning and preparation, creative thinking and audience engagement.
Group Size:
In this exercise participants can play individually, although we recommend they play in pairs/small teams.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A counter for every team.
• Dice.
• A 'Pitfalls and Trampolines' game board and a set of Pitfalls cards and
Trampoline cards for each game in play.
Notes:
Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. It can be used at any point within a training event, but is perhaps most useful as a tool for reviewing key learning points and for sharing knowledge and ideas. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampolines cards and remove any that aren’t relevant.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
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This activity really helps to embed learning on a presentation skills course, I have used it several times with a positive impact.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Although I didn't use this activity as a board game it is an extremely useful module. It covers several challenges we face when delivering presentations and tips to overcome some of these issues. Rather than use a board game (because of the audience I was delivering to) I split the learners into small groups and gave them different activity cards to discuss and feedback on. This worked really well as an alternative way to get the learning points across.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used this for my training team with great effect. I tweaked the rules, as
my team are new to training. I used it as a training session rather than a
review of knowledge. With each card turned over, I gave them some suggestions;
they then had to come up with their own ideas. They then broke out into groups
and had to work out a way that they could actually use this in their own
sessions. We
have had several sessions on this game, as it takes a lot longer to complete
the way we are doing it. They want to use it over and over again as each time
they use it they get new answers. Feedback from the team is that it is a great
way to learn, practical, fun, informative and an excellent way to work as a
team.
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Karon Campbell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The training team use this exercise as part of a two day Presentation course. It is useful to use the exercise as a quiz at the end of day one to summarise what they have learnt throughout the day. If you use the questions as a quiz rather than on a snakes and ladders board I find that it is easier to set up and more competitive as each team shouts out their team name before answering.
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Previous Member
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I have successfully used Pitfalls and Trampolines for a couple of years now with great results. I usually use the exercise as an opener for a 9 month Management programme for Assistant Managers on an internal development programme. The game is part of a day long Presentation Skills module, which introduces delegates to the most effective way of presenting a Case Study they are about to work on to our Board of Directors some 4 weeks later. I have had tremendous fun with the exercise... All delegates have agreed that, whilst public speaking is not necessarily ever going to be their favourite management duty, they nevertheless learn lots of useful tips from the day which they can use again and again.
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Previous Member
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I used Pitfalls and Trampolines for Presentation Skills on a course last week. I was looking for something to summarise the course, and this fitted the bill perfectly! It gave people an opportunity to demonstrate what they had learned, and to review techniques that maybe had only been 'skimmed' at the time of discussion. Best of all, it did so in a light hearted and fun way. The competitive element was very strong in the training room that afternoon! Thanks for a great activity.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants understand what listeners actually pay attention to when someone is speaking.
• To provide participants with a self-generated list of the essences of powerful communication.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 20-30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40-50 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To help participants understand what listeners actually pay attention to when someone is speaking.
• To provide participants with a self-generated list of the essences of powerful communication.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A flipchart and a stopwatch for each trainer.
Notes:
This exercise can be useful in any course on communication skills or presentation skills. It works best at the start of a course as the flipchart that the participants generate can be referred to throughout the rest of the course and added to as other essences of powerful communication appear. If you have 9-15 participants the exercise works best if you split the group into 2 teams.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This is a great way to explore how what we say and the way we communicate has postive impact. It is also a fun way to do it. I have used it many times and always got a good level of engagement. Make sure you set it up well and explain as per the instructions. I have run this in a small group of 5 and it has worked equally well. I have used in encouraging phone based customer service people to widen their conversations to become brand ambassadors, I have used it for sales training and for general leadership training in commmunication.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 70 minutes.
Aims:
• To consider issues around communicating your project plan effectively and to create a communication plan.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 35 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 70 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To consider issues around communicating your project plan effectively and to create a communication plan.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone who needs to set up and/or commission and/or manage projects.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This is the third module in the Project Planning series. The first two modules must be run before this one. If you are running this on a different date from the first two modules it would be sensible to remind participants to bring their completed project plan, risk analysis and contingency planning documents to this session. As with the previous sessions, you will probably need several copies of the handout per participant so make sure you have enough printed.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To generate a list of open questions that can be used during participants’ sales calls/meetings.
• To generate a list of unique selling points for the product or service that participants sell.
• To group these according to where they would most naturally be used in the sales process.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 60 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To generate a list of open questions that can be used during participants’ sales calls/meetings.
