Meeting performance can be enhanced by intelligent use of the many new electronic devices available to promote human interaction. In fact, the "children of the television" age expect innovation when they attend meetings, conferences, and conventions. They not only have high expectations on the use of various media for presenting knowledge and information, but they want it done professionally in terms of content, format, and technical expertise. Thus, sound tracks have to be clear and understandable; live commentary has to be dynamic, appropriate and stimulating; the visuals have to be crisp and the pace fast. Whether attending a seminar or listening to a sales pitch, today's audience, products of mass media, demand that both medium and message be informative, sophisticated, and entertaining. This applies equally to live meetings, teleconferencing, or combinations of both.
Such expectations place an added burden on meeting planners, to see that films, video, slides, audio, computers, synthesizers, and other such technology is carefully chosen and combined for maximum impact. Therefore, planners must ensure that
Educational media publishers now offer a variety of instructional kits, learning packages, and other seminar aids to assist the manager or t~~r conducting the meeting. For example, some distributors use a trammg systems approach, supporting management development films with instructor's guides and supplementary materials from videocassettes to computer discs to case studies to diagnostic instruments. Longman Crown of Reston, Virginia, offers computer-based training. These user-friendly, interactive systems can be used on personal comp.uters and include learning strategies for drill and practice, tutorials and inquiries, simulations and computer-managed instructional methods. The subjects range from time and project management to ~ecision-making and management performance. When these capabilines are combined with television receivers and videocassettes, a learning system is created for individual or group training. Interactive video is the marriage of computer to videotape or videodisc, and represents a powerful new meeting and training tool. In the resource section at the end of this book, we have provided indications as to where some of this information is available.
DEMONSTRATED ELECTRONIC POSSIBILITIES
The prospects for improving meetings through technology are staggenng. These technologies include satellite communications, word processing systems, fiber optics, paging devices, and new uses of long lines. High technology offers exciting opportunities at meetings or conferences to present graphics and simulations, to survey an audience for rapid response or texting purposes, to promote interactive, individual, or group learning, and to encourage networking. The following successful examples of meeting technology use may inspire further management leadership:
For further information, managers and trainers may utilize:
In this postindustrial age, information and learning are the means to establishing the authority of competence and furthering career development, as well as the solution to problems and challenges. Leaders who are sensitive to their human resource development responsibilities realize this, and make effective use of meetings to accomplish such purposes. Whether the situation requires a live or electronic meeting, innovators either master the professional methods or know where to obtain support services for achieving high performance through meetings.
INTERACTION
Frequently at meetings, a manager or trainer is asked to lead a discussion group. Exhibit 8.1 provides 15 guidelines.
Exhibit 8.1 Discussion Group Guidelines. (From Robert Letwin, Successful Meetings, July 1983, pp. 8-9.)
11. Summarize with the help of the reporter. Point out problems raised during the discussion. List bright ideas. Point out areas of agreement and disagreement.
12. If some members of the group do not have the courage to speak up, draw them in with non-threatening questions. Ask them to share their experiences.
13. It is best to toss questions to the entire group. But, if you want to ask a quiet person to speak, call the person by name before you ask the question. Say, "John, what did you think when you first heard about ... ?" By starting with the person's name, you provide time for him or her to concentrate and think about an answer.
14. When someone tends to monopolize discussion, politely interrupt and ask someone else in the audience to comment on the monopolizer's statements. Allow the audience to straighten out its members instead of your doing it. Too tight a rein will cut off discussion.
15. Feel good about not covering all the points you had written in advance. This means you have led a wholesome discussion and were not prompted to inject your opinions in favor of those in the group.
MEETINGS CAN BE FUN AND PRODUCTIVE
The key to high performance is energized people who are interested and involved. One of the best ways to accomplish this at meetings is through play, games, and simulations (as discussed in the Interaction section on page 113). Further possibilities are now described. When people enjoy themselves at work, they tend to be more productive. The meeting, especially for training purposes, can be a useful mechanism for unleashing hidden creativity through play. It permits employees to reveal joyful, spontaneous, and even silly facets of themselves that is often restrained. Enlightened management takes advantage of this approach for creative problem solving and education, as well as for its mental health and recreational values.
