Question No. 1: Prepare a detailed session plan for a short duration (1 or 2 days long) programme.

It should contain:
a. Programme Profile b. Schedule for the programme c. For each session - i. Title of the session. ii. The objective of the session. iii.
Contents for the session (List of subtopics and activities in the right sequence) iv. Methodology v. Equipment and resources required
Answer:
The past few months have been rather adventurous for all of us as we explored the technologies that brought the world closer over virtual platforms. While
most of us adapted to the new normal, we are yet to get comfortable and confident with virtual interactions. To help you get better acquainted with these
technological interventions, we are pleased to announce a training session on ‘Etiquette in Virtual Communication’.
This session will help you:
1. Improve overall communication
2. Learn to communicate effectively across levels
3. Improve listening
4. Get a better grip on utilizing the virtual medium for effective and clear communication

Date: 10th November 2020 Time: 10:00 am to 05:00 pm (6 hrs) Venue: Microsoft Teams
Sr Name of the session Time
No.
1 Welcome, Introduction, Expectation Setting and Laying Ground Rules 10:00 hrs
2 Ice Breaker & de-brief 10:15 hrs
3 Introduction to Communication 10:45 hrs
4 Exploring the virtual world 11:00 hrs
Tea Break 11:15 hrs
5 Email – Writing & Etiquette 11:30 hrs
6 Proofreading and tips for proofreading 12:00 hrs
7 Verbal Communication & Listening 12:30 hrs
Lunch Break 13:00 hrs
9 Virtual Presence 14:00 hrs
10 Body language 14:30 hrs
11 7 essentials of virtual communication 15:00 hrs
Tea Break 15:15 hrs
12 Email Writing Activity 15:30 hrs
13 Discuss activity and close 16:15 hrs
Total Duration 06 hrs

Sr. Session Title Session Objective
No
.
1 Welcome & To give participants an
Introduction overview of the program, set
ground rules and, to get and set
expectations, during the session.
2 Ice Breaker & To get to know each other better
De-brief and initiate rapport building.
3 Introduction to To introduce and familiarize
Communication learners with the base topic.
4 Exploring the To familiarize learners with the
virtual world major subject of the session.
5 Email – To brush upon the existing
Writing & knowledge learners and to equip
Etiquette them with the best practices of
email writing.
6 Proofreading To establish the importance of
and tips for proofreading activity for
proofreading effective and impactful
communication through emails
Training Session Plan
Content Methodology Equipment & Resources
1. Welcome participants 1. Instructor led A complete system with
2. Set objective and share agenda interaction working audio, video,
3. Manage expectations and set ground microphone set up with a
rules good and stable internet
connection
1. Ice-breaker Questions 1. Group Discussion NA
2. Discussion activity 2. Activity
3. De-brief (explanation)
1. Understanding Communication 1. Group Discussion NA
2. Evolution of Communication
1. Evolution of Communication 1. Storytelling NA
2. Storytelling 2. Group Discussion
Tea Break
1. Play video on email manners 1. Video Menticom site access
2. Quiz on DOs and DON’Ts in email 2. Quiz on Menticom YouTube link to the
writing 3. De-brief video
3. Discussion and debriefing on best
practices
4. Introducing importance of proof-
reading
1. Discussion on identifying errors in the 1. Group Discussion Pen and paper to keep
email 2. Instructor led score of errors identified
2. Ask participants to keep a track of the explanation and
no. of errors identified interaction
3. Explain concept of proofreading 3. Individual Activity
4. Explain tips on proofreading
5. Ask participants to apply proofreading
to the email displayed earlier and count
 how many errors they could identify
now
6. Display correct version of the email
displayed earlier
7 Verbal To introduce learners to 1. Components in Verbal Communication 1. Instructor led Pen and paper to keep
Communication effective verbal communication 2. Factors influencing Verbal explanation and score of errors identified
& Listening and active listening through Communication interaction
virtual medium 3. Play video on active listening 2. Video
4. Discuss the 7 steps of active listening 3. Group & Individual
5. Display tips for choice of words – Ask activities
participants to keep score of how many
correct answers they could guess
Lunch Break
9 Virtual To understand challenges in 1. Discuss limitations in virtual 1. Instructor led NA
Presence virtual communication and how communication explanation and
to overcome them, while 2. Discuss 4 main elements in virtual interaction
ensuring maintaining a positive communication 2. Video
virtual presence. 3. Play video on typical virtual meeting 3. Individual activity
4. Conduct activity and explain why one
must not multitask
5. Debrief using the DOs and DON’Ts
slide
10 Body language To familiarize the learners with 1. Ask participants what comprises of 1. Instructor led NA
the concept of body language body language and whether it is explanation and
and its significance and important in virtual communication interaction
implications while 2. Discuss best practices in body language
communicating through virtual in virtual communication
medium
11 7 essentials of To establish the essential points 1. Structure – Opening, Body, Close 1. Instructor led NA
virtual to be kept in mind while 2. Clarity explanation and
communication communicating over virtual interaction
platforms.
3. Consistency
4. Medium
5. Relevancy
6. Primacy/Recency
7. The Psychological Rule of 7 + 2
 Tea Break
12 Email Writing To put what has been learnt in 1. Display the email scenario 1. Instructor led NA
Activity the email writing session to 2. Give them 15 minutes to draft the email explanation and
practice and draft an email 3. Ask every participant to read their interaction
emails and the others share their 2. Group &
feedback and inputs Individual activity
4. Sharing feedback if points are missed 3. Debrief
by other participants
13 Discuss activity To highlight improvement 1. Highlight common improvement areas 1. Instructor led NA
and close areas, summarize and conclude 2. Quickly recap the session and ask explanation and
the session participants to highlight major learning interaction
points 2. Group Discussion
3. Ask if anyone has any questions/
feedback
4. Thank participants and conclude
Question No. 2: Design and Develop an experiential learning activity. This should include:
a. Title of the activity b. Learning Purpose of the activity. c. Duration d. Description of Activity stepwise. e. Material and resources
required. f. Briefs for the participants. g. Guidelines for Facilitator.
Answer:

a. Activity: The Rope Trouble

b. Learning Objective: The purpose of this activity is to get participants to put on their thinking hats and think of a creative way to solve the problem at
hand. This activity will help participants to break their mental barriers, unlearn what they know and, learn new ways of doing things differently and
creatively. It enables them to question commonly held perceptions about the right way of doing things and offers them opportunities to discover new
ways and possibilities of getting things done.

c. Duration: 30 minutes (15 minutes activity + 15 minutes debrief)

d. Stepwise description of activity:

1. Divide the participants into pairs
2. Each member of the pair will stand facing each other
3. Member A will tie the ends of a short piece of rope to their wrists such that their arms remain joined by the piece of rope.
Member B will tie one end of the rope to one of their own wrist and pass the rope through their partners arms joined by the rope in a manner that once
they tie the other end of the rope to the other wrist, the two pieces of ropes are connected one inside the other – as shown in Step 1 in the pictures below.
4. Member A will hold their rope vertically behind Member B’s rope, with their right hand at the top position, then Member A is supposed to create a
partial loop in their rope and pass it through the knot on Member B’s right hand from the part below the arm and pull it towards themselves as shown in
Step 2 & Step 3
 5. Finally, the loop is pulled out of the knot through the palm and the ropes are separated and free, as seen in Step 4.

e. Material and resources required:

Two pieces of rope – 100 centimetres each

f. Briefs for the participants:

Sometimes in life, we come across rather unique problems which cannot be solved by our conventional problem-solving techniques. At the onset, we
may perceive the problem to be just like another one we solved a while ago, however as we analyse it further it strikes us that no solutions used in the
past are applicable to this problem – though it is similar, it is different in so many ways. It is crucial for us to understand the crux of the problem in front
of us and try new approaches and perspectives to look at it.
Given the situation, let us try an activity where you need to don your creative thinking hats and figure out the solution. The rules are simple and so is the
procedure to arrive at the solution. Shall we begin, then?
I need all of you to split into pairs, make sure you are not with someone you know previously or have worked with. Go around, make new
acquaintances. This will also help you to stick to the rules.
Now that you have paired up, I’ll explain the activity, but first make a note of what you are not supposed to do:
1. You are not supposed to touch each other at any point
2. You cannot untie any of your arms
3. You cannot cut the rope
I hope that much is clear. Let us get into the activity. Each member of the pair will be given a piece of rope. One of you will immediately tie both the
ends of the rope to their arms. The other member will tie one end of the rope to their arms, pass the other end of the rope through their partner’s rope,
such that they are one behind the other and then securely tie the other end to their other arm.
 This is your problem statement. You need to find a solution to separate the ropes, while they are still tied to your arms. I repeat, at no point are your
supposed to touch each other, untie the ropes or cut the ropes.
You will get 15 minutes to figure out the solution and your time starts now!

g. Guidelines for the facilitator:

1. Ensure that the ropes are long enough for people to maintain distance and not touch each other while trying out solutions.
2. Ensure participants move out of their comfort zones and pair up with those they have not interacted with earlier
3. The rope quality should be good, test the strength of the rope before handing it over to the participants. It should not break easily.
4. Keep a close watch on the timer – it should not exceed 15 minutes. This is crucial to develop the skill of creative problem solving, since creativity
demands time, and it may not be possible always to have extensive problem-solving sessions. Some problems may require immediate solutions.
Sticking to the deadline will help train the minds to think of innovative ideas even when facing a time crunch.
5. If any of the pair succeeds in figuring out the solution, ask them to keep it to themselves for the moment and let the others try. After the time allotted
to the activity is up, ask them to explain it to those who could not find the solution. This will facilitate peer learning and people learn easily from
those who are faced with a similar problem as them.
6. Wrap up the activity by summarizing why this activity was done, what have they learnt and how are they planning on applying the learning to their
work. Try to get a few of the participants to share their insights and perspectives so that the others can also explore different approaches to look at it.