• To generate a list of unique selling points for the product or service that participants sell.
• To group these according to where they would most naturally be used in the sales process.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Plenty of post-it notes.
• Flipchart paper and pens.
Notes:
This module provides a useful follow on to Talking Brochure or Sales Person? and Sales Call Analysis. It’s a practical module that will give participants a simple, yet effective tool to use in their future sales calls or meetings. This module requires that participants are all involved in selling the same product or service and is not suited to open courses with participants from different organisations.
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I have used the Questions & Selling Points activity (under Sales & Marketing Course Modules) in a few sessions with Estate Agents.
I printed off a schedule of a property they were currently marketing and they used this to identify features. The other team came up with lots of questions they would normally ask.
The real learning came when we switched teams and they were able to think of more relevant questions knowing what the features of the property were. This prompted a great discussion on benefits and the importance of getting to know your customer.
A really good activity for a first sales training session or a refresher course (as was in this case). 5 stars.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of open questions when exploring problems.
• To encourage participants to identify effective open questions for challenging blocks and assumptions.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module. Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of open questions when exploring problems.
• To encourage participants to identify effective open questions for challenging blocks and assumptions. Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up almost any size. Useful For:
Supervisors and above. You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided. Notes:
Participants will need to be aware of question types and be able to recognise the difference between open, closed, leading and hypothetical questions. A module that explains different types of questions, 'Types of Question', can be found in Trainers' Library, under Course Modules/Communication Skills. Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this module at the end of dealing with conflict workshop.The delegates all said it had been good as a refresher on using open, none judgmental questions. The exercise was really useful for everyone to work together and share ideas and examples of how they had dealt with some of the examples when faced with them in the past.
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Shirley Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This exercise is very useful to use in any Interviewing Skills courses, but will also fit into many other communication type courses. Will possibly look at it’s use within a telesales course shortly. The simple sentences that seem to stop you in your tracks were very good at making the learners think about how they’d react. Their first impressions were that if they ever had to interview people that were that monosyllabic, they’d find it hard to continue. This brought out discussion on communication styles, before we were able to proceed with the exercise. This exercise was used after the Behaviour Based Interview – What and Why exercise and helped them understand the types of questions they could use to drill down to get the information they want from candidates without leading them to the answers they want.
Some learners struggled with this more than others, but working in pairs helped them find answers to it all. This again opened a discussion on communication styles and which types were most appropriate for interviewing. It was agreed that it didn’t matter, but that more practice on questioning was key to their future success.
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Previous Member
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Really helpful tool to use in an interviewing skills course. I used this with a group of managers to help them to ask questions that will open up a candidates’ responses. They could see uses for the type of questioning in a variety of situations – interviews, counselling, 1-2-1 meetings with staff, dealing with problem performance. A key learning point was limiting the use of ‘why’ questions when we’re trying to get someone to open up; too soon or too often will potentially lead to defensiveness resulting in less trust and co-operation. Worthwhile combining alongside other questioning skills exercises as we found this to be quite short.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To enable participants to recognise personal triggers that affect their emotional state.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To enable participants to recognise personal triggers that affect their emotional state.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This activity acts as a good precursor to the Trainers’ Library module ‘Managing Emotions’. It is also useful if you have completed the module ‘Emotional Intelligence Part 1 – Self Awareness’.
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I used this module alongside Part 1 self-awareness and Part 2 awareness of other and empathy when running a session with team leaders and deputy team leaders on Emotional Intelligence. It was good for the delegates to recognise their hot buttons and how different they are in their personal life to their work life. It was good to show that we are all different and what triggers one person will not always trigger someone else and being able to recognise that.
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Shirley Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 180 minutes.
Aims:
• To enable participants to understand what is needed to run an effective recruitment interview and to practise doing so.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 130 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 180 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To enable participants to understand what is needed to run an effective recruitment interview and to practise doing so.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of between 4 and 12 participants. Ideally, you should have at least 6 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone who is involved in interviewing candidates for posts in their organisation.
You'll Need:
• Post-it notes.
• The job description, person specification and the candidate applications for the role you’d like to interview for.
• One room containing a table and chairs for each group taking part in the practice interviews.
• A waiting room for your candidates. (One of these rooms needs to be large enough for the whole group to come together for the initial briefing and final discussion/review.)
