Sunday, May 24, 2020

Teamwork Icebreaker Games and Excercises

Icebreakers are exercises that are designed to facilitate interactions. They are often used at meetings, workshops, classrooms, or other group functions to introduce people who dont know each other, spark conversations among people who dont typically converse or help people learn  how to work together. Icebreakers are usually formatted as a game or exercise so that everyone can relax and fun. Some icebreakers also have a competitive element.   Why Icebreakers Help With Team Building Icebreakers games and exercises can help with team building when they require everyone in the group to work together to accomplish a specific task or goal. For example, the group may have to work together to conceptualize and implement a strategy to achieve the task. This sort of teamwork can improve communication among group members and may even help to energize and motivate a team.   Every Team Needs a Leader Icebreakers can also break down barriers among participants who are at different places in the chain of command in an organization - such as a supervisor and the people they supervise. People who normally dont take the lead on a team may have an opportunity to do so during an icebreaker game. This is empowering for many people and may help to identify people in the group with leadership capability and potential.   Teamwork Icebreaker Games The  icebreaker games shown below can be used for both large and small groups. If you have a relatively large group, you may want to consider splitting the attendants into several smaller groups. Although each game is different, they all have a common goal: get the group to complete a task within a specific amount of time. If you have more than one group, you can add a competition element to the game by seeing which team can complete an assigned task the fastest. Sample tasks to try: Build a house of cards using 10 cards.Form a line according to height (tallest to shortest or shortest to tallest).Think up and write down 20 words that start with the letter T.Create and write down 5 questions that have the same answer. After the icebreaker game ends, ask the teams to describe the strategy they used to work together and accomplish the task. Discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy. This will help all of the group members learn from each other. As you play more and more icebreaker games, you will notice that the group tries to hone their strategies to improve from one game to the next.   More Icebreaker Games for Teams A couple of  other icebreaker games that you might want to try to encourage teamwork and team building include: Team Building Puzzler - This game encourages multiple teams to compete against each other in a puzzle building competition.The Ball Game - This classic group icebreaker is a great way to help people in small or large groups build trust and get to know each other better.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

NASA Not Ready for Safe Manned Mars Mission

NASA lacks the â€Å"right stuff† to deal with the dangers involved in sending humans to Mars and bringing them back – alive -- according to the space agency’s own Office of Inspector General (IG). In his 48-page report, NASA inspector general Paul K. Martin stated that NASA â€Å"faces significant challenges† in protecting Mars mission crews, and that it is being too â€Å"optimistic† in projecting its timetable for responding to the risks. As a result, Mars-bound humans â€Å"may have to accept a higher level of risk than those who fly International Space Station missions.† Now planned for the 2030s, NASA’s first human mission to Mars will be fraught with new dangers such as deep space radiation, increased cancer risk, impaired vision, negative effects of extended space travel on human behavior and performance. Reality check: By the 2030s, there will still be no warp drives, transporters, replicators or other â€Å"Star Trek† wonders to help our Mars-bound astronauts get there faster and stay alive longer. In fact, as IG Martin notes, they might even run out of food. Running out of Food? Yes, even basic nutrition could become a big problem, according to the report, because: A mission to Mars and back will take at least 3 years, but the current maximum shelf life for NASA’s prepackaged foods is only 1.5 years.The vehicle carrying astronauts to Mars and back will probably be far smaller than the International Space Station, providing significantly less room for food storage.Periodic resupply missions carrying more food, like those currently serving the Space Station, will not be possible.Finally, NASA scientists do not know how deep space radiation will affect the quality, shelf life and nutritional value of food. While NASA is investigating resupply alternatives, including actually growing food in the Mars spacecraft, the IG stated, â€Å"Despite 35 years of experience with space flight and research in this area, NASA food scientists continue to face challenges from crew member weight loss, dehydration, and reduced appetite that can result in nutrient deficiencies both during and post mission.† Dangers and Costs of Dealing with Them Not Known While NASA has developed ways to deal with most of the risks of travel in low Earth orbit, many of the added risks associated with long duration space travel – like trips to Mars and back -- are not yet fully understood. In addition, taxpayers, IG Martin also found that NASA cannot accurately project the true costs of creating ways to deal with the Mars mission risks. In fact, the ability of NASA to pay for a manned Mars mission, safe or not, is questionable given its shrinking share of the annual federal budget, which Congress has shown no signs of enlarging any time soon. â€Å"NASA has taken positive steps to address the human health and performance risks inherent in space travel,† Martin wrote, adding, â€Å"Long duration missions will likely expose crews to health and human performance risks for which NASA has limited effective countermeasures. †¦ Accordingly, the astronauts chosen to make at least the initial forays into deep space may have to accept a higher level of risk than those who fly International Space Station missions.† A ‘Culture of Silos’ Dragging NASA Down In his report, IG Martin contends that NASA’s scientists and engineers are held back by their tendency to work in what he called a â€Å"culture of silos,† in which technical teams work and collaborate only with specialists within their own areas of expertise. In other words, not enough research data is being shared. â€Å"We found multiple examples of work taking place on health and human performance risks that suffered from such communication silos,† Martin wrote. According to the report, NASA’s has so far failed to give its astronaut life safety community a designated representative to work with the engineering, safety, and mission planning communities to ensure that issues of astronaut health and physical performance are fully and properly considered. IG Found Some Progress, But†¦ IG Martin did find that NASA had been taking some steps to lessen the risks of the Mars mission including a new Mars rover, set for launch in 2020, that will be able to extract and collect oxygen from thin Martian atmosphere and ways to grow food in the almost sterile Martian soil. African-American scientist and inventor Emmett Chappelle was integral in the first missions to Mars, developing a method of removing soil from the planet during the Viking program. However, Martin concluded that NASA must speed up its work on astronaut safety in order to meet its established manned Mars mission goals and timetables.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Paradise Lost and Adam’s response to the Gospel Free Essays

