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Staff Training Games

Training staff can be more effective by engaging them in activities and games. This is because when employees approach a training schedule as they would a game it can make them more relaxed and open to participate in the program, and indulge in experimentation. Games can also help new employees break the ice and find it easier to interact with each other, establishing a rapport with their new colleagues. Training games can vary from the very simple ice breakers to more complicated team-building activities.

Marooned on an Island
- As the name suggests, participants are given a hypothetical situation: They are marooned on an island and are allowed to take only five items with them. Each participant has to make a list of the five items that he would like to have. Once everyone is done, each person reads out his list and explains why he chose the items on the list. The other participants are encouraged to ask questions that would prompt the person to justify and defend their choices. This game helps people learn more about their colleagues, and their approach to problem solving.
Interview Your Partner
- The whole group of employees is broken down into teams of two. Each person has to interview the person she is paired with, and find out more about her. All participants are encouraged to ask personal, as well as professional questions, that would help them to understand their partner, as well as their working styles, motivation and participation in team activities.
Puzzles and Games
- The employees are divided into small groups -- of between five and seven people -- and given a riddle, jigsaw puzzle or some other activity to finish. The aim of the task -- apart from meeting the goal of the game, of course -- is for the members of the group to interact, come up with a strategy to finish the activity, and understand each others' style of working and problem solving. Participating in a time-bound activity will also help each member of the group understand how the others respond to the pressure of meeting deadlines and achieving goals.
The Trust Walk
- Pair off all the members of the group and blindfold one of them. The person who is not blindfolded has to lead the blind-folded person through an obstacle course that has been set up in a room, with chairs, tables and other items placed, as if in a hurdles run. The blind-folded person has to rely completely on the instructions provided by the other person, and follow only those instructions. This exercise helps participants bond with each other, develop a rapport and learn to trust each other -- qualities that are required if they are to work together in harmony.

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