Here I am, standing at the front desk of a five star hotel in Goa (no, I won’t tell you the name), waiting for a front desk executive to check me in. I am not standing unaccompanied here. There are at least 4-5 more restless humans who are waiting for someone to attend them. Despite a long lasting wait of 10 minutes (trust me it felt like an hour-long wait), none of us are ready to leave this spot. All the guests, including me, are busy looking at a scene that is unfolding like a blockbuster movie. The current scene of this movie has a lot to offer. It has right amount of action, drama, emotions and revenge. A guest relations manager and a house-keeping manager are showing their resentment out in the open with half a dozen people from both departments teaming up to support their manager.
Author: naren@hybreed.co
So very often, leaders in teams feel that individuals in their team are “holding back” – and not giving their all. Do you have a situation like that?
Facing the Giants – is one movie that you should get your team to watch together. Broadly, it is the story of a losing coach with an underdog football team that faces their giants of fear and failure on and off the field to surprising results. Watch the video below:
Continue reading “Movie Inspiration On Going Beyond”
Program
A gamified workshop experience to understand unconscious bias and D&I.
Objective
• While D&I has always played a major role in driving innovation and results, this was cemented as one of the key values for this organization, only
recently.
• Hence, the objective of the program was to introduce and make participants aware of the six prevalent unconscious biases that exist in teams.
Audience
• This program was designed for the entire leadership team with 250+ leaders from all business units of the company participating.
Solution & Execution
The entire execution was planned through a combination of engagement on an app and a video conferencing platform.
A gamified solution was designed on the app with an interesting storyline of ‘the chamber of secrets.’ On the day of the intervention, participants were sent to breakout rooms of a virtual meeting platform and challenged to crack clues that would help restore a ruined ancient monument.
To set the context and as a prelude to the workshop, participants were requested to go through some curated content related to D&I. This also
enabled to get the participants to immediately relate to the gamified content and for us to build momentum from the start.
On the day of the workshop, the context was set, the participants were split into teams and then put in breakout rooms. Each room had the same
objective – to solve the clues in the shortest possible time. As participants began solving the clues, they were for themselves, also uncovering the widely prevalent unconscious biases, one at a time.
The activity was interspersed with reflective questions. These nudged participants to think about any behavior that they would like to change/
eliminate/ incorporate in their own lives. The whole engagement was finally culminated with a debrief that brought all the learning together in the
organizational context.
Some snapshots from the app
Impact
While the participants had a fun and engaging experience with each other in the breakout rooms, there were several intangible benefits too.
Participants reflected on how they would change their behavior. Some of the participant inputs that we received are stated here verbatim:
• I will listen to new ideas with an open mind – even if I do not agree with the person
• I will never create stereotypes and prejudices only on looks and other useless traits.
• Check myself before applying any horn or halo effect. Don’t judge a book by its cover
• I will focus on the facts and data and remind myself of biases
• Unconscious biasness is difficult to leave behind but not impossible, will try to not look for similar to me effect
• I will monitor my own behavior, question my own decisions and drive a culture where there is Diversity and everyone feels Inclusive
• Giving talent an opportunity to flourish and recognizing that strength comes when different races, religion, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, nationalities and social statues work together. This is true inclusion and diversity for me
• Don’t judge the employees basis their past performance. Measure them on objective and realistic goals.
We also asked the participants how they liked the gamified activity and if they would like to rate it on a scale of 1-5, and this is what they had to say:
• Brilliant – more than 5
• Rocking game !!
• Excellent and interesting
• 5- it’s been a great activity
• 5; nice new experience of get connected on virtual platform
This is what our client stakeholders from the company, had to say about the entire engagement:
Client stakeholder, Head of Learning, Talent & OD
Focus U team, Big thanks for facilitating and designing this engaging activity. Our leaders and managers had a fabulous experience with the collaboration and competitiveness.
Client stakeholder, D&I Lead
THANK YOU to the FocusU team ! It isn’t easy to engage a group of 250 + managers. And you did it awesomely well.
