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THE ACTIVITIESThe dffierences t,etweenthem allVery few trainers agree on deiinit ions for games,simulations and role-plays, case studies, and so on.Th e following definit ions ar e very broad and aredefinitions thar I have included ior a new trainer touse. The more experience a trainer gains, the morethey can apply their own definitiorrs.Even by looking at some of rhe examples givenhere, you will be able to see that it is difficult to evencategorise some exercises into one grouping. Chess,for example, isn't strictly a game or a simulation, it's acombination of both. For those who are interestedchess was developed in sixh-ceritury India and wasdesigned to simulate a contemporary battle.GamesA game is an exercise where parricipantsare involvedin a contest with someone else (


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So these types of structured exercises should beselectedand used on the basis of their usefulness, orreinforcing the instruction, or improving the leamingenvironment.

Facilitator'sfesponsibilitiesRegardless of ho w good we are as presenters orlecturers, we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinkingthat our whole presentation alone is going to keepeveryone's interest for the whole period. The use ofgames, simulations, role-plays, brain teasers, casestudies and other related activities are al l applicationsof the principles of adult leaming. you, the facilitator.must ensure that the participants do not become soinvolved in the activity that they actually miss theleaming point. Additionally you musr also realise thatif the panicipants have too high a livel of enthusiasmfor the exercises hey may become bored with normaltraining. This isn't to say that we don't want highlevels of enthusiasm,but we need to ensure we keipthe participanrs interested with other methods ofinstructionas well.The learning process can be sped up by the use ofgames, simulat ions, role-plays, brain teasers,casestudiesand orher related activiries.people leam betterwhen they are enjoying themselves. So therefore weneed to seriously think about creating or supplyingthe appropriate learning atmosphere.You should always select the training method afteryo u have se t th e learning objectives. Th e methodshould respond to the participants' needs, no t thefacilitator's.Vhen you decide to use a structured exercise it isimportant to practise the exercise at least once with agroup of people nor involved with th e immediatepresentarion.This will help you see if the design isgoing to work, an d in rhe expected wa y with th eexpected resuhs. Like al l types of t ra in ing, thesestructuredexercisesmust be evaluated for their wonhand effect iveness. f they don' t produce what isneeded,scrapor modify them.

Do you have a responsibiliry for entertaining thegroup dur ing any presentat ion? you have theresponsibility for ensuring clarity and precision ofinformation. You are also responsible for aligning thegroup and keeping them moving. Anotherresponsibility is to keep yourself animated. (Thatcould be considered the main entertainment value.)This is also what the participanrsmay talk about laterto their friends and colleagues. f the facilitator is in asituation where rhis rype of feedback is required(such as an externat trainer or consultant), then anassortmenr of training methods will be required.Games, simulat ions, role-plays and structuredexerciseswill be of assistance.It is your responsibiliry to pilot or resr all newexercises or exercises that you haven't used in thepast. Facilitators musr realise that what works fo rsome people doesn't always work for others. Al lt ra in ing exercises wi l l probably have dif ferentoutcomes every time you use them. So be prepared.Trainers an d facilitators must debrief all of theexercises carried ou t during any type of trainingsession. The purpose of debr ief ing is qui tecomplicated. Vithout going into too much detailthere are two main reasons for conduct ing thedebriefing session.You have an obl igat ion ro put the players orparticipants back together when th e exercise hasf in ished. This means that i f par t ic ipants have badfeelings about the exercisethey should be allowed toge t things off their chest while sti l l in the trainingroom and also while things are sti l l fresh in theirminds.

Debr ief ing also al lows rhe trainer and thepart ic ipants to ta lk about rhe outcomes of theexercise. Vas it what everyone expected?rVould youdo that in the real situation?rWhat would you havedone if this had happened? t also allows the trainer atime where mistakescan be corrected.Probably the most important point is that trainersmust be completely honest and open with theirparticipanrs.This includes not using hidden agendas,no t misleading participants, no t sett ing anyone up ,not deceiving any of the participants and not usingthe participants'efforts for your own gain.Training exercisesca n be lots of fun fo r both th e

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trainee and the facilitator. lfhile people are enjoyingthemselves in the classroom they are general lyleaming bener. So it's up to you to make a more enjoy-able leaming atmosphere.

When can these exefcisesbe used?Rather than fu l ly catalogue lhese exercises andpossibly limit their application, I have decided to usea coding system. Beside the name of the exercises onthe following pages you will see one or some of thefollowing letters and symbols. These have beenplaced there to give you suggestedapplicarions. Tbeseare only guides and can be modified to suit by tbeindiuidual trainer.

I Icebreaker

T Team-building

C Communication iF Facilitator/presentation skills

M Mid-course energiser

L Leaming

P Perception

E Evaluation'

S Self-management

Coding@wffi@@B@@@

A full breakdown of the exerciseshas been inc ludedon the next few pages of this handbook. Firstly, eachof the nine di f ferent categor ies has been given adetailed overview. The second list is an index of thehundred exercises included in this book, with ftrllcross-referencingfor each application for which theycan be used.

I fcebreakerAlmost any exercise can be used as an icebreaker.The two main purposes of using icebreakers aref i rst ly, to al low the part ic ipants to introducethemselves to each other, and secondly, to lead intothe topic matter. Participantsoften find that the topicmatter is made clearer by the use of appropr iateicebreakers.

