Take Five Habits

This game involves a team-based brainstorming activity to generate alternative responses to the question: What are desirable habits of an effective trainer?

Synopsis

Teams of participants generate alternative habits of effective trainers. Later, they select the top five habits from a common list.

Purpose

To generate, share, and discuss alternative habits of an effective trainer.

Participants

  • Minimum: 6

  • Maximum: Any number, divided into teams

  • Best: 12 to 30

Time

15 to 30 minutes

Supplies

Timer

Whistle

Flow

Divide the participants into teams. These teams should be of approximately equal size, with three to six members each.

Ask the teams to brainstorm. Ask each team to brainstorm alternative answers to this question:

What are the habits of effective trainers?

Prepare the final team list. Tell the teams to narrow down their list to the five best habits. Announce a 3-minute time limit for this activity.

Prepare a common list. After 3 minutes, ask the teams to take turns calling out one of their answers. Prepare a common list on a flipchart. Ask the teams to avoid repetition. Continue listing alternative answers until the flipchart contains 10 habits.

Ask the teams to select the best answer. Instruct them to secretly select the best item from the common list and to write down its identification number.

Clarify the scoring system. Explain that the score for each team will equal to the number of teams selecting the same habit.

Example: If teams A, B, C, and E chose Habit 3, and Team D chose Habit 9, then the score for Teams A, B, C, and E will be 4 points and for Team D, 1 point.

Award scores for the first round. Circulate among the teams and note down each team’s choice on a piece of paper. Announce each team’s selection. Help the teams to compute their score for this round.

Remove the top habit. Draw a line through the habit selected by the most teams. Now ask the teams to select the second-best item. Continue the procedure of selecting, scoring, and drawing a line through the most-frequently chosen item until you have identified the top five habits.

Break ties. During any round, if there is a tie among selected habits, score as usual. But do not draw a line through any habit on the list. Give each team a minute to make a persuasive speech to convince the other teams to select the same item they selected. Proceed as before.

Conclude the game. When the top five habits are identified, announce the end of the activity.  Ask the teams to add up their scores. Identify the team with the highest score and congratulate its members.

 

Sample List of Habits of Effective Trainers

  • Specify behavioral objectives for the training session.

  • Construct a test to measure the achievement of training objectives.

  • Use interactive activities to explore the training topic.

  • Involve the participants in the training activity.

  • Use authentic examples from the workplace.

  • Modify the training plan to accommodate the participants’ concerns.

  • Don’t prepare or rehearse too much.

  • Spend time to debrief all training activities.

  • Become a facilitative trainer.

  • Provide feedback to all responses from the participants.

  • Tell stories to illustrate key learning points.

  • Encourage learning in teams.

  • Use puzzles to motivate the learners.

  • Encourage the participants to tell their own stories.

  • Use effective openers to kick of the training session.