Twisted Training:Expert Advice from an International Award-Winning Designer of Training Programs

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The judges are interested in the story behind the design from its concept to completion and want to see a clear development of an idea. Demonstrated a good sense of colour, technical ability and varied handwriting, whilst articulating the story with a commercial focus. The winner will be awarded with 6 months paid internship with the Kingfisher Design Team in their studio based in Southampton. The Kingfisher Design Talent Award will be given to a surface pattern design range that reflects a deep visual understanding of consumer needs and demonstrates a visual harmony and style that make everyday life in the home easier.

It will also demonstrate creativity, sustainability and commercial understanding. New Designers Joules Print Award. Her illustrations have a lovely contemporary feel and her subject matter felt akin to the central themes we explore every season. The work placement will provide a commercial portfolio review by one of Joules Senior Design team. Hours of love, care and attention goes into creating Joules prints, so as an employer they are always on the hunt for fabulously talented folk.

So what does a great print designer look like? Joules Award winner needs to share their passion for colour, possess a wonderful imagination and most importantly have a cracking sense of humour. The Romo Award will be given to a student that displays an exceptional talent for creativity and design innovation whilst demonstrating a sophisticated sense of colour and skilful drawing techniques. New Designers Harlequin Award. The Harlequin Award will be given to the designer who captures the ethos of Harlequin and creates designs that will make fashion statements in the home.

New Designers Best Stand Award. The winning stand will be presented with a trophy, framed certificate and champagne. In addition there will be acknowledgement on the awards display throughout the event at the venue entrance, acknowledgement in the event awards press release plus an image and details under award winners on www.

Imaginative and clever presentation ideas with a considered overall look and feel along with the quality of work displayed. It's as much about the exhibitors as it is about the work and how responsive and engaging the students are. Patrice has been careful to create a design that uses many points of reference to the narrative, to create something that is challenging in its simple elegance. A difficult story transformed into a powerful but sensitive museum.

New Designer of the Year Runner Up. The Judges appreciated Charlotte's personal motivation to find a thoughtful solution to a real social problem through design. With so much talent to choose from, deciding who to select as the winner of the New Designer of the Year Award is a tough job. Therefore it is important to recognise those who so nearly got selected and give them part of the limelight. Manchester School of Art.

Madeline showed an amazing ability to research into disposable cutlery and think about how plastic impacts on our planet not only this but madeline is a talented furniture designer, tabletop designer and certainly a forward thinker who argos believes will help design products for our future generation and how people will live in the future. Creation of a solution driven product with clever functions. Potential versatility in terms of evolving and growing.

Clearly communicated idea and design intent. The winner will be awarded a 6 months paid internship with the Kingfisher Design Team in their studio based in London or Lille. The Kingfisher Design Talent Award, will be given to a product design that reflects a deep understanding of consumer needs and demonstrates solutions and functions that make everyday life in the home easier.

An intuitive solution to an everyday unaddressed problem, that takes into account ecological issues and seeks to educate and raise awareness to prevent future repetition. The product should demonstrate a creative approach to design, and a confident understanding of current consumers and user behavior. New Designers Joules Graphic Award. Both charming and considered, we think Megan's work shows a real maturity and showcases everything we were looking for in our winner - from typography and layout to a great use of colour and importantly, a sense of humour.

The work placement will provide a commercial portfolio review. New Designers Virgin Atlantic Award. A thoroughly thought out product and service that addresses a real word issue that needs highlighting. The Virgin Atlantic Award will be given to a designer that presents a beautiful and sustainable packaged concept utilising innovation, function and form to produce a fantastic product.

Reshoevenate - contemporary take on footwear using recycled products. Ollie demonstarted knowledge of real life footwear design trends. He showed a good working methodology and created a product with a strong social purpose. He presented a challenge to the footwear industry with an idea that was completely unique.

Pentland specialise in building footwear brands so Ollie is set to make a fantastic contribution. The winner will be offered a two month, paid programme of study within The Design Talent Team at Pentland Brands — which was set up to recruit and develop exceptional talent from all design disciplines. Under the guidance of The Talent Team Manager, they will provide creative and commercial solutions to briefs set by the Pentland Brands.

The briefs will reflect the whole spectrum of a design role within Pentland and will vary from perhaps a research-based project to designing a new footwear range or technical product. All interns get the opportunity to attend exhibitions, visit shops and travel to get inspiration and shape their ideas.

The programme is designed to harness talent and use it to be an additional resource to work alongside existing brand design teams, providing stimulation and an extra resource for a design team when needed. The Pentland judges will be looking for exceptional, unique, design talent. The graduate chosen by the Pentland judging panel will need to demonstrate brilliant design and breadth in their final project and portfolio. This product has immediate simple and colourful toy appeal.

Sarah combined creativity, a fresh design style with a story hook that would unleash the imagination of kids. Her process demonstrated a rich understanding of product and consumer need. This award will be given to a designer that has best embodied what LEGO does and has clearly demonstrated the art of playful creativity in both their process and product. The product should be both big on fun and truly innovative with a clear focus on the target consumer and strong commercial understanding.

Hygenic Home challenges the archetype of home floor care, creating a clever dual function product that is minimal in design and sympathetic to its environment.

Week 2 Awards → Wednesday 4 July 2018

The Joseph Joseph Award will be presented to the individual who best demonstrates the ability to design a product with the Joseph Joseph principals of innovation and functionality at its core. The winning design should:. New Designers Kenwood Appliances Award. They will also be given the opportunity to complete a design project under the guidance of the Kenwood Design Office, plus the opportunity to present this project to the Kenwood New Product Development team.

The Kenwood judging panel will be looking for fresh ideas and an innovate approach to a well identified and articulated user need. Evidence of sound design thinking is more important to Kenwood than slick visuals, but this thinking must be well expressed in a concise and consumable way. They are not looking exclusively for product concepts, but work that reflects an interest in food or the domestic kitchen environment will attract our greater interest. All expenses associated with the work experience will be paid including travel and accommodation if required. The creative team at Zizzi is always on the look-out for Fresh Talent.

