Phones & Faxes

1. Form a large circle with everyone facing into the centre.
2. Invite 2 or 3 volunteers to stand in the centre of the circle with their backs to each other.
3. Distribute at least one soft tossable item to every person standing in the circle.
4. Announce that the volunteers will soon be challenged to catch as many of the items being tossed into the air as they can.
5. On an agreed signal, instruct everyone in the circle to toss their items into the air, aiming to have them land in the circle’s centre.
6. Count and tally all items caught by the volunteers.
7. Repeat for two or more rounds before inviting a new set of volunteers to swap with those in the centre.
8. Challenge your group to continuously improve the number of items caught by the volunteer catchers in a single round.
9. In conclusion, invite your group to reflect on their experience and results.

Armed with a bag full of soft tossable items, I can still recall the glee on Karl Rohnke’s face when this group initiative was first introduced to me as a participant in 1990.

First, you need to grab your own bag of soft tossable items such as fleece balls, beanie toys, koosh balls, etc. Resist the urge to use any items such as tennis balls that, when dropped from a height onto someone’s head, could hurt them.

Gather your group and ask them to form a large circle other than two or three volunteers who are willing to stand in the centre of the circle.

The circle size is not particularly important, but if each person can stand about 3 to 4 big steps away from the volunteers in the centre, this will work well.

Announce that, in a moment, you will arm the people standing in the circle with a bunch of soft tossable items. And, if it’s not already obvious, the unenviable task of our volunteers is to catch as many of these items as they come raining down upon them.

At this point, your framing will largely determine the value you may or may not extract from this exercise.

Announce that there will be up to three attempts for each set of volunteers, with a view towards continuous improvement. That is to say, it is the group’s objective – not just the 2 or 3 volunteer catchers in the centre – who are working toward setting a new world record for this feat.

That is to say, success is as much in the hands of the throwers as it is the catchers.

By way of demonstration, toss or lob an item towards the centre of the circle. Explain that an ideal toss will exhibit a lovely tall arc that reaches an apogee of 3-4 metres and lands very close to the circle’s centre. Encourage all throws to follow this pattern.

OK. Hand out the soft tossables, and on an agreed single – “ONE, TWO, THREE, TOSS!” – instruct everyone to toss their items (at the same time) towards the centre of the circle.

There are no words to describe the spectacle that is watching two or three frantically grasping people try to catch at least one item.

How is it possible, let’s say, that 50 items were tossed, but only one was caught? Ahhhh, the vagaries of multitasking.

The catching results of the volunteer troika are predictably poor. It is not uncommon to see 0 to 2 items total.

Even better is listening to the words of exclamation from those who are yet to stand in the centre of the circle and wonder why all those before them performed so badly.

Allow time for each set of volunteers to have 2 or 3 rounds, and then swap them for a fresh set of catchers. Encourage everyone in the group to have a go in the centre.

It may take some time, but gradually the group learns how to improve its performance by tweaking various attributes of the game such as throwing proficiency, focus and structure.

To preserve the adventure, I will not inform the first set of volunteers what they are about to do. This heightens the level of excitement, engagement and fun during the first few rounds.

Naturally, all items must be caught “on the full” ie pulled directly from the air. Therefore, first bounce catches off the floor are not kosher. Do I even have to mention picking an object off the ground?

If you observe a lot of blame being levelled at the catchers to do better, this may reflect your framing of the task. This is not an Us v Them situation. A question you may want to pose to mitigate potential conflict is “What can we do as a group to improve our performance?” Emphasis on the word ‘group’ is deliberate.

Multi-tasking is a common thread of conversation in this exercise. Take a look at some of the questions described in the Reflection Tips tab to give you a few starting points to explore this topic.

By the way, most research debunks the theory of multi-tasking because it is an acknowledged scientific fact that our brains can only focus on one thing at a time. Anyone who professes to be a good multi-tasker is actually proficient at rapidly transitioning between multiple tasks, ie giving the impression they are doing more than one thing at once.

This game was originally called Quail Shooter’s Delight, based on the ‘sport’ of quail hunting. As told by Karl Rohnke in Silver Bullets II, “…if a shooter kicked-up a covey of quail and blasted away with their shotgun pointed in the general direction of the frantically fleeing covey, all the birds would generally escape. If the shooter concentrated on and aimed at one bird, that bird was usually ‘bagged.’ The game name change occurred because some folks, opposed to hunting, were offended by the name and hunting scenario, thus the alternative name Phones & Faxes…”

Why Phones & Faxes? These words conjure an image of a multi-tasking worker trying to juggle many things simultaneously.