Over many years in leadership development, I have personally found that management games are very worthwhile because they:
As in recreational games, a person acts out the situation according to established rules. A life experience that might require the passage of days or weeks can be telescoped into a short time-frame of several hours. Practice in planning, decision-making and communication can be obtained through a simulated experience. As people get more deeply involved in the game, behavior which is often common in their real life is also exhibited in the game.
Simulation uses trial-and-error experimentation with a model for research, problem-solving, or training purposes. A simulated group technique permits learning and problem-solving to take place through a group experience. It enables a trainer to demonstrate, by a simulated model within a short time period, a larger human relations truth that the participant may eventually experience in a different setting. Frequently, in business and industry, these techniques of group ~amics are employed for the purpose of management development in a short-term laboratory demonstration. Principles are taught and insights gained which have application to the job situations.
Behavioral games involve developing strategy, resolving conflict and setting objectives. The most vital part of this action-learning experience is when the game ends and the participants analyze what they learned.
Simulated exercises are used to teach a number of things not easily taught by any other method. These include: (1) the importance of planned, critically timed decisions; (2) the need for flexible, organized effort; (3) the need for decision-assisting tools, such as setting objectives and establishing criteria for measuring and evaluating performance; ( 4) the significance of reaching a dynamic balance between interacting managerial functions and (5) the power of the modeling concept for providing a scientific approach to problems.
An interesting use of the simulation is to train personnel through this "practice session" to prepare for the "real thing." War games have long been used for this purpose.
Increasingly, the computer is being used for simulation purposes. Mathematical models of potential situations are programmed, and the trainees act out "live" work situations through the computer.
As previously indicated, a manager or trainer may purchase, borrow, or create a simulation game to meet a specific need (Eitington, 1984). Two examples of helpful commercial games for management development are "Starpower" and "Relocation," both distributed by Simile II (P.O. Box 910, Del Mar, CA 92014.) "Starpower" teaches a group about the realities of power and its influence on behavior. "Relocation" examines the issues involved in moving a corporate headquarters, both from the viewpoints of the community and the employees.
On the other hand, innovative trainers may use cardboard, sticks, glue, tinker toys, or other household items to create a structured learning experience that teaches managers the importance of cooperation or of "win-win." There are noncompetitive games based on the approach that both teams either win together or lose. Two of my favorite "homemade" games of this type for managers are "Hollow Square" and "Blue Green."
At the beginning of the Hollow Square exercise (Exhibit 8.2), two teams are given various pieces of cardboard, which they are to assemble within a specific time frame. Each group is further divided into subgroups of planners and operators. The planners are to prepare a plan, like a plan for a jigsaw puzzle, for the operators to assemble the pieces into the correct pattern; in this competitive game, the first team to correctly assemble the pattern wins. There are also observers of the process going on among the four groups of planners and implementers. Exhibit 8.2B shows how the pattern of cardboard pieces is properly assembled with its hollow square in the center. Following the simulation, the trainers hear reports from these observers on their own behavior and strategies. Exhibit 8.3 summarizes the instructions given to the planners, operators, and observers as well as learnings. After the observers' reports, participants contribute their own insights from the learning experience. Exhibit 8.3,D provides a synthesis of the lessons real people have learned from this "game" -the principal one is that only when planners and operators collaborate, when planners involve those who must implement their plans in the planning process, does the team succeed.
Exhibit 8.2 Hollow Square Exercise: A, Overall Pattern, B, Detailed Assembled Pattern. (NOTE: A is the incomplete design given to planners/operators. When properly assembled, the pieces make up this following pattern. B is the completed design that the winning team must produce with the pieces.)
Exhibit 8.3 Hollow Square Exercise: Briefing Sheet, cont'd.
Part A: Briefing Sheet for Planning Team
Note to Facilitator: There are two groups, each with two teams. For learning purposes, it is possible to influence the outcome by instructing one group to consider electing a team leader, while suggesting to the other group that they try participative management and share the leadership.
Each participant will be given a packet containing four (4) or more cardboard pieces which, when properly assembled with pieces from other participants, will make a hollow square design.¬
Your Task During a period of 45 minutes you are to do the following:
You will be observing a situation in which a planning team decides how to solve a problem and gives instructions to an operating team for implementation. The problem consists of assembling pieces of cardboard into the form of a hollow square. The planning team is supplied with the general layout ofthe pieces (Exhibit 8.2A). This team is not to assemble the parts but is to instruct the operating team on how to assemble the parts in a minimum amount oftime. You will be silent observers throughout the process
Exhibit 8.3 Hollow Square Exercise: Briefing Sheet, cont'd.
