“Playing Games in Meetings? Bah, Humbug!!”

Edward E. Scannell, CMP, CSP
 
Anyone who has been around the SMERF market for any time at all, would clearly agree that ours is a serious business indeed. With still-decreasing budgets, downsizing and other cutbacks all around us, how could one possibly even suggest such playfulness in our own meetings?
Well, we’re going to try! The purpose of this article is to illustrate that purposeful games, activities and exercises could play an important role in accomplishing the objectives of our respective meetings. Even the respected Wall Street Journal carried an article in its April 25, 2005 edition noting that games are increasingly finding a viable role in all kinds of meetings.
 

Why Attend Meetings? 
 
Did you ever ask your attendees why they came to your recent Conference? Given that time is such a precious commodity threes days, why do our participants still find—or make—time to attend your meetings?

Alvin Toffler, a noted futurist, suggests that people attend meetings for one of three reasons:

   Information

   Networking

   Recreation

There is no question that with the ever- increasing tons of information thrown at us every day, it is nigh impossible to keep abreast of all the new nuances and changes in our respective fields. Oft-times, we find ourselves literally bombarded with information---yet starved for knowledge!  Meetings clearly can bridge that gap and bring to our attendees all the newest in content, technology or whatever else is in our areas of interest.

Regarding networking, it’s a well-accepted fact that many of us attend meetings to see old friends and make new ones.  The camaraderie, the collegiality and just plain networking we all do is an integral benefit of our attendance. And I’d bet there is not a single reader right now who would not agree that we often pick up as much information and new ideas in those conversations over lunch or during the breaks as we do from listening to speakers!

Thirdly, while many of our colleagues may not acknowledge or admit this, we simply want to have some fun in the process! And even the most stodgy of the academic type cannot dispute the fact that learning-both long and short term-is clearly enhanced when done in an climate of a pleasant environment. To further give credence to that statement, consider one of the basic laws of Adult Learning Theory, i.e., “people learn best in pleas- ant surroundings.” (We could also paraphrase that to read “people also work best in a pleasant atmosphere”, but that can be covered in a future article.)

 
 So What?
 
Well, with this brief background trying to prove our premise, what are some activities we could use in our own upcoming meetings?
For those of you who are conducting small group meetings, i.e., training seminars, workshops, etc., you already know the importance of climate-setting and get-acquainted activities. But all too often, we rely on those old standbys, i.e, “OK, folks, let’s have everyone stand and introduce themselves to the rest of us.”

Forgetaboutit!!

Think back for just a moment. Can you recall a meeting you attended and the facilitator used that activity? Well, if you’re like many of us, the mere fact of standing up in front of peers can be a “life-threatening” experience. Well, OK, maybe not life-threatening, but still an ominous threat.  (Remember the “Book of Lists” which identifies the top ten fears of people? If so, you’ll recall the number one fear is standing up to give a talk.)

There are a number of other get-acquainted activities which can accomplish the same objective, but done so in a far less threatening manner.

 
Climate Setting Activities
 

Try one of these at your next workshop or training meeting:

  1.  Mutual Introductions: Rather than have each person stand and introduce him/herself, simply let them introduce one another. For example, if you have 24 people in your meeting, have them count off one to twelve (or whatever the number, divide by half, i.e, 30 people would number one to fifteen.)
  Have each person then move around and find their counterpart, and then interview their new friend for two or three minutes. When they reassemble as a group, each person introduces the other to the rest of the participants.
  2.  One-Word Introductions:  Here’s a quick and fun way to get to know more about people in a very short time. Ask the people to think about themselves, and try to come up with a single word that would tend to characterize them to the others. Give them a few minutes to think about this and then start with yourself. For example, if you were conducting the meeting, you might start by saying your first name, and your word might be “sponge.”  
  In other words you want to learn and “soak up” as much from them as they might get from you.  You’ll be amazed at how creative people will be

and still reveal something about themselves in a casual, informal way.
  3. “Three Things in Common”: Have group form triads with people they don’t really know all that well. After the three of them introduce themselves to each other, they are asked to identify three things they all have in common—(that are not job related!!). It’s amazing what people discover

about themselves. After a few minutes, have a spokesperson for each group tell the rest of the attendees what they discovered. This, too, is a fun way of learning more about each other.
   
 

Summary 
 
Have we made our point? Can you see where you might be able to use one of these games in your next program? Remember that while we are indeed in a serious business, we can still have fun in our meetings—and people love them!