The 'What We've Learned' Game

This game is best played near the end of the day or the end of the training session and used as a review of what has been covered.

For the game, you’ll need one die. Each team should be between four-six participants. One person from each team is appointed die roller. Taking turns, each die roller will roll the die. The face number rolled will be the number of “Things We have Learned” the team will have to come up with and share with everyone else. For example, if Team A rolls a four, they will have to provide four things they have learned in the training session. After rolling, the team will provide their answers to you to write up on the whiteboard or easel or you could have a team member write as the rest of the team calls out answers.

Members of a group will collaborate with each other to come up with the “Things We Have Learned.” Once the first team is done, the next group will roll the die and give their number of ‘Things We Have Learned’ and so on until each team has a turn.

Do not allow repeated items within the group or by other groups. Pass out some treats at the end of the game and thank each participant for playing. Make this a light and fun learning experience. Your participants will be surprised with how much they have learned!

This game provides a great way to review a topic or entire training session and helps participants remember/recall what they have learned.

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A Word that Best Describes Me (Icebreaker)

This game will help a new group of participants in learning each other’s names and a little bit about personalities too. Participants can remain at their workstations or you can get them to form a circle. You won't need any prep time or supplies. This icebreaker is very simple to run and is perfect for the first day.

You’ll start with a brief explanation of the game that goes something like this:

In this game we will go around the room and you will be introducing yourself by giving us your first name with an adjective in front of your name that you think best describes you. The key though is that the word that best describes you must start with the same letter as your first name.

As the instructor, you should probably go first to provide an actual example of how it’s done.

Let’s say your name is Hank. You would say, ‘Hi, I’m Happy Hank.’ Each person takes a turn then says a word they think best describes them followed by their name. The word must start with the same letter that their first name does. Here are some examples: Joyous Julie, Careful Chris, Outrageous Opal, Nervous Nancy.

You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to remember everyone’s name after this game! Now you can also play a more difficult version where each person has to repeat everyone’s name and associated word that came before him or her. If you really want to make it tricky, have each participant rattle off the name and descriptor for everyone who came before him/her.

Have fun and don't forget to check out my ever-growing library of hand drawn training cartoons at www.WorkplaceToons.com!

The Name & Gesture Icebreaker

This game is a lot of fun! There is room to modify as needed so use your imagination to create an icebreaker that engages and inspires your learners!As always with 'name games' this one works great for the first day of training to get to know each other, break the ice and have some fun.

First, you'll say your name and accompany your name with a gesture. You can hop on one leg, wave, hop, say woohoo, or whatever gesture you want.

Then you’ll point to someone and they must immediately say your name and repeat your gesture, then say their name and add a gesture. Then they point to someone who hasn’t been called on. That person repeats his or her name and gesture then does their own with a gesture and so on around the room until everyone has been called on.

You can add on to the game by pointing to someone and asking them what someone else’s name and gesture was to see if they remember. You can even score points when someone remembers. To increase to difficulty, have each person recall the name and gesture of everyone who came before them.

This icebreaker gets everyone up, laughing, energized and ready for the day. To add punch and pizazz to any presentation, check out my custom hand drawn training cartoons on topics like FMLA, Diversity, Sexual Harassment, WOrkplace Violence and more at www.WorkplaceToons.com.

Enjoy!

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Training Cartoons! All New!

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) cartoon collection is here!
This brand new Cartoon Pack covering FMLA purpose, application and other laws that apply to leave will be a real help when covering this complex training topic. I also include a few cartoons on the 1997/2008 revisions so you are sure to have the most up-to-date cartoons to align with your content. This cartoon pack is the perfect addition to your FMLA training program.





FMLA can be confusing, especially when you don't understand when it applies and when it shouldn't. This Cartoon Pack will help you get your point across so everyone understands the ins and outs of FMLA. Check it out today by clicking here!

Sexual Harassment Training Cartoons are here!

Every employee needs and can benefit from Sexual Harassment Training. Use my brand new sexual harassment training cartoons to lighten the mood and get people to think about and remember the important points. Here is what's included. CLick the picture to see the larger version:

Here is more to think about when preparing your sexual harassment awareness and prevention training program:
No one wants to work in a sexually charged or hostile work environment. But did you know, your actions might constitute this very behavior and you may not even know it? The Courts have already ruled that employers can be held liable for the actions of its employees, even when officials in the company had no prior knowledge of the offending behavior! And the offending employee can be held responsible too, even if they didn’t know their behavior was offensive!

