Motivators

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• POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT CARDS
• DESIRE
• SWAP SHOP
• IDEA EXCHANGE
• MOTIVATION EXERCISE
• POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FOR TRAINEES
• HONORING TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: A RETROSPECTIVE
• CELEBRATING: PAST AND PRESENT STORIES OF TEAM SUCCESS
• PAYOLA
• STRENGTH BOMBARDMENT
• WARM FUZZIES FEEL SOOOO GOOD!
• SUCCESS IS …
• MOST?  BEST?  GREATEST?

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT CARDS

Whenever a learner arrives to class on time from breaks, lunch, etc. give them one playing card.  You can also hand out cards to people who volunteer for activities, are helpful, answers a difficult question, etc.  At the end  of the day, play one hand of poker.  Give a small prize to the best hand (you can also pick the two top or three hands if you want to give away more prizes.  Note that the more cards a person has, the better the chance of winning.

SOURCE:
Big Dog’s Bowl of Biscuits.  Date created: January 27/00
Internet.  Last updated: March 12/00  Date viewed: August 5/00
Available URL: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/icebreak.html

DESIRE

In many success books the word “desire” is the key word for attainment of goals.  In fact, it has been said that a person can achieve what his or her mind can conceive.  Break participants into subgroups of three.  Instruct participants to list their desires:

• on a personal level;
• professional level; and/or
• as a group.

SOURCE:
Thirty Dynamic Warmups for Groups
Internet.  Accessed August 5/00
Available URL: http://www.smartbiz.com/sbs/arts/act7.htm

SWAP SHOP

Objective:

• To cultivate a number of ideas and to encourage group participation.

Everyone is told IN ADVANCE to bring at least one idea, exercise, activity, etc., to the next training session.  These should be focused around some central theme (e.g. how to handle “problem” trainees).

As each person describes his or her idea to the group, a panel of “experts” (three selected class members) instantly “rate” the idea on prepared flash cards (1 – 10, with 10 being high).  The facilitator tabulates each total and announces the winners at the end of the time period.

• How many people gained at least one useful new  idea today?
• Did this process spark any additional ideas in your mind?
• Can you think of some other areas in which this method can be applied?
• What are some other variations on this technique?

Three sets of flash cards (5 X 8 index cards), each set with a number from 1 to 10.

Approximate time required:

20 to 25 minutes

SOURCE:
Newstrom, John W. and Scannell, Edward E.  (1980)  Games Trainers Play
New York: McGraw Hill Book Company  pp.23

IDEA EXCHANGE

Objective:

• To encourage participation and sharing of ideas.

Each participant is given play money bills (or 3 X 5 cards) which are either mailed out in advance or distributed the day before the first session.  They are told to write a single idea on each bill, for a total of five of the best ideas (preferably organized around a single issue or problem, such as “How to handle a problem trainee”).  Names are signed, and they are  told that the ideas will be competitively judged  and  shared.

At the first session, the bills/cards are collected and shuffled in a box.  Each attendee draws five bills/cards (not their own) and selects the one believed to be the best, signs their name below that  of the idea’s originator, and forwards it to the trainer.  All of these double nominees are then read aloud and audience reaction may be assessed by a show of hands on a five-or-ten point scale (judged anonymously).  After all the ideas have been assessed, the top three (or five) qualify for prizes, which are awarded to both the originator and the nominator.  The rest of the group also wins by virtue of being exposed to a large number of successful ideas.

All items could be mailed out or passed in, and  tabulation (on flipchart or by handout) prepared and displayed (or distributed) for easier evaluation and better retention.

Discussion Questions:

• What useful CONTENT has been gained? (dependent on the problem/issue posed)
• What useful PROCESS transpired?  (widespread participation, a spirit of cooperation and cohesion, etc.)
• How would  the same technique be used on the job?  (ask employees for safety ideas, work simplification suggestions, job enrichment approaches, etc.)

Cards, tickets, or play money

Approximate Time Required:

Up to one hour, depending on group size and the elaborateness of discussion and evaluation procedures.

SOURCE:
Newstrom, John W. and Scannell, Edward E.  (1980)  Games Trainers Play
New York: McGraw Hill Book Company  pp.35

MOTIVATION EXERCISE

Objective:

• To illustrate that motivation is internal, but that external incentives can initiate action in humans.

Since motivation is an often maligned subject, stress that the dictionary definition of motivation is something “from within, NOT WITHOUT, that prompts or incites an action.”

To illustrate, ask the group to “please raise your right hands.”  Pause a moment, thank the group, and ask them, “Now why did you do that?”  The response will be, “Because you said please”, etc.

