By 3 min read

Idea #79 Team Building in the Corona time

Do it whenever your members are at the different locations and it is hard to be at the same place.

✔️ Since you are all members of the same team, it is good to have some team building activities occasionally so to refresh team vibes.

However, you live in the different states or even on the different continents, which requires some extra efforts to make it happen.

✔️ Here is one of various games you can play and enjoy your time spent together. The aim of this one is to make a whole person from different parts of your team members.

Someone with a good sense of humor may call it Frankenstein, but it is all up to you how you will name it.

When you say ready, you count to 5 and then print screen. All members will comment about all made Frankensteins. After all comments you can debrief the team members about associations, crossing their heads during the game.
This game can be a start kicker for anything you want to do further. tim bilding u doba corone
There are some questions for you:
1. During this time of the Corona virus do you recognize yourself as a victim or as someone … Read more

By 3 min read

Idea #77 Make a creative story for your brand

Do it When you want to develop creativity
Divide participants in the group of three. Give 3 cards with famous or less famous brands to each group. It doesn’t matter what the industry is. The most important part is that they have the picture of that brand in front of them. Each group will choose just one card (one brand). Then they will have to make a story connected to that brand. Dedicated time work is 5 minutes. After that they will forward their 3 brands to the next group and receive 3 new brands from the previous group. You can stop this circling (or implementation of World Café methodology) depending on the dedicated time. Leave at least two minutes for each presentation of the created stories. Most probably the stories will be fictitious. However, I have one true story for you. It is about the beer company and its famous label. The person in the picture is famous Milosav Mitrović Losa. He was a soldier in the WWI from 1914-1918. During that war he was badly wounded and the both legs were amputated. He had a coach with two horses and whenever he wanted the beer he used that … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #75 Icebreaker Emotions we remember

Do it When you want to warm up participants’ emotions.
Divide participants in a few pairs. Each pair has to recall 10 situations and identify the most dominant emotions such as joy, fear, sadness, anger that appeared then. Then each pair makes a list of 10 situations with the identified emotions. In addition, participants should dedicate a name of movie or book to each situation and emotion. After that each group will talk about the situation and its associated emotion. Then all other pairs will have to guess the name of the book or movie dedicated to each situation. After this the participants will be ready for any activities you are planning to do with them.
#75 školice

Now coaching questions for you:
1. What is your most dominant emotion on a daily basis?
2. How does that emotion affect you both personally and professionally.
3. What can you do to benefit from that emotion?
Thank you for sharing your ideas!
If you are willing to try a coaching session with me, Call me at Skype vlada.srma

 

     
 
 
 
    
… Read more
By 2 min read

Idea #72 The World We Live In

Do it When your want to open up participants. You need only 2 chairs. If the participants are from the different continents, then one chair will represent the North Pole and the other the South Pole. If they are from the same country, then one chair will represent the northernmost town and the other will represent the southernmost town in the country.
Ask them to find their place and to stand between those two chairs according to the distance from their hometowns and the northest or the southest part of the country.
When they finish that, they have to prepare a two- minute presentation of their hometown. What is important for that town? Who else was born there? What is a song that mentions the town? We all like to talk about ourselves and to explain how special we are!
world we live in

Now coaching questions for you:
1. Which famous person was born in your hometown?
2. What are his-her 3 personal values that you admire?
3. Concerning your life which advice will be appropriate to receive from him-her?
4. In which way would that advice change your life?
5. What kind of person would you be with accepting that advice?… Read more

By 4 min read

Idea #71 Fables for the 21 century

Do it When your want to talk about desirable characteristics in your company.  Aesop’s Fables or the Aesopica is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. Every fable has a story in which characters of the people are personified in animals. In addition, every fable has its morale and because of that fables are told to the children while they were building their value systems. I think that nowadays fables should be used in companies to build value system of the organizations.  Divide your participants in small groups and in each group tell them to find 3 characteristics that are totally unacceptable in your organization. After that, tell them to reverse those characteristics and find 3 positive. Now, for each characteristic they have to find one animal that will represent it. After that each group just has to make its unique fable. To make it more interesting each group will make a drawing about its fable. In the end, read them all and show the morale of each fable. While preparing the workshop for my group, 3 fables came to my mind. … Read more

By 3 min read

Idea #67 Are Salesman born or made?

