Group tasks and activities
Featured in the Proactive Interviewee Skills training manual
By Beverley Williams
Category: Recruitment, Selection and Induction
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
When interviewing for roles calling for particular skills, such as the ability to work as part of a team, to communicate successfully or to plan and execute team projects to a particular standard within a defined time framework, organisations often seek tangible evidence of these abilities. The group activity, where candidates are perhaps asked to debate and decide on an issue or to carry out a practical task by working together as a team, gives participants the opportunity to demonstrate these abilities. This training activity helps participants to consider what the assessors are likely to be looking for during group activities and also gives participants the opportunity to take part in one or more group activities.
You open the training activity by introducing the topic of group activities and tasks as part of a selection or promotion process and elicit ideas on what form these could take. You then ask the participants which skills and abilities they think the assessors are looking for during these activities. You follow this with a practical group task in which the group are asked to build a free-standing construction of straws, followed by a plenary discussion to examine what happened and the types of skills and behaviours that were observed. The participants then take part in a second group activity, this time discussing the merits of several proposals and reaching a group decision on the way forward. You take one or two key learning points from each person before distributing and commenting on a key learning points handout where appropriate.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to give participants the opportunity to understand and practise group tasks used as part of the selection procedure, encouraging them to analyse the qualities that are being tested in this situation.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 10 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:10:00 |
| No of Pages: | 17 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: A tape measure, A needle & reel of cotton for each team, 300 straws for each team, A stopwatch.
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers with participants who may be asked to take part in group activities or exercises as part of a selection process.
Download the training activity, Group tasks and activities as featured in the Fenman training manual; Proactive Interviewee Skills