The judge panel will be looking for an inspiring graduate to assist in painting a memorable piece of artwork in one of Zizzi's restaurants and work alongside some of the incredible talent who are already part of their team of Fresh Talent artists. This award will be given to an illustrator or artist who stands out from the crowd and demonstrates the following qualities through their work:.

The mentorship session can cover anything the winner may be looking for steering on from portfolio review, career planning, pitching, developing a business plan, product development and more. This Made TalentLAB Award will be given to a design that stands out, has something different or unique about it that makes is individual. New Designers Belmond Award. Informed by the ideals of Afrocentrism and the aesthetics of Afrofuturism, Iklwa is a throne to inspire empowerpent in the face of oppression. Visually intense, Iklwa's dramatic compostiion and vivid ultramirine its surroundings while assertign power of its sitter.

An incredibly talented designer whose products embodies the authentic and timeless, luxuries and soulful nature of Belmond. The Belmond Award winner will be a graduate from whose work demonstrates an intrinsic knowledge of how design and craftsmanship are married together. The Belmond brand is defined by its ability to bring much-loved travel experiences from their past into the modern day, evoking a sense of contemporary nostalgia.

The Brand has a collection of iconic and historic properties that are famed for the design details, works of art and master-craftsmanship contained within. They may also embrace creativity and design for their ability to shape and enhance real-life experiences, instil a sense of well-being or positively affect a mood, or reflect and represent local culture.

New Designers Joseph Stannah Award. The Design allows users to be independent. Well considered and thought through. Excellent use of prototyping and visualisation. Joseph Stannah was an incredible engineer who pushed the boundaries of Victorian technology to make hoists, cranes, and lifts — amongst other things — safer, stronger and more efficient. Stannah are looking for innovative inclusive designs that promote independent living and address real life problems. The winning design must demonstrate excellent visualisation through the use of illustrations, renderings and model making. Kingston School of Art.

The panel of judges will present the award to an individual that has designed a single standout product with strong commercial potential. The judges will also be looking for an idea that has a positive impact on the urban environment. This product was selected for its simplistic and playful design which offers versatility in its function. The judges were impressed with its visual confidence and commercial potential.

She has used this to support others through a range with both commerce and social potential. The stand perfectly reflects the nature of the course, with careful thought given to ensuring the build materials are fully recyclable, reducing waste while celebrating good design. The Glasgow School of Art. The successful graduate will be brave, trend setting, innovative and have a good sense of colour with a specific end use in mind, but be prepared to 'cross over' into other merchandise arenas.

Judges will be looking for the sources of inspiration and external influences and will need to be convinced that the candidate has a full and complete knowledge of the limitations of all machinery used to produce the designs. A kind, open and understanding personable character is essential to be able work with company management, as well as those on the production floor, and they will therefore be looking for strong characters, who are 'people people,' and prepared to multi-task.

Very interesting constructions combining scale, texture and structure in surprising and innovative ways. Modern twist to a traditional motif and a eclectic portfolio of ideas. The Worshipful Company of Weavers Associate Prize will be given the most outstanding designer of woven fabric exhibiting at New Designers. Designs can be suitable for fashion or interior fabrics and must show knowledge of the production process.

The winner must be a British Subject. New Designers Wilcom Associate Prize. Innovative and experiment use threads and software, challenging with different techniques and strong conceptual values. The Kalopsia Collective Associate Prize will be given to a printmaker that combines colour, pattern and form and demonstrates a thinking outside the traditional processes, using creativity and an understanding of form and quality.

Johnson Tiles is offering the winner the opportunity to work with Johnson Tiles own Design Team for one week at their head office in Stoke-on-Trent. University for the Creative Arts, Rochester. The panel thought that Jasmine had a very strong voice and that her work could be translated across a number of different platforms. It was high quality, innovative and captured the spirit of UK Young Artists. Nottingham 19 as well as a commission to develop a memento to celebrate the event, which will be for sale to the public. The UK Young Artists Associate Prize will be given to a young artist under the age of 30 whose work is provocative and demonstrates a strong unique voice with quality in making and ideas that can translate well into a commercial commission.

New Designers Denby Associate Prize. We felt that Laura had answered the Denby criteria, using shape, colour and decoration to an exceptional high standard The Denby Associate Prize will be given to the individual who shows a perfect affinity to their materials. A designer who is forward thinking with a clear vision of their customer; has a great use of either colour, texture, pattern or shape whilst also having a clear commercial awareness.

The Shillingford Dulux Colour in Design Award Associate Prize will be given to a designer who demonstrates outstanding and inspirational use of colour within their work. Their work must demonstrate individuality, high levels of skill and an understanding of the market it is intended for. Andrew has demonstrated his CAD and 3D printing skills alongside his hand finishing techniques to produce an aesthetically appealing piece of jeweller. He has used the latest sintering technology to transform his design vision and hand crafted a beautiful wearable piece of jewellery.

Personality [self-image] exercise self-awareness, personality, interviewing and selection. Lifestyle acronyms game social demographics, creativity and invention, lifestyle types and choices, compact communications, generational theory. Guessing game ice-breaker, assumptions, multiple intelligences, hidden abilities, risks in judgment.

Touchy feely exercises sensory perception, self-awareness, non-verbal communications, body language, relationships in teamwork and personal support. The outdoors tea-break exercise different perspectives, context, relativity, perception vs 'reality', and how most things change according to situation.

Newspaper story interpretation exercise understanding and applying motivational theories, or other principles and models of management. Quick plan exercise new year planning, aims, planning, change. Party games bundle party games for grown-ups and kids. Breakfast project planning exercise project planning, task planning, preparation, structure and organisation, scheduling, budgeting. Sheet of paper step-through game icebreaker, teambuilding, problem-solving, togetherness, kids' scissor-skills.