Suggestions for Observation
2) Behavior that blocks or facilitates understanding.
3) How the planning team divides its time between planning and instructing (how early does it invite the operating team to come in?)
4) How well it plans its procedure for giving instructions to the operating team.
2) What evidence is there of anxiety, boredom, and feelings about planners?
3) What could the planners have done to alleviate the anxieties and / or negative behavior evidenced by the operating team?
Part 0: Learnings from Hollow Square Game
Problems which may occur when one group makes plans which the other group is to carry out:
The simpler "Blue-Green" game drives home the win-win p~.os?phy. Two groups are told they both are separate divisions or sUbsidiane~ of the same organization. They are instructed on procedures for ~assmg points, and told that within the specified time period, their grou~ scores will be totaled to determine the winner. Although there is nothing in the ground rules preventing their mutual cooperation, e~ch usually proceeds to gain points at the expense of th~ other ~oup in a mad competitive battle. Only in the post-game learnmg analysis do the participants realize that the whole organization stands to lose ~ecause of their failure to cooperate as parts within the same system. This game teaches a powerful lesson about how the competitive race for profits may have destructive effects on the common good. Management games are useful tools for communicating about the new work culture norm of collaboration or team effort.
There are many training resources available that provide details on how to formulate and facilitate such games for the development of personnel. For example, University Associates (8517 Produ~ti.on Ave., San Diego, CA 92121) issues an HRD Resource Guide describing publications available for this purpose (e.g., A Handbook of Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training and yearly workbooks of methodology listed in the Reference Guide to Handbooks and An~uals). Dr. Allen Zoll also produces Dynamic Management Education, which describes a variety of dynamic adult education techniques from cases and in-basket exercises to action maze and business games (Management Education Associates, 2003 33rd S., Seatt~e, WA.98144). ~ther major creators and distributors of management simulations are Didactic Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 457, Cranford, NJ 07016, and Education Research, P.O. Box 4205, Warren, NJ 07060.
Local computer software stores also can advise on what is availab~e on the market in terms of computer simulations. A useful newsletter is Simulation Today, published by the Society for Computer Simulations (P.O. Box 2228, La Jolla, CA 92038).
Such expectations place an added burden on meeting planners, to see that films, video, slides, audio, computers, synthesizers, and other such technology is carefully chosen and combined for maximum impact. Therefore, planners must ensure that
- The proper hardware and/or software has been identified and selected.
- The premeeting testing of this proves satisfactory, especially in terms of sequence and integration of equipment and presentations.
- The provision has been made for alternative programming in case of technical breakdowns, power failures, or other emergencies.
- The plan makes for optimum use of the senses of those in the audience - the more individual powers involved, the better the chance that the message will be retained.
Educational media publishers now offer a variety of instructional kits, learning packages, and other seminar aids to assist the manager or t~~r conducting the meeting. For example, some distributors use a trammg systems approach, supporting management development films with instructor's guides and supplementary materials from videocassettes to computer discs to case studies to diagnostic instruments. Longman Crown of Reston, Virginia, offers computer-based training. These user-friendly, interactive systems can be used on personal comp.uters and include learning strategies for drill and practice, tutorials and inquiries, simulations and computer-managed instructional methods. The subjects range from time and project management to ~ecision-making and management performance. When these capabilines are combined with television receivers and videocassettes, a learning system is created for individual or group training. Interactive video is the marriage of computer to videotape or videodisc, and represents a powerful new meeting and training tool. In the resource section at the end of this book, we have provided indications as to where some of this information is available.
DEMONSTRATED ELECTRONIC POSSIBILITIES
The prospects for improving meetings through technology are staggenng. These technologies include satellite communications, word processing systems, fiber optics, paging devices, and new uses of long lines. High technology offers exciting opportunities at meetings or conferences to present graphics and simulations, to survey an audience for rapid response or texting purposes, to promote interactive, individual, or group learning, and to encourage networking. The following successful examples of meeting technology use may inspire further management leadership:
- Instantaneous, multisite, two-way satellite meetings can be used for small groups or teleconferences of very large audiences; currently, there are three alternatives: (a) slow-scan video using standard video cameras and telephone lines for sound/video; (b) one-way full bandwidth video in which the audience may respond by two-way audio telephone link; (c) two-way full bandwidth for video and audio, so that participants both see and hear one another from remote locations and may exchange as if they were together at the same site. Major corporations, such as ARCO, TRW, and Ford, Westinghouse, Sperry, and Merrill Lynch, have their own telecommunication networks. Among the principal private enterprise communication network services are Satellite Business Systems of Mclean, Virginia, and VideoNet of Woodland Hills, California.
