The kit comes in a loose-leaf format that includes print versions of the resource materials that you can turn into overheads, and a CD-ROM that has a PowerPoint version of the overheads. You can use the CD-ROM to connect to your LCD projector or use it to print out the overheads directly onto transparencies. You can also take the CD to your photocopy shop and they can print the overheads directly onto transparencies using a colour laser printer rather than your ink printer. I can even have this done here in the little town of Almonte for about the same price it would cost me to print them out on my printer.
Assuming you have two and a half days to do an introductory workshop, this kit provides everything you need. It comes in five modules that take about three hours each to complete.
The first module introduces the Jung/Myers theory, and how it helps you understand yourself. There are some get-acquainted exercises and the usual “writing with either hand” exercise.
In the second module, it looks at the perceiving functions. Right away it talks about the meaning of the four perceiving functions. It uses terms like Se or “S sub E,” not yet identifying that it is either extraverted or introverted. After using the exercise with an apple, there is an exercise with tea bags. The lead author did a similar exercise at one of our previous OAAPT conferences. Four easels with newsprint for each of the four perceiving functions are set up. People are to choose the one that they relate to and then they are directed to tell about the item handed to them and write the information on the newsprint. The manual tells how each group typically responds. People then indicate on a self-validation form which of the four perceiving functions they think they prefer.
The third module looks at the judging functions. Again the four judging functions are introduced. This time they are to organize the apples and talk about them. Again there is a four-easel exercise that people participate in to help them sort out which of the four judging functions is their preference.
Module four looks at the external environment (J and P) and the energy focus (E and I). People are again directed to two easels: One is for judging and the other is for perceiving. They are given a task and then the facilitator pulls out from their answers how the answers relate to J and P. Next, the concepts of E and I are introduced. For the E and I exercise people are put in dyads and told to share and then describe the experience. The facilitator relates their answers to E and I.
All the way through the workshop people are writing down on the self-evaluation sheets what they think their preferences are, including which of the four specific perceiving functions and the four judging functions they identify with. From this they go to the Introduction to Type booklet. They are to look at the type(s) they have come up with and then use a highlighter to indicate which statements they agree with in each of the types. Then and only then are they given the results of their MBTI® instrument. Time is spent on why their self-assessment may have been different from their indicator type. There is some mention on type dynamics presented, but only as a basic concept rather than teaching people how to look at a type and to be able to figure out the dynamics of each of the 16 types. (How many qualified people can still do that?)
Overall I felt that people coming away from this experience would have a very good grounding in what their type meant to them and how it operated in their live. The exercises were good and could be used even if you didn’t have time for the full two and a half days. They certainly would help people understand about the eight functions. However, it did seem to be an excessive amount of time to get the concepts across when it is likely that very few facilitators would have the luxury of that amount of time.
The overheads had a nice background that gave them a professional look, but I think you would want to have a few additional overheads of your own. Many of us have lots of cartoons we have collected that add to our presentations. I was disappointed with the CD-ROM in that it was not animated. When you are using a LCD projector, it looks so much more professional having the bullets of information come in one at a time.