Video clips can play a number of very useful roles on team building workshops.  This week I’ll describe in detail four films that I’ve found very useful on workshops to help teams recognise difficult team dynamics, teach Myers Briggs theory, or just make some simple learning points.  Each day I’ll describe exercises based on Gladiator, Bug’s Life, Apollo 13, and Master and Commander.  Today, I’ll start by looking at how video can be a very useful way of maintaining control of large groups, eg: on awaydays or conferences.

Running away days with large groups brings a particularly unique set of problems.  With small groups it is easy to engage with the individual members, to build rapport, to maintain control and keep the workshop on track.  In large groups (say, more than 30 or 40) there is not enough time in a day to build rapport on an individual basis: as a facilitator one has to treat the group as a series of small teams, and encourage the building of rapport within those groups.  But in doing that, there is then a danger that individual conversations can go off in their own directions and the group start to become fragmented.

This problem of fragmentation can often be seen, for example, at the end of breaks.  Some people may be so engaged in discussion that they don’t return to the main conference hall on time.  Or, the next speaker may find it difficult when taking the stage, because some people are privately continuing break-time conversations, not paying attention to the main theme.  There are many things that can be done to solve this problem, and of particular relevance is the conference room layout, but video clips can also play a useful role.

Starting each session with a well chosen video clip, typically a comedy clip of about 5 to 10 minutes, can have a powerful impact.  Whenever possible, I like to have a very large conference room, rather than a smaller main hall and syndicate rooms, so that the main conference, break out areas and tea/coffee stations are all in the same place.  At the scheduled time when the next session is due to start, I play a video clip that is relevant to the theme of the conference, and preferably the next session.  This has a number of impacts:

- for those people who have not yet taken their seats, it acts as a signal that they should now sit down
- it grabs attention and focuses everyone on the front of the main hall
- it brings the private conversations to an end, in a non-imposing way, before the next session or the next speaker takes the stage
- it injects a sense of collective humour, which puts the group in a much more receptive mood for the next session
- it circumvents the potential irritation that can be caused when some people are in place at the scheduled time, ready to start, whereas others are late
- the video clip gets everyone thinking about the topic in hand (and I usually follow up the video with a one-sentence link between the video and the topic of the next session)
- once people get used to the format of there being a video clip at the start of every session, these impacts tend to increase: they take their seats more quickly so they can watch the video.

For example, one theme that recurs frequently on awaydays is that of communication.  A clip I have used frequently to introduce this topic is the Fire Drill Scene from the Fawlty Towers episode “The Germans”.  In a 10 minute clip, confusion arises between the Fire Bell and the Burglar Alarm: in Basil Fawlty’s mind the difference is clear, but to the hotel guests they are the same.  The scene is incredibly funny, but it can also be used to convey a simple but powerful point about communication.

Choosing the right video clip, and deciding the right point to end (eg: exactly at a punch line or laughter point), can take some time.  However, the investment pays for itself by helping to both retain control and enhance the quality of large-group awaydays or conferences.