Notes:
Recruitment is the start of effective performance management and one of any organisation’s most important activities. This module will ensure that all those involved are able to carry out the interview process effectively. It is simple to run but does need careful planning to ensure it works. The time spent doing this is amply rewarded by the fact that, once done, you can use the module again and again, without the need for much planning. Although not totally necessary, we think it would be helpful to run this session as part of a whole course looking at recruitment. There is a complete course agenda in Trainers’ Library that shows how you could do this.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 50 minutes.
Aims:
• To test participant’s attention to detail and accuracy skills.
• To identify the kinds of mistakes that are commonly made when writing or checking documents, and how to avoid them.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 25 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 50 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To test participant’s attention to detail and accuracy skills.
• To identify the kinds of mistakes that are commonly made when writing or checking documents, and how to avoid them.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To introduce trainers to the theory of representational systems contained within much NLP training.
• To explain the theory and build awareness of it.
• To encourage reasoned debate about its validity in training.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To introduce trainers to the theory of representational systems contained within much NLP training.
• To explain the theory and build awareness of it.
• To encourage reasoned debate about its validity in training.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Trainers.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module for trainers is designed to explain the theory of Representational Systems, often referred to in NLP training. The module provides an objective overview of the idea of representational systems and the belief held by many NLP practitioners that we tend to have a preferred representational system. The module also introduces, again objectively, the concept of eye accessing cues.
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I used this module in combination with my NLP background to discuss rapport and how the simple use of language can make a big difference to the ability to build successful relationships even over the phone. It is a simple exercise and it was great to see (clearly my preferred visual representation there!!) the participants ‘justify’ their choice of story with words that clearly matched their preferred style – even before they knew what the exercise was demonstrating. One participant said – “I have a sound reason for my choice” before she went on to explain why she chose the auditory based story – without even realising what she had said. Again the module prompted more discussion around how this fitted with sales calls and how it was important to listen carefully and match the customers’ tone and language patterns.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims:
• To give participants insight into the destructive nature of a blame culture.
• To demonstrate the importance of empathy in conflict resolution.
• To take participants on a journey from conflict to understanding and conflict resolution.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 90 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To give participants insight into the destructive nature of a blame culture.
• To demonstrate the importance of empathy in conflict resolution.
• To take participants on a journey from conflict to understanding and conflict resolution.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 15 participants. Ideally, you'll have at least 6 participants though so that you can create 3 teams of 2 or more.
Useful For:
Anyone who needs to work with other teams and/or manages conflict or misunderstanding across teams.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This exercise was generously donated to Trainers’ Library by Andrew Kitton of AKF Training and was developed following attendance on our Trainers’ Masterclass, ‘Using Metaphor to Ignite Learning’. The activity in this exercise consists of three short team exercises that progress the teams from conflict to understanding and resolution.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library called Revolting Restaurant.
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This exercise is excellent. A proper experiential experience which takes a team out of their own environment, enabling individuals to think subjectively and rationally.
The team I worked with have had similar issues to the brief, which did cause a moment of hesitation on whether this would be be too close to the mark. As soon as I kicked off the exercise though, I need not have worried.
The team got immediately involved and initially were quite tribal about the 'new' teams they were in. As each stage of the activity played out they established a new way of thinking and communicating.
5 minutes after the session, as I'm walking passed, to hear
"I understand what you need and what I'm going to do for you is..." was absolute gold!
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Darren Smith
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Simple and clear activity that really illustrated the importance of shifting perspectives in conflict to listening and helping the other parties. Took a lot less than the 90 minutes suggested, more like 45-50 minutes in our case (group of 9 attendees).
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Jane Butler
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I just love this activity. It's perfect as an introduction to conflict resolution events. Groups really engage and get quite passionate about their area of the restaurant leading to some quite heated discussions. The 3 stage approach helps participants to quickly see the benefits of adopting a win-win approach and can easily relate to their own workplaces.
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Ann Pemberton
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To analyse a typical sales call and identify areas for improvement.
• To assess who does most of the talking in a typical sales call.
• To consider the importance of open questions in sales calls.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 25 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To analyse a typical sales call and identify areas for improvement.
• To assess who does most of the talking in a typical sales call.
• To consider the importance of open questions in sales calls.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Sales staff.
You'll Need:
• Two stopwatches and recording equipment.
Notes:
This exercise is a useful pre-cursor to training for existing telesales teams when your objective is to increase the amount of dialogue between the customer and sales person and to increase the number of open questions used.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 80 minutes.
Aims:
• To consider what needs to be communicated when change is initiated.