Lets hear another story for sales force. The kids filed back into class Monday morning. They were very excited. Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.
Little Mary led off: “I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30,” she said proudly, “my sales approach was to appeal to the customer’s civil spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success.”
“Very good,” said the teacher.
Little Sally was next: “I sold magazines,” she said, “I made $45 and I explained to everyone that magazines would keep them abreast of current events.”
“Very good, Sally,” said the teacher.
Eventually, it was Little Johnny’s turn. The teacher held her breath. Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher’s desk “$2,467,” he said.
“$2,467,” cried the teacher, “what in the world were you selling?”
“Tooth brushes,” said Little Johnny. “Tooth brushes,” echoed the teacher, “how could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?”
“I found the busiest corner in town,” said Little Johnny. “I set up a Chip and Dip stand. I gave everybody who walked by a sample. … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #64 Learn to smile with eyes

Do it during training of non verbal communication When you want to give them something special. We all know that today from an employee is expected to smile. But it is not easy! We all know to smile but our eyes are telling the truth. If you are not happy, you can’t smile from the heart. As the Chinese proverb says: “If you don’t know how to smile, don’t play the game of selling”. So, obviously we have to learn how to smile.

Ask all participants to put hands firmly on their mouths. Now, they have to face each other and each of them to show to his/her partner that he/she is happy. Obviously the only way is to show it by his/her eyes. Now, when they get the idea, just continue with a practice. Next time they will have a new learned behavior.  Now, when you see a customer without a smile, give him one of yours.
!#64 smile with your eyes

Now, questions you have to think about:
1. What makes you smile?
2. How do you feel when you smile?
3. What is the connection between your smile and your feelings?
4. Have you ever tried to change your … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #56 Champions & Stupid ones

Do it When you train managers for delivering feedback & motivating employees. Task for all participants is to write down the situation from the past when they have felt stupid during communication with their boss. Everyone has to read that situation and discuss what has made him that he felt that way.  After that everyone has to write down situation when he has felt like champion in communication with his boss. After that he has to explain what has made him felt that way. After that we will all gain conclusions. What is important for feedback and motivation employees?

Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Remember the time when you felt like champion. Having that in your mind make a goal for your next coaching session. What it would be?
2. Why is that so important to you?
3. What values you have right now that makes you champion?
5. What else is even more important for your right now?
6. Who else would beneffit then?
7. Now as champion what could you do to reach your goal?
8. What would be the time frame for that?
10. What would be the action plan for that?
11. … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #53 Tennis ball & Team Building

Do it When you have team building. People are standing in a group or sitting around the table. Give them an easy task: Tennis ball has to pass everyone’s hands as quicker as possible. Team members will have to prepare strategy. Usually they will start with quick throwing ball. Measure their time and tell them that it can be quicker. They will start doing that quicker for sure. After several tries tell them that record is 2 second. After the first shock they will manage how to do it. They just have to make “tube” with everyone’s hands and pass the ball through that “tube”. Everyone will be happy with new idea.  “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” – Antoine de Saint

Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Imagine that your team has become perfect?
2. Why is that so important to you?
3. How would you know that your team is perfect?
4. What other valuess would you have then?
5. What else is even more important … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #50 Communication without questions

Do it When you deliver communication training. It is important for participants to understand importance of asking questions. Take a simple picture below and explain it to participants as much better as you can. They have to draw it without asking questions. You will be surprised at the end how many different drawing you will see. After that use different picture, and allow them to ask questions. For sure results would be better.
Make a discussion after that about importance of questions. You can use this quote also:  “Albert grunted. “Do you know what happens to lads who ask too many questions?” Mort thought for a moment. “No,” he said eventually, “what?” There was silence. Then Albert straightened up and said, “Damned if I know. Probably they get answers, and serve ’em right.” ― Terry Pratchett, Mort

Now, coaching questions for you:
1. What is the most important question that you could ask yourself?
2. What would be the answer to that question?
3. Knowing that answer what advantage you have in your life?
4. Having that advantage, what other skills would you have?
5. What would be the very best action plan to implement that answer in … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #48 Game for smart employees

Do it When you want to prepare your team for problem solving. The hearts with numbers have to be placed in the empty hearts so that all the numbers in the same straight line add up to the number 10. Discuss how they have structured their problem solving. “Arithmetic is where the answer is right and everything is nice and you can look out of the window and see the blue sky – or the answer is wrong and you have to start over and try again and see how it comes out this time.” Carl Sandburg

Now, coaching questions for you:
1. What is the main problem you are facing right now?
2. By solving that problem what will you reach?
3. What would your life look like when you reach it?
4. What other values would you have then?
5. Imagine that your solution is just 6 steps from you. What would be the very first step?
6. Name all other 5 steps?
7. Now when you have come to your goal how satisfied you are on a scale from 1 to 10?
Thank you for your time.

