Multiple Intelligence and facilitation

Today’s blog centres on my experience of having to facilitate learning programs that I design and conduct. Recently in November we had the opportunity to conduct a teambuilding program for a Team of high performing senior executives. The profile included the group’s CEO, directors and CEOs of sister companies based in Australia. It was immensely daunting for me as I dug in deep to ensure every thing I could to ensure the program met the requirements of the participants.

Facilitating a debrief

After an activity what will come next is the critical facilitating session. This is the difference we bring in Teamwork Bound in the team building programs that we have conducted. As a facilitator my team have included techniques that took into account Howard Gardner’s ground breaking work on multiple intelligence. For those of you who are not familiar with the work done by Garner, his theory suggests that there are a variety of styles by which individuals grasps information. As an educator, you need to be mindful of that and in the 1/2 a day or 1 day training program, depending on the profile of your participants you can include an appropriate reviewing technique to address aspects of the Multiple intelligence described by Gardner. Hence if you would like to facilitate well, you must use a variety of facilitation techniques when you review an activity; it is not about just asking the right questions, its more.

Here is a table that will provide examples from each of the 8 multiple intelligence, described by Gardner.

One critical feature of a good facilitation session is your ability to engage the learners in a meaningful way without the  trappings of talking down or preaching. It requires acute skills that will require you to engage your leaners so that the review sessions meet the learning outcomes designed. This is the approach that we have undertaken and in the review of our evaluations, our scoring for facilitation skills is usually high in the range of a perfect score.

Audacity to last

I have reposted a blog post I wrote 3 years ago. The very reason being, I see folks who are willing to give up, when the odds are stacked against them. Below is my account of suffering mercilessly for 7 hours in the year 2007. I completed that race, just like the master’s programs and every other endeavor I have worked towards to. So folks, don’t give up, pain is at best temporary. Odds are there for you to cherish your victory.

After 7 months of training, I dreaded this day, when I realized that the D day had arrived. However, August the month when I will hang everything else to dry, became convoluted with 2 critical project work that came our way.  Worst of all I did not even manage an open water swim. 

On the 2nd of September, I made the decision to follow through with the race I had painstakingly worked for and dreamed about.

Just before my wave of swimmers started, one chap was waving frantically asking for help. To our horror we saw his head dipping into the water only to emerge again. We shouted at the race officials to go and help him as we watched in horror wondering if we were going to witness death right before our eyes. The safety boat got to him on time and he was saved. My wave got the signal to start and there I went with a prayer to be safe as I started the 2 K swim. Even before I reached the first buoy, I realized what a big difference swimming in the sea meant. I panicked a bit as the strokes and breathing did not coordinate with the big waves that was hitting me each time I pulled up to breathe, using my breast strokes. Though I have been training in the pool using front crawl, the sea was not the place to experiment a new swimming stroke. I started to drink in water and I lost my breath too. I contemplated turning back, stopped swimming and treaded water for a while, until I summoned enough courage to carry on. It became a real struggle for me and it took me quite a while to get use to the strokes and the sea. As we swam east, the sun was rising and the only line of sight were swimmers heads and legs kicking wildly in front of you. I swam on and I realized that time was not on my side and I had just 1 hr 15 mins to complete the 2 K swim before I could potentially get kicked out of this race. I got kicked in the face a couple of times and finally I got used to the sea and thetorture of just swimming and focusing on just one part of this race. That is to finish the swim. I did finish this part of the race and I did it in good time, a time of 52 minutes as I raced to my bike to start the cycling leg that will last a distance of 90 km.

I got to my bike and I sat on the floor to wear my biking shoes (T2 – sidi) that were 4 years old and only recently came apart on its soles 2 months ago. I was wearing a pair of shoes that were not the best or the latest.The bike that I was mounting on was 15 years old, a bike frame that I bought with my first bonus, GIANT CADEX. As I was riding out I realised I was ahead of many new and gallant bikes whose owners have not finished their swim yet. I got myself into my aero position and I started to kick on the pedals as we rode out away from East Coast to the city. There were many other cyclist who were in my pack, some had completed the swim , whilst others were doing the relay portion of biking. The relay bikers were strong, as their legs were fresh and I was keeping up with them. There were bumps along East coast until we reached the city. For once, the 2 lengthy hills, did not break my tempo or speed, I raced up the hills on Sheares bridge in sheer excitement and cruised down fast at 45km and hour .

