Free Training Materials From Skills Converged http://www.skillsconverged.com RSS feeds for Skills Converged 60 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2207/Student-Group-Maker-for-Teachers-How-to-Use-Group-Layouts.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2207 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2207&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Student Group Maker for Teachers: How to Use Group Layouts http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2207/Student-Group-Maker-for-Teachers-How-to-Use-Group-Layouts.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>Suppose you want to run an exercise in your course and want to divide your class into groups of 4. That is rather straight forward to do for small groups. Now, suppose you want to run another exercise and you want to mix up the groups. Is there a way to do this efficiently and systematically? We have developed a tool called <a href="/TraintheTrainer/ClockBuddies.aspx">Clock Buddies Random Group Generator</a> to facilitate this process. The tool makes a series of personalised handouts (in the shape of discs) and students can use them to look up who they need to go with quickly.</p> <p>In addition to the handouts given to the students, as a trainer or teacher, you can also use the same tool to generate all possible unique group combinations and have it as a reference. This helps you have an overall view of group configurations and when to switch from one combination to another. We call this the <em>Group Layout View</em>. To create them, you can use the &ldquo;Generate Group Layouts&rdquo; feature in the group generator tool. Let&rsquo;s go through some examples to illustrate what the tool can do for you.</p> </div> Skills Converged Wed, 07 Dec 2022 13:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2207 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2206/Powerful-Questions-That-Help-You-Evaluate-Your-Training-Performance.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2206 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2206&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Powerful Questions That Help You Evaluate Your Training Performance http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2206/Powerful-Questions-That-Help-You-Evaluate-Your-Training-Performance.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>You have just finished delivering a course. Most trainers tend to be relieved that it is now out of the way, that there were no major technical issues, and, hopefully, most learners liked the course. They then tend to archive the material, move on to something else and forget about the course until they have to deliver it again the next time.</p> <p>What have they missed doing?</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 12 Apr 2022 18:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2206 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2205/Acting-and-Improvisation-Exercises.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2205 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2205&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Acting and Improvisation Exercises http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2205/Acting-and-Improvisation-Exercises.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>Practicing improvisation exercises can greatly help with communication skills and help reduce fear of being on stage. In a controlled environment of a class, you can easily get delegates to practice telling stories, acting out roles and performing for a small audience. Such improvisation exercises are useful for presentation skills, reporting or performing in meetings. Actors routinely use these exercises to train themselves.</p> <p>A few exercises are provided here so you can get ideas of what they are about and how to run them. Aim to match the improvisation exercises to your specific training needs and maximise learning.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 06 Apr 2021 12:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2205 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2204/How-to-Avoid-Bad-Training-Exercises.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2204 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2204&PortalID=5&TabID=258 How to Avoid Bad Training Exercises http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2204/How-to-Avoid-Bad-Training-Exercises.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>Many trainers are always in search of the next best exercise for their courses. On this site alone we have hundreds of exercises that you could choose from. You may even decide to design your own; but a primary question is what makes an exercise effective.</p> <p>Today, you can browse the net to find inspiration for your own design or use exercise &ldquo;recipes&rdquo;. New websites seem to be popping up all the time offering ever more corporate training exercises. The problem is that, more often than not, most of these exercises are terrible! Sometimes, you wonder if the author has ever ran the exercise once before offering it to the general public. &nbsp;</p> <p>A great way to learn how to choose or design good exercises is to know what makes a bad or ineffective exercise. &nbsp;</p> <p>In this article, four exercises are examined where each represents a class of similar poor exercises. Each exercise is then analysed so you can see the problems and how to address them.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 15 Sep 2020 07:03:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2204 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2203/Envy-Self-Reflection-Exercise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2203 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2203&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Envy Self-Reflection Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2203/Envy-Self-Reflection-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>It is easy to think that a different life would have been easier or better. It is easy to think that somebody else&rsquo;s life is vastly better than yours and to fantasise being in someone else&rsquo;s position.</p> <p>This brings us to <em>envy. </em>Why do we feel envious? Every day we make hundreds of decisions. These decisions have good or bad consequences. No one makes good decisions all the time. This means that at some point in life you feel envious of someone who made better decisions. You may feel envious for those who had a better beginning in life, better opportunities or better luck.</p> <p>Envy, if unchecked, can be debilitating. Here, we provide a series of self-reflection exercises that will help you examine this important topic. The exercises can be used by you personally or be given to delegates attending your course, followed by coaching and discussions.