FriendlyBrain Tip 302: It's, it's the Outcomes Blitz!

This week's FriendlyBrain Tip comes to you from Steve Marriott of Kaizen Training, and is dedicated to brain-friendly trainers everywhere!
 
On a recent workshop, I was searching for an activity that would raise energy levels in the room and enable my participants to take even more ownership for their personal outcomes.  So for anyone who's ever been in a similar situation...

• take nine sheets of flipchart paper and tape them together in a 3 x 3 grid
• place the paper on a large table or clear a space on the floor and use that.  In the centre, write down a suitable title for the outcomes summary
• set up the activity with these prompt questions:

by the end of this workshop, I want to be

• thinking
• feeling
• saying
• doing

each participant then grabs a marker pen (preferably different colours) and finds a position around the periphery of the large piece of paper.
 
the name of the game is speed here.  Put on some upbeat music and get everyone to create a mindmap of their personal outcomes.  Pictures and/or words are fine.  The objective is to fill every inch of white space with outcomes.  As they scribble away, give an instruction for them to become curious about their neighbour's outcomes and draw new inspiration.
 
After a few minutes, call a halt and review progress.  Then ask the team to move three steps to the left, read what's now in front of them and add more thoughts to the paper.
 
After a few more minutes, stop the activity and give everyone some time to walk around the paper reading everybody's contributions.  It may be appropriate for the group to share observations or ask relevant questions at this point.
 
Put the huge piece of paper up on the wall where it can serve as a reminder of the focus of the day.  Invite participants to keep adding further refinements to their outcomes as the day progresses.
 
With the recent group of leaders this activity worked superbly.  Not only did we create a great buzz and commitment to the outcomes but there was an additional pay-off too.  The team started using the information to give each other high-quality feedback, and also messages of support and encouragement during the day.  To top it all, everyone took photographs of the chart to keep on their phones and the project sponsor took the whole thing away to stick up at the workplace - a great reminder of the event!
 
Enjoy!