Truth and lies introductions game ice-breaker, johari mutual awareness, interaction, amusement and fun. Egg balance game concentration, positive thinking, discovery, breaking down barriers, wonderment and fascination. Fancy dress exercise ice-breaker, self-expression, mutual awareness. Drawing game teamworking, change, communications, creativity, ice-breakers. Group connections activity icebreaker, mutual awareness, introductions, networking, team-building. Paper bowls game icebreaker, competition, energizer, teamwork, tactics.

Life highlights game ice-breaker, introductions, life priorities, self-awareness, johari awareness, motivation and personality. Coin logo ice-breaker ice-breaker, creativity, self-expression, johari awareness. Coded team communications game non-verbal communications, communications systems, body language, team understanding, creativity.

Tubes strings balls game teamwork, planning, creativity, icebreaker. The one question ice-breaker exercise questioning skills, empathy, self-awareness, needs analysis, cooperation and partnerships. Classification game - ice-breaker, introductions, discrimination, mutual perspectives. Face game body language, non-verbal communications, ice-breakers. The takeaway game planning, analysis, number skills, ice-breaker, energiser for the brain. The obvious team building game for snowy weather teambuilding, exercise, fun.

Project team exercise graduate recruitment assessment and selection, internal promotion assessment centres, business development and project teams. Stress exercise stress demonstration, ice-breaker, teambuilding. Learning and thinking styles exercise learning styles, brain type preferences, self-awareness, johari awareness. Alternative christmas and new year exercise new year ice-breaker, creative thinking, social values and true life priorities. Seasonal suggestions bundle christmas activities and ideas for teams and office year-end fun and learning.

Passion to profit exercise life change, self-employment, business start-up and development, outplacement and redundancy support, career change, self-determination and independence. Tree swing games awareness and cooperation between teams, departments, divisions, corporations, nations, planets, etc. The 'what did you learn yesterday' exercise icebreaker, self-development, life attitude, self-awareness, discussions about what learning and development means. Tactical team shove ha'penny icebreakers, teamworking, tactics, strategy, problem-solving, assessing and countering competitor threats.

Ageing society exercise icebreaker, creative analytical thinking, trends, forecasting, ageism, demographics. Political qualification game job skills, training, competence - and many other issues relating to competence and suitability. Helium stick games team building, assumptions, organising tasks, problem-solving. David davis resignation speech. Secrets of success exercises ice-breakers, demonstration and discussion of what enables business success.

Change exercises illustrating and experiencing dealing with change. Charades icebreaker session warm-ups, icebreakers, creativity, alternative sources of ideas and inspiration. Seasonal icebreaker session warm-up, icebreaker, discussion-starter for virtually any work-related subject. Dice exercise sales planning, marketing, sales strategy, selling effectiveness, time management, maximising your productivity. Shoe-wear and foot wear icebreaker exercise, discussion about self-awareness, different people-types, johari-type development.

Teacher training with a twist

Animal perceptions exercise self-awareness, team discussions and mutual awareness, johari-type development. Listening games listening, interpretation, understanding, speaking, creativity. Money exercise ice-breaker, talking point, focus on observation, taking things for granted, noticing things right in front of us. Conkers and acorns activities various themes for discussions and exploration.

Competitor-partner exercise competitor intelligence, competitor research, different perspectives, seeking and finding positives and opportunities instead of difficulties and threats - choice over instinct - collaboration rather than conflict. People and team relationships grid.

Questioning games to demonstrate, teach and practise the difference between open and closed questions. Diversity quiz game for diverse groups, mutual understanding, empathy, diversity training. Causes and solutions exercises discussion or illustration of problem-solving, dispute resolution, crisis management and avoidance, solutions-focused thinking.

Quiz public survey game research, communications skills, appreciating the knowledge other people possess, human engagement, fun. Bin toss game warm-up, tea-break activity, competitive exercise, exploring competitiveness and motivation. Bricks in the wall exercise aims, goals, objectives, steps - for new years, new beginnings, changes and planning, making dreams into reality.

The ampersand game ice-breakers, warm-ups, demonstrations of learning, thinking, and brain-types, knowledge versus skill. Seasonal team games exercises and activities linked to christmas and other celebrations. Cartoon and celebrity role-plays case-studies, character profiles and scenarios for role-playing appraisals, interviews, counselling, disciplinary meetings, and coaching reviews, etc. Obituaries personal goals, visualising personal aims and potential, identifying personal potential, life values, purpose and meaning. Telephone chatting activities team-building for home-based staff, telephone skills exercises, remote teams relationships.

Businessballs quickies ice-breakers, thought-provokers, ideas you can develop into all sorts of activities. Visualisation exercises identifying unique personal potential, careers and direction, lifting limits. Team skipping teamwork, team-building, warm-ups, outdoor activities. Isolation and intuition team exercises relationships, bullying and harassment, diversity, intuitive demonstrations. Age diversity exercises for teams age discrimination training, ageism awareness, diversity development.

Shot at dawn discussion organisational morality, leadership styles and integrity, decision-making, humanity versus efficiency. Corporate globalization debate exercise ideas exploring: Inspirational speech exercises public speaking, presentation skills, motivation, inspirational leadership. Corporation life-cycle exercise understanding organisational dynamics, corporate maturity and development; market development, organisational systems.

Newsdesk broadcast exercise team building, global team building, inter-departmental development, cultural diversity and understanding, video conferencing. Baking foil modelling games team-building, warm-ups, mutual understanding, expression of ideas, johari window development, and fun for kids activities.

