(You can see on one single page all of management games and icebreakers authored by me and continually updated on the site if you refer: http://management-games-icebreakers.blogspot.com/)
(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)
This management game can be conducted by you, as a program leader or faculty member, for sessions or training programs or workshops on team work, communication, transaction analysis, personality transformation etc. It is quite a participative exercise and very powerful in terms of experiential learning.
Request a participant of the program to volunteer to be blindfolded. Before making this request, brief the group that the person who volunteers will be blindfolded and he will have to search an object that you will decide for the search. Before a piece of cloth (a clean handkerchief) is tied over the eyes of the volunteer to prevent the wearer from seeing the things, he will be instructed to study the layout of the room and the various objects that are lying around in the room.
So once the volunteer is blindfolded with the help of another participant from the group, ask him to rotate the volunteer on the spot so that the volunteer loses the sense of the direction. Now declare the name of the object in the room that the blindfolded participant of the program should search and hand it over to you.
By gestures, tell the rest of the participants of the group to remain silent and not to give any information to the blindfolded person unless he expressly requests for it.
In this exercise, it is normally observed that the blindfolded person will struggle on his own to search the object. He will try to grapple the wrong objects and the audience would have a hearty laugh. Make sure to see that the blindfolded person does not hit the furniture or any other objects in the seminar hall that may hurt him.
After a few minutes when it becomes clear to everyone present in the room that he cannot search this way all by his own efforts, ask the blindfolded person to use any other method to search the object. You are in fact prompting him to take the help of the audience. Yet, he may still try on his own without taking any help because of his ego.
Prompt him again- this time little more specifically to take help from the other participants of the group. He may then ask arrogantly or request politely to give the directions to him so that he can move forward towards the object to be searched. Depending upon how he communicates someone in the group may start giving the direction. At times more than one person in the audience may get enthusiastic to give him the directions like, “Now go straight, now turn left, now turn right etc.” There may be a bit of confusion in the seminar hall and you may find that the blindfolded person is still unable to locate the object.
Now, ask him, “This method also seems to have failed. Will you like to adopt some other way of taking the help?”
It may occur to him that he may ask someone to go to him and escort him and physically lead him to the object. He may ask you the permission to do it which you will obviously give.
He will generally request saying, “Will some one come to me and take me to that object.”
Tell by gestures to the audience not to respond to such a general request. Then turn to the blindfolded person to modify his request, “Can you request someone more politely by addressing a particular person of the group to help you?”
He will do so. Now the requested participant will go to him and lead him to the object and help him to hold the object and give it to you.
Remove the blindfold and give trigger for a thunderous applause from all present in the seminar hall.
Start a detailed discussion by involving every participant of the workshop to dissect the goings-on of the management exercise. Request their feedback and the learning points experienced by them.
Sum up your observations, analysis and the outcomes.
For Booking Shyam Bhatawdekar’s Management Seminars
Contact Prodcons Group at: prodcons@prodcons.com
For More Guidance, Assistance, Training and Consultation
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You may like to enjoy reading all the “Management Anecdotes” authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/
And don’t miss to read his “Do This Today” http://do-this-today.blogspot.com/
For Musings of Shyam Bhatawdekar on various topics refer http://shyam-bhatawdekar-musings.blogspot.com/
For “out of box thinking” articles by Shyam Bhatawdekar, refer: (Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/
Read other blogs and knols of Shyam Bhatawdekar at: (Home Page for Writings of Shyam Bhatawdekar) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com/
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