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 18 Aug 2020 07:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2203 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2202/Agile-vs-Traditional-Task-Management-Exercise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2202 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2202&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Agile vs. Traditional Task Management Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2202/Agile-vs-Traditional-Task-Management-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is a useful exercise in demonstrating the difference between Agile and traditional development environments such as <em>waterfall</em>. It can also help explore concepts such as <em>silo mentality, </em>where each department or team focuses only on their own issues and problems.</p> <p>The exercise helps teams analyse their performance based on two approaches while going through a fun activity. You can use the comparison and lead them with a discussion on the benefits of Agile practices and how it can help them in practice.</p> <p>In Traditional methods, specific work is assigned to specific workers with a single role and speciality. In Agile methods, the whole team must take care of the whole work. The hallmarks are communication among team members and iteration in respect with quality control and process improvement as the team moves forward with completing the project.</p> <p>Consider debriefing the delegates on both Traditional and Agile methods before going through this exercise.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 07 Apr 2020 07:21:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2202 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2201/Productivity-Exercise-Multitasking-Can-Undermine-Performance.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=2201 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2201&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Productivity Exercise: Multitasking Can Undermine Performance http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2201/Productivity-Exercise-Multitasking-Can-Undermine-Performance.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>These days, we want to multitask everything and all at once. Sometimes, when the work is routine, multitasking improves performance; for example, when you are cooking something you already know. Most often though, it tends to reduce performance.</p> <p>This exercise elegantly demonstrates how multitasking can be detrimental. It is a simple exercise with two rounds where one round is designed with multitasking where delegates have to switch between different tasks. In the other round, task are approached in sequence. Delegates can then compare their performance across the two rounds.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for teams, teaching productivity and time management. It is also useful for project management, agile methods and task management.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 03 Mar 2020 08:21:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2201 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1201/Spot-the-Fake-News-Exercise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1201 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1201&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Spot the Fake News Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1201/Spot-the-Fake-News-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>The advent of &ldquo;Fake News&rdquo; means that we are currently going through a major phase in history. Fake news has come to dominate the news, literally. It is sometimes amusing, but most often frightening. Social media is the prime vehicle of distribution and it is very easy to be deceived by a combination of fake news, misleading ads and filter bubbles as you go through your feed.</p> <p>As such, this topic deserves a lot more attention. Even though through various political earthquakes in recent years, we have been aware of the detrimental effects of this new phenomenon, not a lot has been done to mitigate it. We are still very susceptible to deception. There has been some pressure on technology companies to conform and do something about the prevalence of fake news, which is good, but if we follow the money, we cannot expect much change anytime soon. The other way to approach this is to train ourselves to become more resistant in accepting and believing everything we read online. We must harden ourselves to manipulation. &nbsp;</p> <p>The ability to question anything and everything, and develop independent thinking is fundamental in saving us from fake news, fake science, pseudo-science, religious preaching, desire-inducing marketing in things we don&rsquo;t need, cult hysteria or belief in instantaneous combustion! We need to harden ourselves and our minds against random bits of unconfirmed news, unchecked sources, persuasive rants and unverified claims. This requires training.</p> <p>This exercise is an opportunity to help us question everything by having an attempt in creating fake news in a controlled environment and see how others react to it. &nbsp;</p> <p>You can also use the exercise presented here for creative writing and team building. There is a certain amount of humour involved in everything fake and this exercise can help bring people together through humour. It can also be educational in that people can learn about some really weird stuff they had no idea about, so long as they can be convinced of them with valid references; this is the whole point of the exercise after all&mdash;to question everything.</p> <p>This exercise is also ideal for younger people who are susceptible to manipulation due to lack of knowledge. See the Variations at the end on how to adjust the exercise to suit your specific training needs.</p> </div> Skills Converged Wed, 29 Jan 2020 10:16:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1201 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1200/What-Does-This-Picture-Say-About-Your-Company.aspx#Comments 3 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1200 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1200&PortalID=5&TabID=258 What Does This Picture Say About Your Company http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1200/What-Does-This-Picture-Say-About-Your-Company.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is a powerful exercise that can help managers to understand what their team thinks of the organisation&rsquo;s structure. Such structures are used by companies in order to communicate their vision with staff on how the company is managed so the whole company can work together as a well-functioning team.