A textra game requires the participants to read and process ideas from a document. In this textra game, the participants begin by reviewing different articles and end up selecting practical ideas related to the training topic.
Synopsis
The participants work in teams of three to share practical ideas from an article assigned to each of them. They select the three best ideas and present them to the entire group. In the end, each participant selects an idea for immediate application.
Purpose
To compare several practical ideas and to select a useful idea for immediate application.
Participants
Minimum: 3
Maximum: Any number
Best: 12 to 30
Time
30 to 60 minutes for the pre-session assignment
25 to 45 minutes for the interactive session
Supplies
Timer
· Whistle
Handouts
Reprints of articles on the training topic. (See details under Preparation)
Room Set-Up
Set up the room with tables and chairs to permit three-member teams to conduct discussions.
Preparation
Collect handouts. Select suitable articles on the training topics and obtain copies of these articles. Make sure the articles are of approximately the same length and contain several practical ideas. Ideally, you should have a different article for each participant. If this is not possible, you should have duplicate copies of three different articles.
In a recent workshop on management fundamentals, we selected 20 different articles from Harvard Business Review. We purchased reprint copies of these article to ensure that we are not violating copyright restrictions.
Flow
Organize teams and distribute the handouts. A day before the training session, organize the roster of participants into teams of three members. Send an email to each participant along with the selected article as an attachment. Make sure that the three members of each team receive different articles.
Identify three practical ideas. In the email, ask each participant to read the article and identify three practical pieces of advice based on it. Ask the participant to bring three index cards to the session, each with a brief statement of a practical advice.
Select three best ideas as a team. At the beginning of the interactive session, assemble the teams. Ask the three members of the team to take turns to read and explain each of their three practical ideas. Working as a team, ask the participants to select the three best ideas from the nine ideas they discussed. Explain that these ideas do not have to be from different articles. Announce a suitable time limit for the selection process.
Present the ideas. At the end of the time limit, assemble all the teams. Ask the teams to take turns to present their three selected ideas. Ask everyone to listen carefully to the ideas from the other teams.
Select the one best idea. After all the presentations are completed, ask each participant to select one practical idea for immediate implementation. Explain that this idea could be from their own team or from some other team.