After 3 – 4 additional responses, say, “OK, now would you please all stand and pick up your chairs?”

In all likelihood, this  will get no action.  Continue, “If I told you there were some dollar bills (loonies in Canada) scattered around the room under the chairs, would that motivate you to stand and pick up your chairs.”  (Ordinarily, two or three participants will rise, and soon most everyone will follow suit.  As dollar bills are found, point out, “There’s one over here; here’s one in front,” etc.)

• Why did it take more effort to “motivate” you the second time?
• Did money motivate you?  (Stress that money often does not act as a motivator.)
• What’s the only real way to motivate?  (Acknowledge any relevant answer, but emphasize the ONLY way to get a person to do something is to make a person WANT to do it.  There is no other way!)

Several one dollar bills (or loonies in Canada) hidden (taped) under participant’s chairs.

Approximate  Time Required:

10 minutes

SOURCE:

Newstrom, John W. and Scannell, Edward E.  (1980)  Games Trainers Play
New York: McGraw Hill Book Company  pp.115

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FOR TRAINEES

Objective:

• To demonstrate that positive reinforcement increases the probability that a given behaviour will appear again.

Reinforcement theory predicts that if a given behaviour is followed by a positive consequence, that behaviour will increase in its subsequent frequency.  The person in control must make sure the consequences are contingent upon performance, and that the consequences are positive for the recipient.

Joel Weldon has perfected the process in his motivational presentations, and other trainers can borrow directly from his technique.  Joel has produced stick-on labels for small cans which say, “Success comes in cans, not in cannots.”  When hearing the catchy little phrase and viewing the take-home reward that can be theirs for displaying the appropriate behaviour, the participants enjoy the exercise and respond accordingly.  Whenever a person contributes an insightful comment or breaks up the room with a humourous remark, Joel reinforces that person with a “can”, and the remainder of the group tries that much harder to obtain their “cans”.

In general, the key is to:

Identify something that will be generally desired (e.g., free drink tickets for the cocktail party).

Let the group know that these rewards are available (either through prior announcement or after the first appropriate behaviour).

Give rewards out liberally, but conditionally.

• At the end of the session, a brief presentation can be made on positive reinforcement by focusing the discussion around the following questions:
• Why did people participate so actively?
• What would have happened if the trainer had withheld a reward one time?
• What if the trainer had choosen the wrong reinforcement for the group?
• What other applications of positive reinforcement can the group see?

Advance selection of reinforcers (e.g., cans, slogans printed on Frisbees, baseball caps, t-shirts, bumper stickers, drink tickets, dollar bills).

Approximate Time Required:

Less than five minutes to introduce; minimal time interspersed within the session.

SOURCE:
Newstrom, John W. and Scannell, Edward E.  (1980)  Games Trainers Play
New York: McGraw Hill Book Company  pp.117

HONORING TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: A RETROSPECTIVE

Learning Goals:

• To identify the major accomplishments of the team and to acknowledge individual members who contributed to the accomplishments.

1. Create a flip chart display with the heading, Team Accomplishments.

2. Provide a sheet of flip chart paper for each participant.

3. Provide a set of four colored magic markers for each participant.

Learning Activity:

1. Ask team members to identify the major accomplishments of the team since its inception, recording each accomplishment on a flip chart. Work with the team to identify as many accomplishments as there are members of the team; that is, if there are nine team members, have the team identify nine compelling accomplishments. Record the accomplishments on the flip chart display. Allow approximately 20 minutes for this discussion.

 2. Let each team member select one of the accomplishments from the list. Instruct them to visualize an image or impression that symbolizes that accomplishment. Have them draw those images or impressions on flip chart paper. Request that they only use images, avoiding words. Allow approximately 15 minutes for the drawing of images.

3. When everyone is finished ask team members to describe their images. Allow approximately 20 minutes for these presentations.

4. Ask team members to identify the most prized elements of teamwork that are exemplified in their images.  Ask the team to acknowledge current members of the team who contributed to the accomplishments.  Allow approximately 20 minutes for discussion and acknowledgments.

This activity is designed to celebrate the major accomplishments of the team through images, tapping into a deeper level of knowing. Expect some resistance from "non-artists." Keep the momentum up. The creation and presentation of images of accomplishments stimulates high levels of enthusiasm for the work of the team.

Approximate Time:

60-90 minutes.

SOURCE:
McGraw-Hill Trainer’s Toolchest.  Date online not available
Internet.  Accessed date: July 17, 2000
Available URL: http://www.pbg.mcgraw-hill.com/training/toolchest/games.html

CELEBRATING: PAST AND PRESENT STORIES OF TEAM SUCCESS

Learning Goals:

•  To tell stories of team effectiveness.

