Episode 83: Forced connections using icebreakers with Leanne Hughes
Yes, this episode is all about icebreakers and energisers. I feel like I could create literally dozens of episodes on these two topics. I get so many questions about the perfect icebreaker and I myself, spend a lot of time scouring resources trying to find the perfect activity to complement a topic.
Please don't read the title of this and think I'm telling you to MAKE people meet each other and force their connections using icebreakers!
There's a bit more to it in this minisode.
Yes, this episode is all about icebreakers and energisers. I feel like I could create literally dozens of episodes on these two topics. I get so many questions about the perfect icebreaker and I myself, spend a lot of time scouring resources trying to find the perfect activity to complement a topic.
I’m going to spin this today around today, to chat about relevance.
As you know, I chat to many facilitators. The advice I've been given is that it’s important to do an energiser that relates to the content, that is relevant to the topic. This relates to adult learning theory. Adult learners need to know why they’re doing something and how it relates to the struggles or challenges they face right now, relevancy is key.
I agree. However, and this may be controversial. But I’m of the school of thought that you can really relate any type of icebreaker to the content at hand, particularly if you work in corporate type of training and are covering a suite of soft skills like communication, leadership, team effectiveness, etc.
Listen to the episode to hear how I break my approach down.
About the host: Leanne Hughes
Leanne Hughes is the host of the First Time Facilitator podcast. She loves to shake up expectations and create unpredictable experiences.
Leanne has facilitated leadership, onboarding and team-building workshops across Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Mongolia and believes in a strengths-centred approach to learning and development. She has over 13 years’ of experience across a range of industries including mining, government and tourism sectors.
In 2018, she was a finalist in the Australian Learning Impact awards for Learning Professional of the Year.
Resources mentioned in this show
Join my free facilitator community on Facebook called ‘The Flipchart”
Connect with Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn or visit my site at leannehughes.com
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The Flipchart (August 2018)
The FlipchartA resource for First Time Facilitators |
Hello friends,Welcome to The Flipchart, your monthly First Time Facilitator highlights reel.This monthly (ish) email is includes a curated list of tools and resources to help you make a bigger impact at the next workshop you deliver.
Recent First Time Facilitator podcast episodes
- When facilitating a workshop, how do you balance being present, with forecasting ahead to drive an outcome? This is one of the topics I explore this week with Mark McKeon, who spent 16 years as the high performance coach for the Collingwood AFL club. He's also an accomplished author, speaker and facilitator. In Episode 25, we talk about about the parallels between creating high performance on the footy pitch; and high stake situations in a group workshop facilitation environment.
- In Episode 24, I'm delighted to introduce listeners to my colleague, Sean Lavin. We both recently gained Team Management Profile (TMP) accreditation, so this was a great opportunity to reflect on that experience, how powerful the TMP can be and learn more about Sean’s journey leading workshops. I've started to profile tools like TMP as there was a great response from my conversation with Adam Mustoe in Episode 16 about the Gallup Strengths Finder tool.
- In Episode 23 I talk to one of the masters of facilitation, Lynne Cazaly. This one is full of facilitation gold. We talk about the power of visuals, strategies to retain attention, and we share opinions on the type of icebreakers they should have thrown out in the early ‘90s.
Energiser of the month: Drawing Twins
Time: 20-30 minutes
Objective: This should illustrate how hard it is to give clear instructions as well as how hard it is to listen, and can also show how things are easily misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Equipment: Pen, paper and simple line drawn pictures (eg. house, face, spider, various shapes on a page, tent, car)
Instructions
Divide participants into pairs.
Round 1:
- Give one member of the pair a picture which must not be shown to their partner.
- The person with the picture must give instructions to their partner so that they can draw it, but must not say what it is, eg, ‘draw a circle, draw two more circles inside the circle about half way up’. The person with the picture cannot watch the person draw it.
- Compare the drawing with the original.
Round 2:
- Hand out more pictures and ask participants to swap roles.