Triple bottom line game understanding TBL - profit people planet - implications, developing ethical teams and organisations. Values-led team-driven change activities team-building, goal-setting, values, philosophy, planning and change management. Obstacles exercise team-building, communications, giving or writing clear instructions, teamworking strategies. Portmanteau words games creativity, ideas and concepts, a vehicle for developing and highlighting issues and initiatives. Kitchen top drawer game introductions and ice-breakers, and for children's activities too. Employee relations and communications exercise team briefing role-plays, speaking to groups, handling difficult communications and questions, written communications.

People picture interpretations relationships, communications, attitudes, body language. Rotating line introductions icebreaker warm-ups, icebreakers, communications, communicating styles. Playing card bingo warm-up, icebreaker, exercises to demonstrate competitive effects, team-building, team-working and cooperation - also a great way to teach numbers to small children.

Here are techniques, theory and ideas for designing and using your own team building games, exercises and activities, and tips for using the many free team and group activites and ideas on this website. Team building games, exercises and activities help build teams, develop employee motivation, improve communications and are fun - for corporate organizations, groups, children's development and even kids parties. These free team building games ideas and rules will help you design and use games and exercises for training sessions, meetings, workshops, seminars or conferences, for adults, young people and children, in work, education or for clubs and social activities.

Team building games, exercises and activities can also enhance business projects, giving specific business outputs and organizational benefits. We cannot accept responsibility for any liability which arises from the use of any of these free team building ideas or games - please see the disclaimer notice below.

Always ensure that you have proper insurance in place for all team building games activities, and take extra care when working with younger people, children and organising kids party games. Empowering people is more about attitude and behaviour towards staff than processes and tools. Teamwork is fostered by respecting, encouraging, enthusing, caring for people, not exploiting or dictating to them. People working for each other in teams is powerful force, more than skills, processes, policies. More than annual appraisals, management-by-objectives, the 'suits' from head office; more than anything.

Something inspires them maybe, but ultimately the team decides. It's a team thing. It has to be. We can bloody well make a difference. We will be the best at what we do. We'll look out for each other and succeed - for us - for the team. And we'll make sure we enjoy ourselves while we're doing it'. And then the team starts to move mountains. People are best motivated if you can involve them in designing and deciding the activities - ask them. Secondly you will gain most organisational benefit if the activities are geared towards developing people's own potential - find out what they will enjoy doing and learning.

Games can be trite or patronising for many people - they want activities that will help them learn and develop in areas that interest them for life, beyond work stuff - again ask them. When you ask people commonly you'll have several suggestions which can be put together as a collection of experiences that people attend or participate in on a rotating basis during the day or the team-building event. Perhaps you have people among your employees who themselves have special expertise or interests which they'd enjoy sharing with others; great team activities can be built around many hobbies and special interests.

If you are planning a whole day of team-building activities bear in mind that a whole day of 'games' is a waste of having everyone together for a whole day. Team-exercises and discussions help bring clarity and context to idealistic concepts like ethics and social responsibility far more effectively than reading the theory, or trying to assimilate some airy-fairy new mission statement dreamed up by someone at head office and handed down as an edict.

Ensure that team-building activities and all corporate events comply with equality and discrimination policy and law in respect of gender, race, disability, age, etc. Age discrimination is a potential risk given certain groups and activities, and particularly so because Age Discrimination is quite a recent area of legislation. While this is UK and European legislation, the principles are applicable to planning and running team-building exercises anywhere in the world, being consistent with the ethical concepts.

Also consider the effects of team building and corporate events in terms of effects on employees' families and people's broader life needs. It is easy to become very narrowly focused on the organization and the community within it, without thinking of the families and social needs outside. Alcohol is another increasing area of risk for organizers of team building and conference events. An employer's duty of care and potential liability at corporate events traditionally was fulfilled by ensuring no-one tripped over the electrical cable for the overhead projector.

Nowadays organizations have a deeper wider responsibility, which is progressively reflected in law. Alcohol and discrimination are big issues obviously, but arguably a bigger responsibility for employers is to the families and social well-being of employees, which impacts directly onto society as a whole. Today's well-led and ethically-managed corporations understand that divisive treatment of employees' partners and families undermines loyalty and motivation of employees, and creates additional unnecessary stresses for workers in close loving caring relationships, especially for young families, which have evolved a strong sensitivity to such pressures.

Thwarting or obstructing people's instincts - evolved over millennia - to be with and take care of their partners and young families is extremely destructive. Employers who have a blatant antipathy for these crucial life needs of their people are therefore socially irresponsible. Inevitably strong work commitments put pressure on employees' families and partners. This is particularly so in big modern corporations where travel and lengthy absence from home is unavoidable in key roles. Modern ethical socially responsible organizations should be doing whatever they can to minimize these effects, not make them worse.

Where possible employers should reward partners and families for their support and loyalty, rather than alienate them by creating selfish staff-only events. Laws are not yet clearly defined about the employer's liabilities arising from such situations, however there are clear principles e. Moreover, fostering a healthy work and home life balance tends to make organizations run smoother and less problematically, notably in areas of grievance and counseling, stress and conflict, disputes and litigation, recruitment and staff retention, succession planning, company reputation and image.

I was prompted to add this item because I received a question about the implications of running a staff-only dinner dance at a conference event. If you are considering a staff-only social event - especially at night, involving alcohol, dancing, overnight accommodation - or you are wondering generally where to draw the line between working relationships and intimacy, or between fun and irresponsible risk, these observations might help you decide.

The risks of running a socially irresponsible corporate event are emphasised if you consider a scenario containing the following elements. Do not run an event containing these elements. This is a negative example for the purposes of illustrating risk and responsibility:. You do not need to be a professor of social anthropology to guess that the above circumstances are unlikely to be a useful corporate defence against any of the following problems which could arise, directly, indirectly, or ironically if actually nothing whatever to do with the event itself - try telling that to the offended party afterwards You could probably add to this list.

There is no limit to human ingenuity when behaving irresponsibly under the influence of drink and any other stimulants of emotion or substance. A socially responsible employer should be able to demonstrate they have been duly careful and diligent in minimizing such risks when organizing any work events. Executives, managers and employees of successful organizations hopefully love their work. They live and breathe it, which is great - but what about the partners and families?

