TOM Floor Mats/Posters

Dramatically increase learning speed and effectiveness

The TOM mats, for use on the floor or attached to walls or easels, are ideal for increasing the speed at which your trainees/participants learn. They turn any space into a multi-sensory learning space and have been designed based on many years of studying the learning process and experimentation.
When used in conjunction with the TOM Concepts and the principles of En-Lightning Learning, they require the involvement and stimulation of the ten (MILD KELVIN) multiple intelligences (all in the TOM book!).
Here are just a few of the mental responses they generate:

• Participants move between then, stand on them (spatial and kinaesthetic Intelligence)
• They display colourful images and shapes (visual intelligence)
• They engage one another in conversations about the mats and interact with others (interpersonal intelligence)
• Introducing a different approach to knowledge acquisition and retention stimulates participants’ thinking process (intrapersonal intelligence)
• Arranged and used in a pattern or sequence simulates structured thinking (logical intelligence)
• Used in a series of rhythmical patterns and delivered with themed music (musical intelligence)
• Participants are required to converse with others regarding the learning process in hand (linguistic intelligence)
• They are used in games involving a story and a competition (dramatic intelligence)
• The TOM story is set in the outdoors – indeed, these durable mats can be used outside (naturalist intelligence)
• Interacting with others while using the mats or posters cause both mild and strong emotions, laughter, competitive tension, fear of failure or exposure etc. (emotional intelligence)

For people who use only one or two intelligences (often logical and intrapersonal, e.g. PowerPoint presentations), the introduction of these TOM learning aids will increase the speed of learning by up to ten times.
When used in conjunction with the TOM coaching/activity cards, there are hundreds of different ways of combining the multi-sensory experience, games and activities into workshops, coaching and learning events.
All 14 Mats are listed below along with some suggestions for how they can be best utilised in the training room.
You’ll find that you are more creative than you think.*

TOM StoryBoard Floor Mat/Poster

• Can serve as a permanent anchor that participants acknowledge subliminally or actively in the training room.
• Serve as a template for re-creating the complete storyboard using all floor mats.
• Can be used with the presentation table easel for meetings, coaching or working with small groups.

TOM Floor Mat/Poster

• The core concept of the TOM journey. All other mats, activities and lessons link back to the three core TOM principles of: building Trust, setting clear Objectives and ensuring there is always at least one compelling Motivating factor.
• Sell this mat to your TOM customers to mount on a prominent wall in a work area, to serve as reminder of how to use TOM in all interactions and business dealings.
• Use it as the starting point for a TOM board game that turns the whole room into a gaming landscape.

PEA Floor Mat/Poster

• Display it on floor, easel or wall when running Trust activities with individuals, pairs or groups. It can form a self-assessment checklist: do I look like I can be trusted? (persona); am I demonstrating with my actions that I can be trusted? (effectiveness); am I conscious of being accepting of other people’s actions? (acceptance)
• Use in conjunction with TOM and VISTA mats when discussing the core TOM principles.
• Display on wall in a sales office as a reminder for the sales team to be conscious of using PEA when building trust with their customers:

VISTA Signpost Floor Mat/Poster

• One of the most powerful tools in the TOM toolkit – can be used in all activities and projects in the training room, as everything we do should start with a clear VISTA; a vision and signpost which focuses and points towards successful completion of outcomes.
• Used in conjunction with TOM Coaching/Activity Cards – participants are asked to check how using any of the other 12 TOM concepts will impact on their VISTA objectives.
• Used in the workplace and other environments, it reminds employees that every goal is a VISTA goal that requires a Vision which Inspires action to complete the Specific tasks in a Time-bound manner that is Assessable at every point.

WIIFU Floor Mat/Poster

• Used in workshops, it serves as a reminder that each and every action we perform has a set of WIIFU motivating factors. Delegates and coaching clients are constantly asked to consider all the stakeholders involved and what their motivating factors will be.
• In an office or factory, management needs to consider the WIIFU’s of all involved. Can be used in meetings as reminder of what to consider when motivating self or others.
• Can be used in the outdoors as a point of the storyboard or in a TOM game that highlights how all the concepts interact and impact on each other.

