#05: 4 questions to deliver clear activity instructions

I am going to share 4 questions to deliver activity instructions that reduce confusion and drive quicker action for your audience. 

Have you ever been in a meeting, workshop or conference where an activity is starting and you turn to the person next to you and ask “Wait…what are we doing?”  

Unfortunately, this happens all too often. An activity doesn’t get completed. You get interrupted during a presentation. People are left confused.

During activity instructions, saying fewer words is more valuable.

This is the #1 reason why I see activity instructions fail. Facilitators talk too much.

This causes a cognitive stress on participants that are getting ready for an activity. Here are a few other reasons where I see facilitators struggle:

1. They don’t deliberately switch from the Why of the activity to the How
2. They focus more on their presentation content then simple instructions
3. They lack clarity on where and how they want their participants to do the activity

Believe it or not, there is a lot that goes into delivering clear and concise activity instructions. In this post, I want to focus on two (2) key steps.

How to deliver clear and concise activity instructions 

Step 1: Prepare your audience by “Crossing the Line”

When getting ready for an activity, you need to prepare your audience to switch modes from listening to doing an activity. 

When I facilitate, I like to think of the metaphor of crossing over a line. I have left the previous content and am now fully in Activity Instruction mode. By establishing a clear boundary, you signal to your participants a transition. 

And the larger the group of people you are facilitating, the more important this becomes. 

Two of my favorite lines to signal the switch are:

1. “if you haven’t been paying attention, now is a good time to do so.”
2. “I am going to now give you instructions for our next activity, you ready? 

It gets people re-centered and focused.

Step 2: Bring clarity by answering 4 questions

You have now prepared your audience to receive activity instructions. You have crossed the line from content delivery, discussions or other activities. 

Now it is time to deliver clear and concise instructions by answering 4 questions:

The 4 Questions

1. Task: What is the task?
2. Tool: How am I going to accomplish it?
3. Time: How much time do I have?
4. Team: Who am I working with?

Examples

3 examples putting Step 1 and 2 together.

1. Getting a group of 4 people to update their monthly goals in a team Miro board:

“Ok, great conversation team. I am going to give you instructions for our next activity, you ready? (Cross the Line). Let’s write down our monthly goals (Task) by typing directly in the ‘February Goal’ frame in our team Miro board (Tool). Let’s do this as a solo activity (Team) for 5 minutes (Time).

2. Presenting a slide deck to leadership on the past product sprint

“Alright everyone…who is ready for an amazing presentation? (Cross the Line). As a solo activity, I want you to take out a sheet of paper or open a digital notepad (Team and Tool) and write down 1 thing you like and 1 thing that was missing from our past product sprint (Task). I am going to share my screen and present a 15 page deck for the next 7 minutes (Time). Then, we will have a group discussion (Team and Task) for the following 20 minutes (Time).

3. 20 person workshop to get teams to brainstorm new product ideas

If you haven’t been paying attention, now is a good time to do so (Cross the Line). For the next 15 minutes (Time), we are going to brainstorm new product ideas (Task). Each person needs their brainstorming prompts, a Sharpie and a Post-it Note pad (Tool) that are at the center of the table. In groups of 4 (Team), I want the team to write down as many new product ideas as they can (Task) in the next 15 minutes (Time).

That's it. Don’t say anything else

This is the biggest mistake I see facilitators make.

Your participants are now in task execution mode. Their brain is getting into the details of organizing materials and getting ready to do a task. This is not the moment to go back to explaining the Why of an activity or adding in extra words. 

At this point, don’t allow conversations unless it is clarifying one of the 4 questions.

Be concise. Be brief. 

Less is more when delivering activity instructions.