     
 
 
 
 
… Read more
By 2 min read

Idea #30 Think outside the box

Do it when you want them to think outside the box.
All you need is flipchart. Draw following:
1
11
21
1211
111221
Now they have to continue. Give them 5 minutes. Help them by giving a clue:
_ _ _ _ _ _#030box

Answer is in reading. First line is one one which is explained in 2nd line. 2nd line is two one which is said in 3rd line. 3rd line is one two, one one which is said in 4th line.
Next we continue with one one, one two, two one said in 5th line.
6th line will be 3 1 2 2 1 1 (three one, two two, one one).
All over the world 20 % of children 3rd grade solve this problem.
You are clever to; Just, we all have to think outside the box.

Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Think what is it in your business that at this moment no one is doing because it is impossible?
2. Make a list of 20 items. What from that list would be the most important for your business?
3. What would be the first step … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #27 Your office library

Do it When you want to make your employees to learn for a lifetime. In every office there is a library, because every employee has to learn.
As great Peter Drucker said: “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” This game you can play with your team, but also this library can be for real.
Your team has to make drawing of library that will represent your company. Everyone has to participate and to explain what is so special and unique for your company.
At the end send drawing to the carpenter and you will have special library that every employee will be glad to read.
!#27
Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Imagine that solution to your main company problem is in one of your books in your library. What is it?
2. Why is solving that problem so important to you?
3. On which book shelf is that book?
4. What is the name of that book?
5. Turn the last page, where usually are all answers?
6. What is the first answer to that question?
7. What … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #26 Firm as this stone

Do it When you want quickly to introduce all participants, and make them think about their characteristics. Give the basket with stones to the participants. Everyone has to take one stone and keep it in his hand. After that one by one each person has to say: 1) His name 2) His job position and the most importantly 3) His main good characteristic. He will do that by saying: “My enthusiasm is firm like this stone!”
After this introduction you can ask them questions like: “How each of those characteristics can be useful to our team or that training?”
!#26
Coaching questions for you are:
1. You have to take one stone and keep it all your life remembering about your most important good characteristic. What is it?
2. Knowing that you have that characteristic, what are the other 2 good characteristics that you also posses and maybe you are not so aware about them?
3. Now when you have those 3 characteristics, choose some area of your life, and some specific goal where you can use them. What is that goal?
4. How important on a scale from 1 to 10 is completing that goal?
5. Why is … Read more

By 3 min read

Idea #25 Paper plane evaluation

Do it When you want easily to see how much participant have gained from the training. It is always important to see how much participants have gained from the training. If you ask them directly it can be very bad experience reminding them with school. So let’s use our creativity.
Prepare note book size papers and write on each of them one question concerning topic that was lectured. Ask each participant to take one paper and to make a paper plane from it. Everybody knows to make some kind of paper plane. Then they all have to make a circle as bigger as possible. On your sigh everyone will launch their planes and everyone has to take one plane. If you mark questions with numbers, just ask who has plane number 1 and he/she will read the question and provide the answer.
child hand with paper plane
What variations of this game you suggest?
1. Just imagine your biggest problem. What is it?
2. And imagine that solving that problem you will be much better person. How do you see yourself at that moment?
3. Now, reframe your problem into goal. What it will be?
4. To reach that goal there is a plan … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #24 Masters I give you 3 wishes each

Do it When you want to know what is really important to your people and what they want to change. Just imagine that in a basement of your company building you have found an old lamp.   When you rub it a good genie appears.  The genie gives to each member of your team 3 wishes.  Everyone has to make 3 changes. You have to change yourself, your manager and your job.

You have 5 minutes for preparation and then you start presentations, one by one.
You can make variations by making dividing people on groups of 3, so they can work and make presentation together. In that case give them flip chart. when you finish make a picture of presentations and use them in your company, Of course send one copy to us.

1. While that good genie is in the house, ask him for one additional wish. What it will be?
2. Why is it so important to you, that you will spend that one wish on it?
3. What changes in your life it will make?
4. How might you take it even further?
5. What skills would you need for it?
6. How are going … Read more

By 3 min read

Idea #23 Why do you respect your boss?

Do it When you want to connect people and make a team. 
African born English Writer, William Plomer said: “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.”
Now, we are going to implement that creativity in practice. All you need is love 🙂 and a bag of m&ms or any other colored candies.
Closed eyes each member of your team has to take one candy. Just tell them that take it doesn’t mean eat it.
!#23#
When everyone has his candy including you tell them the rules. One by one according to clockwise order, everyone has to tell in 3 sentences a story based on following:
Red candy: Why he/she likes to work in your company?
Blue candy: When  he/she was the most proud during his career?
Yellow candy: What was the most difficult client and how he/she has solved that?
Brown candy: When was the time he has felt miserable and how he has overcame that?
Green candy: What is his/her the most ambitious plan in your company?
Orange candy: What his/her boss said to him that made him the proudest person?
When all finish they can eat candies, and we can start coaching!
1. Now,
… Read more
By 3 min read