- The person with the picture can give instructions in a similar manner as in Round 1 but this time the person drawing can ask yes/no questions and the person with the picture can watch as they draw.
- Half the group can begin by telling the person what the object is.
Debrief questions:
Round 1:
- Why don't many of the pictures look like the original? (Interpretation: everyone has a different interpretation, directions were not clear, not able to give or get feedback).
- What were your frustrations as the source of the message (giving instructions), as the receiver of the message.
Round 2
- Did it help to be able to watch the person drawing?
- Did it help to be able to ask questions?
- Did it help to know what the object is …your clear goal?
Relate this process back to communicating with your employees. Is your message always clear? Is there a channel to give and receive feedback? What noise is present that affects the message?
Let me know if you use this in your next workshop and how it goes!
Reading and listening
- Have you ever thought 'I'm not creative?' I believe everyone has the ability to channel their inner creative genius and this was confirmed when I listened to this podcast on the Jordan Harbinger show. Listen to his interview (and share it with someone you overhear saying 'I'm not creative': Allen Gannett | You Don’t Have to Be a Genius to Be Creative
- First Time Facilitator was recently named in the Ultimate L&D Podcast list for 2018. Unreal! Thanks for all of your support. This is a list of all the active, English-language, Learning & Development podcasts that there are, all in one place for your own learning & development.
- Speaking of podcasts, I'm co-MC at this year's 'We Are Podcast' conference on October 18-20 in Brisbane, Australia. If you've ever thought about starting your own podcast, or meeting your podcast heroes, check out the page - tickets went on sale this week.
One more productivity hack...
I am sticking with the iPhone 6 for the moment as it's the latest version with a headphone jack - yes I'm a traditionalist in some ways! I wanted to share this tool from one of my favourite authors/thought leaders, Jenny Blake:
- With my iPhone 6 now losing it's charge within the day, this lipstick-sized (a slight exaggeration - let's call it a jumbo lip gloss) Anker PowerCore+ mini portable phone charger is a must-have. I also put my phone in "low battery mode" every morning by default (you can add this as a quick "button" in the iPhone's Settings —> Control Center so that it's quickly accessible when you swipe up from the bottom). By doing this, the charge lasts all day (faaaaaar longer than when in regular mode).
Til next month,Leanne
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Episode 14: Q&A: Share some of the amazing facilitation tricks you’ve seen, Leanne!
This is the first solo episode I’m recording and it’s come in response to some feedback I received from a listener, Aminata N’Doye from Toronto, Canada. She asked me if I could incorporate listener questions periodically. I think it’s great suggestion, it allows variety for the show and typically, we’ll keep these ones short -they won’t run for longer than 15mins.
Hello fellow first time facilitators and welcome to the show this week.
This is the first solo episode I’m recording and it’s come in response to some feedback I received from a listener, Aminata N’Doye from Toronto, Canada. She asked me if I could incorporate listener questions periodically. I think it’s great suggestion, it allows variety for the show and typically, we’ll keep these ones short -they won’t run for longer than 15mins.
From time to time I’ll incorporate these episodes, either as an add-on feature for the week (I’d originally planned to call this Workshop Weds) ; or a standalone episode, depending on the length of my response!
Would you like your question answered on the show?
You can email me: hello@firsttimefacilitator.com
Send me a tweet @leannehughes
Message me your question on Instagram @firsttimefacilitator
Given Aminata had the idea for this segment, I threw it over to her to ask the first question, and her question is this:
“Along the way, you've seen a number of tricks from fantastic facilitators. What were some of the amazing tricks where you thought, "Wow! I need to add this to my facilitation!"?
Listen to the show to find out the facilitator tricks that have stunned me (in a good way)!
Resources mentioned in this episode
The Air-dropped workshop notes from Sean DeSouza's workshop: Andrew Tarvin's Walk/Stop icebreaker or energiser: Create your own game show using Kahoot.