Business Tips: Energizers

Energizers are activities used by trainers to encourage participant involvement and interaction.

They can be used at the beginning of each day to bring the group together to begin on a positive, upbeat note, though personally I prefer to use energizers after lunch or after a long presentation.

It must be stressed, that if you want to use energizers, you must take a number of things into consideration.

Choose carefully, taking account of the people present. If people are unfamiliar with using energisers, begin gently. Respect those who really do not want to take part.

Take into account culture, gender and disability. There may be situations where it is not appropriate for men and women to touch each other. If people have disabilities that prevent them from joining in, involve them some other way, such as observers or umpires.

Buzz
Ask people to turn to the person next to them and talk about what has just been covered, an issue that has just arisen, the agenda or a decision to be made.

Mirrors
Place people into pairs. One person is the actor, the other the mirror. The mirror does whatever the actor does, mirroring their actions. After a few minutes, change roles.

National Anthem
This is one that I have used in multi-cultural environments. However, consider the backgrounds of the participants.

First, you will need a source of music such as a tape player or CD and a ball.

The participants stand in a circle and the trainer puts on the music and participants dance and pass the ball around in the circle.

Whenever the music stops, whoever has the ball in his/her hand must step into the circle and sing the first verse of his/her national anthem. (if the participant is Australian, it is quite acceptable for them to sing the first line and hum the rest!!).

If they cannot remember the national anthem they have to sing a love song instead.

After this has been done, turn on the music again and participants again pass the ball in the circle. The game continues until the participants have had the chance to sing or the trainer feels that everyone has been energized.

I must admit, when I was first advised to use energizers, my first reaction was - what a load of bollocks. I couldn't imagine conducting a workshop (not that I would ever get the chance!) involving Kerry Packer, Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch etc. and getting them to pass balls around and dance in circles. At least one would tell me where to go!

However, I did try it and they did work! Just remember, they are not suitable for every occasion.