It got exciting when I realized that my 15 year old work horse was competing neck to neck with the Cervelos, Feltheads and Softrides and I was giving them a ride of their lives. I knew I had made it past the swim leg and I focused to just finish the bike ride. We did 4 laps around the city and I had one of best rides ever in any competition. The legs felt great and I was flying. It was great to find my family on lap 3 when I saw my wife, Musaib and Zahra waiting for me. I turned back to wave at them as I passed them. On lap 4, I looked for them and I was not able to catch them in sight and instead, a lady cheered me on realizing I was hoping for a cheer from a kind soul or two. I finished 90 km of bike ride in 3:00 hrs, averaging 30km/hr and it felt great.That left with just one more leg to go and yes I had just one functional leg at that time when I transitioned to run. Landing on my right leg, sent a sharp pain veering up my knees as I struggled to understand what had gone wrong in a race that was going so right for me up to now.
I have suffered with ITB, illiotibial band before and its ugly face reared itself on the run. ITB strikes even harder, when you depend on the legs for all 3 events. The swim using breast stroke makes things worst for the ITB. Likewise, the adrenaline rush I had for the bike ride, just took all the wind out of my legs as I have strained them pretty hard right up to the run stage. The 20 km run in the streets of Singapore was a limb and run as I literally struggle to finish the race. It was the sharp pain that repeated itself on every step I took. I saw guys passed me and I knew that I was inflaming my ITB even more as I ran. One chap tap me on my shoulder and he said what I was doing was gutsy as he passed me. There were others on that day who were suffering the same pain. Some even stopped. I knew I was not able to run, but nothing is going to stop me from finishing this race and I will finish it with the pain on my right knee. My training partner passed me and he told me to hang on. I pushed to the finish and I finished with 1 hrs more to spare from the cut of time of 8 hr 15 mins. I finished my race in 7: 16 : 16, a time that I am very proud of and I can proudly say that I finished one of the hardest race of my life. I finished my race in the rain that was pelting me and I saw my wife, my son and my girl who were soaked in the rain as they cheered me on. I stepped on the finishing line with my TEAMWORKBOUND banner, for a day that started in trepidation, lasted in pain and finished in sheer jubilation, I know I have earned the title of being anIRONMAN, with my training mates, Francis Chow and Yeoung Seong.

Core Traits of a Dysfunctional Team

As a curriculum developer for team dynamics and team building training programs, I have always wanted to find out what are some core traits in a team that will be distinctly described as dysfunctional. In the several research papers, I read and the books that I referenced I was able to narrow down 2 core traits that will sow the seeds of dysfunctional behavior that will grow unabated in a team.

In this post I would like to share with you the book that was written by Jim Fredrick, author, journalist, and the Managing Editor of renowned Times magazine. His book, Black Hearts: One Platoon’s descent into Madness, details the very core destructive behavior that I will equate with dysfunctional Teams.

Blackhearts: One platoons descent into Madness

Jim Frederick, made an investigative journey to find out what possessed 4 American soldiers from the 1st Battalion,  502nd Infantry regiment, Bravo company 1st platoon, to murder and rape a family of 4 in Iraq. 4 American soldiers were implicated for murdering the parents, 6 year old girl and triple rape of the 14 year old sister, who was murdered subsequently on March 12 2006. Specifically, James Baker, Paul Cortez, Steven Green, and Jesse Spielman, who were responsible for this crime and were subsequently investigated, tried and sentenced.  Their act will go down in history as, one of the most vile, nefarious crime ever committed by soldiers from the US armed forces.

This book detailed the soldiers training and subsequent deployment in Iraq on Sep 29 2005. Imagine, within a span of just 6 months, soldiers who were sent to the war coined as Operations Iraq Liberation (O.I.L), descended into a crime that would make the stomach churn and turn in disgust as you read the pages and transcripts on what the 4 soldiers did. I read this book with great interest and sadness as it also showcased typical traits that I will coin as dysfunctional behaviours in a team. It starts with the teams and radiates upwards to leaders who led such teams.

