Catch the buzz in 2007 with
one of our Buzz Rings! They are one of my favorite tool and is sure
to be one of your favorites as well.
Concept:
This
great ring will get your participants talking about the "buzz words”
in a fun way. Get the rings buzzing and talk about what those buzz
words mean.
Directions as a Pre-briefing tool:
·
To process with the ring, talk about
what the "buzz" words are that your group may encounter during the
program. Then give each small ring a name of one of those words.
For example, your group may come up with the words, Trust, Teamwork,
Communication, Respect, and Leadership. Those “buzz words” each get
assigned one of the small rings.
·
Explain to the group that you are going
to get the buzz words ‘buzzing’ on the ring. Go ahead and start up
your buzz ring!
·
The object is to try and pass the buzz
ring around the group and see if the group can keep the rings
buzzing the entire way around the circle.
·
While the group is passing it around
you can talk about the buzz words and what they will mean throughout
the day in your program. You can also have your group set goals
around allowing for mistakes, passing rules, etc. If someone in the
group makes the rings stop, you can process it immediately or
encourage them to get the rings going again and then process it at
the end as a large group.
There are several things to
bring up as you process this activity. Here are a few examples:
Was anyone nervous to be the
one receiving the ring? Why? Common answers are: Not wanting to
screw up in front of the group, Not wanting to let the group down by
making a mistake. This opens up a great opportunity to talk about
how those issues might come up throughout the day as the group does
initiatives together. How did performance anxiety play into your
emotions? How many people hoped that someone else in the group
would screw up before it got to them? (this is VERY common!) It's
a wonderful tool to help groups set goals around how to establish a
safe environment for people to try new things.
It’s good to point out that
most people have not played with a buzz ring before, so being
willing to try new things in front of the group is important. It's
a great way to start the day and then to come back to at the end of
the day.
Sometimes if the rings stop in
the process, a participant will give a good effort at getting the
rings going again but only get three of the five rings buzzing and
then continue passing it around. This gives you a good avenue to
talk about how difficult it can be to keep all five of the buzz
words they came up with (Trust, Teamwork, Communication, Respect,
Cooperation) going at one time. Can we always have Trust if we
don’t have Respect at the same time? Some good dialogue can develop
from this.
Getting Started:
To get the rings started can be tricky and you just need to play with it
awhile to figure out which system works best for you. Some place their
palm down on the still rings and give them a good spin. By turning the
large ring at the same time will get the rings buzzing. Others will
slap at the rings and turn the large ring at the same time to get them
buzzing. Play with it and see which method works best for you.
Target behaviors tool: Another way to
use it is to ask the group who is good at 'multi-tasking'. After those
admit (or don't admit!) pass the buzzing ring around the circle and ask
each participant to tell the group 3 things about themselves while
keeping the rings buzzing. This is hard for even GREAT multi-taskers!
Debriefing Tool: At
the end of a workshop, ask participants to form a circle. Get
the ring out and start it buzzing. Ask your participants, "
How do we keep the buzz going from this workshop?"
You can model a response by
saying, "I'm going to keep the buzz by committing to honest feedback to
my team." (or whatever from the workshop content). Then pass the buzz
ring to the next person in the circle.
When the next person gets the
ring, he/she states what he/she will take from the workshop into
their practice and passes the buzz ring to the next person. The next
person states what she/he will take from the workshop into the classroom
or teaching and passes the buzz ring to the next person in the circle.
This pattern continues around the circle until the ring gets back to the
facilitator.
If the ring stops buzzing as it
goes around the circle, the person has to restart the buzz and can
mention what might be something that could stop the buzz. After they say
something that could stop the workshop buzz, they have to come up with a
way to get the buzz going again in their practice.
The fascination with the buzz ring
combined with the reflection helps folks leave with a smile and a bunch
of ideas.
Just thought I would pass the
"buzz" on to you with the idea.
(Thanks to Pat Rastall for finding this fun tool and
bringing the idea to us. And thanks to Pris Callison for sharing ways
she uses it too!).