•  To design actions that translate the sense of possibility that these stories engender into the day-to-day routine of the team.

1. Provide notepaper for all participants.

2. Create two flip chart displays with the headings, Threads and Action Ideas.

Learning Activity:

1. Ask individual team members to describe, on the notepaper provided, a time in the life of the team when the team felt potent, alive, full of spirit, fresh, vital, and full of possibility. Request that they tell the story of this time, using the journalistic Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How framework. Allow 15 minutes for reflection and writing.

2. When all team members have finished, ask that they tell their stories. Take the time to hear from all team members. As the stories are told, listen for patterns. Work to achieve consensus about the underlying thread or threads that run through the stories. Record these threads or themes on the first flip chart display.

3. Ask the team to consider what in the life of the team right now could or does generate this quality of spirit. Facilitate an inquiry among team members. Ask what action steps the team could create to reinforce and extend this sense of spirit, possibility, and greatness. Record their action ideas on the second flip chart display.

4. Request that participants reflect on their experience of storytelling and their action ideas, identifying implications for their work together.

This activity generates considerable energy and a celebratory team mood. The key to successful facilitation of this activity is helping the team to move from the stories of spirited team performance in the past to discovering the source of that spirit in their current work together. The benefit of this experience is established through action steps to continue support for spirited team performance.

Approximate Time:

60-90 minutes.

SOURCE:
McGraw-Hill Trainer’s Toolchest.  Date online not available
Internet.  Accessed date: July 17, 2000
Available URL: http://www.pbg.mcgraw-hill.com/training/toolchest/games.html

PAYOLA

Purpose:

• Introducing a topic; Team building; Energizing a long, dry presentation

6-20

Level of Physical Activity:

Medium

Estimated Time:

1-5 minutes

Props:

Play money ($100,000 per participant in different denominations); prizes with sale prices that match earning power; two envelopes per participant

Participants enjoy recognizing one another’s contributions–without any cost to themselves. Use this activity to stimulate interest and keep the group energized.

Many parents wonder about the best way to get their kids to do work and to consider it a normal process (notice that I didn’t say enjoyable) to assume responsibility. What I’m talking about is payment for services. Some call it allowance; others call it  bribery. I, of course, preferred the inconsistent route–switching philosophies each time one appeared not to work. My parents were very consistent; work was not an option, but their paying me was. So I could do the work well and get my allowance, or   I could do it less than well and not get an allowance. The emphasis was on quality. Aha!

Instructions:

1. Before participants arrive, put $100,000 each in various denominations in half of the envelopes and write "To Give" on them; then write "Recognition" on the remaining empty envelopes.

2. As participants arrive, give each one a full "To Give" envelope and an empty "Recognition" envelope.

3. Instruct them to use all of the money to reward one another for contributing insights, perspectives, or ideas at any time. Explain that the different denominations are to help them place value on the contributions.

4. Tell them that at the end of the session, they will get to spend their recognition dollars.

5. At the end of the session, allow participants to buy prizes using the dollars they’ve accumulated.

1. Have a pile of money on the table and ask participants to take from the pile to reward others.

2. Use chips rather than dollars.

Tips:

1. You give out money, too, particularly in the beginning to get the ball rolling.

2. Don’t be surprised if participants pool money at the end to buy joint prizes.

3. Encourage participants to include everyone in recognition. The purpose is not to exclude anyone; the purpose of the activity is to include everyone.

SOURCE:
McGraw-Hill Trainer’s Toolchest.  Date online not available
Internet.  Accessed date: July 17, 2000
Available URL: http://www.pbg.mcgraw-hill.com/training/toolchest/games.html

STRENGTH BOMBARDMENT

Participants pick a partner, designating one person "A" and one person "B". Facilitator instructs person A to say as many positive or nice things about person B for the next 60 seconds. At the end, persons B respond in unison "Thank you. You know me very well." Then Bs bombard all the As with their strengths for 60 seconds. As respond in unison "Thank you. You got that right." Importance of positive feedback (meaningful and concrete) can easily be processed out of this exercise.

SOURCE:
Teachers.Net.  Date online: 1996
Updated on: August 8/00.  Internet.  Accessed on August 9/00
Available URL: http://teachers.net/mentors/higher_education/topic123/5.21.99.13.18.55.html

WARM FUZZIES FEEL SOOOO GOOD!

Objective:

• To stimulate individuals to recognize, and satisfy, others’ needs for positive feedback.

