Negativity is contagious. It’s all too easy to complain about everything that goes wrong and this can quickly spread to others. Fortunately there is a simple trick that can be used to eliminate negativity; simply don’t say negative words. Aiming for positive remarks helps people to get energised. Rather than looking for blame, seek opportunities to improve and progress forward.

Here are some examples of negative statements that people commonly use:

• Don’t do that
• We can’t do it
• It can’t be done
• We don’t do such thing
• It is against our policy
• We have never done this before
• It has never been done
• No one knows how to do this
• You don’t know how this works
• The management is clueless
• The staff are clueless
• They sit there all day and do nothing
• No one cares

These statements do not help and are sometime stated as a reflex reaction rather than with an appropriate thought. Sometimes they become a habit and it is important to eliminate them as bad habits.

This simple two stage exercise helps to increase the awareness of delegates about this issue and helps them to address it. It is ideal for delegates who work closely together or are part of the same team.

This is a simple yet powerful exercise in getting people to share their perception about others. Sometimes seeing the world from another person’s point of view can have a significant benefit for us. This exercise facilitates this process and is most ideal for delegates who know each other so you can use this as part of a team building course.

This activity allows people to help each other anonymously. Sometimes we may feel stuck or wonder what we could do to improve our behaviour or skills. We may however not feel comfortable to directly ask others about them. This exercise sets the scene for people to open up and help each without fear of being wrong or obvious.

This exercise helps delegates to better understand each other and also gives them an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback. It is a rather simple exercise though can be quite revealing as people get to understand what others think of them. The exercise works best when a lot of people are involved (for better anonymity) and who know each other well (for better feedback).

This is a suitable exercise for getting people in a team to express their feelings about each other but in a very indirect and controlled way. It also gives delegates a chance to see how others think of them. It also helps them to discover how much they know about other people’s view of them. This exercise is suitable for a group of delegates who know each other.

The purpose of this exercise is to encourage delegates to share their feelings about the organisation they are in. Using a systematic approach, delegates get to talk about their positive and negative thoughts so that issues are raised as well as points that make people feel proud to be part of the organisation. It is ideal for team building and also for leadership to better understand what goes on in the minds of their staff. This exercise is ideal for people who work together or are part of the same organisation.

This is a powerful exercise that brings out the potential qualities of a good leader. It is a fairly physical exercise and you may need to brief the participants beforehand so they can come ready to participate in this exercise (for example, come with comfortable cloth). It is an ideal exercise for team building where you can explore a range of topics on management and how to respond to a manager’s instructions.

This is a simple exercise that anyone can use to measure his self-awareness. Simply think about answering a series of questions and through that become more aware of how you feel and how others feel about you.

This simple yet powerful exercise helps the delegates to understand several concepts all at once; communication skills, cooperation, patience and how to manage small contributions to achieve an effective results with the correct balance.

This exercise is particularly suitable for team building courses and is remembered well by delegates well after the course due to the nature of the activity and its simplicity.

A leader’s performance is defined by how he or she leads others. For others to follow a leader, it is critical for them to know that they are valued. The sense of significance and knowing that what they do has a benefit to the overall objective is a significant motivation. Hence, leaders must actively and routinely take steps to show that they value their team members and that team members’ effort are well appreciated.

This exercise helps delegates to learn how to achieve this as leaders. It encourages specific actions on their behalf as opposed to vague strategies, so that they know precisely what to do for each member of their team.

The powerful exercise illustrates the importance of giving meaningful instructions to others and expecting feedback for correct execution of those instructions. The activity is fun to do but indirectly leads the delegates to make the target conclusion which makes it more effective and memorable.

This is a fun exercise which demonstrates the importance of communication and feedback in the success of a team.