PICTURE PROJECT: AN EXPERIENCE OF ICEBREAKING AND/OR DECISION MAKING Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 223 PICTURE PROJECT: AN EXPERIENCE OF ICEBREAKING AND/OR DECISION MAKING Trudy L. Somers, Towson State University ABSTRACT “Picture Project” is an experiential learning event, which affords participants the opportunity to get acquainted and to make decisions. It is also readily adapted to study the effects of individual differences on a task, to demonstrate various leadership styles, and to identify and to clarify group goals or values. The exercise may be used in either university or corporate settings. Participants each contribute self- photographs, which are combined during the session into a group collage. The process may be completed in 45 to 90 minutes, depending on theoretical frameworks and debriefing levels provided. INTRODUCTION Experiential learning techniques have long been recognized as valid approaches to educational endeavors in which material is to be mastered at both cognitive and affective levels (Kolb, 1984). The blend of theoretical and practical knowledge is enhanced by experiential learning (Henshaw and Jackson, 1984). “Picture Project” may be incorporated into the basic process-reflection model (Harvey and Brown, 1988) to provide either a capstone experience to validate exposure to prior concepts and theories, or a frame of common experiential reference, a background, to consider communally when subsequent theoretical and conceptual materials are presented. “Picture Project” has been used successfully for introduction and orientation, decision making, leadership, group values, and conflict resolution. The exercise also produces a solution to the professor’s eternal dilemma of matching student names with student faces. EXERCISE Resources /Preparation 1. Participants are instructed to bring a small (2”x3”) recent photograph of themselves. 2. Instructor supplies the following materials: *Copy of “PICTURE PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS” for each group (or each participant) *Construction paper, assorted colors *Pens, Markers, Crayons (several per group) *Scissors (at least 1 per group) *Glue, tape (at least 1 per group) *“Extras” (gold stars, stencils, stamps). Process 1. The exercise may be preceded by relevant theory discussion. (For fifty-minute session, this should be done prior to the session.) 2. Divide participants into groups of six to nine members. 3. Distribute “PICTURE PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS” to each group. Allow five minutes for instruction clarification and questions. 4. Instruct participants that they will have 20 minutes to complete the picture and to prepare the presentation. Oversee distribution of materials. 5. Keep time, starting at 15 minutes. (The construction process tends to take longer than the time originally allocated.) 6. Have groups make presentations. Applaud after each talk. Display picture collages. 7. Process relevant theory framework. Debrief. PICTURE PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS 1. Combine your individual photograph into a collage for your group. Any supplies you need other than your photos - construction paper, scissors, glue pens -are available from the facilitator. 2. Pick a "name" for your group. The name should be one which all members of your group find appropriate and representative. Your group will be publicly referred to by this name for the duration of the class. (This last sentence was added after several obscene monikers were selected.) 3. Your final product should include all photos, labeled with first and last names, and your group 4. A member of your group needs to give a 1-2 minute presentation to the class, displaying your “picture,” introducing your group, and fielding any questions that might be asked. VARIATIONS/CAUTIONS “Picture Project” is versatile. If the exercise is used to illustrate decision making or problem solving, groups may be debriefed according to individual or group decision- making styles, decision waking strategies, or problem solving techniques. Questions from facilitator: What other strategies could be used? What strategy worked best? worst? What is the mix of decision making styles in your group? How was your problem formulated? When leadership is the theory domain, leaders may be assigned by the facilitator or determined within the groups. If the facilitator pre-selects leaders, the process may be altered to include role-playing. Various leader behaviors may be assigned (and rehearsed), and the effectiveness of various leadership roles (styles) may be assessed. Questions from facilitator: Can you identify your leaders style (task or person)? How effective was it in terms of completing the picture and of maintaining pleasant relationships between the participants? Did the leader’s behavior change over the course of the exercise? How was the group leader selected? Why were groups not led in the same way? Individual differences (i.e., Holland’s Vocational Preference Profile) may be considered with collages. The exercise may be altered. For example, time limits may be removed or altered. The process may be more explicitly divided into stages (planning, executing, presenting) with trained observers assigned. Competition/cooperation strategies for coping with scarce resources may be used as a theoretical framework if the facilitator supplies insufficient quantities of the listed resources. (This variation takes about an hour and a half and may require a strong facilitator.) Few problems have been encountered with this exercise. If participants do not appear to take the exercise seriously enough, the facilitator should add a discussion of “apathy” to the debriefing process, rather than interfering with collage construction. If participants do not provide photographs, the groups, not the facilitator, should solve the problem. If time constraints and large participant numbers tempt the facilitator to limit presentations to only a few groups do the presentations, the urge should be resisted and group size should be increased ins Lead. References are available from the author. Table of Contents Volume 19, 1992 The Pedagogical Utility of a Management Simulation Game in a Business Policy Course Modeling Economic Environments in Business Simulations: Some Comparisons and Recommendations Experiential Learning and TQM Principles: Teaching Behavioral Science in a Business School The Use of Poster Presentations as a Final Project in the Business Policy Course The Device Business: A Management Simulation for Strategy Formulation The Advantages of Experiential learning in the Auditing curriculum A