During Meetings

During Meetings

Ice Breakers

Ice breakers are best used to get a group to meet one another and get to know each other. These are best used when a group is not familiar with one another or not awake.

Consider using an ice breaker when:

·         Participants come from different backgrounds.

·         People need to bond quickly so as to work towards a common goal.

·         Your team is newly formed.

·         The topics you are discussing are new or unfamiliar to many people involved.

·         As facilitator you need to get to know participants and have them know you better.

Traditional Team Building

Traditional team building should be utilized at most of the regular business meetings. This is a good tool for getting members focused on the meeting ahead and allows them to refresh their memory on new members.

Team building can lead to:

• Good communications with participants as team members and individuals
• Increased department productivity and creativity
• Team members motivated to achieve goals
• A climate of cooperation and collaborative problem-solving
• Higher levels of job satisfaction and commitment
• Higher levels of trust and support
• Diverse co-workers working well together
• Clear work objectives
• Better operating policies and procedure 

Specific Training for Events

These trainings are specifically used to prepare the Jr. Fair Board for duties assigned to them as members. They are trained in these areas directly before fair or the event.

• ·         Public Speaking/Announcing
• ·         Current Issues
• ·         Dispute / Negotiations
• ·         Record/Ring Book Training
• ·         Animal Health/Tagging
• ·         Quality Assurance Training

I think that sometimes given time and money constraints we are limited to working with our youth in meeting situations only. I break the meetings into traditional team building and specific training for groups.

In traditional team building you can usually look online or through books to find games and activities that are appropriate for your age level and group. These games can include ice breakers and teambuilding for more familiar groups. Some examples of games that I have tried before are below.

Ice Breakers

Two Truths and a Lie

Ask all players to arrange themselves in a circle. Instruct each player to think of three statements about themselves. Two must be true statements, and one must be false. For each person, he or she shares the three statements (in any order) to the group. The goal of the icebreaker game is to determine which statement is false. The group votes on which one they feel is a lie, and at the end of each round, the person reveals which one was the lie.

Variations to Try

“Two Truths and a Dream Wish.” – An interesting variation of Two Truths and a Lie is “Two Truths and a Dream Wish.” Instead of telling a lie, a person says a wish. That is, something that is not true — yet something that the person wishes to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Europe might say: “I often travel to Europe for vacation.” This interesting spin on the icebreaker can often lead to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about themselves.

Team Building

Mousetrap Stacking

Use spring-loaded, snap-type mouse traps. Divide into groups of 4 or 5. give each group 10-12 mousetraps to start. Ask the group to stack the traps in the “loaded” position. The team to use all of their traps first wins. You can also use blindfolds in groups that pass this task easily. Traps that snap may sting, but in my experience with the traps there have been no serious injuries or bloodshed from a snapped trap. (however, please use caution when introducing this to your group).

These are some of my favorite twists on activities that I have used before. Some other resources for traditional team building are:

http://wilderdom.com/games/InitiativeGames.html

http://www.oakharborcheer.com/TeamBuildingGames.html

http://www.residentassistant.com/games/

You can often find many resources just by simply doing a web search. Use words like teambuilding, teens, unique ideas, lesson plans!

Specific Training for Groups

Sometimes we work with teen groups (or we are a part of teen groups) that need to complete tasks or community service events as a whole. Learning the skills Necessary for that group can go from boring to fun just by being open to “how you teach” versus “what you teach”.  My most talked about training was an “ear tagging training” for my Jr. Fair Board. I asked the group to tag real livestock ears that I had collected from a butcher shop. The experience was real, and it engaged the Jr. Fair Board members that what we were learning had real relevance.  Below are some other examples that I suggest. There are plenty of options that don’t involve blood and livestock tags.

Public Speaking

Gather up a collection of interesting images/photos from magazines or newspapers - enough for your class to have one each and then a few spare.

Place them face down and have everybody pick one.

Using the image as a prompt, what can they share about it?

Questions to get started are:

▪ Where is this photo from? 

▪ What's happening in this photo?

▪ What feelings does the image evoke?

▪ Is there a season or time associated with it?

What happened after or before the photo was taken?

Current Issues

Often just bringing up and talking about current issues can be helpful to a board or group if the topic is relevant. Newspaper articles or online articles can be a good way for advisors to connect how current issues could affect the Jr. Fair.  Also helpful might be a local butcher shop, newspaper, media or other businesses that might have a skill set that would enhance the group.

Role Play

Break into groups of 3-4. Give each of those groups a situation that they may encounter during fair. Ask that group to act out how they might handle the situation. Then have the group help improve or comment on ways to help those situations.

Note: Try to consider what your group might have a vested interest in as you brainstorm ideas for things to do.