• To explore the need to convince those affected by change of the need for change and its urgency.
• To consider methods that can be used to achieve buy-in to change programmes.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 45 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 80 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To consider what needs to be communicated when change is initiated.
• To explore the need to convince those affected by change of the need for change and its urgency.
• To consider methods that can be used to achieve buy-in to change programmes.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Managers.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a two-part Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library called Selling Change - Introduction and Selling Change (R).
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The handouts mention Bernie Leslie and Francis - However in the materials they are referred to as Bernie Bob and Cilla. Just beware...
I had a call from Glasstap by return and the materials have now been amended (Excellent service) - Great module!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to find things they have in common.
• To consider the impact on relationships of finding common ground.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to find things they have in common.
• To consider the impact on relationships of finding common ground.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This exercise can be used as an icebreaker, and can provide a particularly powerful introduction to sales or negotiation skills courses. It can also be used on equal opportunities and diversity programmes, where it can be used to highlight a potential barrier to equal opportunities. It can even be used to highlight one barrier to creativity and innovation within organisations. This is a great exercise for building rapport between participants and is particularly useful with a group that do not know each other very well.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this module as part of a coffee break, after we had discussed Representational Systems. It was a great way to build on the benefits of matching language with more work on relationships and how this can be achieved relatively easily within a conversation. It prompted some excellent discussions and once again highlighted the benefit of building rapport. Again a very simple idea that can be adapted for many different types of workshops.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of summary and clarification in effective communication.
• To test participants' ability to listen effectively, check understanding and summarise key points back to the person delivering information to them.
• To briefly consider some of the barriers to effective listening and techniques for minimising these.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 40 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of summary and clarification in effective communication.
• To test participants' ability to listen effectively, check understanding and summarise key points back to the person delivering information to them.
• To briefly consider some of the barriers to effective listening and techniques for minimising these.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Staff up to supervisory level.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This exercise can be used as an effective icebreaker to training where listening skills are covered or are particularly important.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library - Special Offers - Attention to Detail.
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I used this on my trainers. It put them in their delegates shoes. They really struggled to listen to all the information when it was being read out. They found it hard to remember all of the important information until they were allowed to write it down and ask questions.
This taught them valuable lessons on learning styles and how to engage with thir delegates more to ensure effective learning.
The main lesson was that they need to test for understanding at more regular intervals when delivering training.
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Karon Campbell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I use this activity to test their listening skills and practice using checking questions to determine whether they have understood the offer correctly. As the offers are very complicated the delegates tend to ask many questions and write notes but always seem to get the offer correct. Again another valuable exercise.
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Previous Member
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Special Offer was used as a listening exercise with a retail based group, which made the content of the exercise very relevant to them. It not only showed them the importance of clarifying listening and summarising information but the varying levels of success opened the delegates to the thought of individual differences and preferences in communication styles. Telling the delegates they were not able to make notes whilst they were listening added an interesting twist to the exercise.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 20 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of summary and clarification in effective communication.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes to complete this module. Aims:
• To demonstrate the importance of summary and clarification in effective communication. Group Sizes:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size. Useful For:
Staff at all levels. You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided. Notes:
Summary and clarification are important in all forms of communication and this module is relevant to courses covering topics as diverse as interviewing (particularly behaviour based selection interviewing), counselling skills, negotiation skills, performance management, customer service etc. This exercise can be used as a short and snappy icebreaker to communication skills training.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Used this quite effectively as an icebreaker for an interview skills workshop. Quick, neat and did the job about making assumptions in people’s meanings and how to help get the best out of interviewees. I could also see a use in customer service, resolving customer
complaints!
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 3 stars.
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This exercise was very clear in it’s purpose and all the learners fell into all the pitfalls! The passage about Aunty Rita’s shopping requirements was very simple and while reading it I could think of different questions I’d need to ask Aunty Rita for clarification. The difference is very much when the learners heard it. They forgot about asking questions and made some assumptions instead. They did come up with a few questions for clarification, but when reviewing the passage found that there were lots more that they should have asked. This exercise was almost the opposite of the previous one – questions to probe, challenge & explore, in that if you have a candidate that likes to talk, it’s more about getting short clear answers from them to clarify their answers. All the learners felt that most of their candidates that they’d interviewed in the past were more likely to be in the second group, but occasionally for some roles they’d experienced the short answers too. They also felt that they needed more practice in asking these sorts of questions, as they felt they were more prone to getting into a discussion with the candidate, rather than clarify & summarise. Another excellent exercise. Thanks.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To identify how a sales person differs from a brochure.
