Having a Bad Hair Day
Here are sample events you can reference or use to give your players a jumping off point:
• Getting Cut Off in Traffic
• Gridlock
• Out of Coffee
• Someone Parking in Your Parking Space
• Locking Keys in Your Car
• Wrong Telephone Number at Midnight
• SPAM
• Bad Email Protocol
• Inconsiderate Neighbors (Noisy)
• Litterbugs
• Unruly Children in Public Places
• Dogs Off the Leash
• Facial Jewelry
• Tattoos
• Men in Baggy, Baggy Pants
• Slow Restaurant Service
• Cell Phones While Driving
• Cell Phones in Public Places
• Boom Boxes in Public
• Loud Car Stereos
• Unattended Barking Dogs
• Cursing in Public
• Spitting in Public
• People with Attitudes
• Whining Children
• Misbehaving Children in Public Places
• Cars with Muffler Problems
• Elvis-Itis
• People with No Life
Games That Boost Performance. Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
The Hello Effect
• PURPOSE
• To demonstrate that it’s not just what you say, but how you say it that counts.
• To promote dialog about the effect of managerial behavior on a workplace environment.
• GAME OBJECTIVE
To score the most team points.
• PLAYERS
Nine or more.
• TIME
Twenty to forty-five minutes.
• SUPPLIES
• One sheet of flip chart paper, masking tape, and felt-tipped markers.
• A newsprint flip chart and felt-tipped markers.
• One set of three Mood Cards for each team, prepared in advance by the facilitator.
• Six Response Sheets for each team (assuming three rounds and three teams;
if more of either, then more Response Sheets will be needed).
• An overhead projector (if using transparencies).
• One Score Sheet, shown on flipchart or overhead.
• GAME PLAY
1. Divide into three teams of three or more players each.
2. Distribute three Mood cards to the first team.
3. Distribute a Response Sheet to each of the other two teams.
4. Teams select one card and a presenter.
5. The presenting player must say:
“Hello, how are you doing today?” in the mood presented on the card.
Team One
1. The Team One representative player presents a greeting.
2. The other two (observing) teams have 1 minute to guess the mood. They may ask the presenter to repeat the greeting.
3. Both observing teams write down the mood and three characteristics portrayed during the greeting onto the Response Sheet.
4. Collect the Response Sheets.
Scoring
1. For each observing team that identifies the correct mood the . . . Observingteam receives 15 points.
Presentingteam receives 25 points.
2. For each characteristic matched by the two observing teams, both observing teams receive 5 points.
3. Facilitator records the scores on the flip chart.
4. This completes play for Round One.
Teams Two and Three
1. Play is the same for each presentation.
2. Play continues in this fashion until teams have presented all of their Mood Cards or facilitator calls time.
3. The team with the most points is declared the winner.
• POST-GAME DEBRIEFING
The Hello Effect is an excellent way to demonstrate that “It’s not WHAT you say but HOW you say it.” Some participants may not be aware of the effect normal day-to-day conversations have on recipients. As the game proceeds, players may discover a distinct disconnect between what was “meant” and what was “heard.”
This game offers players an interesting way to discover differing perspectives between what was said and what was meant. The following questions help spur the discussion:
• As you think back on how the presenter said, “Hello,” what did you weigh most heavily?
Inflection?
Expression?
Body posture?
• When there is a “disconnect” between what someone says and their tone, posture, or expression, which do you tend to believe?
• How do you determine the difference between someone who “wants to be your friend” and someone who “wants a favor from you”?
• Does your boss routinely say “Hello” first thing in the morning?
• How important is it to you that the boss greet you in the morning?
• What do you listen for if he or she does say “Hello”?
• What, if any, effect does how the boss says “Hello” have on the office?
• How do you judge the boss’s mood?
• GENERAL COMMENTS
• Whether we intend it or not, what we think about others invariably leaks out, not only by what we say, but by how we say it. The purpose of this exercise is to sensitize people to the impact they have and the environment they create, even through such innocuous interactions as saying hello.
• In trying to guess the mood of the person in each exchange, participants are simply doing what we all do every day—use all available clues to help us understand what is going on around us and what we need to do to get along.