Bob: “Ok, so ice breakers can be the spark for a meeting. How about energizers? I’ve heard people saying that if the meeting is more than an hour long, there should be a break, and then there should be energizers to reinvigorate people.”
Me (Wendy): “Personally, I am indifferent to energizers. What energizes one person may not energize another. Also, we need to take into consideration people’s personalities, preferences, and physicality. I’ve found that in many meetings where facilitators use energizers, they typically view it from their perspective. They overlook others who may not be as able-bodied or as extroverted as them.”
Bob: “Oh yeah – we mustn’t assume that everyone is like us, that people are very different when they show up in trainings and meetings.”
Me: “Yea. I distinctly remember in one of my meetings, the facilitator asked us to move our bodies in a certain way as an energizer. She said we had been sitting too long. After the activity, one of the attendees said that he couldn’t do that because he just had surgery on his shoulder. He couldn’t move his arms and shoulders like she asked. He said, “It would be VERY painful for me.” That’s why I mentioned we need to take into account people’s physicality. And sometimes, like that participant, you can’t tell just from looking at him. He didn’t have a sling or a brace or anything.”
Bob: “Wendy, that’s a good point! We’re now back to the topic of inclusion. For that meeting, if the facilitator’s goal is to get people to move, then we can tell people they can move whatever body parts they prefer. They can move their arms and shoulders, they can move their legs and feet, they can move their heads around. In fact, we can even tell people that they can just move their eyes!”
Me: “Move their eyes! Wow, that’s creative! Yes! Do you know I just move my eyes as you suggested? Just left and right. It woke me up! Lol!”
Bob: “Oh! We can tell people they can also “move” by moving their stomach.”
Me: “‘Moving their stomach? What do you mean?”
Bob: “Take rapid breaths, or take deep breaths, or do breathing exercises. I can guarantee that would energize people.”
Me: “Wow! Good suggestions. I think the point is, we need to be conscientious and work hard not to exclude people, and give people choices, as long as we tell them the goal we want them to accomplish.”
Bob: “Yup! I guess energizers are not quite the spark for the meeting then. At our next meeting, I’m going to suggest people they can move their mouths and just grab a bite to eat if they really want to “move” 😉 “
Me: “Hahahaha! You do that, Bob! LOL!”