None

Procedure:

Indicate to the group the importance of providing positive strokes to ourselves and others in order to help people feel good and increase the probability of their repetition of an appropriate behaviour.  Support your contention with selected quotes from Dr. Kenneth Blanchard, who suggests that we “Catch people doing something right,” or Lord Chesterfield, who advised us to “Make a person like him/herself a little better and I promise s/he will like you very well indeed.”

Ask each person to pair up with another individual.

Direct them to think of something positive that they could say to and about the other person.  (i.e., a “one-minute praising”)

Then have them do it.

• How often do you deliver one-minute praisings (warm fuzzies) during the day?
• How often do you hear others doing it?
• How often do you receive one-minute praisings?
• What do you think employee expectations are for positive feedback?
• Why don’t many of us give as much positive feedback as we think we should?

You may wish to read one of the classically popular books dealing with the application of reinforcement principles, such as Blanchard and Johnson’s “The One-Minute Manager”, or Aubray Daniel’s “Bringing Out the Best in People”.  The former source highlights several principles you could share with the group:

• Immediacy
• Specificity
• Solicitation of repeat behaviours
• Physical support
• Reaffirmation of overall performance

If you have more time:

A few “props” can make this demonstration substantially more powerful in its impact.  Simply obtain a small supply of cotton balls and one-inch squares of sandpaper.  Give one of each to every member.  Begin the exercise by asking them to rub some part of the body (e.g., their nose, cheek, or a knuckle) with the sandpaper and then report how it felt.  Now direct them to rub a similar surface with the cotton ball and solicit their comments.  Essentially, the point you are tying to make is that, inevitably, the “warm fuzzy” of the cotton ball (or praise) feels much better.

SOURCE:
Newstrom, John and Scannell, Edward (1996)  The Big Book of Business Games.
New York: McGraw-Hill  pp.34

SUCCESS IS …

Objective:

• To demonstrate how values may change with the passage of time and acquisition of experience.

None

Procedure:

When discussing leadership, excellence, or success in any organizational setting, suggest that “success” in any venture is a highly individualistic commodity.  Ask participants to think about the word “success” for a moment or two.  Then follow with these questions:

Think back to when you were in grade school.  How did you think of success?  How did you identify people you felt were successful?

When you got out of school (high school or college), did these perceptions change?  How?

Today – right now, as we sit here – how would you identify or define success?

• How many of us as kids saw “success” primarily in the form of TV or film celebrities, or in terms of “lots of money”?
• Did these images change much as  you prepared to enter the world of work?  How?  Why?
• As we finished high school or college, how many – honestly – saw success strictly as making tons of money?
• What about now?  Why do most of us perceive success in such different ways?

For the second question, expect answers  in terms  of monetary or material thing, such as “making $___.000,”  “owning a BMW” and so on.

For the last question, the answers will likely be more in terms of personal or professional items rather than monetary rewards.

SOURCE:
Newstrom, John and Scannell, Edward (1996)  The Big Book of Business Games.
New York: McGraw-Hill  pp.47

MOST?  BEST?  GREATEST?

Objectives:

• To encourage disclosure of personal information among group members.
• To develop a norm of sharing.
• To break down facades.
• To increase awareness of each other’s experiences.

None

Procedure:

Select one provocative question for each meeting.  You may choose either to announce it in advance (to give members time to think), or to introduce it on a spontaneous basis.  To save time, ask each person to respond in 25 words or less.

Then call on each person to give his or her self-report.  Examples of good questions include:

• What is your greatest achievement?
• What was the happiest day of your life?
• What is your most prized possession?
• What is the most fun you have ever had?
• What is your dream vacation like?
• What is the best book you have ever read?
• Who is your most admired person?
• If you could have a T-shirt printed with a message, what would it say?

The whole purpose is to encourage light-hearted self-disclosure (on a superficial level) that lends itself to future follow-up and probing casual conversation.

• Is it acceptable to disclose personal thoughts, dreams, values, or achievements during work?
• What are the positive consequences of doing so?
• What possible concerns do you have about doing so as a result of this exercise?
• What “norms” are we creating by this exercise?  Why didn’t they exist before?

Keep it moving quickly.

You may wish to volunteer to be the first person to respond, to set the tone for the exercise.

To protect individuals from any embarrassment, you may wish to create a “rule” that they can “pass” on a question once a month if they don’t wish to answer.

If you have more time:

Make the group responsible for generating future questions by passing the assignment for picking the next question around within the group.  You might even wish to record a “living history” of member responses by saving a key word or two from each person, and distributing a follow-up handout listing member names and themes.
 

SOURCE:
Newstrom, John and Scannell, Edward (1996)  The Big Book of Business Games.
New York: McGraw-Hill  pp.128