Trading Places
Complimentary Tool for training and Development

Overview:

This techniques allows participants to get acquainted; exchange opinions; and consider new ideas, values, or solutions to problems. It is a great way to promote self-disclosure or an active exchange of viewpoints.

Procedure

1. Give participants one or more Post-it™ notes. (Decide whether the activity will work better by limiting the participants to one contribution or several.)
2. Ask the participants to write on their note(s) one of the following:
   
   • a value they hold
   • a recent experience
   • a creative idea or solution to a problem you have posed
   • a question about the subject matter of the training program
   • an opinion about a topic of your choosing
   • a fact about themselves or the subject matter of the session
3. Ask participants to stick the note(s) on their clothing and to circulate around the room reading one another's notes.
4. Next, have participants mingle once again and negotiate trades for other notes. The trades should be based on a desire to possess that value, experience, idea, question, opinion, or fact for a short period of time. Require that all trades be two-way. Encourage participants to make as many trades as they would like.
5. Reconvene the full group and ask participants to share what trades they made and why. For example, "I traded for a note that Sally had, stating that she has traveled to Eastern Europe. I would really like to travel there because my ancestors are from Hungary and Ukraine."

Variations

1. Ask participants to form subgroups rather than trade notes and have them discuss the contents of their notes.
2. Have participants post their notes in a public display (on a blackboard or flip chart) and discuss similarities and differences.

Case Example

This activity is appropriate for a workshop on cultural diversity. It is designed to help a diverse group of participants become acquainted and to promote self-disclosure.

1. Introduce the activity by discussing how our society rewards conformity and minimizes, even ignores, diversity. Indicate, however, that in this activity, individuality is valued.
2. Give each participant six Post-it™ notes or stick-on notes. Ask participants to write on each a label that might distinguish them from some or all of the other participants. Examples of categories include gender, ethnicity, race, age, physical characteristics, sexual orientation, religion, place of birth, educational level, language differences, economic status, and birth order.
3. Have participants, stick their notes on their clothing and then instruct them to stand up and mingle, "hawking" their unique qualities.
4. After a while, invite participants to trade notes with one another. Insist that the trades be two-way and that the participants assume their new identities temporarily. For example, a male participant might trade his "gender" with a female participant.
5. Reconvene the full group and ask for volunteers to share some of the trades they made and why they did so.

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Mel Silberman

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