Let's start at the very beginning
Featured in the Essential Interpersonal Skills for Outstanding Managers training manual
By Eddie Davies
Category: Communication Skills
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
The start of any training event is a very important time for both the trainer and the participants. It is essential to provide a positive experience that will enable you to break the ice and get the participants to talk to you and each other. I always consider that the opening should set the scene for what happens next on the event, and this training activity offers an opportunity to consider the accuracy of first impressions and supply information to demonstrate that most individuals have a range of interests we can use to build rapport and develop two-way communication.
You begin this training activity with an ice-breaker exercise in which each participant is given a list of the attendees. They have a minute to decide who is who in the group. The winner is the participant who has correctly identified the most fellow participants. You lead a brief discussion on how quickly we can leap to (sometimes) the wrong conclusion on insufficient evidence. People often have hidden depths, and the participants next play a game of ‘Talent Bingo’ to demonstrate that in any random group there is a varied range of talents on offer. After Talent Bingo (a great ice-breaker), the participants discuss what happens when groups come together. One of the things that helps create a learning climate is an explicit set of ground rules which everyone voluntarily signs up for, adheres to, and monitors throughout the training event. Then the participants work in groups to produce a draft set of rules which are reviewed in a plenary session, and a common set of rules agreed for the whole group for the duration of the event. The training activity closes with the participants examining the stages of the learning cycle they have been involved in. They review their performance at work in the light of their experience in this training activity and make an action plan for their future development.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to show how to establish an effective, safe learning climate within which participants feel confident to experiment with new behaviour.
- Themes:
- Assertiveness,
- Coaching,
- Communication,
- Counselling skills,
- Customer care,
- Influencing skills,
- Interpersonal skills,
- Interviewing skills,
- Introduction to effective management,
- Life and career planning,
- Managing meetings,
- Negotiating skills,
- Performance management,
- Project management,
- Sales training,
- Self-assessment,
- Self-development,
- Stress management,
- Supervisory skills,
- Team-building skills,
- Team development,
- Time management,
- Trainer development,
- Women into management,
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 17 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers at the start of any training event where participants will be developing their interpersonal skills by taking part in a variety of experiential exercises.
Download the training activity, Let's start at the very beginning as featured in the Fenman training manual; Essential Interpersonal Skills for Outstanding Managers