The soldiers on initial deployment to Iraq were lead by Sgt Yribe, and here was one act on his part that contributed one critical trait that I would associate with dysfunctional teams. In a check point that was manned by Sgt Yribe and his men, in particular the very same soldiers who perpetrated this crime, Sgt Yribe, missed fired his weapon that killed an Iraqi women. Sgt Yribe and his men, covered up this act and reconstructed this scene reporting, the vehicle the women was traveling on was speeding against the check point firing at the soldiers. Sgt Yribe even planted a AK47 weapon to cover up this crime when it was reported to the superior officers. Here is trait no. 1, leaders must not set the wrong example of lying.

Sgt Yribe condoned cover ups. In his actions he also showed his team of soldiers that rules can be broken and you can get away with it. The 2nd trait that I would equate with a dysfunctional teams is “Indiscipline”. The 1st Platoon, Bravo company soldiers, had a reputation for drinking, taking drugs and not following SOP’s prescribed. Walk through the work station of your employees, do look at their workstations and this will give you a clue. Are they tardy, are they on time, do your team members follow the rules.

The book by Jim Frederick, detailed when 2 such traits breeds uncheck it becomes an accepted norm. Dysfunctional teams personifies unethical behaviour. One of which is lying, telling half truths and reporting maliciously with inaccurate data or details. They are also indisciplined. Do share with me your experience with dysfunctional teams, I would like to hear from you too.

Jim, did justice to the victims in the book he wrote that documented this crime, however I am not able to accept the punishments meted out. The 3 soldiers were sentenced to life imprisonment and they are eligible for parole in 10 years and Green, who was tried in the civilian court was sentenced to life sentence without parole. Here is justice for you …..you decide.

Program: Rapid Team Performance Tool kit

Program Title: Rapid Team Performance Tool kit

Target Group: Senior Managers, Project Team, Executive Team, mandated for performance within 3 to 6 months

Program objectives: Participants who attend this program will acquire functional skills that will allow them to;

• Recognize personal traits, strengths and behavioural preferences of their team members
• Discover what has worked for them in the past
• Detail, how they will work as a team to meet the mandated timelines
• Establish norms for decision making
• Set in place individual goals that is aligned with their team goals

Group size: 25 participants

Duration: 2 days or 1 day

If you are into cattle grazing and you are looking at having a team building program for 150 of your staff at one go; then such a program may not fit your needs. However, should you want to see a quantifiable leap of your team’s performance at work that is aligned with the business goals, do get in touch with us. We can facilitate that experience for you with proven results to show. Do drop us a note  here.

And you don’t need to bring your own bike for this training program.

Ever wondered what it takes to be a high performing team? Watch this clip on the US Discovery Team. 9 cyclist riding their butts off for the sake of their Team Leader Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France. A cycling extravaganza that will take cyclists through more than 3600 km in 3 weeks, where mortal men, ride with their teams to place 1 cyclist in the podium.

The team works hard in a Time Trial, where 9 cyclists will crank their gears to make up the best time possible. In the time trials each cyclist will do his fair share of his workload by leading the pack in front, as he breaks wind. The pack drafts behind him just inches separating each wheel between the riders. Here you will see Teamwork at its best, as bikers behind the lead cyclist conserve 40% of their energy, the team trunches through at an average speed of 58 km/hr. Riders will ride with a ear piece and the leader will communicate with his team with the coach having his say as they ride furiously, oblivious to the conditions of road. Momentarily you will see the elements of great team dynamics, role modeling, sacrifice and leadership during the time trials.

At Teamwork Bound we offer carefully designed curriculums that are centred on Teams acquiring the skills required for HIgh Performance. The focus you see in the Time Trials is same sense of focus required in the Board room. If you have a project team, department or cross functional group, do consider our Rapid Team Performance Tool kit. This program incorporates the use of Lance Armstrong’s Team strategy for high performing Teams, that Teamworkbound is licensed to use.

