THE ACTIVITIES
The dffierences t,etween
them all
Very few trainers agree on deiinitions for games,
simulations and role-plays, case studies, and so on.
The following definitions are very broad and are
definitions thar I have included ior a new trainer to
use. The more experience a trainer gains, the more
they can apply their own definitiorrs.
Even by looking at some of rhe examples given
here, you will be able to see that it is difficult to even
categorise some exercises into one grouping. Chess,
for example, isn't strictly a game or a simulation, it's a
combination of both. For those who are interested
chess was developed in sixh-ceritury India and was
designed to simulate a contemporary battle.
Games
A game is an exercise where parricipants are involved
in a contest with someone else (<-.ra group of people)
with a set of rulis imposed. Games normally lnclude
some type of pay-off. Most traiuing games are now
aimed at having the individual tr;rinees compete with
themselves, rather than another rainee. This avoids
the situation of having winners and losers.
T he t e rm ' g a m e s ' i n c l u d e s g :s ychomotor ski l l s
games, intellectual skills games and most games of
chance. Some common types of gaines include darts,
snakes a.nd ladders, football, scrrrbble, charades and
most card games. Games for iadividuals to play,
c om pet i n g w i th th e m s e l v e s , i n c l ude sol i tai re,
pat ienc e , c ro s s w o rd p u z z l e s a n d even poker
machines.
Simulations
A simulation is a mock-up of an bcnral or imaginary
situation. Simulations are genr:rally used to train
f ut ur e o p e ra to rs w h e re i i i s i m p i acti cal or too
dangerous for trainees to use rr:al-life equipment or
locations. Simulations are normaliy designed to be as
realistic as possible so that trairrees can learn from
their actions without the financial worries of repairing
or replacing damaged equipment.
Examples of simulations include flight simulators,
driving simulators, and war games.
Brain teasers
Brain teasersare in a class of their own. They aren',
pure games or si mul ati ons but pu zzles t hat eit he.
keep participants' mincls busy or highlight key points
Brain teasers generally don't have any rules, but they
do allow the trainer to design their own rules to sui
the individual training session.
Typi cal brai n teasers i ncl ude e xer cises such ar
ioining the dots and most perception exercises.
Role-plays
Role-playsare used in training to see how panicipant
react in certain situations before and after traininl
sessi ons. R ol e-pl ays are very usef ul f or givinl
participants practice in dealing with other people ir
any given scenario.Even when the panicipanr does i
wrong, they still learn.
Case studies
Case studies are exactly what the name implies. r'
case (normally from the participants' workplace) i:
srudied either by the group or by the individual. Ar
in-depth study of a real-life or simulated scenario i
undertaken to illustrate certain outcomes. When th,
group or the individual has the answer to the problen
or si tuati on i t can be compared t o what r eall.
happened and what the outcomes were.
'Wtren should they
be used?
Training exercises may be used at any time during th
training as long as they are relevant to the point c
have been designed with a specific purpose.
The 'specific purpose' can be to keep the groul
occupied while waiting for stragglers, and to wak,
participants up after a lunch break. These purpose
are okay as long as they are stated. It's not okay whe.
they are used simply to fill in time or to make rh
facilitator look like a magician,
You can also.use structured exercisesas a means c
channelling excess energy or to liven up rhe clas:
The activiry can be a means of improving the leamin
atmosphere.