Do they love the organization? Overly demanding work is a threat to family life - and thereby to society. And just because a few staff members and crusty old directors can't wait to get away from their spouses a feeling no doubt reciprocated by the spouses , doesn't mean that all employees feel the same way. The vast majority do not. A modern ethical employer's duty of care and social responsibility extsnds to the families of its employees. Divorce, separation and family conflicts and breakdowns are directly linked with many social ills.

Socially responsible ethical employers should be doing all they can to reduce these causal factors - not to make them worse. Consider the stresses and difficulties caused to employees' partners excluded from such occasions, and the effects which inevitably rebound on the employees, and cascade to children.

These are truly basic needs and an organization which jeopardises these factors is irresponsible in the extreme. Materials and ideas for teambuilding. Here are some examples of different resources which can be used in creating teambuilding events and activities. Easy way to start to the team building process.

Younger inexperienced teams will need more guidance and perhaps a list of possibilities to choose from. Involving the team in deciding what activities to use is empowering and participative, and will help to lighten your management load. It's the team leader's, or manager's, or facilitator's responsibility to structure and help teams to ensure that all team members have the opportunity and incentive to contribute and participate in team activities, and ultimately the team's success. It is helpful to use and refer to these models when using, planning, designing, and evaluating team building activities or games:.

Kirkpatrick's learning evaluation model. Bloom's Taxonomy of learning domains. Introducing team members to Kirkpatrick's and Bloom's concepts can also help them to develop a clearer understanding of their own needs, and their preferred methods of training and development - individually and for the team. Team building games and activity tips. Tips for quick games and exercises for warm-ups and team building.

First of all - use your imagination - you can simplify, adapt, shorten and lengthen most games and exercises. To turn a long complex game into a quick activity or warm-up, scale down the materials, shorten the time allowed, and make the exercise easier. Most of the games on the free games page can also be used for children's education and development, and for kids party games - adapt them to suit. The number of members per team affects activity time and complexity - teams of four or more need a leader and tend to take longer than a pair or team of three.

Increasing or reducing team size, and introducing or removing the team-leader requirement, are simple ideas for increasing or reducing game complexity and exercise duration. Whatever you choose, as the facilitator, practice it yourself first so you anticipate all the possible confusions, and so that you have a good idea of how best to do it you'll generally be asked by the delegates after the exercise. Think carefully about team sizes - pairs or teams of three are best for short 'construction' exercises, unless you want a leadership element in the game.

Without a leader, too many team members causes non-participation and chaos, so avoid this unless the purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate why teams need leadership. Remember your tape measure, and practice the activity yourself to try to come up with an ideal solution for when they ask at the review. Larger teams are fine for quizzes because teamworking is less crucial. Giving a tight deadline will encourage the teams to share out the puzzles, which emphasises leadership, communication and use of skills and resources. Tips for working with syndicate groups for team building or training.

Team building games and training exercises work better using syndicate groups, or teams. This is particularly so if you want a competitive element, which is very effective in building teams and team spirit. Working with syndicates also encourages and enables more participation, activity and ideas, and managed well, it makes the trainer's or facilitator's job easier. Using syndicates in team building needs thought and planning - here are some pointers:. Train the team building trainer ideas. These ideas concern training people or learning for yourself to become a great team building facilitator.

The job of training managers and trainers how to run team building sessions is different to running a team-building session per se. How to become a great team builder. Becoming an expert in team building is a wonderful career speciality to pursue. The growing popularity of team building, and the recognition of structured, organized team building as a significant factor in the performance and well-being of individuals, teams and organizations, will fuel growth in demand for, and provision of, specialist team building training.

Team building potentially includes a very wide variety of methodologies, techniques, theories and tools. And also values and philosophy. This is what sustains and fuels people in organizations. It follows then that to become a great team builder you should open yourself to philosophical ideas and values, as well as learn and experience as many methodologies and related techniques as you can, which together will combine to give you the character, skills and breadth for becoming an inspirational leader in team building - and in the training of team building to others, be they trainers, managers, facilitators or team leaders.

Here are some examples of useful methodologies, concepts, etc. When planning and running team building activities, exercises, games, etc. It also adds a bit of hard theory to the inevitable other soft content. Ongoing competitions are excellent for team building, but If you are training the trainers don't run a competition through the whole day - mix up the teams from time to time to show how team dynamics can be changed and the effect of doing so.

Use a mixture of games to cover different logistical and environmental constraints - small room, large room, syndicate rooms, outdoors. Include a mixture of games to develop different skills and aspects within team building - leadership, cooperation, communication, breaking down barriers, planning, time-management, etc. Ask the delegates in syndicates to design their own games to meet specific scenarios. As well as the ideas, look at all the variables: Outdoors, use traditional games like rounders, cricket, touch rugby, relay races, to demonstrate the big team dynamics, and the physical exercise effect - stress reduction, endorphins and neuro-transmitters, etc.

Also cover 'workshops' and how to plan and run them - practical sessions dealing with real business issues, with real content and real action-based outcomes, including the team-building effect - use a real business issue as an example. This would also require some pre-session preparation and coached and measurable follow-up, which are also extremely useful and under-used mechanisms.

Buy a big basket. Buy lots of sweets or candy, lollipops too, wrapped preferably for hygiene and maintenance reasons and put them into the big basket. Put the big basket of sweets and lollipops on the table before people arrive for work, or the meeting, or the training session. And then watch people smile. Sweets and lollipops break down barriers. They are a universal language for feeling good and being happy. After a week or two of different sweets throw in some bubblegum.

Also some bubblegum with collectible cards. This gesture is not restricted to the training room; you can put baskets of sweets all over the place. Even in the reception and the board room; and even in the finance director's office. You can ask the receptionist if she or he would be so kind as to make sure that the sweet basket is always filled to the brim at the company's cost of course , and to make sure she or he always invites every single visitor to dip their hand in and take a big handful for their kids.