• To highlight key skills used by ‘great’ sales people.
• For existing sales teams, to identify areas where the current approach could be improved.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30 minutes for this module if working with a group of 10-12 participants. It is therefore also ideal as a topic specific icebreaker.
Aims:
• To identify how a sales person differs from a brochure.
• To highlight key skills used by ‘great’ sales people.
• For existing sales teams, to identify areas where the current approach could be improved.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 15 participants.
Useful For:
Sales staff.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module provides trainers with a useful way of introducing sales skills training to those already in a sales role and those new to sales. It can also be used as an icebreaker to illustrate the need for change and to highlight areas for improvement.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library - Tell or Sell?.
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This module can easily be used to start a Sales Training session and to encourage participants to really think about their roles and the importance of not just ‘feature dumping’. It is a simple idea which helps sales people to really reflect on what they do and to potentially notice how easy it can be to, as the title suggests, fall into the role of a Talking Brochure. It really opens up discussion about the importance of tailoring a sales approach to fit the customer’s needs and can lead nicely into talking about specific sales techniques such as questioning skills, listening skills and handling objections. It also works really well in getting participants to highlight their own areas for improvement without specifically looking at what they currently do.
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I have recently incorporated the Salesperson Talking Brochure module within one of our enhancement workshops with fantastic results. It really gets the delegates to stop and think about what they are actually doing and reflect on how to approach their calls differently with Sales Agents figures improving as a result.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 45 minutes.
Aims:
• To give participants an opportunity to develop an effective 30-second sales pitch.
• To test the pitch for effectiveness.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed within 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 45 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To give participants an opportunity to develop an effective 30-second sales pitch.
• To test the pitch for effectiveness.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
• A stopwatch or timer.
Notes:
This exercise can be used in sales training, or any training where you want to develop participants’ influencing skills. For example, you might want to end a creative problem solving course by asking participants to develop a 30-second sales pitch for their favourite idea.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library - The 30-Second Pitch.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To define conflict.
• To identify the main phases of conflict.
• To enable participants to describe the typical behaviours that are used when conflict is not constructively managed.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module will take about 40 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 60 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To define conflict.
• To identify the main phases of conflict.
• To enable participants to describe the typical behaviours that are used when conflict is not constructively managed.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 12 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone who needs to manage conflict and interpersonal relationships.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
It is recommended that you keep the participant group size to twelve or fewer for this module.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this module in a workshop with a group of team leaders on dealing with difficult people. The exercise was good way of making the delegates think about conflict and how destructive it can be and help them to develop strategies in order to deal with it. The case study was a good of doing this.
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Shirley Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To describe the change curve.
• To consider strategies for working through the change curve journey.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 60 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To describe the change curve.
• To consider strategies for working through the change curve journey.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
All staff, including managers.
You'll Need:
• Article – ‘When Change Really Hurts’, available in the Articles section of Trainers’ Library.
• The Change Curve Cards (downloaded from Trainers’ Library).
• Post-it notes and pens.
Notes:
This can be a challenging session to run so it’s important that you feel confident in your knowledge and have lots of information to add if the group clams up. Apart from the article that you need for the session, you may also find it useful to read those by Damian Hughes and Martin Haworth, also available in the Articles section of Trainers’ Library.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To show the importance of empathy when dealing with angry customers.
• To demonstrate that it is not just the solution, but the way the solution is delivered that affects the customer's view of the service they received.
• To provide participants with an opportunity to consider a real customer experience and to identify areas for improvement in the way it was handled.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 60 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To show the importance of empathy when dealing with angry customers.
• To demonstrate that it is not just the solution, but the way the solution is delivered that affects the customer's view of the service they received.
• To provide participants with an opportunity to consider a real customer experience and to identify areas for improvement in the way it was handled.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
Glasstap would like to thank Jo Downes for her help in writing this module.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Another well relatable exercise for participants which I've used in various forms of Customer Service training. It clearly shows the importance of empathy when dealing with customers (in particular the angry ones!) and how to handle various situations - no one size fits all.
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Lottie Skuthe-Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I use this activity in a Customer Care course to illustrate the importance of empathy when dealing with a difficult situation. It always generates some interesting discussion. It is a quick and easy activity to get people talking and focus peoples minds
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To identify key learning points for running effective meetings.