Lemon Man Floor mat/Poster

• An integral part of every activity to remind participants that they are a multi-sensory learning machine
• Especially useful in creativity exercises – encourages participants to ‘see’ things from different angles, ‘hear’ the various pieces of input, physically ‘feel’ the impact of their decisions etc
• Great for meetings to stimulate discussions from different perspectives.

MAL & BJ Floor Mat/Poster

• Participants are encouraged to consider every piece of information from the perspective of: Does it Make, Assist or Let something happen or is it Blaming someone for non-success or Justifying no action.
• A pivotal mat in the TOM board game – it entices participants to take responsibility as to whether their input is productive or counter-productive.
• Useful language reminder – when someone offers a suggestion in the course of an activity, participants may just point to  MAL or BJ on the poster to indicate their feedback.

Triple ‘A’ Bridge Floor Mat/Poster

• Can be used on a wall next to a physical representation of the Triple ‘A’ Bridge. Participantss have to interact with the bridge and negotiate a successful crossing byAssessing the situation, Agreeing on a course of action, Adapting the plan as necessary and then assessing again at the completion of the task.
• In a pairs exercise, and in conjunction with the TOM mat, participants are asked to get agreement by building trust, setting mutual objectives and ensuring a compelling motivating factor (TOM), then adapt using and assessing TOM.
• On a wall in meetings or in the workplace, this poster is particularly useful when handling conflict. The two disagreeing parties are asked to build metaphorical bridges by combining the TOM and Triple ‘A’ concepts.

Behavioural Blends Floor Mat/Poster

• Participants encountering the Behavioural Blends poster in an activity or game are encouraged to discuss issues from each others’ perspective, so as to develop awareness and empathy with the views of others.
• Combined with the What 4 Feedback Ladder, participnats learn to offer feedback in the ‘language’ of the receiver’s Behavioural Blend at that moment. Fantastic practice for using the technique in real life.
• In meetings, this poster reminds attendees that there are various aspects of a problem that may only become apparent when they change their point of view. Open your mind.

Values Iceberg Floor Mat/Poster

• One of the TOM Board Game style activities requires that participants take time to consider their own values and how they are prioritised in their own life.
• In combination with the Behavioural Blends mat, and using the TOM Coaching/Activity Cards, participants are placed in a situation where they need to consider the values of other Behavioural Blends in order to progress in the game.
• Can be used in team meetings when discussing alignment of an individual’s personal values with those of the team or organisation.

  

Pause Button Floor Mat/Poster

• In one of the ‘Room-Sized’ Board Games, participants actually gain points for missing a turn when they pause to consider their options.
• Used with the TOM Coaching/Activity Cards  – Note: usually each participant has their own pack – they have the option of presenting the Pause Button Card to another player. That participant is then required to pause for thought. Encourages assessment of the most appropriate times to speak up and most appropriate times to ‘press the pause button’ before saying something you might regret.
• Can be used as a physical Pause Button in meetings. Participants are each allowed one use of the pause button to secure sufficient time to express an opinion withour interruption from the others.

The Whadayawant Girl Floor Mat/Poster

• Using this mat and expanding on the ‘talk about what you want’ idea, participants are required to make lists of what they want and prioritise them, turning these ‘wants’ into VISTA Goals.
• This poster reminds participants to speak positively and in terms of desired outcomes rather than problems. They assist each other in becoming solution-focused, not problem-focused
• Used in group or team activities, participants become self-regulating by losing or awarding points, depending on the type of language used.

What 4 Feedback Ladder Mat

• When this mat comes into play, participants need to structure information using the 4 Whats – what happened; what happend next; what now and what for.
• Using the poster as a template, delegates turn the entire room into a What 4 Feedback ladder and in pairs, coach each other through various ‘real life’ feedback scenarios
• In meetings, use the What 4 Poster to structure any or all the information that is delivered and/or received

VISTA Mountains Floor Mat/Poster

• The second of the two VISTA mats. It’s the culmination of many of the activities, learning games and even the entire workshop. On reaching this mat or poster, participants are required to report back on their VISTA outcomes compared to their original VISTA objectives.
• The VISTA mat is also the core of every TOM coaching session and used as a poster it is the focal point for workplace coaching sessions or workshop pairs activities.
• In a workshop activity or in the work place, it is of paramount importance that achievement of the set VISTA outcomes are both acknowledged and celebrated.

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