Duration: 30 minutes.
Intended for:
This free icebreaker is used at the start of a training course and to close the session at the end. It helps identify participants concerns and fears regarding the training topic and/or the training itself.
Training course contents:
A set of instructions for the free icebreaker, ‘DUFF Info’ can be downloaded from the link at the bottom of this page. You can also follow the notes for the icebreaker below.
Instructions:
DUFF stands for: Doubts, Uncertainties, Feelings and Fears
- Ask the participants to ‘privately’ write down their Doubts, Uncertainties, Feelings and Fears regarding the training topic or training itself.
- Ask if anyone would like to share their DUFF’s with the group (don’t push participants to share if they don’t want to). Where you can allay their fears, do so, but this is not the main reason for the exercise.
- At the end of the training course, ask participants to review their DUFF’s. Have they changed? Improved? Disappeared? If they have not altered, ask why and what you can do to help.
- The hope is that these DUFF’s have either changed or been removed completely. Where they have not, use this information to help improve your next training course.
Objectives:
This icebreaker is great for helping participants identify their concerns and gives the trainer a huge opportunity to ensure they meet the needs of the participants. It’s also a good way of providing development opportunities for the trainer.
