When planning a training session, the designer considers such factors as the number of participants, available time, supplies, room setup, media equipment, and handouts. Even with the best laid plans, the training context frequently and unexpectedly changes and requires the trainer to improvise on-the-spot adjustments.
This activity requires the participants to anticipate different unexpected changes in the training context and to come up with suitable strategies for handling them.
Synopsis
Three participants take turns to play the role of an Emergency Manager. The Emergency Manager announces a training emergency, listens to the suggestions from the other two participants, and awards score points to reflect their usefulness.
Purpose
To come up with useful suggestion for handling training emergencies.
Participants
Minimum: 3
Maximum: Any number, divided into groups of 2.
Best: 12 to 24
Time
20 to 30 minutes
Handouts
Sample Emergencies, one copy for each participant
Supplies
Small pieces of paper for recording score points
Pens or pencil
Timer
Whistle
Flow
Review emergency situations. Distribute copies of the handout, Sample Emergencies, to each participant. Explain that each emergency specifies a training plan and an unexpected change. Invite the participants to review the emergencies.
Examples:
Training Plan: There will be 30 participants. Unexpected change: Only nine participants show up.
Training Plan: The training session will last for 30 minutes. Unexpected change: You must keep the participants busy for 3 hours.
Training plan: Training will be conducted in an in-person classroom. Unexpected change: Training will be conducted in a virtual classroom.
Suggest emergency-management strategies. Take a specific emergency from the handout. Ask each participant to independently suggest an idea for handling this emergency. Ask the participants to write down their suggestions as brief sentences. Announce a 2-minute time limit for this task. At the end of 2 minutes, blow the whistle and invite the participants to share their suggestions. Briefly discuss the usefulness of each suggestion.
Organize triads. Ask the participants to organize themselves into groups of three. In each group, select one person to be the first Emergency Manager.
Conduct the first round. Ask the Emergency Manager to announce an emergency. Then ask the two other participants to write down the key aspects of a suitable strategy to handle this emergency. After a pause, ask the participants to take turns to present their strategies.
Rate the strategies. Ask the Emergency Manager to listen to the suggestions and distribute 13 points between the two suggestions to reflect their relative usefulness. The Emergency Manager should not use fractions when distributing the score points: Even if the two suggestions are equally useful, the Emergency Manager is forced to distribute 6 and 7 points.
Record the score points. Ask the Emergency Manager to write down the score points for each suggestion on a small piece of paper, fold the paper to hide the number, and place it in front of the appropriate participant. These pieces of paper are not to be opened until the end of the third round.
Change the roles. Ask the participant seated to the left of the Emergency Manager to assume the role of the new Emergency Manager. Conduct the activity as before with the new Emergency Manager announcing a different emergency.
Repeat the activity. Continue with one more round so each of the three participants has had a chance to play the role of the Emergency Manager.
Determine the winner. At the end of the third round, each participant would have two pieces of folded papers in front of them. Ask the triad to open these pieces of paper and add the rating numbers. Identify the participant with the highest total and declare them to be the winner for providing the most useful suggestions. Congratulate with the winner.