- International hotel chains offer a combined service of meeting rooms and private satellite communications for conferencing purposes. For example, Holiday Inns, Intercontinental, and Hilton Hotels not only have electronic networks for this purpose, but offer ancillary services, such as story board development or exchange of hard copy across continents.
- Telephone conference calls for either audio or video meetings by combining the use of various visuals, computer video display terminals, and electronic mail exchange. The range of network applications extends from telemarketing and teletraining to mass calling and electronic order exchange. Among the several telephone utilities offering such service, AT&T (1-800/257-4636) has the most comprehensive training and support system (Network Exchange, Communications Consultant Liaison Program, Rm. 5355A2, 295 Basking Ridge, NJ 07920).
- Computer response system for live meetings enables the presenter quickly to profile the audience, customize input, control audience attention, stimulate discussions, and create more intimate groups within large gatherings.¬¬
- Electronic matchmaking between employers and potential employees eliminates the need for some job interviews or at least reduces the number of expensive meetings between the parties. The Corporate Interviewing Network of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sends client companies videotaped interviews with candidates. Other firms now use satellite television to directly interview job applicants at remote sites, in preference to bringing them to corporate offices or sending out recruiters.
- Satellite seminars is a new teleconferencing service which teams up the resources of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Management Associations, and BNA Communications. Subscribers receive a variety of seminars from marketing to management (VideoStar Connections, 3390 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30326).
For further information, managers and trainers may utilize:
- Periodicals and annual directories of suppliers and sites, such as Successful Meetings (633 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017); Meeting News (1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036); Corporate Meetings and Incentives (P.O. Box 6238, Duluth, MN 55606)
- Books, manuals and computer software, such as The Successful Meeting Master Guide for Business and Professions by B. Palmer and K Palmer, 1983 (American Management Associations Book Club, 135 West 50th Street, New York, NY 10020); The Teleconferencing Handbook: A Guide to Cost-Effective Communication), annual, edited by E. Lazer (Knowledge Industry Publications, 701 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604); Conducting Successful Meetings, a computer software program by DSI Micro, Inc. (770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003); Louder and Funnier: A Practical Guide for Overcoming Stage fright in Speecbmahing by R B. Nelson, (Berkley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1985); We've Got to Start Meeting Like 1bis by R K Mosvick and R B. Nelson, 1987 (Scott, Foresman and Company, Glenview, IL); Managing a Difficult or Hostile Audience by G. F. Shea, 1984 (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ); and Robert's Rules of Order by H. M. Robert et al. (Scott, Foresman and Company, Glenview, 11).
In this postindustrial age, information and learning are the means to establishing the authority of competence and furthering career development, as well as the solution to problems and challenges. Leaders who are sensitive to their human resource development responsibilities realize this, and make effective use of meetings to accomplish such purposes. Whether the situation requires a live or electronic meeting, innovators either master the professional methods or know where to obtain support services for achieving high performance through meetings.
INTERACTION
Frequently at meetings, a manager or trainer is asked to lead a discussion group. Exhibit 8.1 provides 15 guidelines.
Exhibit 8.1 Discussion Group Guidelines. (From Robert Letwin, Successful Meetings, July 1983, pp. 8-9.)
- State the objective of the session to the group and the area of discussion.
- Explain that everyone participates, but there are to be no speeches.
- To get started, you put a sharply defined question to the group. If no one responds, have an alternate question that is easy for anyone to answer. Resist answering your own question and entering into a monologue.
- Test for the audience's objective. Is it the same as yours? If the audience would like to steer the discussion in another direction, make sure there is a consensus. If there is, discuss what the audience considers to be more important. Good discussion follows when everyone agrees on what to discuss.
- Keep in mind what you hope will be the outcome. Ask questions that will focus on the agreed upon objective.
- Have a member of the group serve as a reporter to keep a running record of problems, issues, facts and decisions discussed. From time to time, have the reporter summarize. This is useful when the group starts to stray from the main topic.
