GUIDE TO ACTIVE
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SOLO CHALLENGE |
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MORE NOTES AND TIPS
Safety Notes
ABOUT SOLO CHALLENGEBecause there will be several activities taking place simultaneously be sure to discourage the acceptance of any 'dare-devil' stunts and to provide reminders about safety and appropriate supervision. If in doubt, use your veto - if no-one else uses theirs first. Remember 'Anyone can veto anything'.
Quality for All
If the negotiation is not working well and people are short of good ideas, take a break or introduce a completely different activity. Tell everyone when you propose to re-start the negotiation stage (tomorrow? next week?). With any luck there will be more good ideas kicking around when you resume the negotiation stage.
Remember that you can veto the whole exercise if the negotiation stage is showing little promise of providing each individual with a 'respectable' challenge. But don't be the only judge of quality. Encourage individuals to veto anything that they feel (say) less than 80% motivated to carry out.
Variation
Consider the pros and cons of joining in yourself as a participant. Such a move could be highly facilitative and may also bring you some useful (if indirect) feedback.
Why this activity is in a 'reviewing guide'
The connections with reviewing may not at first be apparent. But plenty of reviewing happens during this exercise.
At the negotiation stage:
At the challenge stage:
- When people propose a challenge for themselves this arises from a review of where they are at and what should come next. It is a form of self-appraisal.
- When people propose and negotiate challenges for others it also involves (or implies) appraisal of the individual for whom a challenge is being considered.
- The rule 'Anyone Can Veto Anything' encourages everyone to review the suitability and quality of all the proposed challenges (including their own).
At the report back stage:
- The doing of the challenge (if well chosen and not too hectic) will involve people reviewing previous similar experiences. In most cases people conclude that they are making progress in the desired direction.
- Knowing that they will be responsible for reporting back to the group, participants will almost certainly be anticipating (or even mentally rehearsing) how they will tell their story.
Evaluating Solo Challenge: How well did it work?
- The report back stage involves people reflecting on what they have just done and representing the experience in an interesting and meaningful way to the rest of the group.
- Of course, the whole 'activity' can be reviewed after the 'report back' stage. The purpose of this list is to point out how 'solo challenge' can be used in 'review time' because each of the three stages can involve substantial elements of reviewing - especially at a personal level - about personal qualities, hopes, fears, skills etc.
Some time afterwards (when participants can see things in perspective) remember to ask for specific feedback about the experience and value of 'Solo Challenge'. This is a particularly useful habit whenever introducing new exercises. Ideally you will also be getting feedback about 'tried and tested' exercises. This will provide a point of comparison. It will also help you to keep your finger on the pulse and enable you to quickly spot what is working well and what is not. (See evaluation)
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