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How’s the corporate training scenario at your organization? Do you think you have hit a wall with learning and training programs already? One major reason could be that even though your organisational training methods are regularly updated, they may not be working well with the different learning styles of your employees. Microlearning techniques, in the recent past, have proved to effective in solving most known learning and training requirements within any organisation.
Continue reading “How to Effectively Use Microlearning As a Learning Tool for Your Organisation?”
People living in the 20th century know so much about their ancestors and past events. How are we able to visualize someone else’s life events? How are we able to connect with characters that we haven’t physically met? There had to be a medium by which that information was passed, a medium so strong that it brought people together, for example, The Bible.
Program
Khaitan & Co | Pathfinder : Digital onboarding journey using microlearning and gamification.
Background
The objective of this exploratory virtual learning journey was to onboard the 48 Law Associates by :
● Introducing them to the Firm, its inception and history
● Enable them to know each other and develop as a cohort
● Solve engaging challenges while knowing the Firm
● Complement the virtual learning sessions through engaging activities and reinforcements
With the Pandemic still active, new Associates had to be onboarded virtually – while they continued to work from home. The virtual onboarding, delivered through an app, was built on an engaging storyline centered around travel. The Associates board a plane, complete check-in formalities and visit multiple locations in India. Read on to see how the journey unfolds.
Solution & Execution
The 7 – Week Journey was designed to ensure that the Associates progress gradually through a journey. We began with brief history of the Firm before proceeding to more complex topics and challenges, all the while, using an engaging storyline.
Below is a brief outline of the journey.
Let us take a deeper look at each of the 7 weeks – the content covered and the storyline that we used in the app.
Week 1 :
The Pathfinder journey began a week before the Associates were due to join the Firm. This was to ensure that Associates felt more connected with each other and also a little more confident before they joined and interacted with some key stakeholders.
Content Covered :
● Introduction to fellow Associates
● Welcome Message from Director HR
● History of the Firm
● Employee Engagement Initiatives
● Messages from Associates of Last Year
● Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives of the Firm
Virtual Journey on the App :
● Associates are welcomed onboard a flight where they share selfies with their home workspaces. They visit 3 cities – Kolkata, Delhi and Bengaluru – in the same order that the respective offices in these cities were established by the Firm. They learn about the Firm as they move from one location to the other.
● As part of the ‘In-flight Entertainment’, Associates binge watch a series where they hear the Associates from last year talk about their life at Khaitan & Co, the culture and tips on how to approach their first year.
● Associates were engaged in interesting activities such as talking about the talents they pursue, movies that describe them, sharing details of their family members, painting unique handprints and participating in the polls and quizzes.
On the day of joining, the Regional HRs of the firm commented on how prepared the Associates seemed to be. As part of a team call, some of the newly joined Associates were quizzed and the remaining team members were pleasantly surprised about how well prepared they were. The Associates also complimented the onboarding journey thus far and were looking forward to more.
Below are some snapshots from the app from Week 1 of Pathfinder :
Week 2 :
In Week 2, Associates had already joined the Firm. Through the day, they attended virtual learning sessions wherein they listened to key stakeholders from the Firm and built their capability in specific areas. In the evening, they were asked to use the app to check – in, share insights and more. By triggering recall, learning ensued.
Content Covered :
● Introduction to the Firm
● Learning & Development Function
● Office policy and essentials | Work from Home
● Knowledge Management Policy
● Timesheet
● Khaitan & Co Style Guide
● ERGO & Publications
Virtual Journey on the App :
● Associates set up camp in a forest while attending virtual sessions to build capability as Associates of Khaitan & Co.
● Associates returned to the App ‘basecamp’ at the end of the day, shared their key takeaways from the day and played some puzzles which refreshed the concepts.
● One of the days, they also recognized the role of the buddy (assigned to them by the HR) and connected with them with an introductory email.
Below are some snapshots from the App :
Weeks 3 & 4 :
Content Covered :
● Career Aspirations and key experiences
● P.O.S.H
Virtual Journey on the App :
● Associates were invited to undertake a trek to a summit which closely represented their journey to fulfill their career aspirations. As they try to brave the summit, they discuss their strengths, areas they would like to improve and key experiences which can help them move closer to their aspirations. All the while, we draw parallels to their trek : the summit they want to reach, the cliffs they foresee and the trails they wish to choose.
