Metaphorical business game
A specific version of the business game, introduced by Zh. V. Zavyalova, is a metaphorical business game. The method is intended to find solutions to professional communication problems of participants generated by their inadequate attitudes and prejudices. The metaphorical business game (hereinafter the abbreviation MDI will be used) is built on the introduction of a metaphor that facilitates the study of a difficult communicative situation and the search for solutions in it. Thus, participants in customer service training ordered by a certain bank experience serious difficulties in servicing VIP clients. These clients are capricious, expect special, highly valuable treatment, constantly demand preferential terms of service and are insatiable in their demands. Bank employees suffer greatly from their inability to build their relationships with such clients. They must find a balance between politeness, correctness, the desire to take into account all the interests and wishes of the client and firmness in maintaining their positions, since they are not able to provide them with benefits indefinitely. In addition, the manner in which such clients interact with bank staff and the lack of respect on their part causes tension.
During the training, a metaphor is introduced to develop a general strategy for the behavior of bank employees with the described clients. (The metaphor is usually borrowed from a fairy tale, there were parables, songs, anecdote.) In this case, the metaphor is borrowed from Pushkin’s fairy tale about the goldfish. The relationship between clients and bank employees resembles the relationship between an old man and an old woman. No matter how hard the old man tried to satisfy all her wishes and requests, he failed: the old woman was insatiable in her demands, they grew all the time, and the old man received a new task. At the same time, the old woman did not respect the old man and treated him with disdain.
Thus, to facilitate the study of a problem situation, a metaphor is introduced that reproduces the key conflict or key difficulty of the problem situation.
After this, the coach divides the group into two (three) subgroups, each of which receives a playing role (corresponding to the metaphor). So, in the example under consideration, the group is divided into a team of old men and a team of old women.
Each team receives the task of exploring a problematic metaphorical situation from its playing role and formulating the maximum number of answers to the question asked by the coach. The coach's question corresponds to the key problem for which the MDI was started, and is formulated in a metaphorical manner. For example, a team of old men is tasked with finding the maximum number of answers to the question: “What will you do and how will you behave so that the old woman agrees to live in a wooden house and does not make more other demands?” The team of old women receives a parallel question: “What should an old man do and how should he behave so that you are satisfied with living in a wooden house and do not make any more demands on him?”
Teams are given time to develop solutions, and then they colorfully draw up these solutions on whatman paper.
This is followed by a presentation. First, a representative of the team comes out, personifying the subject with the problem (in this case, it is a team of old people, which symbolizes the bank employees), he presents the solutions found by his group. This is followed by a presentation from the other team(s). At the same time, there is no game interaction between the teams: the matter is limited only to the presentation.
The presentation is followed by a final word from the trainer. He approaches the Whatman paper and, drawing the group’s attention to the similarities or differences in the solutions found by the groups, reformulates them from the language of metaphorical reality to the language of the participants’ real lives. Thus, metaphor allows us to find strategies for solving real problems that previously seemed insoluble.
A description of the MDI procedure, as well as the order of its writing, examples and scenarios of ready-made metaphorical business games can be easily found in specialized literature; I will not dwell on these issues in detail now. However, I would like to share the results of some of my observations related to the use of MDI in training.
Without a doubt, the metaphorical business game is an interesting method that very often evokes enthusiasm and a surge of creative energy in the group. However, the value of this method and the return on it are not always high enough. At one time, I asked myself a question: why does this method work well in some situations and poorly in others?
If the group expects from you ready-made recipes for behavior in a given situation, if the group is lazy to think, if the training is focused mainly on the transfer of procedural knowledge, if the group must first learn the simplest fixed algorithms of work, a metaphorical business game is inappropriate and unnecessary. After all, by design, it contributes to the development of behavioral strategies in difficult situations. Precisely strategies, not specific algorithms and procedures. In order for a group to be able to use a strategy in real life, it also needs training in the operational and technical design of this strategy: how specifically, how exactly, using what phrases and phrases it is implemented. Or it is assumed that the group’s level of proficiency in the operational and technical side of communication activities is already at a fairly high level.
Do you see what I'm getting at? If MDI is used in skill development training (training of the second type), then it must be accompanied by subsequent training of specific skills necessary to implement the strategy. It is the development of skills that accounts for the main share in trainings of this type. This means that MDI will perform secondary, servicing functions in such trainings and can easily be replaced by a mini-lecture by the trainer, which will outline an effective behavior strategy.
A metaphorical business game, in my opinion, can be one of the main methods in training aimed at developing strategic thinking and developing the ability to develop behavioral strategies in certain life situations. And this is training of the third type - training as an expansion of the field of interaction strategies.
It seems to me that a metaphorical business game is not needed in training the transfer of ready-made behavioral algorithms (training of the first type). It can be done, the training won’t fall apart, but it’s a waste of time.
In trainings of the fourth type (training as co-creation), in general, turning to metaphor can be one of the main strategies of work, however, it seems to me that other metaphorical methods are more appropriate here - and not MDI, since it is too clearly “tailored” specifically to the search for communicative strategies .
Anna Azarnova
Games in the classroom:
Tower
An excellent game for a company of 8-24 people.
Promotes team spirit , teamwork skills, creativity and ingenuity.
The goal is to build the tallest tower
You will need a stapler for each team, a lot of A4 paper (you can use it).
All players are divided into teams of 4-5 people. Each team is given equipment. In a given time of 10 minutes, teams must make a stable tower. Sheets of paper are fastened with a stapler, and they can be bent and folded as desired.
The team that builds the tallest tower wins.