So these types of structured exercises should be
selected and used on the basis of their usefulness,for
reinforcing the instruction, or improving the leaming
environment.
Facilitator's
fesponsibilities
Regardless of how good we are as presenters or
lecturers, we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking
that our whole presentation alone is going to keep
everyone's interest for the whole period. The use of
games, simulations, role-plays, brain teasers, case
studies and other related activities are all applications
of the principles of adult leaming. you, the facilitator.
must ensure that the participants do not become so
involved in the activity that they actually miss the
leaming point. Additionally you musr also realise that
if the panicipants have too high a livel of enthusiasm
for the exercisesthey may become bored with normal
training. This isn't to say that we don't want high
levels of enthusiasm, but we need to ensure we keip
the participanrs interested with other methods of
instruction as well.
The learning process can be sped up by the use of
g a me s , s im ulat ion s , ro l e -p l a y s , b ra i n te a s e rs , case
studies and orher related activiries. people leam better
when they are enjoying themselves. So therefore we
need to seriously think about creating or supplying
the appropriate learning atmosphere.
You should always select the training method after
you have set the learning objectives. The method
should respond to the participants' needs, not the
facilitator's.
Vhen you decide to use a structured exercise it is
important to practise the exercise at least once with a
group of people nor involved with the immediate
presentarion. This will help you see if the design is
going to work, and in rhe expected way with the
e xp ec t ed r es uhs . L i k e a l l ty p e s o f tra i n i n g , these
structured exercisesmust be evaluated for their wonh
a n d ef f ec t iv enes s . If th e y d o n ' t p ro d u c e w h a t i s
needed, scrap or modify them.
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Do you have a responsibiliry for entertaining the ;
group duri ng any presentati on? you have t he
responsibility for ensuring clarity and precision of
information. You are also responsible for aligning the
group and keepi ng them movi ng. A no t her
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responsibility is to keep yourself animated. (That
could be considered the main entertainment value.)
This is also what the participanrs may talk about later
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to their friends and colleagues. If the facilitator is in a
situation where rhis rype of feedback is required
(such as an externat trainer or consultant), then an
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assortmenr of training methods will be required.
Games, si mul ati ons, rol e-pl ays and structur ed
exerciseswill be of assistance.
It is your responsibiliry to pilot or resr all new
exercises or exercises that you haven't used in the
past. Facilitators musr realise that what works for
some people doesn't always work for others. All
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trai ni ng exerci ses w i l l probabl y have di ffer ent
outcomes every time you use them. So be prepared.
Trainers and facilitators must debrief all of the
exercises carried out during any type of training
sessi on. The purpose of debri efi ng i s quit e
complicated. Vithout going into too much detail
there are tw o mai n reasons for conducti ng t he
debriefing session.
Y ou have an obl i gati on ro put the pl ayer s or
participants back together when the exercise has
fi ni shed. Thi s means that i f parti ci pants have bad
feelings about the exercise they should be allowed to
get things off their chest while still in the training
room and also while things are still fresh in their
minds.
D ebri efi ng al so al l ow s rhe trai ner and t he
parti ci pants to tal k about rhe outcomes of t he
exercise. tVas it what everyone expected? rVould you
do that in the real situation? rWhat would you have
done if this had happened? It also allows the trainer a
time where mistakescan be corrected.
Probably the most important point is that trainers
must be compl etel y honest and open w i th t heir
participanrs.This includes not using hidden agendas,
not misleading participants, not setting anyone up,
not deceiving any of the participants and not using
the participants'efforts for your own gain.
Training exercisescan be lots of fun for both the
trainee and the facilitator. lfhile people are enjoying
t hem s elv e s i n th e c l a s s ro o m th e y a re general l y
leaming bener. So it's up to you to make a more enjoy-
able leaming atmosphere.
A full breakdown of the exerciseshas been included
on the next few pages of this handbook. Firstly, each
of the ni ne di fferent categori es has been given a
detailed overview. The second list is an index of the
hundred exercises included in this book, with ftrll
cross-referencing for each application for which they
can be used.

When can these exefcises

be used?
Rat her t ha n fu l l y c a ta l o g u e l h e s e exerci ses and
possibly limit their application, I have decided to use
a coding system. Beside the name of the exercises on
the following pages you will see one or some of the
following letters and symbols. These have been
placed there to give you suggestedapplicarions. Tbese
are only guides and can be modified to suit by tbe
indiuidual trainer.
Coding
I fcebreaker
Almost any exercise can be used as an icebreaker.
The tw o mai n purposes of usi ng i cebr eaker s ar e
fi rstl y, to al l ow the parti ci pants t o int r oduce
themselves to each other, and secondly, to lead into
the topic matter. Participants often find that the topic
matter i s made cl earer by the use of appr opr iat e
icebreakers.
The exercises in this grouping are non-threatening
introductory contacts. They are designed to allow
participants to get to know each other a little and to
l ow er any barri ers that may exi st. Exper ienced
facilitators have found that the successor failure of a

@ I Icebreaker program may hinge on these rwo points.

w
The more comfortable participants feel with each
other, the better the learning environment. If the
T Team-building
participants feel comfortable with each orher, they are
more likely to participate and to generate new ideas.

ffi C Communication i
Nflhile most facilitators won't see these exercises as
too threateni ng, some parti ci pants m ay. lf a
participant does see it as threatening, make sure they

@ F Facilitator/presentation skills have a way out of participating. It is a wise decision

to l et peopl e know at the very beginning of a
progEm that they can pass on any exercise or activity

@ M Mid-course energiser they feel uncomfortable with.

B L Leaming
T Team-building
Team-bui l di ng exerci ses are used to im pr ove t he
relationship of the individuals and subgroups within a

@
group. The term 'group' in team-building normally
P Perception
refers to an established work group or a group which
will be working together.

