Generally, mobile phones are not welcome during a training course. They can distract or annoy people if not switched off. However, like any technology there can also be an advantage for having them around. A series of exercises are presented here that involve using mobile phones to conduct icebreakers, get people to know each other better and facilitate team building exercises.
For all the following exercises, it is assumed that delegates have access to their personal mobile phones, access to internet from the mobile and that they can send text and images to each other. To reduce potential data costs, get them use a Wi-Fi network if possible. For each exercise, instructions are provided on when contacts need to be exchanged or what kind of information needs to be shared. Give your own number to all delegates as several of the exercises require delegates to send you images. You may also need to have access to a system where you can receive these images and show them on a projector so everyone can see an enlarged view of them. This makes many of the exercises easier to conduct rather than relying on seeing images on individual small screens. An alternative approach is to print images directly from you mobile but this can be costly.
Having gone through this collection, if you know of other useful exercises involving mobile phones, please share them below in the comments section.