</p> <p>Any such structures may be subject to change. This could be because of market change, new products, new competitors, new vision, new management and so on. It is important to educate the team about the new organisational structure and this is when this exercise comes in handy.</p> <p>The aim of this exercise is to find out what the team thinks of the company or organisation as a whole. It is simple to execute and if carried out well, it can be quite powerful. It is the kind of exercise that delegates remember for quite some time to come.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for change management, team building and understanding how various parts of an organisation communicate and interact with each other. You can customise the exercise to explore how the organisation already works or how it should work.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for delegates who work together or are part of the same organisation. Ideally someone from the management team should also be present during this exercise to listen in and take notes on what delegates share.</p> </div> Skills Converged Mon, 14 Oct 2019 08:48:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1200 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1199/When-to-Run-a-Course-and-How-to-Time-It.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1199 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1199&PortalID=5&TabID=258 When to Run a Course and How to Time It http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1199/When-to-Run-a-Course-and-How-to-Time-It.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>You are a subject expert. You are in the process of designing a face-to-face interactive course and wonder how to offer it to the market. A primary question you may ask yourself is how to decide the timing:</p> <ul> <li>How long should be the course?</li> <li>When should you run the course?</li> <li>How should you plan the breaks?</li> <li>When should you start or finish the course?</li> </ul> <p>We know that answering such questions can depend on the domain, the target market and the local customs. In any case, getting to know what the training community thinks about such areas can be thought provoking, at least to know if your intuition about an answer is correct.</p> <p>To find out what the training community thinks, we sent a survey and collected replies from our subscribers. In this article, we will present the data, followed by analysis of what this data suggests along with our own observations when running courses.</p> </div> Skills Converged Wed, 25 Sep 2019 07:23:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1199 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1198/A-Variation-of-Chinese-Whisper-Listening-Exercise.aspx#Comments 1 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1198 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1198&PortalID=5&TabID=258 A Variation of Chinese Whisper Listening Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1198/A-Variation-of-Chinese-Whisper-Listening-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is an interesting variation of the infamous Chinese Whisper exercise. In this variation, some volunteers leave the room and then be brought back in, rather than just whispering a sentence in the ear of the person next to them. This allows an audience to observe and hear all the intermediate statements so they can see how information exchange deteriorates in each step. You can then use this as an opportunity to teach about listening skills or communication in general.</p> <p>This listening exercise is ideal for communication skills and teamwork where you can focus on feedback as a critical mechanism to make sure communication is carried out accurately.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 06 Aug 2019 09:04:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1198 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1197/Fortunately--Unfortunately.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1197 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1197&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Fortunately - Unfortunately http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1197/Fortunately--Unfortunately.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This classic game was popularised in 80s. It is fun to play and helps to generate a lot of positives and negatives for a given topic. Delegates go through a series of statements that start with &lsquo;fortunately&rsquo; or &lsquo;unfortunately&rsquo; while alternating between them.</p> <p>Use this exercise for creativity, building narrative and storytelling. It is a great exercise to highlight that there is always a flipside to a negative or positive.</p> <p>This exercise is also useful for analysing the development of a project over time, especially one that is troubled. The beauty of this exercise is that positive and negative statements are always balanced against each other; you can never say too many good things or bad things about a topic and hence it encourages participants to focus on improving it or creating a balanced narrative.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 30 Jul 2019 15:42:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1197 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1195/Converged-Words.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1195 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1195&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Converged Words http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1195/Converged-Words.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is a fun exercise focusing on word play where the delegates need to converge on a common word based on previously suggested words. When convergence happens, it is immensely enjoyable. The pair feel as if they read each other&rsquo;s minds. As such, this is a great exercise to bring people closer together. You can also use this exercise as an icebreaker though make sure <a href="/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1179/How-Trainers-Use-Icebreakers-and-Energisers.aspx">you don&rsquo;t run it for longer than 15 minutes</a>.</p> <p>Consider using this exercise for team building, enhancing vocabulary, creativity and memory. It is also a fantastic exercise for practicing a foreign language as delegates must constantly think of new words in a systematic way and since they get to work in teams, they can learn from each other too. You can also run this easily explained exercise for a large group as teams work in parallel without much impact on timing.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 23 Jul 2019 10:08:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1195 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1194/Change-Management-Reorganised-Wallet-Purse.