Per Team:
• several sheets of flipchart paper
• markers

Per Observer:
• sheet with the words to the song
• observer sheet

Tell participants that they have been working hard and need some fun. They are going to do an activity which will help them remember the theory they’ve just learned. Divide the participants into teams of four to seven participants. Assign one person from each team to be a “secretary.”

Tell the groups that their task is to write a song to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine” (or another commonly recognized tune). They have thirty minutes to complete the task. The words to this song will be about the theory learned earlier that day. For example, if they had been in a class learning how to use Excel or another spreadsheet application, the first lines of the song might be: “I dream of numbers/in cells of spreadsheets.”

Give each team flipchart paper and markers. Advise them that at the end of the activity, they are to present their song to the other teams. (Optional: a prize may be awarded to the team writing the song voted the most original.)

Tell them that to help them, you are giving the secretaries a worksheet that contains the words to the song that they are to make up new words for. While the various teams go to their break-out rooms, tell the “secretaries” that their real duty is to watch the group dynamics and to report back on the process.

If the workshop is on TEAMS, then the “secretaries” should observe:

• who assumed leadership (one person/a group of people/shared between all members)
• if the person(s) in “power” positions listened to all participants or just some participants
• whether all people took part in developing new words
• what roles various people assumed (leader/helper/thinker)
• what behaviours helped the process
• what behaviours hindered the process

If the workshop is on PROBLEM-SOLVING, then the “secretaries” should observe:

• who assumed leadership (one person/a group of people/shared between all members)
• whether all people took part in developing new words
• if those individuals in “power” positions listened to all participants or just some
• what processes were used to develop new words (brainstorming/everyone taking a crack at the words for a line and then choosing the best/all people working on each line together)
• how disagreements were handled
• what behaviours helped the process
• what behaviours hindered the process

If the workshop is on COMMUNICATION SKILLS, then the “secretaries” should observe:

• whether one member or a group assumed “power”
• if those individuals in “power” positions listened to all participants or just some
• whether all people took part in the discussion
• whether people asked others for their opinions/help
• how disagreements were handled
• what behaviours helped the process
• what behaviours hindered the process

If the workshop is on LEADERSHIP, then the “secretaries” should observe:

• who assumed leadership (one person/a group of people/shared between all members)
• who displayed leadership qualities
• what were these leadership qualities
• who displayed “helper” behaviours which assisted those in leadership
• what behaviours helped the process
• what behaviours hindered the process

Give each “secretary” a sheet with the words to the song written upon it. They may also use this sheet to jot down song lines as directed by the team. Also give them an observation sheet which lists what they are to observe (as noted above).

After thirty minutes, reassemble the teams. Let each team reveal the words to their song. If they want, they might prefer to sing it. Acknowledge each team’s contribution.

Advise the teams that there were two parts to the activity. One was creating a song which would help them “learn” the theory. The other part was to see how successfully each team applied this theory when working together on their song. The “secretary” was also acting as an observer.

Ask each observer to report on what happened in each team. Write points down on flipchart.

Ask team members for more information and clarification.

• it is easy to learn theory but harder to apply it
• it takes constant practise to become proficient in a skill
• memorizing the song and then repeating the words silently (when in a similar situation) will help them to focus on the “right” behaviour