As a trainer, I conduct a brief opening activity before each of my training sessions to help the participants to interact collaboratively and creatively with each other. As a facilitator, I conduct a GPS (Group Performance Support) activity before each meeting to help the participants to effectively work through the agenda.
The GPS activities, along with appropriate debriefing discussions, stimulate the participants to achieve several advantages, such as the following:
Principles and procedures. GPS activities help the participants learn about important events during a meeting such as starting the session, setting and following an agenda, focusing on the purpose, fulfilling different roles, establishing ground rules, and concluding the meeting. They also help the participants to identify and unlearn dysfunctional habits such as cognitive biases, hasty generalizations, holding unjustified assumptions, inefficient multitasking, confusing between facts and opinions, and being distracted easily. Most importantly, GPS activities encourage the use of a standard procedure for conducting an engaging and effective meeting.
Effective and flexible communication. GPS activities reward the participants for thinking laterally and creatively. They train the participants to handle open-ended questions and brainstorming tasks and to improve their discussion and decision-making skills. They also encourage the participants to think reflectively and logically before blurting out emotional responses.
Teamwork and collaboration. All GPS activities require the participants to work as a cohesive team in pursuit of common goals. These GPS activities encourage inclusive behaviors that enable different types of people to participate on an equal basis. While participating in a structured activity, the participants practice appropriate levels of self-disclosure. The activities spur them to learn interesting and useful information about each other to support collaborative and trusting interactions.
Motivation and engagement. GPS activities enable the participants to acquire positive perceptions of the meeting process and optimistic expectations of its outcomes. They keep the participants engaged in all the activities all the time. They energize the participants and focus their attention on specific agenda items and the goals for the meeting. They also motivate each participant to assume personal accountability for the success of a meeting.
GPS Collection
I have designed and field-tested 50 different GPS activities during the past 10 years. You can red and play a sample GPS activity called Meeting Types , which is printed below. This article contains details of the purpose, number of participants, time requirements, handouts, supplies and equipment, flow of the activities, questions for the debriefing discussion, and hints for relating the activity to the ensuing meeting. This activity also begins with a synopsis to give you a feel for its process and outcomes.
The best way to become proficient with the GPS activities is through on-the-job learning. Skim through the directions for each activity and try them out immediately with a group of meeting participants. Feel free to vary the pace, focus, and the rules of the activity to suit the characteristics and preferences of your participants—and your own personal style.
Remember, it is more important to play with the rules of the GPS activity than to play within the rules.