| Responses | Date | Author |
Hi Liz Regan,
I have just tried to email you to ask for a copy of your obsevational activity, but for some reason the email was undeliverable. Can I also have a copy of the activity.
Thanks,
[email protected] |
| 18/05/2012 | Previous |
Hi Sarah, I use a fun activity about observation skills which might be useful for you. It's very simple adn I ahve used it for different levels in the organisation and it's still fun. If you send me you email I will forward the instructions.
[email protected] |
| 17/05/2012 | Previous |
Hello Sarah - some brilliant ideas here (I love Paul's £20 idea - I just tried it out on my partner & sons, and got to keep my £20 - much to the disappointment of my always-skint teenage son!!)
An activity which I use to illustrate that we all see things differently is to use a series of images (either printed onto A4 cards or on powerpoint slides). I show them one at a time, starting off with the classic optical illusion images (duck/rabbit, old woman/young woman, eskimo/face etc)- where people usually see one or other image and there are lots of "oh's" and penny dropping moments when people see the alternative image.
Then I move on to others images such as photos, random images or famous paintings (such as Munsch's The Scream) and ask them to tell me what they see. I go round the circle and ask everyone in turn, and it's amazing the range of reactions people have, both in terms of what they see, but also how it makes them feel..... I'm always amazed at the range of answer I get.
After doing this with a few different images and generating a lot of different results, I then ask "What was the point of this activity?" (we all see things differently and we all experience different reactions to what we see)and then we go on to discuss this in relation to whatever the training topic is.
If you wanted people to look at a specific issue (eg how do people see our reception area?) you could take some photos from obscure angles of the area and use these too.
I have collected together a few different images which work well in terms of provoking different reactions from people which I'm happy to share with others - just email me [email protected]
Best wishes
Nicki |
| 03/05/2012 | Nicki |
|
Ask people, without looking at their watches, to draw you a clock face with Roman numerals - something all of us have seen thousands of times. Most people will draw the number four as IV. In fact nearly all clocks and watches actually have it as IIII to balance off the VIII on the other side. (Big Ben's face is one of the few exceptions). |
| 02/05/2012 | Previous |
If you are feeling brave try this,
Hold up a twenty pound note forward facing to the group.
Ask the group how many have seen one of these. (show of hands)
How many have handled one in the last couple of days (show of hands)
Who could tell me without checking who is pictured on the back of this the latest £20
Usually the group will be flummoxed. (occasionally someone puts their hands up, ask them to write it on a piece of paper and pass it to you. If they are correct congratulate them if not let them know that they are wrong
If you are feeling confident lay down a challenge that you will give the £20 to anyone who can tell you. (you've already worked out from the sea of furrowed brows that your group don't know or would be guessing.)
I have never lost my 20 whether it be Euros/Dollars or Pounds.
The have a discussion around how we only see what we pay attention to.
Note to everyone thinking of using this. You will only get away with this a couple of times in any organisation before delegates start talking and it gets expensive:) USE SPARINGLY
Good luck with your session.
Paul
Oh it is Adam Smith by the way. |
| 01/05/2012 | Previous |
Hi Sarah
A simple thing to do if you are training them close to their working environment, is do a 'go see' and walk them through it. I recently did a session with a group of dentists looking at their environment through the eyes of their patients (so you could ask them to think as a customer or a new start). I took them out to the front door and asked them to 'put on the glasses' of a patient, and see the place as they see it - what do they see, hear, feel, smell etc. It really worked - I challenged them and asked questions as we walked through the place. They noticed everything I had hoped they would. hope this helps!
Sinead |
| 01/05/2012 | Previous |
Hi Sarah,
A visual I use to get people to realise how different things look when you view them from a different way is the "Upside Down" map: http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Upside-down-A4-Map/dp/1865001686/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335869695&sr=8-2
I've found it's a powerful way of getting people to look at something very familiar in a very different way and opens up discussions about our own internal map and how things aren't wrong but maybe our customer is viewing it in a different way. It's surprising how long it takes people to find the UK on this map as they're so used to looking at the centre of things to find us!
Good luck. |
| 01/05/2012 | Previous |
hi Sarah
This might need some tweaking. I used to run an exercise on perceptions where I took photographs of people and then asked the group to answer questions like 'what job does this person do? how much do they earn? what are they like? Maybe instead you could take pictures of their surroundings and from other surroundings and get them to discuss 'what they see, what type of company is this? would you buy / work with them?' - this brings into focus the impact that these everyday things they walk past create maybe? Jane |
| 01/05/2012 | Jane |
|
Hi Sarah, Making people 'more aware' of their surrounding I believe is a difficult task to complete however,I used to run an 'observation' skills & techniques course with a group of individuals responsible for observing candidates under test conditions within HM Coastguard. I used to combine several simple activities designed to help people recognise their strengths and weaknesses based on the VAK theory concentrating on the visual aspect of the model. I found using a challenging spot-the-difference an engaging (fun) activity to reinforce this point and I also have some other activities to support if you want to get in touch I can send them through. |
| 01/05/2012 | David |