• To identify strategies for managing difficult behaviours in meetings.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 60 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To identify key learning points for running effective meetings.
• To identify strategies for managing difficult behaviours in meetings.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Anyone being asked to chair a meeting, who might be concerned about how to manage difficult or challenging behaviours.
You'll Need:
The audio recording of the story, which can be streamed from Trainers’ Library if you prefer not to read it aloud yourself.
Notes:
This exercise is based around a silly, but fun story that makes a lot of important points about effective meetings. It might not be appropriate for all participant groups, but if you are looking for something fun, imaginative and involving, this could be the exercise for you! The exercise can be used to review learning, or to test participants' existing knowledge about how to run effective meetings. If reading the story to participants, we suggest that you rehearse reading the story aloud a few times prior to delivery.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This worked really well in a short (90 mins) session I ran on effective meetings alongside "A is for Apple".
I modified the exercise by doing the following:
1. Sent out pages 1-2 as pre-work, to get them thinking about the meeting and the characters involved. I also specified that the topic for the meeting would be around attracting more clients to the pet shop.
2. In two groups they brainstormed strategies for the different characters (4 each) and then shared their ideas across.
3. We then did a role play in groups of 6-8. One person was Owly, 4-5 were a selection of the pets, and 1-2 observed. Owlies were given a simple agenda. The others were given notes of how to play their character, and what idea to suggest. This was heaps of fun, attendees in fits of laughter, but did hightlight a number of important points.
I didn't give out the extra notes about the meeting itself, as these felt unnecessary. So generally, with a bit of twaeking and customisation it worked really well.
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Jane Butler
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to share information about themselves.
• To discover more about participants and build rapport.
• To consider the extent to which we communicate through body language.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module. Aims:
• To encourage participants to share information about themselves.
• To discover more about participants and build rapport.
• To consider the extent to which we communicate through body language. Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants. Useful For:
Staff at all levels. You'll Need:
Each participant will need to be provided with two cards. One with a large 'T' or 'True' written on it; the other with an 'F' or 'False' – available to download from Trainers’ Library. Notes:
This exercise is ideally suited for use as an icebreaker for team training and teambuilding events. It can also provide an interesting introduction to any session on body language. It can even be used effectively to introduce equal opportunities/diversity training sessions.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This icebreaker has been very popular. It’s a great way to find out things about your colleagues that you didn’t know before and it’s a good talking point for future conversations. This can be used as an introduction to any training and particularly works well for people who don’t know each other really well.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To explain the different types of questions used in communication.
• To help participants recognise different types of questions.
• To help participants recognise effective and ineffective questions.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To explain the different types of questions used in communication.
• To help participants recognise different types of questions.
• To help participants recognise effective and ineffective questions.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff up to supervisor level.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This short training activity is very useful to explain the different types of questions that there are. I go through the types with them first then get them to decide what type of question each one is. Delegates do get confused and try and find types for those which are not blue starred. However, on the whole it is a valuable exercise.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 130 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants prepare for and conduct conversations they find difficult.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module can be completed in about 80 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 130 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To help participants prepare for and conduct conversations they find difficult.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to about 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This module helps participants to understand what makes difficult conversations ‘difficult’ and encourages them to think about how they approach such conversations.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
Due to the length of this module, we’ve broken it down into a series of activities for Remote Delivery – Difficult Conversations 1-4.
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This really is excellent and works really well. Paricipants particulary value the handout to use as a checklist.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this at a recent workshop and the template was so useful. I gave this as the last exercise and it helped people pull together what they had learnt from other activities and then work together to reflect or plan a difficult conversation
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Nicola Richardson
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I really like this activity it provokes alot of thinking in terms of managing the conversation and the handouts are really thorough, detailed and well laid out. They are great for managers to refer to when planning to have difficult conversations. I have had some great sessions and can be used with very small groups as well as larger ones.
5 stars
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I recently used this module for a group of managers to get them to start thinking about how to prepare and conduct those difficult conversations. I felt that each section was well structured with good interactive exercises. It really got a some great discussions going across the group to the point that we refined the examples provided on the slides! I can heartily recommend this but would add in a caveat that the handouts need to be intorduced as guidleines and not as a 'to do' list!
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims:
• To provide an early opportunity for participants to test their assertive skills.
• To enable participants to identify whether they have a tendency to adopt aggressive or submissive behaviour.
