Herding chickens, separating grains of salt and pepper, totem pole carving are all in a day's training, according to the people behind this week's World of Learning Conference and Exhibition.

World of Learning found that unusual training formats being used in the UK include how to:
- Herd chickens
- Belly dance
- Create a human bridge
- Break pieces of wood bare handed
- Morris dance
- Separate grains of salt and pepper
- Drive remote controlled cars while blindfolded
- Carve a totem pole

Jim Reilly, director of World of Learning 2004 said, "It seems that employees across the UK are taking part in a wide variety of unusual training formats. Although they may sound bizarre, I know from talking to training companies exhibiting at World of Learning, that such methods can and do work, particularly in helping to build strong team working relationships."

John Matchett Limited (JML) is one of those companies that believes in using innovative methods to get the training methods across for its team development work. Their team development programmes include "Face the Music", where teams create a CD from scratch and "Change-ing Rooms" where a group redecorates a flat for a homeless person.

Michael Brown, principal consultant at JML said: "These team development events work by engaging learners in a powerful collective experience which will produce high volumes of behavioural information about a team and the individuals in it in a short space of time. It also provides long term learning because of the emotions involved: groups find that they are connecting with what they learn months or years after the event"

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