3 Responses

1. can I respond with a question?
   Elaine
   You are looking for a “more interesting” exercise.
   More interesting than what?
   Rus

2. motivation activity
   Elaine

   I just tried something out today which was related to your query on motivation.

   I invited individuals in the group to reflect on times when they felt very motivated and to make some brief notes on the circumstances, the environment, what was happening, contributing factors etc etc.

   I then asked for volunteers to describe their most motivated ‘moments in time’ with the group listening and observing.

   What happened was that, as people recounted their experiences, they demonstrated ‘live’ what a motivated person ‘looks like’. So as well as hearing the factual information, the other participants were able to see and recognise the energy, drive, thoughts and feelings associated with a motivated state.

   I guess you could flip this over and look at examples of demotivation as well. Its all about getting people to recollect, visualise and relive those moments.

   It was very powerful for the group, and rather than flipcharted lists of ‘how do we recognise motivated/demotivated people’ it animated the whole process.

3. try experiential learning…
   How about trying this:

   Split in teams each with a leader and a task to complete (eg build a tower/bridge).

   Designate leaders to be either motivators or demotivators, with the responsibility of motivating their team to complete the task (using whatever means they want) or demotivating their team (again using whatever means they want without being too obvious).

   Feedback results. You will find the team members react in different ways, some will be motivated by tasks others will be affected by leader’s behaviour. Works better if leader is given advance notice to prepare their strategies.

   It works best if the demotivating leader is subtle in their approach.