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Monday, January 17, 2011

Many Cooks Need Not Spoil the Broth

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at:
http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)As a trainer, workshop coordinator or seminar leader, you can use this management exercise to emphasize several aspects like:

  • Many brains are better than one.
  • Provided appropriate system of mutual discussion is adopted by the people involved in a group, it is possible to carry out meaningful dialogues and arrive at useful conclusions (many cooks need not spoil the broth).
  • Without getting adversarial or personal or emotional, it is possible for various people with different viewpoints to pool in their creative ideas together.
  • Thus, synergy works.
The exercise brings in excitement and enthusiasm and thus is an energizer too.
Think of any topic where the participants in your seminar may have different points of views and opinions.

Give them that topic. For example that topic may be related to addressing the environmental hazards affecting the individuals and how to safeguard oneself from them. Or you can choose any other topic.
Now request the participants of your program to discuss on the topic given to them by you on the following points progressively step by step and come to an agreement on each point (you should moderate their discussions making sure that despite having conflicting views points among them, the participants do not become adversarial with each other. You may use techniques like “six thinking hats” http://six-thinking-hats.blogspot.com/ or “brainstorming” http://brainstorming-technique.blogspot.com/ or “problem solving” http://problem-solving-skill.blogspot.com/ or “seven problem solving tools of quality circles” http://quality-circles.blogspot.com/ etc):
  • What is the real problem? Steer the discussions towards arriving at the problem definition (problem well defined is half solved).
  • What are various important issues involved?
  • What are the possible solutions?
  • What is/are the best solution(s) as agreed by the participants of the group with consensus?
At the end of this exercise the participants will themselves experience the power of appropriate group process, teamwork and synergy. You may initiate some discussions around these themes among the participants based on this exercise undertaken by them.

Fill them in with any additional inputs you wish to give and wrap up the session.

Get Hold of the Related Books
You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:
  1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
  3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
  4. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com

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