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November 2008
The Human Board Game
Practice Networking in a Structured Environment
Playing The Game of Networking: The Board Game as a human board game puts a unique slant on the new Flowork resource.
In the tabletop board game version, participants are given a goal and set of tasks to complete. The objective is to find as many people as they can who can help them accomplish the assigned goal by moving their playing piece through a structured networking process printed directly on the board in front of them.
In the lifesize version, humans replace the playing pieces. Individuals experience networking in a simulated environment by seeking and connecting with actual people. The Flowork networking process allows individuals to break down the phenomenon of networking and focus in on areas that may require improvement. Ultimately, this will offer them the chance to improve their ability to convert opportunities into solutions that help them accomplish their goals. Their objective is simply to collect the appropriate resource cards from other players to complete their tasks and accomplish their goal. The first person to do this wins the game. The game can be played with as few as 20 people, with up to 1000 players in total.
Playing the human board game not only provides the opportunity to practice networking, but also the chance to meet other people. This makes it a great activity for college, corporate and conference workshops. The human board game not only provides an icebreaker but also gives participants an understanding of the phenomenon of networking and how to move an opportunity to a solution.
For example, a typical conferences already has networking opportunities scheduled for delegates to meet. Problems, however, arise when a delegate is not a natural networker because there is generally no structure in the scheduled activity. It is unrealistic to expect conference organizers to provide personalized and individual introductions, obviously the most effective way of getting delegates to speak to one another. As such, simply having a networking time slot does not accomplish anything for most attendees. It is, in fact, a point of intimidation for a number of individuals, which only results in a reduction of participation and the total failure to meet the purpose of the event.
Playing the human board game as a kickoff networking event allows individuals who are not natural networkers the opportunity to get involved and meet people right from the beginning. The game thereby helps to set the tone for the whole conference. In addition to breaking the ice, it also gets delegates to think of what they want to accomplish and then link people from the conference to help them do it. This provides a clear picture of the value of the conference, as they will see the benefit of attending right from the beginning.
By providing structure through the assigned goals and tasks, it gives participants a reason to open the lines of communication with other attendees. Once the game is complete, participants can create their own goals and then approach people to see whether they can help them. Because this is part of the event, people expect others to ask for help.
Whether the event is a conference, orientation for college students or a corporate affair, the human board game provides an opportunity to directly involve a number of people who would otherwise get lost in the attempt to connect everyone. If the event’s intention is to bring people closer together, the human board game will encourage this awareness and allow people to interact in a non-threatening manner. So many events have a networking component to it; this is one way of ensuring that people actually do meet and are encouraged to connect with other delegates, students or employees. Ultimately, by incorporating the human board game, participants might even learn something along the way.