Play It Again, Sam! (Part 2)

Most facilitators worry about using similar training games with the same group. They believe that the participants will get bored and complain. They especially don't want to use the same framegame (instructional games with the same procedure but with different content) more than once.

Usually, this anxiety is a projection of the facilitator's own boredom. If you think about it, nobody gets bored playing SCRABBLE or CHESS or QUAKE or BRIDGE more than once. Actually, the more you play, the more you get addicted to the game.

There's a special advantage to reusing the same framegame to teach different content. The participants don't have to learn the rules and the mechanics of the game again. They can focus on the content.

Recently, I used the framegame GROUP GROPE five times in a row in a strategic planning retreat.

During the first round, the participants identified major needs of the customers.
During the second round, they predicted what the future is going to look like in their industry.
During the third round, they anticipated what their competition is up to.
During the fourth round, they worked out corporate strategies for the next 5 years.
During the fifth round, they identified the drivers and restrainers that would influence the implementation of the new strategy.

The efficiency of the group improved from one round to the next as they became more fluent with the flow of the framegame.

Try a piece of do-it-yourself experiential learning: Use the same framegame twice in your next workshop.

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