@ E Evaluation'
Vhen using team-building exercises you, as well as
the group, should be aware that the identification of a
confl i ct or probl em betw een di ffere nt par t ies or

@ S Self-management individuals may be the only ourcome of some team-

building exercises. However, a conflict or problem is

11

much easier to solve or deal with after it has been
identified. A team-building exercise should allow the
participants to let their hair down while they get to
know each other.
It is very important that you thoroughly'debrief
team-building exercises to ensure that there isn't any
built up hostility, anger or frustration. Don't let the
group break until this has been recrified.
C Comrnunication
Exercisesused for communicarion are designed to let
the participants find out where certain communication
skills may be improved. You, as facilitaror, have to be
ve ry awar e of th e e x a c t p u rp o s e o f some
co mm unic at ion e x e rc i s e s a s i t i s s o me ti m e s very
difficult to sit back and say nothing while things start
to go wrong for the participant.
You also need to be aware that you may be looked
a t b y s om e par t i c i p a n ts a s a ro l e -m o d e l . W hi l e
conducting a program on communication skills you
must ensure that what you give out is correct. As
feedback is a very important part of communication
skills it must be used in all communication exercises.
Feedback should be specific and aimed at observed
behaviours that the individual has some control over.
F Facilitatoilpresentation
skills
Facilitationskills are aimed at people who may need
to develop or improve their up-front, or presentation,
abiliry. The exercises in this category are designed to
get the participants thinking about particular aspecrs
of their own presentation and facilitation skills.
While using any exercises to improve presentation
ski l ls y ou s houl d ta k e fu l l a d v a n ta g e o f the
opportunity by using the individuals in the group
wherever possible. This may mean getting some of
them to run the exercises. It is important that the
facilitator ensures the individuals are observed and
debriefed by the rest of the group. By this simple
observation group members are able to see things that
may or may not work for them. The more styles of
presentationthey see, the better.
Som e o[ t hes e e x e rc i s e s c a n b e s e e n a s very
threateningto a few group members, so make sure
you are prepared to offer support and assisrance.
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M Mid-course energiser
Mid-course energisers can be used at any time you
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observe the group losing interest or falling asleep.
Ivlid-course energisers are very similar in design to
icebreakers,but they sometimes make the assumption
that the group knows each other already. For this
reason some of the exercises may appear a little
threatening to some members of a group. If someone
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does not want to participate, let them sit back or act
in an observer's role. You will normally find that they
will ioin in as soon as they see how much fun the
others are having.
These exercises are used to wake participants up,
to get the blood moving, to keep participants from
falling asleep after a lunch break, to simply get
peopl e back on l i ne or to thi nk about a new
approach to a problem.
E xperi enced faci l i tators can al so use t hese
l
energisers to reduce tensions that may have built up
with individuals or the group.
L karning
These exercises are designed to let the participants
see w here thei r l earni ng styl es or atti tudes need
improvement. They tend to be more experiential in
their application. That is, the participants are normally
required to do something and come up with some
kind of result or answer. Afrer rhat phase of the
exercise the facilitator can norrnally draw out from
the group better ways of doing the same thing with
better results.
You must ensure that the whole exercise is totally
debriefed and that every participant can see what the
final results or methods should be. You should be
aware that there are many different learning sryles.
Don't make the assumption that everyone in the
group will leam the same way. Make certain you get
pl enty of feedback to check parti cipant
understanding.
P Perception
The percepti on exerci ses are general l y fun f or
everyone to use. They are desi gned to see how
participants perceive different situations or objects.
The end result with most perception exercises is that
participants are made aware of their need to use
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lateral thinking, to look at things in different ways, constructive evaluation. Destructive evaluation does
and to try to break down any preconceived stereo- nothing but leave ill-feelings with some members.
; If any of these exercises are used for the purpose
rypes that they may be using.
As these exercise are fun to use' it is not un- of program evaluation, it is a good idea to make sure

ft common to see them being used as icebreakers or

mid-course energisers.
Some of the individuals in the group may have
the participants are told of the results, either verbally
or in writing.

I difficulry with perception exercises. If they do have

difficulties, try to get the rest of the group to explain
S Self-management
Exercises in the category of self-management allow

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the different perceptions to them. the panicipants to find where they can improve their
own self-management techniques. These techniques
E Evaluation are the same as time-management techniques, but
Most of the evaluation exercisesare for participants to with a different name. Here we look at improving the

I e v aluat e eit he r th e ms e l v e s o r th e p ro gram. A n participants' organisational skills.

important part of the evaluation process needs to be Participants get a lot of information and new ideas
pointed out to the participants at the beginning of the from other members within the group, so make sure
exercise. This point is that any evaluation must be that the whole group finds out what principles each

tl considered as constnrctive, not destructive.Things can

be improved or rectified much more easily by using
participant used in these exercises.

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