Learning Collaboration and the Planning via the Process Game
OVERVIEW:
I propose a fun and simple exercise which is variation on the popular card game Rummy to teach the importance of planning and collaboration. The game is fun, easy to play, and doesn’t require an in-depth project or any type of case study. The entire workshop can be completed in 30 minutes.
SUMMARY:
It is difficult to teach people, particularly students in college, the importance of planning. People tend to get caught in the concrete details of a project and not see that planning how to approach the problem can be as important as actually approaching the problem.
The importance of planning an approach is critical in agile software development, as the approach is often different from project to project and can change between iterations (hence agility).
This workshop has consistently proven to drive the point home about the importance of planning how to communicate. This workshop has been presented in the classroom at the undergraduate level and at several professional conferences with great success.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
Educators and mentors can benefit from this session since they will see an unusual way to teach process planning from an experiential learning perspective. Developers and concrete thinkers will benefit from this session by seeing an exercise that drives home the importance of process planning.
TIMING
5 minutes: introduction and explanation of the rules.
18-20 minutes: playing the game, which consists of 3 minutes to plan before the game begins.
5 debriefing and relating the game to real world experience.
THE GAME
The basic idea of the process game is to divide the students into a number of groups. Each group has a different communication method. Each participant in the group gets an incomplete set of rules for the card game. A few participants in the group get the remaining rules, but the game is set up so that nobody (except a ‘user’) has a complete set of rules. Certain groups will have a user who has a complete set of rules and variations of the game.
The goal of the groups is play as many rounds of the card game as possible in 20 minutes. After the game is played, the instructor relates the communication methods to real world applications. If time allows, each group will have a representative explain their communication mechanism and the problems they had playing the game.
Variations Among Groups
There are 2 dimensions that are varied for each of the groups, communication mechanism and user involvement. The following list describes the mix for each group.
Group 1: Via Email Only, No additional user, Represents Team geographically distributed across several time zones.
Group 2: Via Email Only, Additional user involved, Represents Team geographically distributed across several time zones.
Group 3: Via Telephone Only, No additional user, Represents Team with no documentation.
Group 4: Via Telephone Only, Additional user involved, Represents Team with no documentation.
Group 5: Open Communication, User inserted at last 5 minutes, Represents Team falling behind that has an expert inserted to help.
Group 6: Open Communication, User involved until last 5 minutes, Represents Team that is doing well, so has an expert removed.
Communication Mechanism Descriptions
Groups designated as “Via Email Only” must communicate only in writing - no hand signals or speaking at all is allowed. One person in the group is selected as the mail server, responsible for routing emails between each player. Players do not hand the emails directly to other players, but hand them to the email server. Emails to more than one person will be routed (passed) by the mail server from one person to the next person. Players must also not email the rules between eachother, but can email their interpretation of the rules. Note that students can’t see each other’s hands, the deck itself, or any discarded cards. This information can only be shared via email, therefore one of the participants in the group must be responsible for managing the cards the deck.
Groups designated as “Via Telephone Only” can only communicate via telephone (speaking), in other words, the group cannot show each other diagrams, papers, writeups, cards, or use hand signals. The groups can hold conference calls to multiple people. Members of this group cannot just read the rules, but must explain them. As with the Email group, students can’t see each other’s hands, the deck itself, or any discarded cards. This information can only be shared via telephone, therefore one of the participants in the group must be responsible for managing the cards the deck.
Groups designated as “Open Communication” have free communication, essentially sharing anything the members would. Again groups in this category can’t just read the rules or pass them around, but must explain them.
User Involvement Descriptions
Users get an entire set of rules as well as a section of rules designated as variations. The goal of the user is to introduce a different variation for each round. The variations are not cumulative (only one variation per hand). The user is part of the groups and can facilitate or assist in any way he/she would like as long as he/she conforms to the communication mechanism.
The group designated as “Open Communication” with a user involved until the last 5 minutes must not be made aware that the user is going to be pulled from the group at the end, it must be unexpected both on the part of the group and the part of the user.
The group designated as “Open Communication” with a user inserted at the last 5 minutes must be told that they have no user - the insertion of the user must be unexpected. In order to accomplish this, a student must be removed from all participation and NOT assigned to any group; keep this in mind when determining the groups. Tell this student that he/she is a user and give the student the entire ruleset and variations. Instruct the student to read the rules and practice if needed. This student will become a relative expert o the game when inserted.
Determining Groups
A group consists of 4 to 6 players. It is important to avoid selecting players who are already in informal social groups as that will effect their communication. Ideally there should be six groups (24 - 36 students). If there are more than 36 students taking part, repeat the six communication methods - don’t create groups larger than six participants. If there are less than 24 students, limit the group communication by eliminating Group 6, Group 5, Group 4, and then Group 3, in that order. The game requires at least two groups (8 participants).
Rule Distribution
The rules for the card game are divided into three segments. There is an incomplete set of rules that is distributed to everyone in the group. There are two sets of additional of rules that are distributed to other players in the group. This ensures that nobody in the group has all of the rules. If there are more than 4 players per group, the two sets of additional rules are copied and distributed to four players in the group. For example if there are six players, two people will have only basic rules, two people will have the basic rules and the first set of additional rules, and two people will have the basic rules and the second set of additional rules. The game cannot be played without employing all of the rules, so distributing the rules ensures that the group must communicate. Although all of the groups are actually playing the same game, it is important to tell the groups that each group may have a different game to play so that the groups don’t listen in to another group’s game.
Playing the Game
The first step in the game is to distribute the instructions for the process game, but not the rules for the card game. These rules describe each group’s communication mechanism and user involvement. The actual rules of the card game will be distributed when play begins. As you distribute the instructions, allow the participants to read them, but don’t allow them to discuss the instructions until you give them the signal to start organizing.
The groups are given a signal that they have 3 minutes to organize themselves using any means of communication they’d like. Instruct them to determine who is the group leader (if they want one), who is the user (if applicable), and anything else that they need to decide (mail server, names for mail, scribe, etc).
After 3 minutes, distribute the rules, making sure that everyone gets a copy of the partial rules and the additional sections of the rules are distributed. The user instructions are also distributed. The participants are instructed not to read the rules until the instructor signals. Once all of the rules are distributed to all of the groups, the instructor gives the signal to start the game. Tell the participants that they can spend this time organizing more (within the parameters of the communication mechanism), but at the end of 20 minutes, the game ends and the participants must stop all activities.
The last step of the process game is for the instructor to relate the communication mechanisms to real world situations. Group 1 and Group 2, where communication is only via email, can be related to a geographically dispersed organization. Email is often used as the primary form of communication when a branch office is located in a country such as Australia or India and the main office is in the United States making organized meetings difficult because of time zone considerations. Group 3 and group 4 use only telephone communication and no written documentation. This type of communication can be likened to agile processes where documentation is marginalized and oral communication is emphasized. Group 5 and 6 are mainly affected by user involvement, which is typical in many large organizations where the user is in high demand.