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1194 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1194&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Change Management: Reorganised Wallet-Purse http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1194/Change-Management-Reorganised-Wallet-Purse.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is a powerful exercise that demonstrates why change should not be imposed. The likelihood of resistance is much higher when people are not consulted on change. This is why they should be involved in the decision-making process. It is a novel exercise since it can be shocking just as you tell them what they need to do which in turn makes delegates remember the exercise well. Hopefully, when it comes to imposing change in the future, they remember the exercise and refrain from doing it.</p> <p>Before going through this exercise make sure you can use it with your specific delegate. You will need to handle this with care specially when it comes to the sensitive part as you will see. Only conduct this exercise when you have gained enough rapport and established your authority as a trainer so that in case there is some resistance, you can handle it with ease.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 16 Jul 2019 10:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1194 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1193/Active-Listening-Skills-Roleplay.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1193 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1193&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Active Listening Skills Roleplay http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1193/Active-Listening-Skills-Roleplay.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is a highly educational and entertaining exercise on asking open questions. Open questions lead to more information while closed questions lead to a yes/no answer. Open questions are usually much more effective in maximising communication. Unfortunately, most people tend to ask closed questions and it is always a good idea to highlight the differences and encourage people to ask open questions more often.</p> <p>In addition to practicing asking open questions, this exercise also helps with active listening. Delegates must focus and pay attention to each answer given by a volunteer as they must relate to this immediately through the next question they ask. Hence, this exercise is a great tool to boost communication skills. You can use this exercise for a group of people irrespective of whether they know each other or not. It would still be an effective exercise.</p> <p>Considering the nature of this exercise, it can also be used as a team building tool, since volunteers need to constantly give information about themselves which can help bring people closer together.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 09 Jul 2019 10:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1193 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1191/Medieval-vs-Modern-Roleplay.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1191 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1191&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Medieval vs. Modern Roleplay http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1191/Medieval-vs-Modern-Roleplay.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>In this exercise delegates put themselves in the medieval era and try to look at the world from a new point of view. Their view is then compared to modern times. In the medieval era, people didn&rsquo;t know what laser or a computer or a humble can opener was. When a modern person mentions them, a medieval person should get confused. As you can imagine, this is a very fun exercise.</p> <p>Through this contrast of era many topics can be explored and scrutinised. This exercise helps us, the modern people, to appreciate what the medieval people didn&rsquo;t have. Here are some examples for comparison:</p> <ul> <li>Technologies</li> <li>Discoveries</li> <li>Philosophical understanding</li> <li>Social issues</li> <li>Attitudes towards religion such as believing without questioning</li> <li>Attitudes towards justice</li> <li>Racial, gender and equality issues</li> <li>Political correctness</li> <li>Meritocracy versus class-based society</li> <li>Attitude towards the ruling class</li> </ul> <p>This can be a fun way to explore some very serious topics, though the main benefit of this exercise is to practice listening skills. The exercise is designed to make people focus on what the other person is saying. It is also great for roleplaying, acting, storytelling and learning history.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 02 Jul 2019 10:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1191 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1192/Team-Building-Exercise-Leaky-Pipes.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1192 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1192&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Team Building Exercise: Leaky Pipes http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1192/Team-Building-Exercise-Leaky-Pipes.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This is a classic exercise on team building. It is fun to participate in this exercise and yet it is quite powerful in bringing a team together while teaching communication, leadership and problem solving.</p> <p>Delegates are asked to pour water into a pipe to raise a ping pong ball inside and therefore to get it out. The pipe is leaky though and there is a challenge on how fast they can get the water into the pipe without losing it through the holes. This requires cooperation, planning, delegation and resource management.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for team building and can be used for any age. Several variations are provided at the end to increase the difficulty of the task as you see fit.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 25 Jun 2019 10:11:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1192 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1196/Board-Games-for-Team-Building-and-Icebreakers.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1196 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1196&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Board Games for Team Building and Icebreakers http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1196/Board-Games-for-Team-Building-and-Icebreakers.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>The purpose of icebreakers is to bring people together, familiarise them with each other, put them into the zone and basically break the ice as the name suggests. The purpose of team building activities is to bring the teams together, get them to go through a shared experience, solve problems, make decisions, manage limited resources and usually work against time. To address both, you can take advantage of great educational and entertaining tools in the form of board games<i>.