Strengthening the organization fabric - 'Chupa Roostam' exercise

Hi,

Let this blog find you giving surprising delights to people around you & being delighted by others.

I had earlier written two articles on essence of contribution & its impact:

• Heaven or Hell in Life – A matter of choice
• A brother like that – a touching story on true compassion

Last week we had a residential workshop for a corporate client. While designing the activities, I remembered one activity suggested in a workshop for fresh Chartered Accountants. They called it “Secret Santa”. We took that idea and named it “CHUPA ROOSTAM”.

Here is how it was done:

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Each participant (say A) picked up a chit of paper containing another participant name (say B). In case A gets his own name, he draws another chit.

A is CHUPA ROOSTAM for B. In next 2 days during the workshop, A will give 3 delightful, thoughtful surprises to B. A must keep his/her identity secret from B. A can ask B’s friends what he likes etc.

This exercise generated a lot of enthusiasm & excitement in people. People went out of the way to surprise the person they picked. Many actions were very creative & generally with limited expenses. People got inspiring personalized messages, hand-made cards etc. – each with a lot of thought behind it.

One participant who had otherwise spoken very little in the workshop, insisted on sharing the surprise he received. He acknowledged his CHUPA ROOSTAM for the heart-touching message he got. He said that he will treasure this for his life. There were many other such instances.

Suggestion:

You may want to experiment this in your organization or family. If implemented with enthusiasm, this can generate a lot of excitement, creativity and connection around with very little expense.

1. Do it within a physical location to start with. You can later extend it to people working across locations. Include ALL – office boys, temporary staff, etc. – you will be surprised by the ideas they come up with.
2. Assign one person as co-ordinator for 1 month for this exercise. To start, you can choose to be that person!
3. The co-ordinator draws up chits containing names of all people in the location. He/She gets each person (A) to pick one chit each (B). In case A picks his own name, put back the chit & pick fresh. The co-ordinator keeps a record of who picked whose name & keeps it secret. In 30 days everyone is to give 3 delightful surprises to the person they picked. Maximum spend on each surprise can be capped at Rs. 50 each.
4. Focus more on creative ways to surprise people
5. Encourage people to complete their surprises at the earliest. Anyone who wishes to express his/her delight can send a mail to the group, describing what he/she got & acknowledging the CHUPA ROOSTAM.
6. For MONTH 2. Assign a different person as co-ordinator. Repeat step 3. This time ensure that A picks someone other than last time’s name or his own name.  Rest process remains the same.
7. Do this for 3-4 months. There may be some interesting conversations & mysterious delights. You can then do it across locations.

If you have some activity that you did in your organization & it created a lot of excitement & engagement, please share with us.

Warm regards,

Rohan 

Link to our workshops