Gossip! - An Exercise in Communication . Download training materials and resources.

Gossip! - An Exercise in Communication

About

Time:
The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module.

Aims:
• To encourage participants to communicate effectively in order to gather all the information available.
• To encourage participants to think about how they communicate.
• To encourage participants to work co-operatively to solve a shared problem.

Group Size:
The optimum number of participants for this exercise is 8, however it can be used with fewer. If you have more than 15 in your group, split them into teams.

Useful For:
Staff at all levels.

You'll Need:
Nothing, other than the materials provided.

Notes:
This communication exercise is based on a logic puzzle.

You will need a minimum of 8 participants, which is the optimum number for the exercise. However, we have included additional Gossip Cards that enable the exercise to be used in groups of up to 15. (If you have more than 15 in your group, split the group into teams of 8 or more and get each team to complete the exercise separately.)

Please note that where there are more than 8 participants in a team some of the ‘gossip’ will be duplicated.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Downloads

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Trainer Notes
Gossip Cards
Gossip Cards (Word)
Handout
Handout (Word)

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Trainer Notes (Word)

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Reviews

Recently used the Gossip training for a session on teamwork, communication and collaboration. Absolutely brilliant session. When you start by not briefing everyone on what to do, is a great opening. Watching people's reaction and watching how they begin to work out the task and then get a discussion going. I did this session with phone advisors, team managers, branch managers and the Global team as well. Each time it went down really well with loads of discussion and participation. We made an addition to the training also, if there was someone dominant in the session (or if someone read another person's card) then that person was removed for 3 minutes and then invited back in. This allowed people to get a reaction of what it was like to be removed from a task and then brought back in. Overall a great session to deliver if you need to stress the importance of communication and sharing of information.

John Millington rated this item with 5 stars.

I love this exercise! I have used it on several occasions and there always seems to be some new learning that can be drawn out. I use it mainly for problem-solving facilitation as a wrap-up exercise. I have used it face to face and remotely, using a Jamboard so the delegates can collaborate virtually. For the remote version I have created a number of cards to match the number of delegates, making sure I include all the facts. The tricky thing is you don't always know exactly how many delegates you'll get on the day! In the face to face version I just hand out more cards per person. It's great for illustrating listening, team work, understanding a task, data visualisation - the list goes on! I would highly recommend this exercise.

Lisa Lester rated this item with 5 stars.

I've used Gossip on numerous occasion when I want teams to understand how important it is to ensure every piece of information is used to get the right result. It also helps individuals to understand how different people take in information in different ways, for example some people only come to life in this exercise when they are allowed to see the information written down in a visual format. Great exercise, easy to use but it's vital that the debrief is carried out effectively.

Richard Linder rated this item with 5 stars.

This is an excellent exercise and probably my favourite of all the Trainers Library ones. I have used it for a number of years as the opening exercise on various management programmes where the focus of the day has been effective communication. It is fascinating observing the group as they try to decipher the task. I have yet to have a group that have not enjoyed the exercise. It can seem a bit awkward for the first 5 minutes with some groups but persevere as they always start to open up. I recommend you make plenty of notes of the behaviours you observe throughout. The debrief at the end is as much fun as the exercise itself. There are so many important points you can cover off at the end. It is really thought provoking and with a well facilitated discussion at the end you can create a real buzz in the training room. I have groups that were talking about this exercise months after they did it. It really hits the mark. I would highly recommend this

Mike Taylor rated this item with 5 stars.

This is a brilliant exercise. I used it when we brought together 2 teams from different locations for training. It really got them working together and highlighted the benefits of working together for the good of the organisation rather than in isolation. It also demonstrated transferrable skills. I'll be using this again and again.
Previous Member rated this item with 5 stars.

I've used Gossip! on several occasions now and it always delivers the learning experience I'm aiming for. Delegates move from perplexed to organised to motivated as they explore how to complete the exercise and demonstrate the range of behaviours needed for a really good debrief around team communications skills. I also like the flexibility it offers to add more than the standard 8 participants so, if I get a no-show or have higher delegate numbers, it doesn't matter.

Jo Wilding rated this item with 5 stars.

What a fantastically versatile exercise Gossip is. I have used this on numerous occasions and it never fails to deliver! Whether you want to use it for team or communication skills it works brilliantly. Thanks for another superb exercise. Andy, Motiv8 Development Ltd
Andy Pickin rated this item with 5 stars.

I used the activity Gossip as part of a communications course. I had a group of eight so it worked out just right. I did have to give them a couple of hints to get them on the right path to start with but they succeeded in coming up with right solution. This is a great activity to put across the importance of good communication especially questioning and listening skills and not making assumptions. I will be using this activity again.

Previous Member

I have recently used the above exercise on two different communication skills programmes. The first programme had 12 delegates so I had 4 observers which worked really well as they got an opportunity to practise feedback skills which we had covered in the previous session. The remaining eight delegates were each given the pre prepared laminated cards and given the basis instructions. It was interesting to see that once they had read the cards they then asked me what they were supposed to do now! Calmly I repeated the basic instructions!

After a couple of minutes they all started to discuss what was on their cards and established the tasks they were required to complete. There were many issues with how they went about the task, and it was clear that although we had discussed, practised and agreed many aspects of effective communication, including things like questioning, listening and preparation, this all went out of the window in this exercise!

The best things about this exercise are the many learning points and varied situations where this can be used. The delegates all found it interesting either as a participant or as an observer. This is definitely one that will be in my tool bag for many different situations!

Carolyn Pickin rated this item with 5 stars.

I facilitate multi-disciplinary teams of healthcare professionals working in cancer care. Benefits of this sort of working are that each discipline contributes to decisions about treatment options for patients. Not all teams either listen or value other members' opinions. Tried out Gossip with a large team of 16 split into 2 groups. Worked fabulously well and showed them how problems cannot be addressed properly unless everyone in the team has a voice and that they record things logically and systematically. Thank you.

Previous Member