You could integrate Phones & Faxes as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviours effectively in different situations and to achieve goals.

Specifically, this activity offers ample opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Recognising Strengths, Prejudices & Biases
• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy
• Having A Growth Mindset

Self-Management

• Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation
• Setting Personal & Group Goals
• Taking Initiative
• Use Planning & Organisational Skills

Social Awareness

• Taking Other’s Perspectives
• Demonstrating Empathy & Compassion
• Recognising Strengths In Others
• Respecting Others

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively
• Seeking and/or Offering Support
• Build Positive Relationships
• Work Collaboratively
• Showing Leadership
• Resolving Conflict Constructively

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Identifying Problems
• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Identifying Solutions
• Anticipating & Evaluating the Consequences of One’s Actions
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

Behavioural Norms

The complexities of this fun group initiative invite group members to interact and engage with each other in a manner that would necessarily speak to the benefits of having developed a set of supportive and healthy behavioural norms in advance. Or, if not, you could focus on any less-than-desired interactions or outcomes to explore what sorts of behaviours your group would prefer to see and commit to in the future.

For example, in addition to those described in the Reflection Tips tab, you could invite your group to reflect on the following questions to explore a variety of full value behaviours such as:

• How did the group demonstrate its ability to care for self and others?
• Generally speaking, how did the group make decisions? How were all members involved?
• What types of leadership were demonstrated during the exercise? Were they effective?
• Was adaptability a key component of the group’s success? How?
• Were there moments of accountability that concerned you? Why?

Goal-Setting

Framed as a group exercise, there are ample opportunities to explore effective goal-setting. Most groups initially estimate they will catch 10x more items than they do. This speaks to the importance of setting realistic goals per the SMART goal-setting model. Also, you are well-advised to guide your group to reflect on the focus of their problem-solving efforts, ie did they rely heavily on the catcher’s ability to achieve the group’s goal or was it a group effort?

Resilience

From catching zero of 50 objects to maybe 10 or 15 objects after many rounds, what do these results say about the group’s resiliency? Did resilience manifest itself in the volunteer catchers and/or the group? There is no doubt that there are ample opportunities for individuals and the group to apply a variety of coping mechanisms to manage their frustration with their progress and results. Consider presenting this activity before or after a session in which you plan to teach these coping strategies.

• No Touching: Challenge the 2 or 3 volunteers to catch as many items as possible without physical contact with one another, ie sometimes allowing bodies to touch or lay together on the floor can be an effective way to catch the items.
• On Your Feet: Limit all creative catching options to those which can be implemented while the feet of all volunteers are touching the ground.
• Creativity Plus: Typical set-up, but no holds are barred. Permit any creative method that will catch more items by the volunteers, eg stretching one’s clothing to act as a net, or pressing against one another back-to-back, allowing the angled bodies of the volunteers to act as a funnel, etc.
• Take a look at All Catch, Ally Oop and Pick & Choose to explore more group initiatives involving tossable items.

We hear a lot about multi-tasking these days, and many people will swear that they are good at it. Yet, the science is really clear – our brains can only focus on or execute one thing at a time. This might suggest that anyone who thinks that they are a good multi-tasker is, in fact, very good at rapidly transitioning between tasks. This next exercise will put this theory to the test…

I can juggle three balls very comfortably [ demonstrate if you wish…,] and now I’m learning how to juggle with four balls. But boy, it’s hard, as any experience involving juggling many things at once…

Have you tried to write a sentence as you are talking to someone? Invariably, one or both tasks will be poorly executed. More often than not, to be more successful, I will stop talking or stop writing to continue with the other task. Keep this in mind as you wrestle with our new group initiative…

I’m going to predict that you will fail as a group more often than succeed as you tackle this next problem-solving exercise. The task itself is very simple to understand, but the process through which you aim to achieve it could be quite complex. Let’s see what happens…

Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after leading this entertaining group initiative:

• What did you notice?
• Did these results change with different sets of volunteers in the centre of the circle?
• Why were the results so poor in the beginning?
• Were the results largely a function of the effectiveness of the catchers, throwers or both?
• Does multi-tasking work? Why or why not?
• Does multitasking make our lives more efficient? Successful? Where is the evidence?
• What steps did the group take to improve its performance? Give an example.
• How might we apply this lesson of focus in other areas of our lives?