Diversity Exercise: Am I Right?

Diversity Exercise: Am I Right?


Purpose

In this entertaining activity, delegates get to evaluate each other based on predispositions and assumptions. You can use the exercise for training on diversity and political correctness. It is run in a form of a competition to make it both more exciting and also to examine people’s decision making under pressure.

Objective

Assign each attribute in the table to someone in the class and complete the table as quickly as possible.

What You Need

  • A copy of the “Attributes Form” provided below for each delegate
  • Prize for the winner

Setup

  • Distribute the “Attributes Form” to all delegates.
  • Explain that on your mark, delegates must start going around to others and interview them to find who has a particular attribute listed in the form.
  • They should make a record of the name of the person who has the attribute in their forms.
  • The person who completes his form sooner than everyone else wins the competition.
  • Naturally, since this is a competition, delegates should avoid sharing their findings with each other. Hence, this comes down to guessing who might have a particular attribute before approaching to confirm the assumption in a quick interview. The quick decision making will lead to stereotyping which can be examined in this exercise and explored in a course such as diversity management.
  • Give the prize to the winner.
  • Follow with a discussion.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 2 minutes

Activity: 15 minutes

Group Feedback: 10 minutes

Discussion

What did you do to complete your table faster? Were you stereotyping? Were you successful at it? Did you make many bad assumptions? What does this suggest about preconceptions for other people? What happens to your sense of political correctness when you are under pressure?

Variations

You can change the set of attributes or add more sets to bias the exercise based on your needs.

 

 


Hobbies

 

Attribute

Person

Attribute

Person

Watching football

 

Making food

 

Cinema

 

Drawing/Painting

 

Reading fiction

 

Making music

 

Watching TV

 

Shopping

 

 


Activities

 

Attribute

Person

Attribute

Person

Sports and Games

 

Clubbing

 

Hiking

 

Gym

 

Swimming

 

Wind Surfing

 

Travelling

 

Racing

 

 


Personality

 

Attribute

Person

Attribute

Person

Organised

 

Introvert

 

Spontaneous

 

Extrovert

 

Gadget Lover

 

Leader

 

Tough Negotiator

 

Detail Oriented

 

Leave a comment

All comments are moderated before being published.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.



Reading next

Questioning Skills Exercise: What’s My Name?
Creativity Exercise: Design a Flag

Training Resources for You

Course Design Strategy

Course Design Strategy

Available as paperback and ebook

Training Resources

Free Training Resources

Download a free comprehensive training package including training guidelines, soft skills training activities, assessment forms and useful training resources that you can use to enhance your courses.

Body Language Guide

Our Comprehensive Guide to Body Language

Train the Trainer Guides

Train the Trainer Resources

Get Insights - Read Guides and Books - Attend Courses

Training Materials

Get downloadable training materials on: Management Training, Personal Development, Interpersonal Development, Human Resources, and Sales & Marketing

Browse Full Product Catalogue About Training Materials