A defining Team – YOG Iran

I have liked to see teams win. More so for a team that comes as an underdog and thrives to be different. A team comes together for a common purpose, in this instance in a football game, you play to score goals. Wining need not be the end game for a team, it is also all about, how you played the game. Here’s a picture of the Iran, YOG girls team who were celebrating the goal they scored. The picture came out in the front pages of the Straits Times, it epitomizes the celebration for being different, but striving still in the name of sportsmanship. Here’s the picture;

Iran YOG girls team

What captured my attention was seeing the girls, play this game whilst staying true to their core beliefs, wearing the head dress and covering themselves, from their hands to their legs. Their fundamental belief to be seen to be modest and of course wearing of the head scarf, so as not to show their full face.

As a team, they performed well too, they showed the true spirit of sportsmanship in this game that they played against Turkey.

Here’s the surprise, they lost to Turkey, then again, sports that I have indulged in all my life as a student to an adult had always been about participation. Coach Wooden, in his book talks about what differentiates a winning team, it is not about winning the game only. He talks about core values that you are willing to accept and steer your life goals as a compass.

This is one Team picture, that I liked, I hope you like it too. And yes, you can be different and play the same game.

Feedback

As educators we will reference books, blogs, websites and learn from other facilitators. There will come a time you will start to experiment and try out the activities that you have learnt. I have done the same thing too in my practice as a facilitator and educator. As you start to experiment with different methodologies and approaches do get that valuable feedback you need.

Today being father’s day, I got feedback from my kids. My 7 year old sent me a gift wrapped present, wishing me happy father’s day as I worked on my computer today. Here’s the gift she made for me or rather, pen wrote on a file that she had;

My 11 year old son, was a little more innovative, he found an artwork that he completed and realised that could double as a gift and left it beside me when I had a nap yesterday. Here’s his artwork;

Feedback is the key that sounds out your interactions and impact, in this instance my relationship as a father to my children. However, in the realm of learning and facilitation getting genuine feedback from participants differentiates good facilitators from “Band aid trainers”. This is the term I have coined to describe half baked trainers who talk out loud, whilst pursuing certifications and short cut degrees.

As of April this year, I have started to take on lecturing work at the Institute of Adult Learning. Here, I lecture one of the toughest module, also know as Cu 3 a, that teaches participants to Design and Develop WSQ training programs. Lecturing twice a week, I also incorporated activities in my delivery of this module, as my learners grapple with Instructional design and learning theories. My learners too provided feedback and this was the card that was given to me, when I finished their 5 weeks training program.

More succinctly, my learners also provided feedback to the administrators, on my lecturing approach and competency as a facilitator. These were their thoughts;
Facilitator 1: Ebnu rating 1 – 5 max
Knowledgeable about the topic 4.9
Provided relevant examples 4.9
Used a range of activities 4.9
Engaged the learners 4.9
Professional   4.8

Here are their comments too:
- Good facilitator who puts in the effort to ensure that learners understand where he is coming from, using various farmative assessment methods. He helps keep us awake too!
- This module has a lot of theories that requires good understanding before it can be applied to the training material design. Mr Ebnu did well in making the learning very systematic and logical
- Ebnu is very knowledgeable and he shares a lot of his experience to enhance our understanding of this course in relation to actual curriculum developer.
- Mr Ebnu is approachable, knowledgeable, fun, energetic and very lively. He made us understood even better. Though I have attended other Cus but he is very well versed and always makes our lesson interesting. Keep it up Mr Ebnu and thanks.
-The facilitator was very approachable and friendly and he made clear all doubts on the assignment procedures. IAL, do maintain this standard
-The facilitator is a great motivator for this particularly tough CU. He provides guidance and has the patience and effort in attending to my queries. Mr Ebnu, keep up the great work.

This is the feedback I got from the evaluations. Does this happen by chance, not at all, it comes about because as a facilitator I have done my time, getting pass the stringent educational process that is institutional, without the trappings of finding a short cut. Its about cutting it deep, working as a practitioner, developing and delivering learning programs.

This is us, educators not your “Band aid trainers”.