And you'll see how wonderfully well people react to being treated in this way. When you've firmly established the practice of having baskets of sweets everywhere, you can move on to fresh cut flowers Next of course you'll need to appoint a flower monitor, which every right-minded person will want to be, so you can have one per floor, or one per day of the week, or one per department, whatever Before you decide to use any team building games with a group of people, think about whether the activities are appropriate for the team members and the situation. Think beyond providing traditional work skills development.

Explore everything, and show your people that you have a broader view about development - they'll have lots of ideas of their own if you let them see it's okay to think that way. Team building games are just a part of a very wide mix of learning and and development experiences that you can explore and facilitate for your people - try anything.

If it helps your people to feel good and be good, then it will help your organisation be good too. Ensure that team-building activities comply with equality policy and law in respect of gender, race, disability, age, etc. For example, a demanding physical activity might be great fun for fit young people, but if any of the team members are old or in any way disabled, then think again, because it wouldn't be fair, and it might even be unlawful. The same applies to any activities that discriminate against people on grounds of gender, race, etc. Team-building games and activities have to agreeable and acceptable to team members, and the exercises have to be fair.

These free team building games and exercises generally last less than one hour, and can be adjusted to create longer team building activities, depending on the sort of team building, ice-breakers, training development activities required. Review and discussion are often useful and helpful after exercises which have raised relationship issues, or changed people's perceptions. Plan and practise all unknown aspects of the activities before using them. Logistics, facilitation and especially how you split the group into the numbers of team members per team are factors which have a big effect on how the exercises work and the experience for all.

This simple exercise format is adaptable for a wide variety of training and development situations. Before moving to the next question, the group should discuss, refine and agree the correct answer. You can expand the exercise by splitting the group into teams and giving points and offering incorrect answers as bonus questions. These questions are just examples. Create your own, and ensure you clarify questions where ambiguity could exist. The exercise is especially relevant for a group after a break, for example after holidays, or when a boost or intervention is required to help people shift habits or assumptions.

The task suggested is 'how to tie a shoelace', but you can substitute any other easy instinctive skill e. Ideally something that people can actually do for real in the review. The purpose of the activity is to start people thinking and working, and particularly to assist thinking and learning about:. Obviously avoid arrangements that will be unnecessarily time-consuming and tedious, for example do not ask a group of twenty people to do the task individually and to present their results individually, or the exercise will take til lunchtime..

Ideally review the group's work so that at least some of the resulting instructions can be viewed by the whole group. You should also encourage people to try to follow - in practice - at least some of the resulting instructions which is often overlooked by writers of manuals and instructions. The activity offers a very neat association with the concept and principles of empathy, and the metaphor of 'putting yourself in the other person's shoes' when communicating to others.

This is a very simple and amusing introductions activity, and a super icebreaker and energizer, for groups of people, any age and level, or bigger groups subject to splitting people into smaller sub-groups and giving guidance to self-facilitate as required. Then, after everyone has taken their sheets do not issue these instructions until everyone has taken their sheets:. Aside from the obvious values of the activity energizing, ice-breaking, quickly introducing people to each other in an interesting way , the exercise cleverly makes the points that:.

Tuckman's Forming Storming model. Instruct delegates to individually consider and describe the personality of a well known admired person which you can suggest, or assist the group in deciding who to describe. A common cause of differences between delegates' views - and a fascinating aspect of the exercise - is that delegates' descriptions of a greatly admired person commonly match their own self-image.

For obvious reasons it can be preferable to omit 'self-image' from the name of the activity before you run it with a group. Select a well known admired person.

Involve the group in this if you wish but avoid being distracted by other discussions about the selection, unless you welcome such discussion. You may select more than one well known person to repeat the exercise, but of course the point of the exercise is for the group to describe the same person at one time. If the group has expertise in personality theories and psychometric systems, then for extra focus on the technical aspects of personality theories you may select more than one theory for delegates to work with which means delegates give more than one view - i.

Importantly you must be able to explain the basic workings of the chosen personality theory to the group, or the group must already understand the chosen theory to a very basic level. If working with young people or others who have no appreciation of personality theory then begin the activity by helping the group to establish and agree key describing words of personality, which can then be used for the exercise.

Encourage delegates to use only words to describe the dominant features of the personality. Some suggestions of well known generally admired famous people: You and the group will perhaps think of more appropriate examples for your local situation and the group's interests. Commonly staff social events, especially at Christmas time, involve eating and drinking in a pub or restaurant somewhere.

The format tends to be: The organization, and more likely these days the staff too, spend a lot of money and have little to show for it, let alone a sense of fulfilment or spiritual uplift. Many organizations now seek more wholesome and responsible ways for team members to socialize, celebrate and bond at Christmas parties and other social events. Instead of spending or asking people to spend a big amount per head on a meal out - instead do it yourselves 'in-house'.

Perhaps ask every staff member of staff to bring in some interesting food. This can be especially rewarding for groups of varying ethnicity. Food reflects culture, and so offers a helpful basis for improving mutual awareness. If you have a kitchen most workplaces do , then you can handle a certain amount of hot food. If you don't have a kitchen, then be creative with some camping stoves or an outside barbecue. That's assuming you want to serve hot food. Otherwise keep it to a cold buffet, which depending on the weather and time of year, can be perfectly acceptable.

When you feed people in-house, on a biggish scale, it is very cost-effective and can produce excellent quality and quantities of food, for a fraction of eating-out costs. Many groups will expect an alcoholic drink of some sort. Often alcohol is appropriate. Again be creative and imaginative. Again seek help and involvement from staff members with experience and skills in making and providing drinks for large groups. Recipes are available on the web. Consider the strength of drinks that you provide and consider implications of people's health, proper behaviour, transport, driving, etc.