</i></p> <p>You can use board games for many training purposes. Some games last long which help to bring a team together and some can be quite short which could be ideal to break the ice. There are cooperative games, competitive games, or even games that don&rsquo;t have a winner, but just one big loser! Some games abstract down the real world in such imaginative ways that become incredibly rewarding to experience. As such board games are great if you want to create a memorable event which is also educational as this is what many traditional team building games aim to achieve.</p> <p>In this comprehensive article, you will be introduced to several hand-picked board games that you can use in a training environment to address a variety of topics.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 18 Jun 2019 10:07:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1196 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1190/Learn-Scrum-with-an-Exercise-on-Agile-Project-Management.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1190 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1190&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Learn Scrum with an Exercise on Agile Project Management http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1190/Learn-Scrum-with-an-Exercise-on-Agile-Project-Management.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>Agile project management was popularised by the tech industry and has its roots in Japanese companies such as Toyota, Honda and Fuji. There are many who think agile development can lead to efficient project management and as a result it remains a hot topic. The Scrum framework was then developed based on that in the 90s and has since gained momentum in a variety of technology and engineering companies.</p> <p>The exercise shown here is a great tool to quickly and elegantly show what Scrum project management is about. Scrum has many amusing and somewhat unusual jargon, such as <i>sprint</i>, <i>backlog</i>, <i>daily scrum</i>, <i>scrum master</i> and so on. This engaging exercise can help you familiarise delegates with these jargons and make it easier to remember them.</p> <p>Before going through the details of the exercise, here is a quick intro to Scrum. It is highly recommended that you familiarise yourself with the methodology using numerous guides that are available online. The overall aim of scrum is to indicate clearly what needs to be done, by whom it should be done and how this information should be updated periodically to make sure the whole team stays up-to-date, or &lsquo;agile&rsquo; so to speak. These are the main components of scrum:</p> <ul> <li><b><i>Product Owner.</i></b> This is a person in charge who has the authority to say what goes into the final product. This is formulated based on the end user&rsquo;s interest.</li> <li><b><i>Backlog.</i></b> This is a prioritised list of tasks and requirements for the final product. The product owner oversees this list.</li> <li><b><i>Sprint.</i></b> A team must complete tasks from the backlog with a certain timeframe which is known as sprint. Typically, this is about two weeks, but it depends on the team&rsquo;s needs.</li> <li><b><i>Daily Scrum.</i></b> This is a daily meeting of teams to give progress updates. It is typically held in the same location, at the same time, time-boxed to 15 minutes and carried out while standing (it is also called Daily Stand-Ups).</li> <li><b><i>Retrospective. </i></b>Each sprint is finalised with a review session to see what needs to be improved for the next sprint.</li> </ul> <p>In this exercise, teams compete to retrieve a highly dangerous nuclear waste. There are three distinct roles based on the scrum framework. Teams score points for their performance and the winning team is acknowledged.</p> </div> Skills Converged Wed, 12 Jun 2019 12:36:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1190 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1188/Contrasting-Ethical-Dilemmas-Exercise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1188 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1188&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Contrasting Ethical Dilemmas Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1188/Contrasting-Ethical-Dilemmas-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This exercise facilitates discussion of ethical dilemmas. In most job, some decisions are not straight forward to make because one clear choice comes with certain ethical issues. The question then becomes more of what is right or wrong to do, what is conscientious, and sometimes even what is legal.</p> <p>In today&rsquo;s fast changing world, there is a lot of pressure on being politically correct. The ease at which bad news can be magnified through social media and interpreted the wrong way also exasperates the problem. It pays to study and practice the art of ethical decision making.</p> <p>This exercise presents a series of ethical dilemmas through which you can address a variety of subjects. The discussions are key in this exercise which should be controlled based on what you want to teach. For example, if you are using this exercise in a course on management skills, you should relate this to the kind of decisions a manager needs to make and the resources available to him or her.</p> <p>Review the scenarios provided and consider adding your own scenarios based on your training requirements to tailor the exercise to your training needs.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 04 Jun 2019 12:02:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1188 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1187/Team-Self-Reflection-Exercise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1187 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1187&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Team Self-Reflection Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1187/Team-Self-Reflection-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>Certain behaviours in a team can affect the trust between the team members and if not addressed properly will have dire consequences. It is essential for a team to self-reflect and to evaluate its own performance systematically and without friction. Examples of trust reducing behaviours are:</p> <ul> <li>Withholding or hiding information for competitive advantage</li> <li>Rushing ahead and jumping to conclusions without listening to others</li> <li>Not taking responsibility for actions</li> <li>Finger pointing and blaming</li> <li>Being more self-centred than team-centred</li> <li>Bringing down an idea proposed by another team member just because it&rsquo;s not yours</li> <li>Stealing a clever idea presented by a team member and pretending that you came up with it on your own, sometimes even in front of the other team member</li> <li>Not accepting that you didn&rsquo;t know something and pretending that you know it all</li> <li>Sabotaging somebody else&rsquo;s performance so that they don&rsquo;t look good, by not being present, withholding support and by being negative</li> <li>Constantly moaning about things not being good or right, but not doing anything about it</li> </ul> <p>The following exercise helps the team to see what it thinks of itself in a safe environment. The beauty of this exercise is that team members can voice their concerns anonymously.