Idea #22 Learn them to be punctual

Do it When you want to establish that people have to be punctual.
It is another story from Master ZI; I have mentioned in ideas #10 & #15.
“After 25 years in the same parish, Father was saying his farewells at his retirement dinner. One local politician had been asked to make a short speech. But he was late.
So the priest took it upon himself to fill the time, and stood up to the microphone:
“I remember the first confession I heard here 25 years ago and it worried me as to what sort of place I’d come to… That first confession remains the worst I’ve ever heard. The chap confessed that he’d stolen a TV set from a neighbor and lied to the police when questioned, successfully blaming it on a local scallywag. He said that he’d stolen money from his parents and from his employer; that he’d had affairs with several of his friends’ wives; that he’d taken hard drugs, and had slept with his sister. You can imagine what I thought… However I’m pleased to say that as the days passed I soon realized that this sad fellow was a frightful exception and that this … Read more

By 3 min read

Idea #21 How to learn a new skill?

Do it When your team have to learn some now skill or to face a difficult change.
People say that:” The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change”. But employees are often afraid of a change. Sometimes they are even afraid of some new skill that they have to adopt. Show them that learning new skill is easy as A, B, C… or should I said Z, Y, X…?
Ask your group to say alphabet from A to Z. People will laugh and did it with moderate speed. Tell them that new task is to do the alphabet backwards. They will laugh even more and say that is not possible without reading.
Tell them that it is all up to them. If they think it is not possible, for sure they are right.
But they have 3 minutes to prepare strategy for learning and 10 minutes for practicing. During that time they can use whatever they want just to learn that new skill.
After those 13 minutes for sure they will succeed. Ask them:
How did they feel when they heard for the first time what the task is?
In which way preparation of strategy … Read more

By 3 min read

Idea #17 Learn from the Zig & geese

Do it During team building. Great Zig Ziglar had funny story about gees.
He would ask participants 3 questions and encourage them for answers.

  1. Why are geese flying in “V” formation?  And most of the people are familiar that using that trick geese save 70% of the energy.
  2. Why from time to time geese change formation for several seconds? Again, there is in every group someone that will explain that leading goose is accepting the majority of the air pressure and for a while another goose will take its position
  3. Why is one leg of the formation always longer than other?  Looks like everyone has noticed that but no one has logical explanation. Then Zig would say: “Because in that “leg” are more geese!“

This will make people laugh, more connected and prepared for main topic. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q40h8dPmgwQ&feature=related[/youtube]

There much more we can learn from the geese.
1. Geese flying at the end of formation are honking for supporting ones at front.
2. When a goose drops out of formation due to sickness or tiredness, two other geese join her and protect until it is ready again.

Now, you can make a discussion:
Imagine our team being more efficient… Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #16 Yes, You can choose

Do it When you have to deal with participants that are not interested in training.
So many times people are “sent” to the training with idea of correcting there behaving.
No one likes to be changed, so we have to be very careful with them.
!#16
You can say: “OK people I know that was not your idea to come to this training. You had no choice. You came and I want to thank you. Now you have a complete choice! I want you to write down:
1. What would be the best possible outcome for you for next 2 hours (4 hours, 8 hours…)? And
2. How is that outcome going to help you in your everyday life?”
For sure you will open them, gain on your side and convey their goals with your training program.

Now questions for you?
1. What do you really want from them?
2. Why is that important to you?
3. Who would you be if you get their attention?
4. Who else would benefit then?
5. What would be some even more useful question for them?
6. How to connect their needs with needs of their job positions?
7. How are you going … Read more

By 2 min read

Idea #12 Hello Susan, my name is Steve. I am glad that you are here!

Do it When you have a group of people size up to 20, whom don’t know each other, and you know you have to do something interesting.
People have tendency to talk only to people that they have been introduced. If they don’t know anybody they will talk on the phone or just stare at handouts.
So you have to introduce them quickly.
greeting_card_popup

You need very nice Greeting cards. My suggestion is to take greeting cards with motivational quotes and/or pictures. Before the training in each of them write name of one participant. Then at the beginning of training randomly give them cards. Instantly they will recognize that they have someone else’s card.
Tell them to find the right person and in one nice sentence give the card. It will take just several minutes, and after that you will have totally relaxed group of people.
Now questions for you:
1. What is a good sentence for presenting card?
2. What can you give instead greeting card?
3. What would you do if the person likes the card and doesn’t want to give it to the right owner? 

     
 
 
 
   
… Read more