day colours/colors exercise (individual perspectives, emotional triggers, empathy, johari window, respecting personal differences)

This is a very simple quick and fascinating exercise to illustrate how people often have different views of the same thing, which is central to understanding empathy and many related concepts. The activity may be used as an icebreaker or larger discussion exercise, for groups of any size and age/seniority, subject to appropriate facilitation for your situation. Example explanation and instruction to a group: Emotions and feelings within each of us are 'triggered' in different ways. We think differently and therefore see things differently. We often do not imagine that other people may see something quite differently to how we see the 'same' thing. Management and relationships, in work and outside of work too, depend heavily on our being able to understand the other person's view, and what causes it to be different to our own. To illustrate this, and to explore how mental associations can 'colour' (USEnglish 'color') our worlds differently: 1. Close your eyes and imagine the days of the week 2. What colour is each day? 3. Write down the colour of each day Review and compare people's different colour associations, and - where people consciously know and are willing to share their reasons/associations review these differences too. Note: If anyone sees all the days as the same color, or sees no colour association at all, or perhaps sees or senses a more powerful alternative association, then this is another equally worthy personal viewpoint and difference. The days of the week are a simple fixed pattern. Yet we see them in different ways. It is easy to imagine the potential for far greater differences in the way we see more complex situations - like our work, our responsibilities and our relationships, etc. Human beings will never see things in exactly the same way - this is not the aim or work or life - instead the aim should be to understand each other's views far better, so that we can minimise conflict and maximise cooperation.

fancy dress exercise (ice-breaker, selfexpression, mutual awareness)

A very quick and easy ice-breaker, requiring no equipment or preparation. The game can be used to make introductions a little more interesting than usual, or as a separate ice-breaker activity. For groups of any size. Split large groups into teams small enough to review answers among themselves. Instruction to group:

You are invited to a fancy dress party which requires that your costume says something about you. What costume would you wear and why? Take two minutes to think of your answer.

Review: Simply by asking people to explain their answers briefly to the group/team. The exercise can be varied and expanded for groups in which people know each other:

Ask people to write their answers on a slip of paper (in handwriting that cannot easily be identified), and to fold the slips and put them in the middle of the table. In turn group members must each pick a slip of paper from the pile and read the answer aloud. On hearing all the answers, group members must then try to match the answers to the people present.

psychological contract 'iceberg' exercises (the psychological contract, work/life alignment, organizational development, motivational understanding, employer/employee relationships, leadership)
The Psychological Contract is increasingly significant in organizational management and development. The Psychological Contract 'Iceberg' model diagram assists explanation and exploration of the subject. Ask group members to create their own version of the Psychological Contract 'Iceberg' diagram - individually, in pairs or teams, and review/discuss as appropriate for your situation. Versions of the 'Iceberg' may be mapped according to different perspectives, for example - how people see it currently; how they'd prefer it to be; from a personal, departmental or workforce standpoints. The exercise can be used as a basis for all sorts of learning and development activities, for example relating to:

motivation and attitude work/life balance and wellbeing organizational structure and purpose alignment of people with organizational aims work/management/leadership relationships with employees mutual awareness (employee/employer) and organizational transparency - and especially in identifying hidden or confused perceptions which may be obstacles to improving employee/employer relationships

Refer to the Psychological Contract theory and within it whatever related learning concepts might be helpful to your situation.

Johari Window is particularly relevant.

silent touch exercise (listening skills, nonverbal communications, body language)

If you want something a bit different, here's a great quick one for highlighting and developing non-verbal awareness. Each delegate does this in turn: One person (the 'touchee') stands against a wall facing it. The rest of the group, one by one, walks up to the person, places a hand on their shoulder and says their name (the toucher's name not the touchee). The person being touched must not look around to see the toucher. Then repeat the exercise using a different order for the touchers, this time without saying their names (you may need to point to people to control the order). The person being touched has to use their various senses more acutely to guess the identity of each toucher (the 'feel' of the shoulder-touch, maybe smell, the sound of the approach, etc.) You must explain to the whole group the whole exercise before it starts. You must instruct everyone not to disguise the spoken touch or the silent touch. The 'winner' is the person who guesses most of the silent touches, which means you need to keep a tally of each 'touchee's' correct silent guesses. Review and discuss only after everyone has had their turn as the 'touchee', otherwise clues will surface and benefit the later touchees. When reviewing you can refer people to brain types and styles, and particularly right-side brain strengths, which generally enable greater sensitivity and awareness for this type of exercise. See the Benziger theory. (Thanks Chris Baker)