• To provide an opportunity for participants to observe Transactional Analysis behaviours in practice.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module. Aims:
• To provide an early opportunity for participants to test their assertive skills.
• To enable participants to identify whether they have a tendency to adopt aggressive or submissive behaviour.
• To provide an opportunity for participants to observe Transactional Analysis behaviours in practice. Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants. Useful For:
Staff at all levels. You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided. Notes:
This exercise gives participants an opportunity to consider their own behaviours. It can give facilitator's a useful insight into behaviour, although the briefs do encourage particular types of behaviour. This module provides a powerful introduction to Transactional Analysis.
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I conducted a Presentation Skills course last week and tried [this] out as an energiser and recap of the previous day. Since all the students knew each other, I thought that this may make the arguments for not presenting a little more amicable. The first group had a pleasant banter, but the second group I thought had missed the point completely when the person who was definitely asked not to present, actually volunteered. As the first group presented back their findings to the class, the person presenting from the second class asked to be excused. When it came to the second group to present back, their spokesperson had still not returned and his colleagues assumed he had gone to the WC. Therefore, someone else in the group had to present instead. As he finished, the original spokesperson returned having laughed that he had achieved his objective, and not presented! Not quite what I had expected but it created a good atmosphere to continue as everyone was laughing. My only feedback is that the briefs could be shorter to avoid confusion. Great. Thanks.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 115 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider the difference between good and bad customer service.
• To encourage participants to consider the behaviours that those who deliver good customer service demonstrate.
• To consider strategies for avoiding or managing customer conflict.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes (including the time required to view the training film). In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 115 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider the difference between good and bad customer service.
• To encourage participants to consider the behaviours that those who deliver good customer service demonstrate.
• To consider strategies for avoiding or managing customer conflict.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to about 15 participants, as long as suitable facilities are available to give everyone a clear view of the training video.
Useful For:
Anyone in a customer facing role.
You'll Need:
• A computer with internet connection and a means of connecting to a screen.
Notes:
This module is designed to accompany the Glasstap film, ‘Why Do I Always Get Them?’ This exercise involves a look at customer service, particularly in relation to face-to-face contact, managing difficult situations and conflict. If your level of membership doesn’t include the option to stream this video, you can purchase a a DVD from Trainers' Library.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This DVD has proven to be popular with customer service teams in manufacturing and in engineering sectors. It is useful to see how universal our perception of poor customer service is, whether it is in a coffee shop or a clothes shop. The gentle humour of the film fits the topic and serves as a good icebreaker, especially to encourage less confident participants to contribute their opinions or horror stories on poor customer service and how this could be put right.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 20 minutes.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the difference effective feedback can make to someone’s performance.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module can be completed in about 10 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 20 minutes for this module.
Aims:
• To demonstrate the difference effective feedback can make to someone’s performance.
Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants. Ideally, you'll have at least 4 participants though, so that you can demonstrate the 4 types of feedback described.
Useful For:
Anyone who needs to give or receive feedback.
You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
This is a great way to demonstrate the difference it can make when feedback is given effectively. During the role-play element it is advisable to select with care the people who will be receiving the different types of feedback. It is also advisable to explain clearly at the start of the exercise that it will involve you role-playing different types of feedback.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I have used this exercise a few times in training sessions on coaching and running 1-1 reviews. The role play element is quite fun to do but as the notes say you do need to pick your "victims" with care. Having examples of "feedback" to discuss makes it much easier and involving individuals from the group allows you to focus on how they felt about the feedback. On the whole, a fun exercise to open a session about giving feedback.
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Lisa Lester
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 105 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants identify what is wrong with a real example of a 'customer service' email.
• To encourage participants to think about the key messages the company intended to deliver to its customers.
• To recognise the impact that poor grammar and punctuation has on a writer's credibility.
• To rewrite the email, delivering the key messages in an appropriate, effective manner.
About
Time:
The exercises in this module will take about 60 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 105 minutes to complete this module. Aims:
• To help participants identify what is wrong with a real example of a 'customer service' email.
• To encourage participants to think about the key messages the company intended to deliver to its customers.
• To recognise the impact that poor grammar and punctuation has on a writer's credibility.
