How to Make Case Management Training Fun
Case management can be very stressful. Case managers are usually required to attend scheduled training sessions throughout the year to stay up to date on client rights, standards of service and care, and changes in regulations affecting service delivery and billing. Since many of the topics remain the same from one training session to the next, it is sometimes difficult to keep people's attention. If the training is highly interactive, fast-paced and humorous, it is more likely that participants will remember key points.
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Things You'll Need
- Large, brightly colored round plastic bin filled halfway with uncooked rice
- Beverages and snacks
- Sign-in sheet
- Fat, colored markers
- Photocopies of the training agenda
- Role-play scene starters
- Plain white ball caps
- One numbered ping-pong ball per participant
- Door prizes, one per participant if budget permits
Instructions
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Tape numbered cards beneath every chair before the meeting begins. Fill a large, round, brightly colored plastic bin with uncooked rice. Lay a table with beverages and light snacks, such as yogurt, fruit, a vegetable tray, cold cuts and cheeses. Lay a sign-in sheet and fat, brightly colored markers at each end of the table. Place a copy of the training agenda and the role-play scene starters on each chair.
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Greet participants as they enter the room. Direct them to the sign-in sheet. Give them time for a snack and beverage. Tell everyone where to find the bathroom and let them know they have 5 minutes to mingle. Choose a 5-minute team-building exercise as an icebreaker.
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Hand out the ball caps. Give participants 5 minutes to brainstorm all the roles they play as they carry out their duties as case managers. Invite them to use the fat markers to write these words on their hats.
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Have participants choose one word that they feel sums up their role as a case manager best and write it across the front of the cap. Move everyone who chose the same word together. Have each group spend 5 minutes discussing why they feel that word sums up their role, and what they do to continuously improve service delivery in that role. Have each group choose a representative to report the group's thoughts.
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Designate a timekeeper. Ask the timekeeper to stop you every 20 minutes. Proceed through the first third of the training agenda. Ask participants to tell what they know rather than lecturing verbatim from the agenda. Have participants write important points on a large easel pad or a whiteboard at the front of the room. At the 20-minute mark, take 5 minutes to sum up important points. Give everyone a 10-minute break.
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Return to the room. Have participants break into groups again, and choose a role-play scenario. Have them use the points made in the first and second parts of the training to decide how each scene should be solved. Return to groups and act out each group's scenario. Have participants from other groups make suggestions about anything they might have done differently. Take a 10-minute break.
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Have each participant remove his shoes as he returns to the room. Once everyone has returned from break, have each participant retrieve a numbered ping-pong ball from the bin of rice using only his feet. Call out the numbers and give the corresponding door prize to that person. Take 10 minutes to make any final points and to sum up the major points of each segment of the training. Thank participants for coming, and close the meeting.
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