Inventory Transfer - Activity to Support DiSC®

WHAT:

An initiative (team problem-solving exercise), which, in addition to raising team awareness and understanding around their interpersonal dynamics, is especially useful for showcasing DiSC styles of behavior.

GROUP SIZE:

8 – 15; if more participants, then simply “double the recipe,” i.e., put together an additional work area, divide the whole group into two working teams, and have each team address their initiative independently.

TIME:

30 minutes.

PROPS REQUIRED:

• 5 pieces of 2X4 lumber cut to lengths of 3 ft., 2.5 ft., 2 ft., 1.5 ft., 1 ft., and 6 inches (with apologies to my international neighbors – I don’t yet have the metric system down … intellectual laziness …) Although it isn’t necessary, I suggest that each of these boards be spray painted a different color.  NOTE: I think that this will also work with foam padding cut to the same lengths.  Am working on building a set right now ...

• 3 poly spots, paper plates, or other “place holders” – read on.

• One stopwatch.

SET UP:

1. Tape a boundary box on the floor approximately 6’ X 12’ – this is the team’s “work area.”

2. Place the three poly spots or other placeholders on the ground within the work area so that the first is about two feet from one end of the work area running lengthwise, the second is about two feet from the other end of the work area, and the third is in the middle between the other two. (If you are using placeholders such as paper plates, tape the underside so that they don’t skid easily across the floor.)

3. Place the five wooden blocks on one end spot; arrange all five so that they form one stack with the longest on the floor, the second longest immediately on top of the longest board, all the way up to the smallest block on top. The spot on which the stack now rests is “the warehouse,” the stack of blocks is now the “inventory,” and the far spot at the end of the “work area” is the “job site.”

4. Divide your group into two “crews.” (For those using this activity to showcase DiSC Dimensions of Behavior, I usually do this irrespective of DiSC dimensions, but note the variation at the end of this article.)

OBJECTIVE:

To transfer the 5 tiers of inventory from the warehouse to the job site in less than 15 minutes. The job is complete when the entire inventory has been transferred to the job site.

GUIDELINES:

• Each crew member must move at least one piece each.

• Pieces may be moved to any open spot or stack as long at the following restrictions are observed:

  • Only one piece may be moved at a time. If more than one piece is ever in the process of being moved at a time, all inventory is returned to the warehouse and the crew must start over.

  • Pieces may only be placed on an open spot or on top of a larger piece. Larger pieces cannot be placed on top of smaller pieces.

  • Pieces may only be moved from the top of a stack.

  • You may only have one “stack” per spot, i.e., no placing pieces side-by-side on a spot.

• There will be a mandatory crew change every 2 minutes. During crew change, if any member of the relief crew enters the work area before all members of the working crew have exited, all inventory is returned to the warehouse. The relief crew is still working, but it must begin again with a full warehouse.

• Anyone on the team can call up to 4 (one minute) planning timeouts over the course of the job. Once time is called, the facilitator stops the watch and all participants on the working crew must step outside of the work area boundaries to plan. Running time starts again when one minute has passed or the crew re-enters the work area.

FACILITATION HINTS:

• Review the objective and guidelines with the team prior to starting the activity. I post a shortened, bulleted list of the guidelines to flipchart and leave in plain view so that there is no argument later about what I did or did not say. Ask for questions.

• Make sure that the team has divided into two work crews and each participant knows which crew s/he is on.

• I usually allow two minutes for the entire team to gather around the work area and begin to develop a plan. Once two minutes is up, I direct the first crew to enter the work area, and then give them the “ready, set, go.” Start the stopwatch.

• Keep an eye open for any two pieces in motion at any one time; when this occurs, step right into the action, say something like “OSHA Violation!” and pick up the pieces and quickly return all of them to the warehouse spot. You’ll encounter some pushback, but just note which pieces were in motion and direct them to continue, as the clock is still running!

• Every two minutes, announce in a loud voice “CREW CHANGE!” I can almost guarantee you that the first time (and often the second and third times as well) you call crew change, some member(s) of the relief crew will step into the work area before all members of the working crew have exited. Should this occur, you will once again need to note the violation and return all inventory to the warehouse.

• Participants often forget about using their “time outs.” Should the team call “Time Out,” direct everyone to step outside of the work area and stop the running clock. Tick off a minute or so in your head (exact timing usually isn’t crucial here) and, if they are still planning, direct the then-working crew to return to the work area. Start the stopwatch again.

DiSC BEHAVIORS YOU'LL SEE:

Although this activity may be used to illustrate and discuss any number of team dynamics topics (e.g., communication, leadership, problem solving, etc.), if you are using it primarily for DiSC reinforcement, you’ll want to notice and then bring up through your questions how behavioral styles impacted their approach to this task. Typically, you’ll see …

• D's will rush into the task; may push people aside (not quite literally, but you get the picture); will want to be very hands-on; will have no problem giving their opinion; may blame others when a violation is announced.  D's will, however, often be the ones who most frequently violate the two guidelines which cause a restart!)
• I's will be very active in the planning period; will be talking quite a bit both then and through the rest of the exercise; will be cheering the team on and encouraging everyone to "hang in there" after a violation.  (I's will also forget the guidelines which necessitate a restart.)
• S's will hang back during the planning and may be very compliant during the execution of the plan.  They will do what they are told to do.  You may hear them quietly suggest a time out, but they will rarely say it firmly enough to stop the action.  The frenetic nature of this activity tends to be uncomfortable to high S's.
• C's are often the ones to see the pattern[1] first, and they may do it conceptually before work has even started.  They will often offer their ideas in the planning stage, but unless their D is also high, they will tend to be overruled by the Ds.  When this happens, you can see the C's begin to disengage.

When facilitating this activity to reinforce DiSC understanding, I coach the participants on the very front end, before I’ve even given them guidelines, to be aware of their own predictable behaviors and watch those of others. I do not mention DiSC again until the activity has concluded; predictably, once the action starts, they forget to “think DiSC” and are acting naturally. This activity frame, however, gives you the initial lead-in into your debrief. I often begin this session with something as simple as “So what did I say the purpose of this learning activity was? [To watch for DiSC behaviors.] So what DiSC behaviors did you see? Feel?” You will want to observe examples of particular behaviors during the exercise so that you can offer leading questions to get them rolling. For example, “Rob (high D), I noticed that you really got into that work. Did anyone else notice that behavior? Tell me about that …”

VARIATION

If you have enough participants, run two Inventory Transfer initiatives simultaneously, but divide up the teams and work crews by DiSC style.

• Place all D’s and all S’s on the same team, but designate all S’s as work crew number 1 and all D’s as work crew number two.
• Place all I’s and all C’s on the same team; designate the C’s as work crew 1 and the I’s as work crew 2.

Compare how well each team does to the other; note how behavioral strengths and overuses impacted their results. Consider what stylistic “culture” each group assumed over the course of the activity and why.