- Resort to easy-to-answer questions when discussion bogs down. For instance, ask a question about the time sequence, such as: "What comes first, and next?" You can also ask, "What is the biggest problem with ... ?" or, "What has been your experience with ... ?"¬
- Ask for votes Get a consensus on as many points as possible.
- Don't rephrase what is offered by a group member. Repeat the statement exactly as it is given. (Resist inserting your words or editing comments. This can be intimidating. No one wants his or her words corrected in public. This also tends to stifle discussion.)
11. Summarize with the help of the reporter. Point out problems raised during the discussion. List bright ideas. Point out areas of agreement and disagreement.
12. If some members of the group do not have the courage to speak up, draw them in with non-threatening questions. Ask them to share their experiences.
13. It is best to toss questions to the entire group. But, if you want to ask a quiet person to speak, call the person by name before you ask the question. Say, "John, what did you think when you first heard about ... ?" By starting with the person's name, you provide time for him or her to concentrate and think about an answer.
14. When someone tends to monopolize discussion, politely interrupt and ask someone else in the audience to comment on the monopolizer's statements. Allow the audience to straighten out its members instead of your doing it. Too tight a rein will cut off discussion.
15. Feel good about not covering all the points you had written in advance. This means you have led a wholesome discussion and were not prompted to inject your opinions in favor of those in the group.
MEETINGS CAN BE FUN AND PRODUCTIVE
The key to high performance is energized people who are interested and involved. One of the best ways to accomplish this at meetings is through play, games, and simulations (as discussed in the Interaction section on page 113). Further possibilities are now described. When people enjoy themselves at work, they tend to be more productive. The meeting, especially for training purposes, can be a useful mechanism for unleashing hidden creativity through play. It permits employees to reveal joyful, spontaneous, and even silly facets of themselves that is often restrained. Enlightened management takes advantage of this approach for creative problem solving and education, as well as for its mental health and recreational values.
Over many years in leadership development, I have personally found that management games are very worthwhile because they:
- Provide a change of pace in the training schedule or meeting schedule.
- Foster experiential or affective learning.
- Reveal behavior in a simulation that often occurs on the job.
- Entertain while teaching important lessons of teamwork.
- Build on the competitive spirit while demonstrating the disadvantages of unrestrained competition and the synergistic value of cooperation or collaboration.
- Offer opportunity for meaningful analysis and discussion after the playas to what happened and why.
- Give incentive to extra team effort which can thus be rewarded literally or figuratively.
As in recreational games, a person acts out the situation according to established rules. A life experience that might require the passage of days or weeks can be telescoped into a short time-frame of several hours. Practice in planning, decision-making and communication can be obtained through a simulated experience. As people get more deeply involved in the game, behavior which is often common in their real life is also exhibited in the game.
Simulation uses trial-and-error experimentation with a model for research, problem-solving, or training purposes. A simulated group technique permits learning and problem-solving to take place through a group experience. It enables a trainer to demonstrate, by a simulated model within a short time period, a larger human relations truth that the participant may eventually experience in a different setting. Frequently, in business and industry, these techniques of group ~amics are employed for the purpose of management development in a short-term laboratory demonstration. Principles are taught and insights gained which have application to the job situations.
Behavioral games involve developing strategy, resolving conflict and setting objectives. The most vital part of this action-learning experience is when the game ends and the participants analyze what they learned.
Simulated exercises are used to teach a number of things not easily taught by any other method. These include: (1) the importance of planned, critically timed decisions; (2) the need for flexible, organized effort; (3) the need for decision-assisting tools, such as setting objectives and establishing criteria for measuring and evaluating performance; ( 4) the significance of reaching a dynamic balance between interacting managerial functions and (5) the power of the modeling concept for providing a scientific approach to problems.
An interesting use of the simulation is to train personnel through this "practice session" to prepare for the "real thing." War games have long been used for this purpose.
Increasingly, the computer is being used for simulation purposes. Mathematical models of potential situations are programmed, and the trainees act out "live" work situations through the computer.
As previously indicated, a manager or trainer may purchase, borrow, or create a simulation game to meet a specific need (Eitington, 1984). Two examples of helpful commercial games for management development are "Starpower" and "Relocation," both distributed by Simile II (P.O. Box 910, Del Mar, CA 92014.) "Starpower" teaches a group about the realities of power and its influence on behavior. "Relocation" examines the issues involved in moving a corporate headquarters, both from the viewpoints of the community and the employees.
