Team Building Innovative Introductions: The Activity of the Three Circles

Objective

The objective of this activity is to allow people to get to know each other and for the facilitator to understand the group dynamics, identify who needs help, and which groups, if any, need to mingle more outside the group. 

Who is it for 

Ideal for mid to senior level management, groups of 8-15. This needs to be done as the FIRST introduction activity in a team building. 

Setup 

While the activity can be done both indoors and outdoors, outdoors is preferred in winter and indoors in summer. Physical comfort is important for this activity. 

In the beginning, the team stands together. Around them are three circles - one each to the side, and one directly in front. The circles can be made with rope, chalk, or any other material. 

Brief

All of you are in one group. Now, it is time for us to get to know each other, so lets do introductions. 

BUT, our introductions are with a twist. You will not introduce yourself. You will introduce anyone else from the group. 

The introduction should be about who they are, their department, how many years with the company etc. , but it MUST also include ONE personal detail at least. It can be that they belong to Allahbad, or that they have two daughters, or that they write poetry in their free time, or the name of their spouse- anything. But one personal detail. 

Once you have made the introduction, you move to the left circle. The person whom you have introduced moves to the right circle. 

The objective of the game, however, is for everyone to move to the front circle. How do we do that? 

Once you have BEEN INTRODUCED and MADE an introduction, you can move to the front circle. i.e., if you are in the left circle, you move to the front circle when someone introduces you. If you are in the right circle, you can introduce someone and move to the front circle. 

The order in which you move to the front circle does not matter. But the speed at which the entire group moves to the front circle does. So, lets get this ball rolling and start talking! 

Anyone can speak at any time. There is no order and no rule. The moderators will only nominate someone if no one is volunteering. 

You CAN make more than one introduction and you can be introduced by more than one person. No constraint! 

Trainer's Note

Use this activity to make notes about interesting things about people that you can use subsequently to draw them out. 

But as facilitator, pay special attention to subgroups within the group, the shy ones, and the ones who tend to bulldoze the group. This is an identification of network dynamics activity. 

Debrief 

There is no debrief except clapping for the entire group and announcing the time it took for the group to reach the front circle. 

Materials Needed 

Chalk Powder (1 kg, for outdoors) OR 15 meters of rope.  (5 meters * 3 rope segments) 

Chocolates - 10 - 15 nos. 

Designing Rewards and Recognition - A Case Study

 #DesigningRewardsAndRecognition

One of our clients was trying to implement a rewards and recognition framework for almost two years.

When we were called in, the mood in the room was not optimistic.

We took the project and did design to rollout in 40 calendar days.

Step One: Brainstorm and Design

Sharing with you the interview guide we used to help the client clarify their thoughts.

1. What do you want to reward.

2. Why do you want to reward it.

3. At what frequency.

4. What is the budget.

5. What are the keywords associated with this award. A person who wins this will be ____.

6. This will be valued by employees because __.

7. Who will decide the winner and on what criteria.

The thing with RnR is, that for every winner in a universe of N people, there are N-1 losers. So, every reward's criteria have to be 100% transparent to establish the credibility of the process.

Keeping this in mind, we worked with the client at every stage, asking supporting questions until the process was absolutely clear.

Step Two: Rationalise and Prepare for Rollout

The next step was to rationalise the list and arrive at a schedule of implementation. 

Obviously, through brainstorming, we would have arrived at a list that is at least 2x the intended number of awards being planned. 

So, the awards were rationalised and the list pruned. 

The most challenging aspect at this stage was reminding the client that the budget of the award is not just the trophy/cash component but also the cost of administration, selection, communication. 

We also needed to connect the process to other HR portfolio items like career planning, Upskilling, Performance Management, Payroll, etc. at the design stage itself, so that the rollout is seamless. 

#WordOfCaution

Even if the leadership is very enthusiastic, creating awards that exceed a sustainable budget means that someone will find a valid spanner and succeed in reducing or removing at least a few awards - but taking away the trust on the entire mechanism. So, we had to tell the client to stick within the budget, even when they were ok to "go above and beyond a little bit." 

Step Three: Communication and Rollout 

The next step was to plan the communication preceding and during the rollout for each recognition. 

Once this was done, the rollout of the selected RnR elements was done on a single day. 