● After the trek – the Associates moved on in their journey and they decide to make a pitstop at a village where they solve a couple of instances related to Prevention of Sexual Harassment. The villagers are thrilled with the insights from the Associates.
Below are some snapshots from Weeks 3 &4 of the Pathfinder Journey :
Weeks 5 & 6 :
Content Covered :
● CLE Credit Policy
● Time Sheet Policy
● Style Guide
Virtual Journey on the App :
● Associates play a friendly match of cricket with the villagers and answer quizzes and puzzles related to CLE and Time Sheet policies.Very soon, they realized that their cars have been stolen, while they were busy playing and they have to find a way to reach the next destination.
● The villagers offer to help them but only if the Associates help them once more. Associates use their skills to decipher an encrypted manuscript. Once the Associates complete this, the villagers award them with an alternative mode of transportation – mules! With no other option, the Associates load their luggage and start moving towards the next destination – which is in fact a spot for treasure hunt!
● Alibaba has hidden a century old treasure in the caves. Will the associates be able to solve the puzzles in each cave to retrieve this treasure? Through a series of puzzles based on the Style Guide, Associates spot errors in the emails, redundant words, appropriate citations and other important skills that are critical for them to get started.
Below are some snapshots from Weeks 5 & 6 of the Pathfinder Journey :
Week 7 :
Content Covered :
● Summary & Closure
● Feedback
Virtual Journey on the App :
● After retrieving the treasure hidden by Alibaba (which was infact the values of KCO), Associates head on to their final spot – a beautiful scenic spot by a waterfall
● They reminisce their journey this far, share their favorite moments and share their feedback.
Below are some snapshots of Week 7 of the Pathfinder Journey :
Impact
There was good engagement on the journey from Day one. 48 Associates participated in the journey which had a total of 73 Challenges. And we had a total of 1659 completions. The learning journey was complemented by a leaderboard which kept the competition on and an activity feed which kept the engagement going.
Other tangible benefits that we saw were with respect to the preparedness of the Associates before they joined the Firm. It also helped the Associates to get to know each other at a deeper level despite being caught in the virtual world and this is a significant point. It will play a big role in how the Associates develop as a cohort within the Firm.
Below are some things that we heard from the Associates who participated in the journey :
Q : A moment in the Pathfinder journey that really stayed with you
“The beginning of it. Suddenly getting a mail that the firm wants us to play games. Then slowly realizing the intent behind it.”
“Quizzes about different cities/offices”
“A moment in the Pathfinder journey that really stayed with me is the day when we all were allotted mentors. I had no mentor back in law school and in my first year, the initial two months were so difficult. The moment I realized I had good seniors made me feel hopeful about the fact that I won’t get lost because I have someone to look up to know what is right and how to go about things”
“The overall effort put into this entire journey and the information about the culture of this firm will stay with me.”
Q : A challenge that you really liked :
“The puzzles were definitely my favorite challenges.”
“I liked the challenges which had crosswords to solve.”
“Make a funny face challenge”
“The one where we had to put our hand imprint.”
Q : Any emotions that you felt as you took this journey
“Excited, happy and ready”
“I was very confused initially. Things made some sense in between. I am still learning but right now I know stuff which seemed completely alien. That feeling of being able to navigate is peaceful.”
“Awe and wonder at the talent of colleagues. May it be art or just the way they use their words or even how everyone interpreted a challenge in a very similar manner or were poles apart in the submissions.”
“I would say I discovered that it helps to share and learn about others, no matter how different they are to you.”
Q : Anything else?
“The way the first week and month was planned was incredible. It worked as a great transition into the fast-paced corporate world we now find ourselves engulfed in. The team at KCO has put in tremendous effort in welcoming us into the firm and I couldn’t be more grateful!”
“Thank you for putting in this effort and ensuring our transition from university to work, in this virtual world, has been seamless.”
“I felt really connected with my colleagues, even though I have not met most of them. It was an overall excellent experience!”