On the other hand, innovative trainers may use cardboard, sticks, glue, tinker toys, or other household items to create a structured learning experience that teaches managers the importance of cooperation or of "win-win." There are noncompetitive games based on the approach that both teams either win together or lose. Two of my favorite "homemade" games of this type for managers are "Hollow Square" and "Blue Green."
At the beginning of the Hollow Square exercise (Exhibit 8.2), two teams are given various pieces of cardboard, which they are to assemble within a specific time frame. Each group is further divided into subgroups of planners and operators. The planners are to prepare a plan, like a plan for a jigsaw puzzle, for the operators to assemble the pieces into the correct pattern; in this competitive game, the first team to correctly assemble the pattern wins. There are also observers of the process going on among the four groups of planners and implementers. Exhibit 8.2B shows how the pattern of cardboard pieces is properly assembled with its hollow square in the center. Following the simulation, the trainers hear reports from these observers on their own behavior and strategies. Exhibit 8.3 summarizes the instructions given to the planners, operators, and observers as well as learnings. After the observers' reports, participants contribute their own insights from the learning experience. Exhibit 8.3,D provides a synthesis of the lessons real people have learned from this "game" -the principal one is that only when planners and operators collaborate, when planners involve those who must implement their plans in the planning process, does the team succeed.
Exhibit 8.2 Hollow Square Exercise: A, Overall Pattern, B, Detailed Assembled Pattern. (NOTE: A is the incomplete design given to planners/operators. When properly assembled, the pieces make up this following pattern. B is the completed design that the winning team must produce with the pieces.)
Exhibit 8.3 Hollow Square Exercise: Briefing Sheet, cont'd.
Part A: Briefing Sheet for Planning Team
Note to Facilitator: There are two groups, each with two teams. For learning purposes, it is possible to influence the outcome by instructing one group to consider electing a team leader, while suggesting to the other group that they try participative management and share the leadership.
Each participant will be given a packet containing four (4) or more cardboard pieces which, when properly assembled with pieces from other participants, will make a hollow square design.¬
Your Task During a period of 45 minutes you are to do the following:
- Plan how these pieces, distributed among you, should be assembled to make the design.
- Instruct your operating team on how to implement your plan so as to complete your task ahead of the other teams. (You may begin instructing your operating team at any time during the 45 minute planning period-but no later than 5 minutes before they are to begin the assembling process).
- You must keep all four pieces you have in front of you at all times.
- You may not touch the pieces of other team members or trade pieces with other members of your team during the planning or instructing phase.
- You may not show Sheet E (which contains the detailed design as shown in Exhibit 8.28) to the operating team at any time.
- You may not actually assemble the entire square at any time (this is to be left to your operating team).
- You may not number or otherwise mark on the pieces.
- Members of your operating team must also observe the above rules until the signal is given to begin the assembling.
- When time is called for your operating team to begin assembling the pieces you may give no further instructions, but are to step back from the table and observe the operation only.
- All members of the planning team must be involved in the exercise; also, all members of the operating team.
- If you have specific questions which may affect the way you propose to go about your task, it may be preferable to ask them of the Resource persons privately rather than before the large group.
- You will have responsibility for carrying out a task for 4 people according to instructions given by your planning team. Your planning team may call you in for instructions at any time. If they do not summon you before you are to report to them anyway. Your task is scheduled to begin promptly at -_. "', after which no further instructions from your planning team can be given. You are to finish the assigned task as rapidly as possible.
- During the period when you are waiting for a call from your planning team it is suggested that you discuss and make notes on the following:
- The feelings and concerns which you experience while waiting for instructions for the unknown task.
- Your suggestions on how a person might prepare to receive instructions.
- Your notes recorded on the above will be helpful during the work group discussions following the completion of your task.
You will be observing a situation in which a planning team decides how to solve a problem and gives instructions to an operating team for implementation. The problem consists of assembling pieces of cardboard into the form of a hollow square. The planning team is supplied with the general layout ofthe pieces (Exhibit 8.2A). This team is not to assemble the parts but is to instruct the operating team on how to assemble the parts in a minimum amount oftime. You will be silent observers throughout the process
Exhibit 8.3 Hollow Square Exercise: Briefing Sheet, cont'd.