During the rollout, the entire focus was on the recipients - what would they be like, how might this help them in their learning/career journey. The entire speech was about the employees and their growth. 

The rollout was a success. 

*Some elements of the process have been disguised/modified to ensure client confidentiality. 

Watched pot never boils

 Universal Law of Burner Attention:

The amount of attention paid to a gas burner on which one is making tea is inversely proportional to the amount of heating received by the cooking pot.

Simply put:

Paying attention to a gas burner leads to no heat reaching the vessel.

Corollary to the Law of Burner Attention:

When you look away for one split second, the tea on the burner boils over.

Image made using Dall-e2

On Work Life Balance

 Just because you work for yourself doesn't mean you don't report to a tough taskmaster. 

Work life balance is a function of who you are, not where you work. 

I have had the fortune of working with many people who maintained a healthy balance long before it became a thing. And here are some things that are common to all of them - 

A. They always prioritised their time. If you needed to meet them, you needed to send them an agenda and enter the room prepared. 

B. They respected other people's time as much. If you were OOO, there would be no calls, no messages, and no emergencies. They would insist on you doing a good handover to a colleague so that you can take your PTO both guilt free and interruption free. 

C. They included the families. They tried to create at least 1-2 events per year where families got to meet each other. 

D. When they were with you, they were ONLY with you. They made you feel like a real human being, not one of the gadgets they interacted with. 

E. This is the best part. It was very rare for them to be behind on their deadlines. They left office, and they left it with work done. 

F. Most of them were empathic leaders. 

The luckiest break in life was having these leaders around one at the very beginning of one's career. So, one got the right role models early on.

#WorkLifeBalance 

My Budget Wishlist for India

If individual taxation does not reduce soon, it will mean a higher take home pay if we all incorporate One Person Companies and register as vendors rather than employees for tax purposes.

#MyBudgetWishlist

There is more than one way to milk the cow.
And more than one way for the cow to refuse.

Today, an individual taxpayer first pays 30% of their total income up front as TDS, and when s/he tries to spend the remaining money, ends up paying between 5-18% again as indirect tax on consumption (as GST).

This means that at the highest level, an individual taxpayer in India pays about 50% as tax.

Unless this changes, it will make a lot more sense for individuals to register as OPCs and then appear as vendors rather than employees for taxation purposes. This will allow them to get deduction for expenses.

Already, out of the 42,186 OPCs registered in India, 26,154 are engaged in either "Business Services" or "Community, Personal, and Social Services".

Of these, 9,781 OPCs were registered from Jan - 10 Dec, 2021 (the numbers for 2022 are awaited).

#IsTheIndianProfessionalLearning?

Presenting: The Un-Ikigai Diagram - Things to Not Keep in Life

My realisation of this week was that the Venn Diagram of Ikigai is Japanese in the same way that French Fries are French. 

Thanks to the shift in mindset, the brain now operates from a place of humour very often. So, as the entrepreneurs' group was discussing entitled customers, the mind was making memes. Somewhere, that and the Ikigai idea got merged. I picked up a pen and paper and started drawing the Ikigai' (Like A' in Set Theory - A' is everything that A is not). 

When some of the places could not be filled, the family was called in. For instance, "What is it that I am really bad at and no one wants to pay for?" 

"You taking care of your health" came the pat answer. 

When done, I thought it was hilarious. So, from my personal Un-Ikigai, I created an Un-Ikigai template, for others to have fun. 

Here it is: 

Then, for 2 days, I laughed at my Un-Ikigai diagram. "Yes, I am terrible at this" "Gosh that one is totally true" 

The third day, the penny dropped. 

The Un-ikigai was not just a funny meme. It was a collection of things that need to be put out of life. I imagined my life without the things in that diagram. I was never going to enjoy A, I am not likely to be great at it. So, why is it still in my life? If "Playing to our strengths" had a corollary diagram, this was it. These are the things that I should not invest time on. 

So, in 2023, I am going to act on that joke of the Un-ikigai diagram - By removing the items that truly add little value and are better accomplished through another medium. 

Thankfully, The Children's Post Calendar has monthly targets instead of annual resolutions. So, it looks like one might be able to do something. 

Forecast post

This is a forecast post. It has 2 pieces of forecast, both about Google. 

