Using Deal With It

The back of the Deal With It rule card contains a number of suggestions for setting up and guiding your training.

Prepare for your training session!

 

1. Photocopy the rules so that each player will have a set of their own to read.
2. Either place a rule page at each chair or hand the rules out to each person as he or she enters the room.
3. Thoroughly shuffle each deck. Set all decks in a place where you will be able to easily reach them throughout the training session.
4. Take your time and carefully read through the Rule page and the concept and purpose on the reverse side.
5. Remove as many distractions as you can.
6. Once your staff is seated ask them to read the rules and the example of play.
7. Deal the three cards from the Challenges deck to each player and inform them that each card has the rule for it's usage printed right on the card.

Control your training session!

 

1. As the Judge, you determine the amount of time spent discussing a question or policy.
2. If you read a Question card that seems difficult, and no one wants to play an Open Question card, feel free to discard the question and move on to the next. Deal With It is designed to be fast moving and flexible. Your objective is to train.
3. If you feel more comfortable with giving out more than one point card so as to raise the self-esteem of multiple players for other excellent answers, feel free to do so.
4. Some Judges prefer giving out a point card with a specific value, instead of random cards from the deck. This too is fine, keep in mind that there is only one card worth five points, three worth four, seven valued at three points, thirteen worth two, and twenty valued at one point.
5. Deal With It is designed to keep you in charge. Make sure that players are not allowed to challenge other players' answers without a Challenge card. You as Judge are the person that must be satisfied with the answers given.
6. Feel free during your training session to elaborate upon company policies and to develop preferred approaches. Let all your staff members contribute to the discussion and bring your team closer together as a unit.
7. Don't forget to let your staff have fun with their unexpected answers. A fun, memorable training session can stay with your staff for a lifetime.

Deal With It is very flexible and has many diverse uses beyond a single session game.

Using Deal With It for a regular meeting discussion starter:

 

Strategy:

A five to fifteen minute discussion with three or more team members can pay large dividends especially when use is consistent over time. You can keep skills honed and service an ongoing priority. When used during orientation, this makes an excellent break in technical training sessions to refocus the class.

Preparation:

1. Read through a small number of Question cards to find a favorite for the week.
2. Write down a few notes of the similar aspects to your particular business. Pay attention to the obvious answers and play the 'devil's advocate', making team members defend their answers and explore alternative approaches.
3. Approach this question as though every person in the meeting has a Challenge the Answer card.

During your meeting:

1. Read the Question card aloud and ask for anyone to attempt an answer. Pay special attention to anyone whose answer is from a similar personal experience.
2. Spur on the discussion by giving voice to the notes you have written down previously.
3. Talk about how this situation fits into your current policies.
4. Don't be intimidated to spend considerable time covering all the implications of the answers.

 

Using Deal With It as a "bulletin board" topic for informal training:

 

Strategy:

Posting a question or situation in a break-room, copied as a memo or emailing a weekly or daily service challenge is a low-key approach to keep customer service in the minds of your staff. Either ask for short answers for a service contest, or put out as food for thought.

Preparation:

1. Set aside a spot on a bulletin board and give it a small title or banner like "Weekly ______ (fill in with your topic area, i.e. Service, Food Safety, etc.) Situation."
2. Post a card, or enlarged photocopy of a Question card of your choosing. You may want to re-write the card slightly to fit your business directly, if you wish.
3. Inform your staff to read the "Weekly Situation" and think about a response.

Training:

1. Have associates email their approach and answer to the "Weekly Situation."

Or

1. Put up a small "Suggestions Box" to have short written answers dropped off. Later you post up the best answer and reward the person with the best answer with a small recognition.
2. You might consider rewarding the best answer people with a random Point card. By doing this weekly over a four to six month period of time, you can reward the person with the most points a small prize.
3. If you decide to take this approach on a more intensive daily approach you can reward a monthly winner. Done in this fashion, the basic Deal With It set and module will give you eight or more months of training.

Using Deal With It as a team building exercise or during orientation in a classroom setting, and not as a game:

 

Strategy:

Divide the class into groups of 3 to 6, each team taking 2 questions.  Each group discusses both questions and reach a consensus. Each group in turn reads and explains their questions and answers, defending them before the larger group. This is a real team builder and very memorable.

Preparation:

1. Read through the Question cards and pick out the questions that you think will give you insight into the thoughts of the staff you are trying to train.
2. These questions may be of a similar nature to your business directly or you may want to look for questions that will key in on a person's 'gut reaction' to approaching problems.

Training:

1. In the group setting, teams will need to reach consensus and thus, will tend to review multiple approaches to arrive at 'best answers'.
2. Used in an orientation setting, you can illustrate preferred answers, company standards and expectations.

Using Deal With It as an interviewing tool:

 

Strategy:

Send an immediate message that service is important and what you expect. Read a few questions and listen to the approach and confidence. Know who is a 'people person.'

Preparation:

1. Choose a question or two from the Questions deck. You should strive to make sure that you do not feel that there is only one obvious answer to the question posed.
2. You may want to come up with possible responses and differing approaches to the question at hand.

During the Interview:

1. Read the Question card to each interviewee at the same point in the interview.
2. Give the prospective employee ample time to give a response.
3. You may want to give a differing response and ask if they see a problem with either their response or your alternative.
4. Pay special attention to the attitude and desire to serve and the thought given to your special question.