Many of the actions in the list that follows were involved in serious, high-dollar discrimination cases. Make no mistake. This is a serious matter that deserves your attention. Use this list as a guide/checklist to what not to do/how not to act/what not to say at work. Ever. Many times, the offending employee meant no harm, however, the employee alleging harassment took things a very different way! While it’s true that many of us have done or said something we wish we could take back, think carefully before you speak or act. Don’t let your behavior turn into a legal nightmare!

Ask yourself:

• Have you asked someone out for a drink after work?
• Have you used colorful language or an occasional bad word?
• Have you told off color, religious or political jokes even if you consider them G/PG rated?
• Have you offered or given someone at work a hug or back rub?
• Is your computer screensaver rude, crude, political, religious or even mildly offensive?
• Have you used terms like “honey” or “sweetheart” to call a coworker or customer?
• Have you ever promoted someone with whom you had a prior sexual relationship even if the promotion was well deserved?
• Do you have funny nicknames for coworkers?

It’s a slippery downhill slope when you stop treating coworkers with friendly professionalism and start treating them as casual buddies. In the workplace, we don’t know each other well enough to understand each other’s pet peeves, sense of humor, political sexual or religious leanings, personal belief systems, or private thoughts or opinions no matter how long we’ve worked with them or how often we’ve shared a table in the lunch room.



Proper training is the most effective tool to eliminate sexual harassment from the workplace. If you are planning to conduct a training session on this sensitive subject matter, consider sexual harassment cartoons to get your message across with humor and without pointing fingers, offending anyone or placing blame. My sexual harassment training cartoons will lighten the load and help participants to remember critical information along the way. Don’t settle for generic clip art when conducting training sessions on this highly-charged topic. Check out my training cartoons today at www.WorkplaceToons.com

Custom Hand Drawn Training Cartoons vs Stock Images or Photography

It isn't even a close call. Cartoons are by far the better choice to stock images or photography if you're serious about engaging your participants and making your message memorable. There are many reasons why but here are the top ten for choosing hand drawn cartoons over stock images or photographs in your learning program.

1. Topic-specific training cartoons engage the learner and really get them thinking.
2. Generic, stock photography that doesn’t address the training topic will likely confuse participants and worse, make for a long, boring, dry presentation!
3. Photos typically stereotype which could make your participants feel embarrassed or excluded.
4. Cartoons bring people together; everyone can identify with and appreciate cartoons.
5. Photos can be too harsh or cold.
6. Cartoons can help to diffuse uncomfortable topics without diminishing the message.
7. Photos are often too generic to use as a learning tool.
8. Cartoons help participants to remember important ideas.
9. Photos rarely can be educational and humorous.
10. Cartoons are fun; they make us laugh!

We've all seen the studies show that engaging, inclusive illustrations help drive home your message and will help participant's remember important details. Stock images and photography just can’t compete with custom, hand drawn training cartoons. If you want to add topic-specific training cartoons that add pizazz to your presentation, Workplace Toons has you covered. Workplace Toons is your perfect solution for custom hand drawn training cartoons on a wide variety of topics, from anger management to workplace violence and a ton in between. Please see the ever-growing library of titles here. Custom illustrations are also available and more affordable than you think. Check out custom options here. Visit the website at www.WorkplaceToons.com today!

Icebreaker: Pointing out the Obvious

This icebreaker is intended to get people to understand how they are perceived by others and to demonstrate to all participants that what we think or assume about others may or may not be correct. Before you begin this exercise, be sure you stress to participants to be positive and not point out any negative or hurtful things to others. You'll need about 2-3 minutes per participant for this activity.

You start by seating everyone in a circle with one chair in the center. You choose who will go first or the instructor can go first. The first participant sits in the center chair.

You pick a starting point for round one and the first person in the circle has to say, “It is obvious that . . . “ and add something that is obvious about the participant in the middle. This must be obvious not an assumption, like “It is obvious that you are wearing a yellow shirt.” Then each person in the circle points out an obvious conclusion about the person in the center.

That ends round one. Round Two, the sentence must start out with, “I assume that . . . “ and then must add something they assume based on the “obvious” fact they pointed out in round one. Now they can say, “I assume that you like yellow.”

That ends round two and the fun round begins. In round three the sentence starts with, “I imagine that . . . “ and adds anything they think is a good guess about the person in the center. The person in the center is free to voice up at any time and say things like "Yes, that's right," or "No, that's not correct." Each person gets to be in the center once for three rounds.

This icebreaker teaches people in the center how they are perceived by others based on outward observations and teaches those in the circle how observations about people based upon what they see may or may not be true. This is a great inclusion and diversity exercise. Enjoy!

Workplace Toons can help you to jazz up your presentations with hand drawn training cartoons. Please see the ever-growing library of titles here. Custom illustrations are also available and more affordable than you think. Visit the website at www.WorkplaceToons.com today!