“I’d like to thank the entire team for arranging this for us. Thank you for your effort, thought and time. I absolutely enjoyed the whole induction process. It couldn’t have been better looking forward to seeing you all in person :)”
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India is no longer considered the land of snake charmers. The Indian society has evolved and so has the Indian woman. The Indian woman has proven that she can do extra-ordinary things beyond her home chores. She has led by example in domains that were beyond imagination. Today let me share the stories of five women leaders who proved that anyone can be a leader, no matter her background.
Continue reading “5 Women Leaders Who Proved Leadership is Everyone’s Business”
Program
Induction program done virtually
Objective
To plan a virtual team building session for the summers interns of PVMI as part of their induction with the objective of they getting to know each other on an informal level
Solution
The HR Manager of PVMI approached us for this. The discussions had started before the lockdown started. At that time the plan was to run an activity at their office. After the lockdown started and running face to face workshops was not an option, we quickly got together as a team to brainstorm virtual alternatives. After a couple of hours, a new activity ‘
Knowing Me Knowing You’ was born. We pitched the plan to the client and they instantly liked it.
The key idea of the activity was to get the new team members to know each other better – at an informal level. As future colleagues, knowing different facets of others (their aspirations, fears, hobbies, achievements, dreams, values etc.) deeply helps in establishing an instant connection between new inductees. Working together hence becomes much easier.
We worked closely with the client to do the pre-program work, that was shared with the participants along with a zoom (platform client choose to run this session on) invite. Participants were asked to come prepared and come with an open mind.
The group was pre-divided into teams by the client and the list was shared with us.
<!–On the day of the Masterclass, the client himself moderated the session along with the FocusU advisor. The 60 minutes session by Simon Taufel was extremely well received. The session was capped by an open Q&A session that saw great participation from the audience.
–>
Execution of the activity:
Time – 15 mins
• At the scheduled time, participants logged in to the session via the Zoom link
• The facilitator started the session by welcoming the participants and kicked off the session with a few fun virtual energizers!
• The group was divided into 4 teams of 5 participants each (as was pre-decided by Perfetti).
• The lead facilitator then briefed the participants about the activity, along with objectives, instructions & end goals
Time – 35 mins
• Each team was sent to the breakout rooms where they did the sharing in a certain manner that was briefed to them.
• After the sharing in the breakout rooms, all the teams we re-congregated.
• The facilitator then enquired with the teams about the strategy they had adopted to ensure maximum sharing within their groups. Interesting methods emerged
• The participants were then introduced to a customised design software and were given a quick crash course on the same
• Each participant was then tasked to make a creative profile or slambook of sorts for one other member in their team using the information they gathered during the sharing
Time – 15 mins
• We downloaded those profiles from the editing software and shared them with those for whom they were created. Participants were asked to share in about 30 seconds – how they feel about their profiles.
• The session was then debriefed around some values of the organization.
A sample profile that was created during the activity:
Impact
Here is what Dibyo Choudhary,HR Manager, PVMI had to say after this workshop:
“I would like to congratulate and thank you for helping PVMI with such an engaging and fun session for the summer interns as part of their Induction. You already had various options for the session in mind when we were planning for the induction in our office. But when Covid19 situation led to the lockdown, you were able to quickly suggest us other options, which could be done on a virtual manner. It was wonderful working with the team who were ready with the entire flow of the program from Day 1 and were able to execute it exactly how we had planned the sessions to be. The session held true to what we at PVMI stand for – Fun, Connecting and Enriching.
Even in a virtual session they were able to maintain the mood as we have got used to during FocusU physical sessions. Last but not least, I would like to thank them also for helping us with such a beautiful video and posters of the interns. They were always available to help us make the video and the posters look perfect. The entire management of PVMI was really appreciative of what we had to show at the end of the session.
Thanks to the entire team of FocusU who made it possible and helped us in giving a very differentiated experience to our Interns”
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During the workshops that we facilitate, a common question that we get from business and HR leaders is to give recommendations on business books that they can gift to their team members either during a team offsite or post an intervention. Here is a list of ten books that we recommend – needless to add, this is by no means exhaustive – you of course know your team best and hence would be the best judge of what fits well in their context.
Continue reading “10 best books to gift your team during a team offsite”