Yes And Point
OVERVIEW
Yes And Point is a simple sequence game that often trips participants up who aren't living in the moment. A good warm up exercise, it often appears in workshops focused on:
Collaboration
Communication
Listening
Presentation Skills
Public Speaking
Staying In The Moment
Team Building
REQUIREMENTS
Number of Participants:
Minimum: 5 participants / Maximum: 16 participants
Time Required:
Minimum: 10 minutes / Maximum: 15 minutes
Materials Needed:
None
EXERCISE INSTRUCTIONS
Arrange the group in a circle and randomly select someone to start. The first time running this with a group it is a good idea for the facilitator to select themselves to start.
Whoever begins does so by pointing at someone else in the circle and WAITING for them to say “YES”. Once that happens, and only once that happens, the person who pointed can move to where the other person was standing. As they move, the person who said “YES” points at someone else in the circle who also says “YES.” In this way a neverending pattern is established.
Be sure to emphasize: You must say “YES” when pointed at, but the person pointing cannot move forward until they hear “YES”. It’s a simple activity of point, hear “YES”, then move. It is a game that asks you to follow a prescribed sequence.
Demonstrate the activity with a participant to ensure everyone understands. You will probably need to repeat that you must say “YES”, no withholding “YES” or saying “NO”. People may have the idea that meanness or wielding power over someone is funny, the way older siblings sometimes do.
You want to eliminate that energy from this exercise.
Conduct the activity 2-3 times with corrections in between ensuring at least 8 – 9 participants get it right. A common pitfall is for people start to moving before hearing “YES.” If this happens repeat the instructions and start again.
People may move without hearing "YES" often by moving directly after they point, or they may say "YES" themselves and then move, or they may start to move, catc themselves and wait. You will want to notice all of that for notes either in the moment or in breaks between rounds.
You may want to stop and take a simple poll to ask people if anyone felt stressed or fearful when it was their turn to point.
INSTRUCTOR DISCUSSION POINTS / LEARNING TAKEAWAYS
COMMUNICATION
When communicating successfully with people, you need to be aware of what is happening, not what you had planned to see happen or you wanted to see happen. You can achieve this by being in the moment and by focusing on what others say to you, rather than what you are saying, what you want to say, or what you are expecting to happen.
PRESENTATION SKILLS / PUBLIC SPEAKING
Explain how worrying about being good at the exercise, standing outside of yourself, and evaluating your performance prevents you from being able to focus on your partner. This in turn leads you into making mistakes. Rather than focusing on yourself, focus on others.
SALES
Explain the application to sales by reminding participants we should adopt a consultative approach to sales, an approach that requires listening and understanding your client's needs and problems before offering solutions. If you can't wait to move before you hear "YES" how are you going to be able to adapt deftly when a big client tells you the timeline on your biggest opportunity needs to slow down because of (fill-in-the-blank) reason.
STAYING IN THE MOMENT
Facilitator discuss how it is harder to be in the moment than it might seem. This is a simple game of sequence: point, hear “YES”, and move. Yet, so often we want to move before we hear “YES”. That's because often our brain is ahead of where we actually are causing us to rush past simple necessary steps. If it is this hard to wait until we hear “YES” before we move, think of how hard it is to adjust smoothly when a partner surprises us by revealing new priorities or needs. To be ready to adjust to the unexpected we need to make a commitment to stay in the here and now, to meet our colleagues and partners where they actually are, rather than where we want or expect them to be.