Goal
This is an exercise to get to know one another on the level of content and to discover knowledge and expertise within a group.
Steps
Preparation before the seminar:
1. Think of a few questions that allow participants to demonstrate knowledge they have that is relevant for the seminar topic and prepare a flipchart with the task for the group.
Please add on your card...
- Your knowledge about/experiences in working in teams
- Your experience in intercultural environments
- Your expertise in topic x, y, ... you can contribute
2. During the seminar:
- Explain the task
- Divide the group into smaller groups [max. 5 persons per group]
- Individual group work [20-30 minutes]
- Presentation of the groups [we recommend a maximum of 10 minutes per presentation]
Elke Heublein
Co-founder of Working Between Cultures. Co-author of Holistic learning. Facilitator since 2004, certified intercultural facilitator (Institute for Intercultural Communikation, LMU München) and trainer (IHK Akademie München/Westerham), adult education (Foundation University Hildesheim). Focus: Cooperation and leadership in heterogenouos teams, higher education, train-the-trainer.
Handbook for Facilitators: Holistic Learning
E. Heublein (ed.), N. Zimmermann (ed.) (2017). Holistic learning. Planning experiential, inspirational and participatory learning processes. Competendo Handbook for Facilitators.
Experience
We consider participants experts in their (professional) reality and think that only they are able to decide which aspects of the knowledge provided in the training make sense and might be used in their professional life. A good tool for translating this idea of learning into reality is “the treasure of experience.” We have been using it for many years now with different groups of participants (students, professors, teams, leaders...)
Experience
We always use this tool in the first seminar session. It is a way of getting to know one another, but on a specifically content-oriented level. This tool gives participants a chance to share their knowledge, expertise, and experience.
Experience
We strongly recommend working with the “A wealth of experience” for several reasons:
- Individual participants can show a part of their professional selves and their expertise (and of course they get to decide what they want to show);
- Other participants see how much expertise there is in the room, and it is a way to connect easily with one another
- Facilitators get a sense of the group’s level of experience. It helps them to value “the wisdom of the group” and to see how they can connect the content they have created with the existing knowledge of the group