If you want a classic game to break the ice of newly gathered call center agents, you can play Two Truths and a Lie.

You don’t need print outs or any materials to prepare. The only thing a call center trainer needs to have is a white board marker so he can take note of some observations on the board as the game progresses.

House Rules:

Before playing the game, have everyone commit to be respectful and constructive in giving feedback to the presented statements. Aside from that, make sure that every presented statement will be within moral and legal bounds.

How to play Two Truths and a Lie

Have everyone settled in the training room. You can lead the trainees to arrange the chairs to form a circle or settle for the usual seating arrangement.

Then ask each trainee to prepare three statements in any order and ask them to take turns in presenting the statements to the class.

After presenting the three statements, anyone from the class will have to guess which of these statements are ‘true’ and which of these is the ‘lie’.

The trainee will then confirm and briefly explain why these are his truth and lie statements.

Then have everyone do the same until everyone had the chance to present their statements.

For Call Center Product Training

Follow the same instructions above, but this time, have them present statements related to their product training. This will serve as a review ‘game’ to refresh their understanding of the learned concepts in the Product Specific Training.

How to Process the Game / Activity

Ask the participants how they feel while presenting the statements and their reason for feeling that way. The call center trainer can then use Socratic questions to make the trainees realize how this activity can impact their communication skills as they work as call center agents.

Have you played this game before? What can you say about this game?

Image Credit: Google Images

Are you familiar with Buttspell? It’s the usual fun group activity to ‘break the ice’ especially when you find yourself in a newly formed group or team.

How do I play buttspell?

You just have to spell anything using your hmm…butt. You can spell anything as short as your first name, your favorite place,game, color among others. Or it can be as long as a phrase or sentence. Anything goes with buttspell.

So butspell is a game, right?

Not necessarily. It can be as simple as a quick ice breaker, while others use this to serve as a ‘sweet’ punishment (like coming in late from break). Most of the time some call center trainers use it as a consequence when a group lost in an activity.

Okay, since Buttspell seemed to be a fun activity, why do you hate people doing it in a Call Center Training?

Respect for Hybrid Trainees

Unlike in a traditional classroom setup, call center trainees have interesting profiles. You can be in a class with newly graduates, a housewife for 10 years, an ex-seminarian, a former high school teacher, a father in his forties, a band member, among other interesting backgrounds.

Would it be easy for an ex-seminarian to do buttspell in a class? How would you think will the former high school teacher react upon seeing this activity?

With this reality into consideration, I always wanted to make sure that the training environment will be filled with respect in every way. I don’t want to force them to do it inasmuch as I don’t want them to feel embarrassed and violated after doing buttspell.

Believe me, it might look funny when you do it, but the different impression will always be there, especially for the people who witnessed that ‘fun’ act.

To avoid cases of Sexual Harrassment in the workplace

You can’t help it when other people would think differently when they see such a scene. Again, I don’t want this activity to start an experience that will get these folks into trouble.

I remembered when I observed a certain class (not in the call center) and the trainer forced a trainee to do buttspell because she made a mistake in answering a question. I heard guys said “wow“, “lower“, “slower” and those unnecessary comments that I didn’t expect to hear from them. Can you just imagine what will happen to that trainee if the guys saw her as one of their *** objects in the class?

Encourages ‘repeat mistakes’

Unfortunately, some trainees sees it as an encouragement to get everyone’s attention.

I remembered when a trainer raised a concern about her trainee coming late to the class. Apparently, she observed that she always did it (on purpose) so she can do buttspell as soon as she arrives.

If the purpose of doing buttspell is to punish their mistakes, then this situation defeats the purpose, would you agree?

What do you think?

In the end, I will stand on the reasons I stated here. I will never ask them to do buttspell and I will never allow them to do it in my class.

How about you? Have you witnessed someone doing buttspell? What can you say about it? Let me know your thoughts so we can discuss things here.

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