Most offices have a big space somewhere which can be quickly reorganized to produce a good-sized area for setting up a buffet and eating. Maybe offer starters, mains, and deserts in different departmental rooms, so people circulate and get to know each other better. If you don't have a room or rooms then go out and find the space you need.

Again be imaginative and creative. There are interesting spaces everywhere. Find some space and make it work. Appoint a team to do this - and to dismantle and tidy up too. A consistent problem affecting traditional workplace parties and social events is that people tend to drink a lot when nothing else entertains them. People engage relatively little, with the event, and with each other. Organized activities instead get people involved and mixing and having fun together, which develops mutual understanding, builds relationships and teams, and diffuses tensions.

So think of some activities on which to build your event - to give people some entertainment apart from eating and drinking. Think about activities which will be different and participative, so that people will be active and entertained, rather than sat down drinking and chatting about work and office politics, etc. As already suggested, a really useful tone-setting idea is to have the bosses and executives take a leading role in serving and waiting on the staff.

The tone of the event is important.

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Staff will be positive if the tone is right. If the bosses stand aloof and refuse to help and get involved, then the tone will be unfair and wrong, and staff will not put effort and commitment into the event. If the tone is right and good and fair, then staff will respond positively. Consider that in very many organizations throughout the year, staff see senior managers and bosses enjoy longer lunch-breaks, expenses-paid-for trips and meals, big company cars, reserved car-park spaces, better salaries, bonuses and perks, and all sorts of other privileges. So wouldn't it make a refreshing change for once if the bosses served the staff?

You bet it would. A workplace social event is an opportunity for the organization to say thank you to its people.

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A sit down meal with drinks in a restaurant will achieve this to a degree, and of course in many cases is entirely appropriate, but for many other situations, a social event can achieve a lot more. Emotions and feelings within each of us are 'triggered' in different ways. We think differently and therefore see things differently. We often do not imagine that other people may see something quite differently to how we see the 'same' thing. Management and relationships, in work and outside of work too, depend heavily on our being able to understand the other person's view, and what causes it to be different to our own.

To illustrate this, and to explore how mental associations can 'colour' US-English 'color' our worlds differently:. If anyone sees all the days as the same color, or sees no colour association at all, or perhaps sees or senses a more powerful alternative association, then this is another equally worthy personal viewpoint and difference. The days of the week are a simple fixed pattern. Yet we see them in different ways.

It is easy to imagine the potential for far greater differences in the way we see more complex situations - like our work, our responsibilities and our relationships, etc. Human beings will never see things in exactly the same way - this is not the aim or work or life - instead the aim should be to understand each other's views far better, so that we can minimise conflict and maximise cooperation. Erikson's Life Stage Theory. Personality Theories and Models. Versions of the 'Iceberg' may be mapped according to different perspectives, for example - how people see it currently; how they'd prefer it to be; from a personal, departmental or workforce standpoints.

The exercise can be used as a basis for all sorts of learning and development activities, for example relating to:. For groups of any size. Split into pairs, threes, or work teams and review as appropriate, or run the activity as a quick ice-breaker. What acronym can you devise or suggest one you know already that is particularly appropriate for modern times? Where groups devise their own acronyms you may optionally award a point for each letter in the acronym and bonus points for:. This is a simple and adaptable exercise which can be used to explore various themes.

You could run a version on a table-top, or use it to get people moving around quite a lot. As facilitator you need just a tape measure and a pad of small sticky notes. Here is the basis of the exercise. Adapt it and use different exercises to suit your own situations. This is an experiment to explore the brain's capability to estimate scale. Your guesses will be measured and results given.

The exercises involve simple guessing, but provide a basis for understanding more about how reliably or unreliably our brains can estimate scale, etc. Sometimes guessing and instinctive assumptions are effective; often they are not. As facilitator it will take you a while to measure and note scores for lots of guesses, so think how best to do this. If using the exercise as a quick icebreaker, or if time is tight, especially if group is large, think carefully about how many measuring exercises to include. Just one is fine for an icebreaker.

With big groups and treams issue people with tape measures and have them score each other. Or see the examples for simplifying the activities below. Depending on time and how you want to use the activities, other materials and measuring devices can be used for different exercises, for example:.

Adapt the exercises depending on how active and logistically involved you wish the activities to be. This is a simple exercise for groups between 8 and 30 people, and involves many different learning elements: The activity is based on the funny one-liner often attributed to comedian Stephen Wright , which is deeper than first seems:. Nominate one team to be 'early bird' and the other team to be 'second mouse' or allow the group to decide this themselves, which can be an interesting mini-exercise in its own right.

Give the teams minutes, each to develop a second presentation or longer for bigger groups and more learning depth as to why their strategy 'early bird' or 'second mouse' is best for business or work or life, depending on your situation. Which is the most effective strategy for business or work or life? Optionally, ask the teams if in light of the presentations they would prefer to frame the question in a different way. People might now see a more constructive approach to the question.

Again this can be a useful mini-exercise in its own right. After the debate hold a 'free' vote to see what the combined group now believes about the question. Allow but do not encourage abstentions 'don't knows'. Encourage group members to vote as individuals, putting their team loyalty to one side. There are many possible learning areas to review after this exercise, depending on your situation and development purposes, for example:.

Here are some ideas and exercises to explore human physical contact and touching; the types, benefits, risks, associated feelings and reactions, in relation to self others. Touching people is understandably a neglected aspect of relationships and communications, especially in management and education relating to sexual harassment and child protection. Nevertheless touch is a highly significant part of body language, and crucial to human interaction. We therefore benefit by improving our understanding of touch and using it appropriately, rather than avoiding it altogether. A New York Times article by Benedict Carey reported some interesting findings on human touching:.

