Print the images below onto card, cut them out and follow the steps
(Ideal group size – 3 to 10 people)
Activity Method 1
Volunteer role-based version (see activity method 2 for alternative non-role-based
version)
Step 1 | Set the premise
God is suffering under the weight of over 7 billion daily prayers, and it’s fair to say,
our poor deity is completely pooped!
So, in an effort to avoid burnout, prayers have been banned and our method of
communicating with the almighty is now the “Hotline to Heaven”
In this activity you will be playing the hotline’s wonderful team of customer service
Angels, tasked to act as God’s first line of defence against the demands of the
expanding human population (You will also be playing the pesky and sometimes
unreasonable humans!).
You must protect the interests of God and Heaven by keeping the workload as low
as possible and promoting self-sufficiency amongst the human populous, while still
providing a first-class standard of customer service.
Roughly translated – say “No” without saying ‘No”, while offering positive, alternative
solutions!
Step 2
Decide how long to play for: More participants = more time to ensure everyone gets
at least 1 go as Angel and Human.
Step 3
Advise participants all will get a chance to be an Angel and a Human, then ask for 2
volunteers (1 Human and 1 Angel).
Step 4
Invite the Angel to spread out the ‘Hotline to Heaven Feedback’ cards onto a
tabletop and flip them all (The 10 feedback cards can be placed in any
arrangement).
As the Angel flips the cards, hold a brief discussion with the group to elaborate on
the meaning and purpose of each card.
Step 5
Invite the Human (the customer) to shuffle the ‘Hotline to Heaven’ (complaint and
request) cards while they are face down, then flip the top card and read it out.
Step 6
The Angel will then respond to the Request or Complaint, always with a view to
providing good customer service while minimising how much Heaven is prepared to
do for the Human and trying to drive Human self-sufficiency (without saying “No”!).
Step 7
The Human improvises a response, and the conversation continues until the call is
resolved (Ideally no longer than a 2-3 minutes or the rest of the group may start to
feel left out).
Step 8
Once the call ends – ideally with something like “Thank you for calling Mr Bloggs, is
there anything else I can do for you?” we move onto the feedback round.
Step 9
Using the ‘Hotline to Heaven Feedback’ cards as a prompt, the group will discuss
how the call went (What went well? What didn’t go so well?), ideally in this order:
a. Angel gives a brief self-assessment
b. Human caller assesses from customer perspective
c. Group gives their feedback
Step 10
Discard the used ‘Hotline to Heaven’ card, ask for two fresh volunteers (Angel and
Human), then repeat the process from step 5. Keep repeating until everyone has
had at least 1 go as Angel and Human.
Note – If your time is limited, or you want to keep a customer service team focused
regularly on their customer service skills – break the session up taking smaller numbers
of volunteers on a weekly or monthly basis (but keep track of who has performed
and who has not).
After activity method 1
Discuss what the group have learned from the experience from the perspective of
delivering and receiving great customer service. What was great? What wasn’t so
great? What strengths did they identify in themselves to carry into the real world?
What one thing will each group member work on? (The feedback cards should act
as a good prompt for this part).
Activity Method 2 (Alternative – Non-role-based)
Group discussion version
Step 1 | Set the premise
God is suffering under the weight of over 7 billion daily prayers, and it’s fair to say,
our poor deity is completely pooped!
So, in an effort to avoid burnout, prayers have been banned and our method of
communicating with the almighty is now the “Hotline to Heaven”.
In this activity you will be discussing the hotline’s wonderful team of customer service
Angels, tasked to act as God’s first line of defence against the demands of the
expanding human population.
The Angels must protect the interests of God and Heaven by keeping the workload
as low as possible and promoting self-sufficiency amongst the human populous,
while still providing a first-class standard of customer service.
Roughly translated – They must say “No” without saying ‘No”, while offering positive,
alternative solutions.
Step 2
Decide how long to play for, or how many calls to discuss (1 call = 1 ‘Hotline to
Heaven’ card).
Step 3
Ask someone to spread out the ‘Hotline to Heaven Feedback’ cards onto a
tabletop and flip them all (The 10 feedback cards can be placed in any
arrangement).
As the cards are flipped, hold a brief discussion with the group to elaborate on the
meaning and purpose of each card.
Step 4
Invite someone to shuffle the ‘Hotline to Heaven’ card stack (face down), then flip
the top card and read it out.
Step 5
Group to discuss how a customer service Angel should respond to and deal with the
Request or Complaint, always with a view to providing good customer service and
satisfaction while minimising how much Heaven is prepared to do for the Human
and trying to drive self-sufficiency (all without saying “No”!).
What would this call look and feel like? Consider the call content from start to finish
Note – Use the ‘Hotline to Heaven Feedback’ cards to help shape and guide the
conversation.
Step 6
Once the topic has been exhausted, repeat the process from step 4 as often as you
want by discarding the used ‘Hotline to Heaven’ card, and selecting a new one.
After activity method 2
Discuss what participants have learned from the experience and ask each of them
to consider what one thing they might take and apply to their own work going
forwards.
Download the printable card templates here.