Experiential activity No. 1 – Key Punch

Here is one activity that I have used frequently in many of my Leadership and Team dynamics training programs. The video clip that you see in this blog will also show you how this activity was conducted. The key punch activity is a great way to start your training program and it will appeal to your kinesthetic learners. For learning outcomes that involves getting learners to assimilate and remember organization’s values and mission, this activity will be spot on.

I was able to capture a video of this activity in two different training programs that we delivered. Here’s the clip;

Props required
You will need a set of alphabetical pads you can get from a toy shop. A 5 metres rope that you can purchase from a hardware shop.

Set up
Lay the rope on the ground such that it forms a close circle with the pads placed inside the circumference. The pads can be placed in two fashion as you can see from the clip
- My colleague prefers the pads to circumnavigate the rope
- My preference to have the pads placed randomly all over inside the circle

Objective
The group is required to key punch their value statement one at a time without tripping the rules

Rules.
1. Pads needs to be touched in sequence
2. Team is given only1 minute to finish their task
3. Any breaking of the rule will result in a restart
4. The string acts as a forcefield that radiate from the ground moving upwards
5. Only 1 participant can reach into the forcefield any one time

Debrief considerations
This activity is great for the following debriefs
a. Collective team goals
b. Communication
c. Participation without any passengers

Sometimes my clients, may lament that this is one activity that they have done before. When they share this perspective with us, we usually provide them with an overview of the variation version of key punch that we execute. More often then not, they come to a realization, that this activity can be conducted differently and it is the debriefs that impacts learning outcomes.

Here is one response we got from Manpower Inc, a fortune 500 company for whom we executed a Team building program that resonated their values and mission statement. This was their card to us for the great job we did for them.

Contact us at office@teamworkbound.com, if you would like us to present to you, our approach towards delivering a training program.This includes training programs that are centred on behavioural change (Customer services skills incorporating experiential learning methodology), team dynamics, leadership and facilitation skills.

If you prefer a detailed instruction sheet in Pdf on how to run this activity, do leave us a comment on this blog and we will send you the brief sheet on how to run this activity on your own

Key Concepts for Experiential Learning

Having spent close to 13 years as an adult educator, driving organization and corporate performance through learning and development activities, experiential learning by far engages adult learners more then any other platform I have chosen in delivering training programs. You would realize by now, the powerpoint can easily bore your learners, likewise your talk will start to sound like a broken pipe resulting in you losing your learners who would rather spend time with the ZZZZ monsters with their eyes open.

Hence a good grasp of understanding key concepts in experiential learning will help you to augment your training program with activities that will get them out of their seats. Learners can do an activity that co-relates to the objectives of the lesson that you are facilitating. Its about engaging your participants constructively. With experiential activities,you will be able to engage your learner, provided you are able to link the activity with the concepts you want to bring across. Then again do not hide behind the experience and let the experience speak for itself. There is an inherent need on part of the facilitator to facilitate a discussion on key learning outcomes that came out of the session.

For the past 1 year we have been contracted to conduct Panasonic’s experiential learning programs, that includes the use of a ropes course and the low elements. This is one program, where some participants are reluctant to attend as it includes the use of strenuous activities and you will be in the outdoors for at least 60% of the day. Here’s one remark that came about as a result of our approach taken in running experiential activities. Lester, on day’s end remarked, “I would not have taken part in the activities and this was one program I wanted to put off for a long time, due to the use of the ropes course. Surprisingly, I took part in all the activities today, because of Ebnu’s assurance that I had a choice in choosing to take up the tasks presented.” Hence, here’s rule number 1 and essentially one of the most important rule for the day when you start your session.

It has to be; “Challenge by Choice” and participants can choose to withdraw at anytime they choose and this decision must be respected by their peers.

Don’t just say it, explain it as you facilitate this concept before you start the ropes course for the day.

Teamworkbound has organized experiential activities for adult participants, ensuring all aspects of the safety systems have been looked into. We hold current certifications to use Ministry of Education’s Adventure centres as a cerified EFI. Do get in touch with us should you want to use a ropes’ course with a team of experiential learning experts. We will be able to deliver debriefs that are spot on for adult participants.

Here is the link to get in touch with us