Many and various other studies have reported the positive powers of human touch. As with physical exercise, human touch triggers the release of chemicals in the brain. These are basic primitive human responses, not easily understood, and even now only beginning to be researched and analysed in reliable scientific terms. In time we will know what it all means and how it all works. Meanwhile a little practical experimentation can be helpful and enlightening.

Here are some ideas:. Love and compassion at work. The nature of anything - especially feelings, relationships and communications - changes according to situation and context. This is vitally important in understanding ourselves, others, and the way that human systems operate, in which subjective views are commonly more dominant than objective facts, figures and evidence. Perceptions among people, especially given group effects, has a huge effect on systemic and organizational behaviour. Here is a simple and pleasing demonstration of how something can change when experienced in a new context, particularly when the warmer spring season approaches in the northern hemisphere:.

The demonstration is clearest if first people pour the drink and take a few sips indoors, and then walk outside, so as to compare the indoor and outdoor taste. Strangely the taste is quite different, sometimes remarkably different. This is probably due to the fresh air being smelled and tasted along with the drink. I am open to better explanations. The effect also works with cold drinks. And picnic lunches, if you've time. In some situations the exercise will work better by not warning people of the reason for going outside, other than to get some fresh air and a leg-stretch, both of which are good for groups anyway.

Taste is not the only characteristic altered, for example, in cold weather the drink cools far quicker. Small and insignificant though it is, the drink experience and memory is altered by the different outside environment. The indoor cup of tea or coffee is perceived to be different because of the outdoor context and situation. The analogy can be used in many subjects which benefit from interpreting differences and implications within relative positions, for example:.

Very many theories and models for learning, management, development, etc. Understanding relativity is not merely for theoretical explanation - it's a real practical tool for interpreting and acting with more appropriate meaning - rather than a 'one size fits all' mentality - especially concerning the widely different perceptions among people in different situations.

For groups of any size, subject to splitting into working teams and managing the review of the team work. The exercise will take minutes plus whatever review your think is appropriate for your situation. Some daily national or local newspapers. Enough for every person to have at least sheets. You may nominate specific models, or seek examples of models from the group, then write these on pieces of paper, fold, and have people pick them 'blind'.

Allow discussion and debate of matters arising as appropriate, according to the needs and timings of your session. To save review time - ask people to work in pairs, or in teams - requiring each pair or team to present an interpretation of only one story, being the most powerful example that the pair or team can find in the time allowed. If the group has access to computers, internet and group display this enables the use of online news websites rather than newspapers.

Explore what alternative words people would use to describe each other? What words surprised us and why? What obstacles tend to exist when we don't know each other? And when other aspects of mutual awareness are not good? Why is it that lack of mutual awareness tends to cause difficulties, whereas good mutual awareness tends to produce benefits? How does good mutual awareness in a team enable greater delegation of responsibility, and generally better and easier performance? Where the exercise is used as more of an ice-breaker for a group which has only recently been introduced to each other, a separate learning illustration is how much or little we seek, observe and absorb about new people we meet, and whether we can be more attentive at such times, since this reflects on perceived levels of empathy, and can influence people's self-esteem and confidence, and readiness to cooperate, etc.

A quick icebreaker and kick-start activity with a helpful underlying purpose. The beginning of a new year prompts many of us to consider new aims and plans, or to renew a commitment towards a change or improvement of some sort. Commitments tend to succeed where there is a plan, especially for aims which contain steps leading towards the final result. Without a plan, little can change. Work backwards, identifying the steps necessary for achieving it, back to the starting point: In this situation it is particularly helpful to clarify that people do not need to reveal or discuss their aims with the group unless they want to, since for some people this enables more relaxed and creative thinking.

Here is a selection of quick easy fun party games, including some already on these team games webpages. Issue each with a heavy key or spanner similar cold metal tool, tied to about fifty feet of string. The winning team is the first to thread the string through the whole team, passing underneath each team-member's clothing from top to bottom. Issue each with an orange or potato or other similar sized fruit or vegetable. The winning team is the first to pass the orange from person to person and back to the beginning by holding the orange between chin and chest no hands.

Dropping the orange incurs a two-person-stage penalty move it back two people in the chain. Give each pair a raw egg still unbroken in its shell. Pairs face each other in two lines, five paces apart. The egg must be thrown and caught twice between each pair. Move the lines three paces further apart. Again, throw and catch twice. The winners are the last with their egg intact. If you are disturbed by the wastefulness of this game don't play it. Can be played in teams of three - one upside-down standing on head being supported by a team-mate, being fed a half-pint of a suitable drink from a suitable receptacle.

Drinking straws are optional at the discretion of the party games organiser. The winning team is the first to consume the drink. For additional challenge make the drink a pint and require each team member to take a turn in each of the three positions - holding, feeding and drinking. Be careful when planning games to ensure that they are appropriate for your situation. I accept no liability for any untoward issues arising.

The activity is a simple introduction to project planning, and helps develop awareness of structure, scheduling, etc. For groups of any size and any age. Split the group into pairs or teams appropriate for your situation. The task is to produce a simple project plan for making a cooked breakfast. Issue pens, rulers and paper, or arrange other presentation media as you wish.

As the facilitator you may substitute or offer alternative tasks.

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Cooking a breakfast is merely an example; see other examples below. Introduce the group to a project management tool s as appropriate, for example a Gantt chart, critical path analysis flow chart, or a 'fishbone' diagram. To extend the activity you can add the requirement that teams must indicate where training or preparation needs are most likely required for any of the process elements.

Additionally you can introduce a financial element, so that plans must show a breakdown of costs, and a structure to monitor the budget for the project by each separate item. Note that this financial aspect can be a big extra challenge for some learners and is best excluded if the main development need is to learn the basic structure and process of building a project plan.

Project plans can be presented, discussed and reviewed according to your own situation and timings. Other potentially useful reference materials, depending on the expertise and interests of the group are:. A novel paper-cutting icebreaker exercise, played in pairs, or threes, or as a group.

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