Suggestions for Observation
- Each member of the observing team should watch the general pattern of communication but give special attention to one member of the planning team (during the planning phase) and one member of the operating team (during the assembling period).
- During the Planning period watch for such behavior as:
- For planners:
2) Behavior that blocks or facilitates understanding.
3) How the planning team divides its time between planning and instructing (how early does it invite the operating team to come in?)
4) How well it plans its procedure for giving instructions to the operating team.
- For operating team:
2) What evidence is there of anxiety, boredom, and feelings about planners?
3) What could the planners have done to alleviate the anxieties and / or negative behavior evidenced by the operating team?
- During the instructing period (when the planning team is instructing the operating team) watch for such things as:¬
- Who in the planning team gives the instructions (and how was this decided)?
- What is significant about the management or leadership style followed in the group you are observing?
Part 0: Learnings from Hollow Square Game
Problems which may occur when one group makes plans which the other group is to carry out:
- Planners sometimes impose restrictions on themselves which are unnecessary.¬
- It is sometimes difficult for planners to see the task from the point of view of the operators.
- Sometimes in planning, more attention is given to details while the larger clues and possibilities go unnoticed.
- Planners sometimes fail to apportion their time wisely because they plunge into the act of planning before they think through their entire task and the amount of time available to them.
- Planners sometimes have different understandings of their task and the boundaries in which they must operate.¬
- When members of a planning team fail to listen to one another, time is lost in efforts to clarify.
- Sometimes planners fail to prepare a proper physical setup for the working team.
- Sometimes planners become so involved in the planning process that they do not plan their method of instructing the implementers.
- Sometimes planners do not consider the operators' anxieties when they orient them to the environment and task.
- Planners may not allow enough time for instruction and help the operators to "get set" and feel comfortable for the job.
- 3. Planners may not encourage questions from the operators and therefore assume greater understanding than the operators have.¬
- 4. The planners' own feelings of anxiety or security are likely to be transmitted to the operators.
- 5. Planners sometimes give detailed instructions before giving the operator an "overall" feel of the task.
- 6. Planners sometimes stress minute problems which concerned them while ignoring more important points.
- 7. The instructions may be given in a way that discourages members of an operating group from working as a team.
- If instructions are confusing, operators tend to display irritation toward each other as well as toward the planners.
- If instructions are unclear, considerable time will be spent in clarification.
- 3. Members of an operating team will often have different perceptions of their instructions.
- 4. The factor of pressure will influence different operators in different ways-the efficiency of some will go up and the efficiency of others will decline.
- 5. If members of an operating group do not feel themselves to be a team, they will usually perform less efficiently. (During some periods one person may be working on part of the problem all alone while the others wait inactively for him to complete the task.)
The simpler "Blue-Green" game drives home the win-win p~.os?phy. Two groups are told they both are separate divisions or sUbsidiane~ of the same organization. They are instructed on procedures for ~assmg points, and told that within the specified time period, their grou~ scores will be totaled to determine the winner. Although there is nothing in the ground rules preventing their mutual cooperation, e~ch usually proceeds to gain points at the expense of th~ other ~oup in a mad competitive battle. Only in the post-game learnmg analysis do the participants realize that the whole organization stands to lose ~ecause of their failure to cooperate as parts within the same system. This game teaches a powerful lesson about how the competitive race for profits may have destructive effects on the common good. Management games are useful tools for communicating about the new work culture norm of collaboration or team effort.
There are many training resources available that provide details on how to formulate and facilitate such games for the development of personnel. For example, University Associates (8517 Produ~ti.on Ave., San Diego, CA 92121) issues an HRD Resource Guide describing publications available for this purpose (e.g., A Handbook of Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training and yearly workbooks of methodology listed in the Reference Guide to Handbooks and An~uals). Dr. Allen Zoll also produces Dynamic Management Education, which describes a variety of dynamic adult education techniques from cases and in-basket exercises to action maze and business games (Management Education Associates, 2003 33rd S., Seatt~e, WA.98144). ~ther major creators and distributors of management simulations are Didactic Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 457, Cranford, NJ 07016, and Education Research, P.O. Box 4205, Warren, NJ 07060.
Local computer software stores also can advise on what is availab~e on the market in terms of computer simulations. A useful newsletter is Simulation Today, published by the Society for Computer Simulations (P.O. Box 2228, La Jolla, CA 92038).
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