“We’re All In This Together”
Board Dynamics and Communication
USY Fall Board 2009
Prepared by Amy Dorsch
· 3 sessions, ½ hour in length
Intro:
There’s no “I” in “team” but there is an “m-e!”
Each one of you contributes to your team in a different way, but in order for your board to be a well-oiled machine and work efficiently, you have to learn to work together! The following games will help you learn to work efficiently as a group. The key is however to make sure that all are contributing to the goal.
Blindfolded “Copy-Cat” (10 min)
Materials: markers, paper and 4 blindfolds
Split into 4 teams. Ask for one volunteer to be blindfolded. The rest of the group will guide the blindfolded volunteer in a “copy-cat” exercise. The image to copy is attached. The challenge is to effectively communicate to the person drawing to get him/her to copy the original as much as possible in 3 minutes or less.
Discussion:
· How do you decide to communicate? Did you have one voice giving directions but others making suggestions?
· Did you use adjectives and descriptive words to express yourself more clearly? As the recipient, we’re you frustrated at all that you weren’t getting it?
· How can you relay your message to someone who just can’t “see” what you mean?
· In what ways can you communicate in order for others to understand you?
· What were the goals of this exercise?
(Goals: supporting someone through a challenge, working together, effective communication)
Consultant/Client (15 min)
Materials: poster paper, markers
Goal- listening – in order to properly address the problem, you need to ensure you’ve listened to the issues and asked questions that may need to be clarified. Effective communication means asking questions when you don’t understand and being part of a team means offering support and listening to one another
Divide the group in two and have them assemble in 2 concentric circles, one facing the other. Explain that the inside circle is the “consultants,” and the outside circle is the “client.” Each member from the client group faces the consultants. The client describes a common USY problem found on their list that they find familiar (e.g. It’s always the same people leading Tefillot) and the consultant group has 1 minute to ask any clarifying questions [this part is important to gain more of an understanding of what the other person is trying to say], and come up with a suggestion. The facilitator asks for the group to share their responses and jots it down on poster paper.
After 3 minutes, the clients then moves one space over. Repeat for 2 rounds and then have the clients switch chairs with the consultants for another 2 rounds. Leave time for discussion at the end.
Discussion questions:
· What problems did you hear of?
· Was it challenging to think of a solution on the spot?
· Was your solution something realistic that you would like to share?
· What was it like hearing a supportive solution from your peer? Can we solve our own challenges by working as a team? How can we best use each other as resources?
Me’ever Yam Suf/Crossing the Red Sea (optional, if time permits)
Goals: communication and working together
Materials: 3 index cards marked as a “wolf/ze’ev,” “rabbit/shafan” and “carrot/gezer,” list of “rules” for each group to read
You can do this as a competition by handing each of the four groups a set of 3 and racing to the answer.
Mark a “body of water” by drawing a line of masking tape down the center of the room. Explain to the group that you are Moshe, about to cross the Red Sea. Along with B'nai Yisrael, you have animals with you. You have to get a dog, a rabbit and food across but can only carry yourself and one item at a time. How can you get across while following these 2 conditions?
Rules:
1)wolf and rabbit cannot be alone as wolf will eat the rabbit
2)Rabbit and food cannot be alone as rabbit eats the food
Discussion:
This was an exercise in problem solving. In order to problem solve you needed to employ effective communication.
· Was there one leader?
· Did you struggle to communication among each other?
· Was there good listening going on? What was proof of effective listening?
· How were messages communicated? Did each member feel heard? Did everyone contribute?
· Could you solve this problem without listening to each other?
· DO NOT GIVE THEM AN ANSWER- not every problem will have a “magic solution.” Some issues cannot be solved immediately but we must continue to attack the problem and work together to come up with solutions
Client/Consultant Problems:
· My chapter board is apathetic. No one really wants to do anything. [issue: lack of initiative, indifference).
· It’s always the same people leading services in my region [lack of skills, knowledge or comfort with Judaic content]
· We have one chapter program a week and it’s always the same 6-10 people at each program
· Anything cool we want to do costs a lot of money and USYers complain [with good reason] that they don’t have the funds
· Our youth advisor/director does all the work when it’s our idea [issue: division of labor between staff and youth]
· Our youth advisor/director doesn’t let us carry out anything we think of
· People don’t come to anything Jewish or Social Action related
· Our dances used to be packed and the biggest events of the year but now, our turn outs are weak at dances
· Regional programs are difficult to get to for some of the USYers who live in remote areas
· We do the same programs year after year, we need to revitalize our old school programming
· My chapter has high attendance at regional events, but does not really show up to local events
· People at school say they don’t find out about events. You assigned a phone tree at the beginning of the year but it’s not working
· People come to programs just to “hang out” and don’t really want to participate in anything planned by the board or staff
· Our membership is the same in January than it was in September.
Crossing the Red Sea:
Using your labeled index cards, follow the rules to get everyone safely across. You can only make one move at a time!
Rules:
1)wolf and rabbit cannot be alone as wolf will eat the rabbit
2)Rabbit and carrot cannot be alone as rabbit eats the food
Crossing the Red Sea:
Using your labeled index cards, follow the rules to get everyone safely across. You can only make one move at a time!
Rules:
1) wolf and rabbit cannot be alone as wolf will eat the rabbit
2) rabbit and carrot cannot be alone as rabbit eats the food
Crossing the Red Sea:
Using your labeled index cards, follow the rules to get everyone safely across. You can only make one move at a time!
Rules:
1)wolf and rabbit cannot be alone as wolf will eat the rabbit
2)Rabbit and carrot cannot be alone as rabbit eats the food
Crossing the Red Sea:
Using your labeled index cards, follow the rules to get everyone safely across. You can only make one move at a time!
Rules:
1)wolf and rabbit cannot be alone as wolf will eat the rabbit
2)Rabbit and carrot cannot be alone as rabbit eats the food