It's me
An excellent game aimed at analyzing your feelings and thoughts . Helps you understand yourself and open up people around you from an unexpected side, develops empathy.
The goal is to choose an item that evokes associations with your personality.
The props will be ordinary objects - various toys, dolls, cars, a book, a notebook, a hairpin, a keychain, a key, etc.
Participants sit in a circle and choose any item from the variety. After a short preparation, each person must explain why this or that object was chosen. The story should be from the point of view of this subject. You need to talk about strengths and weaknesses, victories and achievements, grievances and disappointments in the projection of your own personality. The point is that it is not always easy for a person to talk about something important to other people. Clamps, complexes, and low self-esteem get in the way. It’s another thing to tell about the life of a teddy bear; this in itself brings a smile and a friendly attitude .
Compliments
A great game for older students who know each other well.
The goal is to create a favorable, friendly environment, foster goodwill and empathy .
The only props you need is a ball. Students sit in a circle and throw the ball to any of the participants, accompanying the action with a compliment for the person.
It turns out to be very fun and friendly. Interesting nuances of interpersonal relationships are revealed.
Letters on the back
A dynamic game of speed and interaction for 14-20 people. Spectators are welcome.
Helps identify leadership qualities and communication skills.
The goal is to split into two teams and form a word from individual letters.
You will need a marker and self-adhesive pieces of paper.
The presenter, who is also the judge, prepares two words with the same number of letters and the same topic, for example, geographical objects, psychological terms, names of musical works, etc.
Then the presenter takes self-adhesive leaves of two colors. The letters of the word are written on each piece of paper of the same color. Two colors - two words of the same length. Then the participants of the game stand in one row with their backs to the audience. Letters are glued to their backs in a chaotic manner. After the presenter gives the command, the guys will have to self-organize into two teams, solve the word and stand with their backs to the audience in the order in which the word requires. The team that completes the task faster wins. The important thing is that you can only recognize the letter on your back with the help of another person; you cannot rip letters off your back or the back of another participant.
This is a very fun game. In the process, the organizational and leadership abilities of students are very clearly demonstrated.
Crocodile
Everyone knows this game - from young to old. There can be as many participants as desired.
The goal is to better understand each other, look at ourselves from the outside, and show our acting abilities .
No equipment is needed, just a friendly attitude and self-irony. The presenter must use gestures, facial expressions, and gait to show his classmate or teacher. The remaining participants must guess the hidden person.
View from the outside
This is a great game for self-discovery. There can be 10 or more players.
The goal is to obtain personality characteristics from your fellow students. Analyze the data obtained and conduct a joint discussion.
Props for the game can be any boxes, envelopes or bags signed with the names of the participants. You will need a lot of pieces of paper with character traits written on them, for example, friendliness, perseverance, arrogance, calmness, arrogance, responsibility, etc. We make each card with one inscription according to the number of participants plus a supply of 10 pieces.
At the beginning of the game, each student takes any two cards that seem suitable for his classmate and places them in the appropriate envelope. At the same time, each person should be as objective as possible in his assessments. Next, the guys take apart their envelopes and analyze the contents. At the end of the game, participants sit in a circle and conduct reflection. Students take turns sharing the information they receive about themselves, whether they agree with it or not, and thank each other for their sincerity.
The results of the game will help you understand the adequacy of self-esteem, adjust your own behavior and attitude towards people around you.
Psychological and pedagogical principles of organizing a business game
- the principle of simulation
of specific conditions and production dynamics. Modeling the real conditions of a specialist’s professional activity in all the diversity of professional, social and personal connections is the basis of interactive learning methods; - the principle of game modeling
of the content and forms of professional activity. The implementation of this principle is a necessary condition for the educational game, since it carries educational functions; - principle of joint activity
. In a business game, this principle requires implementation through the involvement of several participants in cognitive activity. It requires the developer to select and characterize roles, determine their powers, interests and means of activity. At the same time, the most characteristic types of professional interaction between “officials” are identified and modeled; - principle of dialogical communication
. This principle provides a necessary condition for achieving educational goals. Only dialogue, discussion with the maximum participation of all players can give rise to truly creative work. A comprehensive collective discussion of educational material by students allows them to achieve a comprehensive understanding of professionally significant processes and activities. - principle of duality
; The principle of two-dimensionality reflects the process of development of real personal characteristics of a specialist in “imaginary” game conditions. The developer sets two types of goals for the student, reflecting real and game contexts in educational activities. - the principle of problematic
content of the simulation model and the process of its deployment in gaming activities. (Verbitsky A. A., 1991)
Business games and stratagems in training
What is now called “games”, several centuries before the beginning of our era, was developed and introduced into everyday life in the value system of people’s stratagem thinking and was implicated in the layers of culture of many civilizations [3] “Let us consider two models of learning, different in their basic principle: classical deductive-nomological and inductive models. The deductive-nomological learning model is implemented through the following scenario: first, a general topic is considered, then a transition is made to specific examples. The inductive model is extremely common in the stratagem form of teaching and is implemented through a different scenario: at the beginning an example is considered, and then a general topic is formed from it. For example, parables. Based on a specific parable, you can get a more general, holistic meaning. In this regard, they became widespread in teaching; for example, Buddha spoke in parables. However, the parable does not contain a strategy, which orients thought to a greater extent not towards specific practice, but towards the general meaning of life. A stratagem, in contrast, is capable of directing the movement of thought in a specific given direction of holistic meaning, as well as creating an element of a general vision of the central core of the situation and ways of its effective solution”[4]
