Reading the Room
During this week’s workshop, I pulled out of the case, my bag of marshmallows.
There’s always a bag packed, together with large toothpicks and a roll of tape.
It’s one of my many tools to change the ‘temperature’ and mood in the room.
Not just for fun.
For purposeful fun.
This two day workshop was for a group of leaders and it became evident, after a heavy lunch on the second day that the energy had deteriorated, and a circuit breaker was required.
Purposeful fun can be created by using:
- Planned games and team challenges that involve movement
- Activities that involve unusual materials e.g. Lego, Marshmallows
- Storytelling in smaller groups
- Tools e.g. Emotional Culture Deck, CCS (links)
Whilst the intent is to have fun, the desired impact is for ‘aha’ moments and lessons through self-reflection.
For this activity, I asked the group to identify with their emotions they experienced during an imposed time bound creation challenge. We had been discussing emotional literacy and the impact leaders have with every behaviour.
There was no PowerPoint required.
There was no right or wrong.
There was no preparation.
As a facilitator, it’s about reading the energy in the room and finding new paths to achieve the lessons you’ve been asked to achieve with the group.
It’s about creating the space to stop and be self-aware of how your role is having an impact on the emotions and behaviours of those in the room.
And you know you’ve made a good decision when your crew are commenting on how they want their team to experience the same fun.
And yes, I’ve managed to do this online with people working remotely!