• To rewrite the email, delivering the key messages in an appropriate, effective manner. Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants. Useful For:
Supervisors and above. You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided. Notes:
This module is particularly valuable because it is based upon a genuine email which was distributed to an internet hosting company's customers. It contains important lessons about culture, customer service, and writing skills. It can also be used to prompt discussion about the damaging effects of poor communication. For the purposes of this exercise we've shortened the original email by removing a few of the more technical paragraphs.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this activity as part of a Customer Services Training programme which incorporated letter writing and email writing skills. The email from Archie's certainly had the desired effect on the participants (every single time!). It worked really well because they simply couldn't believe that an organisation would send out such inept and inappropriate communication to its 'valued' customers. It gave plenty of debate and discussion! Many people struggled to identify all the problems with it (is that a sign of the times regarding education?) In the session, I also compared it with poor examples of written communication sent from our business, to demonstrate that it happens at our business too and that its not just the problem of other companies. It was certainly a bit of an eye opener for the participants.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims:
• To help participants identify what is wrong with a (real example) of a 'customer service' letter.
• To encourage participants to think about the key messages the company intended to deliver to its customers.
• To recognise how one badly constructed letter can lose a customer.
About
Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 60 minutes to complete this module. Aims:
• To help participants identify what is wrong with a (real example) of a 'customer service' letter.
• To encourage participants to think about the key messages the company intended to deliver to its customers.
• To recognise how one badly constructed letter can lose a customer. Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants. Useful For:
Staff at all levels, and especially people working in finance and/or customer services. You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided. Notes:
This module is suitable for staff at all levels; especially those involved in financial and/or customer services. The example shows a letter that is confusing and pretentious, both in its layout and in its content. The writer of this letter should be aiming to regain – even increase – business from this customer. In the letter's current format it is highly unlikely that this will be achieved. This exercise would also be useful to develop a conversation in an organisation about its standard letters, which are often carelessly written and should be regularly examined and revised.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I used this activity in Report Writing Training; particularly to assist with grammar, spelling and punctuation. Delegates commented that it was useful to them for ensuring correct English when writing reports; however I think this would be great for those who are sending out communications of this nature. I liked the fact that a real letter was used as an example and one wasn’t made up for the activity because it makes it more realistic.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 40 minutes.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider whether they naturally tend towards aggressive, submissive or assertive behaviour.
• To encourage participants to consider their reasons for choosing particular responses in common situations.
• To encourage participants to reflect on the reasons for others choosing aggressive, submissive or assertive behaviour.
About
Time:
This exercise will take about 30 minutes to complete (longer for large groups). In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 40 minutes to complete this module.
Aims:
• To encourage participants to consider whether they naturally tend towards aggressive, submissive or assertive behaviour.
• To encourage participants to consider their reasons for choosing particular responses in common situations.
• To encourage participants to reflect on the reasons for others choosing aggressive, submissive or assertive behaviour.
Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For:
Staff at all levels.
You'll Need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
Notes:
Prior to running the exercise, print off one set of question cards for each team that you'll have, and enough answer cards to be able to give each participant one set of each: Yes, No, But, If, Unless, Because.
Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library - Yes But, No But! - Struggles with Assertiveness.
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I used to start a session at a women's day and this soon got people relaxed and sharing experiences and debating the actions that they would undertake. A really easy activity to use and great for getting discussion going.
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Nicola Richardson
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this module in a dealing with conflict workshop. It was really useful to make the delegates think and reflect on why in certain situations they are submissive, assertive or aggressive. After completing the exercise I showed the conflict resolution video which helped them think about how they could modify their their approach/behaviour to ensure that both their own needs and rights and those of others are respected.
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Shirley Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I was slightly sceptical about whether my audience would be receptive to this activity but I’m so glad I used it. It really helped people to think about their own tendencies and why some delegates felt they could not be assertive. I used it as the opening activity in my Assertiveness training and this worked really well to get delegates to think about the difference between passive, assertive and aggressive.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I recently downloaded and use ‘Yes but, no but – seeking a win win in day-to-day situations’, as part of my Assertiveness Skills training course. Apart from me being able to put a slide up of Vicky Pollard, which made the group laugh, the activity was really well received. The feedback for the group was that it got them thinking about what they would do and learn about what other individuals would do in certain situations. The said that is made them realise that sometimes they were too aggressive or passive, but other times they did actually assert themselves and with this info they could analyse why they acted that way when faced with certain problems, and how other react as well. They informed me that due to this activitiy they would actually stop and think next time and an choose to act assertively or not. The only problem with this activity is that the group did not want to stop doing it, so it lasted a lot longer than planned, but hey, if they are enjoying themselves whilst they learn who am I to interfere.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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