Framework for the Identification of Moderated and Mediated Performance consequences of Pedagogical Alternatives Simulating Qualitative Research Relating to Values and Lifestyle Segmentation A New Market Demand Model for Business Simulators Interactive Optimization Using the Method of Relative Improvement Preferences: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation The Service Trainer Simulation Benefits of Internet Computer Networks for ABSEL Members How Should We Measure Experiential Learning? An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses The Influence of Myers-Briggs Type and Group Dynamics on Simulation Performance Effective Leadership Behavior in the Desert Storm Arena: An Application of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model Installing and Consolidating Work-Team Values: The Effects of a Multicultural Outdoors Experiential Program Key Determinants and Decision performance in a Business Simulations and Experiential Learning environment Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in Indonesia Attitudes Toward and Emotions Related to Women as Managers: A Replication and Beyond Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Insights into Ethical Decision making Activities and Organizational Performance: A Management Simulation Analysis of College Students and Managers Evaluating a Business Simulation Program for Joint Venture Negotiation and Management Teaching Business Interviewing Strategies with an Experiential Approach Cooperative Learning Across the Business Curriculum Modeling Total Quality Elements into a Strategy-Oriented Simulation Teaching Business Decision making using a Simulator Extending the Educational Utility of a Simulated Competition within the Confines of an Established Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum Expert Systems Versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Accounting Issues Confidence Extremes Diminish Quality Performance in a Total Enterprise Simulation Can Ethics Be Taught? A Simulation Tests a Traditional Ethics Pedagogy Through The Looking Glass, Inc.: Organizational Climate Research as Experiential Pedagogy The use of Cluster Analysis for Business Game Performance Analysis Power and Ethnicity: An Experiential Learning Exercise (How to Sensitize Students to Diversity) Directed Development of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Case Analysis Implementing Total Quality Management in a Computerized Business Simulation Product Quality in Business Simulations Use of Simulation for Ethics Education in Management Satisfying the University's Customers through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study Personality Characteristics and Group Performance in Total Enterprise Simulations Concepts of Interval Estimation and Quality Control Charts via Computer Simulated Sampling An Examination of the Effect of Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations on Simulation Performance Results The Effectiveness of Inventory Management and Production Scheduling Training in a Total Quality Management Environment Peer Group Indicators of the External Validity of Business Games: A five-year Longitudinal Study Political Strategies and Personal Actions Does Practice make Perfect? Observations on Simulation Trial The Use of A Non-Business Computer Simulation to Teach Marketing Management BankPro Commercial Bank Simulation The Production Game Pursuing Excellence: Work Strengths, Assets and relevant Values (An Exercise) Test of a Short Outward Bound Experience for College Students What is it that we want Student To Learn? Using Two TQM Philosophies when Playing Blackjack The Lagged Effects of Decision Variables on Financial Performance Measures Used in Two business Simulations The Development of an Experiential Exercise for Career Planning and Effective Job search Performance Measuring Quality in Management of Business Pedagogy Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement: Using and Experiential Process Toward a Generalized Architecture for Intelligent Reactive Management Systems The Quality Game TQX: Using Expert Systems to Improve Training in Total Quality Management A Simulation of the Effect of the Medicaid Payment Lag on the Financial Position of Community Pharmacies The Use of a Board of Directors to Evaluate and Validate Decisions in a Competitive Graduate Management Simulation Course The Impact of Academic Dishonesty on Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Activities Picture Project: An Experience of Icebreaking and/or Decision-Making An Effective Role-playing Exercise for Teaching Requisite TQM Supervisory Attitudes/Behavior Computerized Management Simulations and Some Correlates of Students' Satisfaction The Timing and Stability of Reactions to Market Structure in a Single Player Simulation Environment A Graphics Application Extension for a Simulated Decision Support System Environment Aspects of a Group Project Utilizing Actual Business data and a Computerized Accounting System The Role of Universities' Extended Learning Department in Assisting Organizations Implement Total Quality Management A three-dimensional Learning Experience to Develop Total Quality Management Skills Estimating Quality Costs by Computer Simulation Applications and Examples of Quality Control Software Assessing Business Pedagogy A Demonstration of an Experiential Process for Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement Processes An Action-Ethics Dilemma: A Demonstration Org Sim Jr.: A 2-3 Hour Version of the 2-Day Blanchard/Murrell Organization Simulation Building Buildings: An Experiential Exercise in Organizational Structure, Communication, Leadership and Group Dynamics Expert Systems for Organization Design: A Demonstration A Demonstration of Product Quality in a Business Simulation: Version 2 of CEO Two Revolutions, Total Quality Leadership, and the Baldy: The Story of Milliken Total Quality after the Award - The Xerox Story Building a Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Reengineering Human Resource Planning: Managing the Only Renewable Resource for a Competitive Advantage Using Simulations to Teach International Issues: An analysis of the Multinational Management Game's Learning Environment Quality Function Deployment: A Tutorial Care and Nurturing of Teams Making a Good Thing Better: Adding TQM to Participative management Empowering Organizations to Redesign and Transform Themselves - Eastman Chemical Using Simulations in Field Management Development of an International Life Insurance Company Reinforcing the TQ Environment via Simulation Transforming a Business College into a Total Quality College