Prediction One: Chickens will come home to roost 

Within 2023, the Cyber Crime Cell of India will hold Google accountable for misinformation leading to fraud that originates on its website.

Why? 

Google owns 92% of the global search engine market. 

At this time, multiple frauds are based on incorrect service desk numbers published on Google. Unwitting customers dial these fraud numbers to get customer service on their bank/card/product etc. and end up getting conned. 

Google is not held accountable for this in any way. 

 This is even more culpable because the fraud numbers are highlighted separately on the right in the Google Search result. 

The other thing for which Google will be held accountable is listing fraudulent sites on top of the search results only because these companies have paid for search optimisation ads. 

I am sure we all have been conned at least once by the top search result on Google. 

Now, of course, I make it a point to check the reviews of the site before trusting them, but most consumers are not likely to do that. Here is one example: 

As you can see, on the right, the highlighted searches are a website called Perfume Papa. 

The prices are at least 50% lower than those of all other sites. 

BUT, at this point, before we order, we do a simple text based scam check: 

First of all, the reviews come a little after half page is over. Then, as you scroll, you see more and more negative customer reviews. 

Now, consider what is happening here: 

Google is supposed to show the most relevant search results on top. This means that a user can assume, reasonably, that a search result on top is a relevant search result. They do not, at this point, have any reason to doubt the geniuneness of the site because Google has displayed it as a legit site to buy perfumes. 

When a customer gets scammed, they have no way of bringing Google to book. They can only blame themselves for trusting Google. But Google PROMISES relevant results and enjoys 92.2% market share only because of reliability. 

If you told everyone that Google search results are not reliable, do you think Google would still be at that 90%? 

Also, Google directly controls what it shows on its search engine. Therefore, it cannot claim the intermediary benefit. Any fraud that happens on account of organic search results is the responsibility of Google. It cannot hide behind search engine optimisation. 

Prediction Two: Reliability is the new gold 

Within 2024, reliability will become the No. 1 headache of the world. 

Even Google realises that ChatGPT3 is the future of web search. 

As this article and many others state, Google has issued Code Red over Chat GPT. 

However, Chat GP is not particularly reliable on the facts side. Really.  

I have no idea where it gets its fake ideas from, but am guessing from the same place as Google. 

If Google thinks that it is at risk from the format of Chat GPT, that is not it. It is at risk from the reliability of GPT. 

I just tried some controversial statements on Chat GPT and the results this week are different from results last week. Today is a lot more diplomatic, ergo, completely useless. BUT, it had no factual errors this time. 

The new success catalyst for web based search will be the reliability of search results. 

Not the format. The content. 

Example: 

Here is the text query I put on Chat GPT just now (time stamp is important because Chat GP is evolving rather rapidly) 

Search Query: What is the most controversial event of the 21st century so far

Chat GPT 3 response:

It is difficult to identify a single, most controversial event of the 21st century so far, as different events may be perceived as more or less controversial depending on one's perspective and context. Some events that have been widely considered to be controversial include:

• The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which occurred on September 11, 2001, and were perpetrated by a group of Islamic terrorists. The attacks resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and had significant global political and economic consequences.

• The invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003, which was justified by the US government as a response to the 9/11 attacks and the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The invasion, which was not authorized by the United Nations, led to a long and costly war and the destabilization of the region.

• The Arab Spring, a series of pro-democracy protests and uprisings that occurred in several Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The protests, which were fueled by widespread dissatisfaction with autocratic governments and economic inequality, led to the overthrow of several leaders and significant political change in the region.

• The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in late 2019 and has had a profound impact on global health and economic systems, as well as on social and political dynamics. The pandemic has raised numerous controversial issues, including debates about the effectiveness of various government responses and the distribution of vaccines.

Google search results start with Wikipedia! 

Yes, usability is a HUGE issue with Google search results. But notice something else? There is no trustworthiness to what Google is putting out. Wiki is the Kingdom of misinformation and no one has any accountability, again. 

Since investing in Wiki, i notice that Google has been prioritising Wiki in the search results. But that comes at a huge cost to the reliability of Google itself. 

And, if i have to double check everything the search engine is telling me, why do I need the search engine at all. 

Google's results are even less reliable and relevant than distant competitors like DuckDuckGo 

And Yahoo! 

The new gold is not just data. It is fact-checked, accurate data.