A Lack of inspiration – Ideas for Community Sessions: Board Games
A common question I get asked is ‘what type of things should I be doing in my community sessions?’. I thought it would be an idea to write out a selection of ideas that can be applied to most communities regardless of what they focus on as a source of inspiration. They might work for you, they might not – they might just inspire you to do something similar but different instead. Whatever you use this for, hopefully you find it interesting! I’ll try and do a few of these as I think of them, but I’m always open to learning new ideas so feel free to share your own!
Board Games
What is it?
Its exactly what it says – play some board games together. There is nothing more complex to this session than that.
What’s good about it?
In today’s hectic, high pressure high stress society, there is a special type of pleasure that can be drawn from doing something completely off topic and different. Something that serves no purpose other than the joy of experiencing it. It is the definition of art. This break in the norm can often be more meaningful to the members of the community than any other type of session, as for a short time they are given the chance to be themselves without learning outcomes or the expectation of transactional learning, without the expectation of having to grow – just a short window in our collective lives where we can just do something fun. It can do wonders to your wellbeing.
Above and beyond this, playing games together is arguably the best way of building connections and relationships with other members of the community. We retain and remember the experiences we enjoy and we build relationships and connection with those we experience it with, and these relationships built doing something fun can endure and offer support when times are harder. This especially applies if you are part of a work-based Community of Practice – building effective connection through enjoyable experiences can help build outcomes that would otherwise be beyond reach. For a long time I had a Dobble tin on my desk in the office which I would take to meetings on the off chance the meeting was delayed by someone running late, which I would whip out for a quick game while we waited. You’d be amazed at the difference it can make to the outcomes.
How do I do it?
Volunteers: Ahead of time, ask members of the community to bring in a game they particularly enjoy. It should be something that can be played in no more than an hour (or played a couple of times in the hour), or however long your community session is going to be. Nothing would make me happier to start up a full on Dungeons and Dragons session, but by the time you’re up and running its time to wrap up again.
Expectations: Make sure everyone is aware that the community session is going to be spent playing games, and that you are focussing on building relationships and connections together. Whilst we can readily point to the value we get from these sessions, not everyone’s relationship with the community is the same. Some members may view it as a transactional learning exchange and that alone, and would consider it a waste of time. Do you want people in your activity sitting there thinking it’s a waste of time? No. Of course you don’t. Its ok for some to decide that this particular session is not for them, just as it is for any other type of session. Don’t be afraid to explain what value of the session is, but don’t be upset or begrudge those who don’t value it today. We’re all different – its fine
Timekeeping: It’s a very different type of conversation that occurs when you say ‘I’ve just been having a great time playing games’ compared to ‘I’m sorry I’m late, I was having a great time playing games’. Respect your community members’ lives outside of the community and hold everyone to time – make sure you wrap up with enough time for everything to be packed away properly (it can take what feels like hours to pack up Catan in our house), and that everyone can leave feeling reinvigorated rather than rushed or flustered
Thanks so much for reading, if you’ve enjoyed this post I’d really appreciate it if you could share it - alternatively you could always buy me a coffee :)