That all this good of evil shall produce, [470] And evil turn to good; more wonderful Then that which by creation first brought forth Light out of darkness! full of doubt I stand, Whether I should repent me now of sin By mee done and occasiond, or reJoyce [ 475 ] Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring, To God more glory, more good will to Men From God, and over wrauth grace shall abound. (Milton, 12. 469-477) The passage above is about Adam responding to Gabriel’s message about the Gospel. We will write a custom essay sample on Paradise Lost and Adam’s response to the Gospel or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gabriel has Just told Adam the story of how through Adam and Eve’s mistake Jesus overcame sin. â€Å"But to the Cross he nailes thy Enemies,† and â€Å"Shall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength† (Milton, 12. 430,415). The news of Jesus’ gracious victory over sin and death overwhelms Adam. He responds in lines 471-472 by saying that the post-fallen world (with Jesus) is greater than the pre-fallen world in the Garden of Eden. Adam is basically saying he does not feel as bad for the fall ecause of the good that will â€Å"spring† (line 476) forth from it. I think this passage is very neat and speaks a whole lot to the work of Jesus in my life. So much evil has come from the fall, and sometimes I ask myself, â€Å"if God is all- knowing, then why did he make humans when he knew that we would fall? † The whole poem has helped me understand that â€Å"why’. Specifically the passage above ultimately, more good has come through Jesus, than bad has from sin and death! This takes some weight off my shoulders whenever I sin and fall short. I now see that God’s grace and love is more powerful than anything bad that I can do. Jesus had slain sin and death, and I am victorious through Him. Even seeing Adam’s cheerfulness after the good news makes me see the fall of humankind differently; it reminds me to look at Jesus rather than at my sin. In my discussion with my friend about this passage and the poem as a whole, I learned the power of literature. This poem speaks not only about Christianity, but also about the history of beliefs. How to cite Paradise Lost and Adam’s response to the Gospel, Papers

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Monitor Gender discrimination in workplace - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Monitor Gender discrimination in the workplace. Answer: Objective of the action plan and the proposed action Gender discrimination at workplace is still rampant in Australia as men earn more than women (24%) on an average. In the senior management roles there are very few women working part time. Only 15% of women are chief executives. There are 30 top companies in Australia without women on their boards (ABC News 2017). This is why one of our objectives is to reduce the level of gender discrimination by 50% by next year. It will help improve the status of the women and promote gender equality Thus, in order to reduce the gender discrimination the actions are Monitor the legal protections in regards to gender inequality and Improving the women status- flexible work hours for women and increase in recruitment in senior role and equal payment Anticipated outcomes of the proposed actions By monitoring the workplace adherence to the Gender Equality Act, it is possible to take stringent actions against people violating the policies and norms. Regular audit will help in this process. Taking strict actions such as law suit against the company or the suspending from workplace will help people restrain from gender discrimination. Women status can be increased by workforce participation in different roles. Offering the physical security benefits to women will help her in participating in senior roles. Equal financial returns as men will motivate women. In the long run it may help in gender parity, higher financial returns for the companies, innovation and increase in annual GDP (Charlesworth and Macdonald 2014). Key risk associated with the proposed actions The key risks associated with proposed action are that the discrimination at the workplace may go unnoticed. Underreporting may be the other major barrier to monitor the changes in the gender discrimination. Further lack of support from the family members may be the barrier to womens participation on the board in corporate sector. Although the corporate sector offers the senior management roles, lack of sharing of responsibilities by men at house prevents women empowerment (Chizema et al. 2015). These barriers will hamper the process of the attaining gender equity in workplace. Evaluation The best way to assess if the action plan is working is to conduct open and close ended survey. The target population will be the managers of the companies to identify the barriers faced by them in recruiting women in senior roles. Women will be surveyed to identify the barriers in working part time in senior management roles. Regular audits will help monitor the change. It will also help analyse the attitude and behaviour of people towards legislations and polices against gender discrimination. The audit results will also help in identifying any kind of implicit or conscious bias in workplace that is causing gender discrimination. Proposed action can be modified and designed considering the barriers and factors preventing 100% adherence of the workplace managers to the laws and regulations (Van den Brink and Stobbe 2014). References ABC News., 2017.Gender inequality still rampant in Australian workplaces: report. [online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-26/gender-inequality-still-rampant-in-australian-workplaces-report/6976452 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2017]. Charlesworth, S. and Macdonald, F., 2014. Australias gender pay equity legislation: how new, how different, what prospects?.Cambridge Journal of Economics,39(2), pp.421-440. Chizema, A., Kamuriwo, D.S. and Shinozawa, Y., 2015. Women on corporate boards around the world: Triggers and barriers.The Leadership Quarterly,26(6), pp.1051-1065. Van den Brink, M. and Stobbe, L., 2014. The support paradox: Overcoming dilemmas in gender equality programs.Scandinavian Journal of Management,30(2), pp.163-174.