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for a group of people who know and have worked with each other.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 28 May 2019 12:13:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1187 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1186/Icebreaker-Unusual-Experiences.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1186 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1186&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Icebreaker: Unusual Experiences http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1186/Icebreaker-Unusual-Experiences.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>This light-hearted exercise is guaranteed to break the ice quickly and bring people together. In this exercise you set people a mission to find out about other delegates and to share what they have found with the group. It is designed to be entertaining and educational. As such it is ideal for a new team or at the beginning of a new course, workshop or seminar when you want to get people to become familiar with each other quickly.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 21 May 2019 12:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1186 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1185/Convergent-vs-Divergent-Thinking-Exercise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1185 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1185&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Convergent vs Divergent Thinking Exercise http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1185/Convergent-vs-Divergent-Thinking-Exercise.aspx <div align="justify" class="Normal"> <p>A useful distinction in thinking process was suggested by Joy Paul Guilford in 1967. Guilford coined <i>convergent</i> thinking in contrast with <i>divergent </i>thinking. With convergent thinking, you are trying to find a single best solution to a given problem. Examples are multiple choice tests, math quizzes, spelling tests and many other standardised tests in education systems. Convergent thinking is systematic and logical (Williams 2003).</p> <p>In contrast, you can use divergent thinking to create several unique solutions for a given problem. Divergent thinking is creative, spontaneous, non-linear and free-flowing. Several solutions are generated over a short period of time and they can lead to unexpected connections, encouraging discovery of yet more unusual solutions.</p> <p>After carrying out divergent thinking, you end up with a bunch of solutions. You can then use convergent thinking to organise these solutions, analyse pros and cons of each and find the most optimal answer.</p> <p>The point of the distinction is that you need both processes for good thinking. Being good at convergent, analytical and logical thinking is not enough as you could miss on some creative solutions. In contrast, just coming up with spontaneous creative ideas is not good enough; you need to examine solutions systematically before embarking on an implementation.</p> <p>Researchers such as Guilford have found that personality traits tend to promote divergent or convergent thinking. As such, in a given team you will have people who are natural at either divergent or convergent thinking and therefore resistant to the other style of thinking</p> <p>The following exercise helps to bring this distinction to focus and help delegates see the power of thinking differently to what comes naturally to them.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for team building or training delegates on management and creativity.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 14 May 2019 12:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1185 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1182/Eliminate-Wrong-Beliefs-Turn-Should-to-Could.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1182 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1182&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Eliminate Wrong Beliefs: Turn Should to Could http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1182/Eliminate-Wrong-Beliefs-Turn-Should-to-Could.aspx <div align="justfy" class="Normal"> <p>This exercise is designed to make the coachee think about potential liming views and beliefs. Through a systematic step by step process, you first help the coachee see what these beliefs are and then gradually lead them to see how they can be limiting. Often, such limiting beliefs are the root cause of many unwanted behaviours. They manifest themselves in thoughts and in actions. This exercise helps to go back to the root cause of issues and aim to address them.</p> <p>It is best to run this exercise on an individual basis such as in a coaching or mentoring session. Before embarking on this exercise, create a safe and trusting environment where the coachee feels comfortable sharing their weaknesses with you.</p> </div> Skills Converged Tue, 07 May 2019 08:11:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1182 http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1184/Team-Building-Exercise-Clock-Types.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=258&ModuleID=1221&ArticleID=1184 http://www.skillsconverged.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=1184&PortalID=5&TabID=258 Team Building Exercise: Clock Types http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/tabid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1184/Team-Building-Exercise-Clock-Types.aspx <p><class align="Justify"> </class></p> <p>The purpose of this exercise is to show that each person in a team has certain characteristics that can contribute to the team. It is not necessarily about casting each person into an ideal team member role; instead, it is about taking advantage of each person&rsquo;s unique strengths.</p> <p>The exercise uses a visual technique&mdash;a clock that represents four types of personalities; hence, Clock Types exercise.</p> <p>This exercise is ideal for team building, management, enhancing communication skills and coaching.</p> Skills Converged Tue, 30 Apr 2019 12:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:1184