SPA Conference session: On Your Marks, Get Set, Connect | |||
| One-line description: | Getting past the first impression: Take a step back from the bustle, spend a session at Spa seeing and being seen - A game to get to know / connect to people� somewhere between ice breakers and soul | ||
| Session format: | Workshop - 75 minutes [read about the different session types] | ||
| Abstract: | “If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life... were you alone?” – out of the film “Up in the Air”. Do you remember the last time you met a stranger and you connected – totally unexpectedly and with no hidden agendas? Maybe it was on the subway… maybe at lunch break – but it made your day magical. This session is not about learning new technologies and practices – there are all the other sessions for that. It’s also not about just another ice breaker activity. It is also not about another one of those techniques to build trust and enhance team work. It is about taking time to see and be seen. I believe that connecting to people is inspiring for us – I believe it is also a magical experience when another human being “just” listens and “just” sees us. At conferences we have the unique situation that we leave our everyday lives for a few days and meet people that are not directly relevant relevant to those everyday lives. Here we could enjoy one moment in time – being seen by people, where it does not matter whether they see. If the connection lasts – all the better… but it is about this moment, this connection. Inspired by a study I recently came across from the year 1997 (! ;-) ) (Aron et al. The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings), I have devised a game with different activities based on questions such as: - What do you value most in a friendship? - Is there something that you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it? - Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save anyone item. What would it be? Why? - What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about? - Alternate share something you consider a positive characteristic of your game-partner. Share a total of 5 items. The questions are not necessarily new ones - or the idea of asking them to get to know people. What's new is the game format and... playing it in a session software practitioner conference ;-). | ||
| Audience background: | every one attending Spa who actually wants to connect and is curious about people | ||
| Benefits of participating: | - getting to know new people - learning a format for getting to know people | ||
| Materials provided: | Game materials | ||
| Process: | People will be playing in groups of up to 6, sometimes in pairs etc. At the beginning we will set up a set of values we all agree on. e.g. • What is said in the room, stays in the room. • Value not judge. People have different values – and for this hour that is ok, we are leaving our judgements infront of the door. • Everyone can stay as deep or as shallow as they want. It has to be ok to say: I don’t want to share. • If any person in the group feels uncomfortable with a question/activity, the group moves on to the next. Then we will play. Goal of the game is to have a good time and connect with people – not only on the superficial level of “what role do you play at work?” “Do you prefer Scala to Java or would you rather design programmes in Ruby?” or “What is your favourite colour”. But also not as deep as “my problems with my significant other are” At the end I would like to spend some time reflecting on how you liked the game – and what could be improved. | ||
| Detailed timetable: | - 00:00 - 00:10 Introduction and agreeing on values - 00:10 - 00:60 Playing the game - 00:60 - 00:75 Reflection | ||
| Outputs: | none | ||
| History: | Play4Agile2015, AgileCoachCampGermany2015 (at least at the time of the Spa session). | ||
| Presenters | |||
| 1. Marina Haase independent |
2. | 3. | |