The exercises n this grouping are non-threateningintroductory contacts. They are designed to al lowparticipants to get to know each other a little and tolower any barr iers that may exist . Exper iencedfacilitators have found that the successor failure of aprogram may hinge on theserwo points.The more comfortable participants feel with eachother, the better the learning environment. If theparticipants feel comfortable with each orher, they aremore likely to participate and to generatenew ideas.Nflhile most facilitators won't see these exercises astoo threatening, some part ic ipants may. l f aparticipant does see it as threatening, make sure theyhave a way out of participating. It is a wise decisionto let people know at the very beginning of aprogEm that they can passon any exerciseor activitythey feel uncomfortable with.T Team-buildingTeam-bui ld ing exercises are used to improve therelationship of the individuals and subgroups within agroup. The term 'group' in team-building normallyrefers to an established work group or a group whichwill be working together.Vhen using team-building exercisesyou, as well asthe group, should be aware that the identification of aconf l ict or problem between dif ferent par t ies orindividuals may be the only ourcome of some team-building exercises . However, a conflict or problem is

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Imuch easier to solve or deal with after it has beenidentified. A team-building exercise should allow theparticipants to let their hair down while they get toknow each other.It is very important that yo u thoroughly'debriefteam-building exercises to ensure that there isn't anybuilt up hosti l i ty, anger or frustration. Don't let thegroup break until this has been recrified.C ComrnunicationExercisesused for communicarion are designed to letthe participants ind out where certain communicationskills may be improved. You, as facilitaror, have to bevery aware of the exact purpose of somecommunicat ion exercises as i t is somet imes verydifficult to sit back and say nothing while things startto go wrong for the participant.You also need to be aware that you may be lookedat by some part ic ipants as a role-model. Whi leconducting a program on communication skills youmust ensure that what you give out is correct. Asfeedback is a very important part of communicationskills it must be used in all communication exercises.Feedback should be specific and aimed at observedbehaviours that the individual has some control over.F FacilitatoilpresentationskillsFacilitation kil ls are aimed at people wh o ma y needto develop or improve their up-front, or presentation,abiliry. The exercises n this category are designed toget the participants thinking about particular aspecrsof their own presentationand facilitation skills.While using any exercises to improve presentationski l ls you should take fu l l advantage of theopportunity by using the individuals in the groupwherever possible. This may mean getting some ofthem to run the exercises. It is important that thefacilitator ensures the individuals ar e observed anddebriefed by the rest of the group. By this simpleobservationgroup members are able to see things thatmay or may not work for them. The more styles ofpresentation hey see, the better.Some o[ these exercises can be seen as verythreatening o a fe w group members, so make sureyou are prepared to offer support and assisrance.

M Mid-course energiserMid-course energiserscan be used at any time youobserve the group losing interest or falling asleep.Ivlid-course energisers are very similar in design toicebreakers,but they sometimes make the assumptionthat th e group knows each other already. For thisreason some of the exercises ma y appear a l i t t lethreatening to some members of a group. If someonedoes not want to participate, let them sit back or actin an observer's role. You will normally find that theywill ioin in as soon as they see how much fun theothers are having.These exercises are used to wake participants up,to get the blood moving, to keep participants from

falling asleep after a lunch break, to simply getpeople back on l ine or to th ink about a newapproach to a problem.Exper ienced faci l i tators can also use theseenergisers o reduce tensions that may have built upwith individuals or the group.L karningThese exercises are designed to let the participantssee where their learning styles or at t i tudes needimprovement. They tend to be more experiential intheir application. That is, the participants are normallyrequired to do something and come up with somekind of result or answer. Afrer rhat phase of theexercise the facilitator can norrnally draw out fromthe group better ways of doing the same thing withbetter results.

You must ensure that the whole exercise is totallydebriefed and that every participant can see what thefinal results or methods should be. You should beaware that there are many different learning sryles.Don't make the assumption that everyone in thegroup will leam the same way. Make certain you getplenty of feedback to check part ic ipantunderstanding.P PerceptionThe percept ion exercises are general ly fun foreveryone to use. They are designed to see howparticipants perceive different situations or objects.The end result with most perception exercises s thatparticipants ar e made aware of their need to use

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lateral thinking, to look at things in different ways,and to try to break down any preconceived stereo-rypes that they may be using.As these exercise are fun to use' it is not un-common to see them being used as icebreakers ormid-course energisers.Some of the individuals in th e group may havedifficulry with perception exercises.If they do havedifficulties, try to get the rest of the group to explainthe different perceptions to them.E EvaluationMost of the evaluation exercisesare for participantstoevaluate ei ther themselves or the program. Animportant part of the evaluation process needs to bepointed out to the participantsat the beginning of theexercise. This point is that any evaluation must beconsidered as constnrctive, not destructive.Things canbe improved or rectified much more easily by using

constructive evaluation. Destructive evaluation doesnothing but leave ill-feelings with some members.If any of these exercisesare used for the purposeof program evaluation, it is a good idea to make surethe participants are told of the results, either verballyor in writing.S Self-managementExercises in the category of self-management allowthe panicipants to find where they can improve theirown self-management echniques. These techniquesare the same as time-management techniques, butwith a different name. Here we look at improving theparticipants' organisationalskills.

Participantsget a lot of information and new ideasfrom other members within the group, so make surethat the whole group finds out what principles eachparticipant used in these exercises.

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