Tennis Balls: Divide the participants up into small groups
of about eight to ten people and have them
arrange themselves in a circle. Give a tennis
ball to one person and explain the rules
of the game:
- Each group is in competition with the other
groups in the room. The group who can complete
the most "circuits" in a given
time will be the winner.
- A completed circuit occurs when every person
in the group has touched the tennis ball.
- Only one person in the group can touch the
tennis ball at one time (therefore
the ball
must be tossed rather than
passed.)
- If the ball ever touches the floor, then
production must stop for one-minute.
Have the teams complete a few circuits to
get comfortable and begin creating patterns
that make them more efficient. The facilitator
may want to stop the groups and get feedback
as to how they are becoming more efficient
and help them understand that this is a natural
progression in business as well. Have the
groups continue to complete circuits, but
as time progresses, the facilitator will
add additional rules to make the process
more difficult.
- A Co-Worker calls in Sick--Remove one of the group participants and
tell the group that the participant called
in sick. After they complete a few circuits,
remind them that just because someone calls
in sick, doesn't mean that that person's
work doesn't need to be completed. (They
will probably have just continued to complete
the circuit just as they had before the person
left.) Remind them that each of their last
few circuits have had one fewer touches than
before, so they do not count. Someone will
have to pick up the slack for the absent
person. After a new pattern is established,
have the person come back.
- Double Production--Throw a second ball into the mix and tell
the group that our client wants
us to double
production. Only one ball can
be held by
any one person at a time. You
can add a third
or even fourth ball later.
- Diversity--New federal legislation states that we
need to include more minorities
and women
in our production line, so
every other person
who touches the ball must be
either a woman
or a minority.
Use your imagination to come
up with other
rules and be sure to have a prize
for the
winning team. At the end of the
game, ask
the group how did the game relate
to things
they face in the business world.
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