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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims: • To demonstrate the problems that remote teams encounter when they are collectively responsible for a project. • To demonstrate the importance of remote teams working effectively together as a single team. • To demonstrate the importance of communication between teams who work in remote locations with little experience of working together. • To get teams and participants to quickly identify gaps in resources and come up with solutions to minimise the impact of shortages.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 90 minutes.
Aims: • To demonstrate the problems that remote teams encounter when they are collectively responsible for a project. • To demonstrate the importance of remote teams working effectively together as a single team. • To demonstrate the importance of communication between teams who work in remote locations with little experience of working together. • To get teams and participants to quickly identify gaps in resources and come up with solutions to minimise the impact of shortages.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, leadership, teamwork and collaboration across remote teams, time management, creative thinking, and planning.
Group Size: This exercise works best when you have more than 12 participants, (and can be used with much larger numbers). It will not work if you have fewer than 8 participants.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • A separate room or private working area for each of the 4 teams. • A separate brief for each team. • Sheets of thin card. (Enough for several sheets to be given to each team.) • Old newspapers. (Each team will need a few.) • Sticky tape for each team. • Scissors. (Three pairs.) • A 30cm ruler. • 4 x small ‘Lego’ wheels, or similar. • 6 x cocktail sticks. • An (unopened) tin of baked beans (or similar). • Post-it notes. • 4 x message boards (flipchart paper).
Notes: The exercise itself will take 45 minutes to run once introduced. You should allow at least a further 45 minutes for debrief and discussion of the key learning points unless this exercise is forming part of a longer programme in which case you may be able to review the key learning points more quickly. For larger teams you may want to have additional facilitators. Should you wish to use extra facilitators for this exercise (perhaps taken from the participant group) there is a handy 'Facilitators Brief' that can be downloaded from Trainers’ Library. It is suggested that you allocate facilitator(s) to specific teams where they will be able to answer questions, check timings and observe what happens. You may wish to ask the facilitator(s) to write notes and feedback their comments at the end of the exercise.
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Admittedly I was slightly apprehensive about this exercise as I feared the audience would be sceptical about the hands on nature of the exercise. HOWEVER...
It went down fantastically well. The trainer notes were comprehensive and I found that by pitching the remote team element as a key hook for the exercise, the team really bought in to it.
It's a fantastic study of how a team work (or not) together under time pressures and a level of ambiguity.
The result of what was created was a literal car crash but the learnings the team took from it through facilitated conversation felt like a big step forward for them.
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Darren Smith
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I ran this exercise for a company as part of a summer camp which had a theme of collaboration. We had 45 people so ran with large teams. The teams worked completely separately from each other in 4 break out areas and we came back together for the bridge building and de-brief. There were some great insights in the de-brief as the teams worked globally and so we had some great discussions around communication across timezones etc. It was a great activity and I will definitely use it again!
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Elaine Stephens
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I can highly recommend this activity if you are trying to highlight the challenges of communicating remotely whilst having the same goal. I've used the activity with both an HR team, and a large team of technical engineers, both spread across the UK. I've found on all occasions that the most confident, extrovert person offers to be the communications lead and then struggles to manage this role. I've often told teams they have to use the baked bean tin and watched as one team ate the beans so they could use the empty can (I had to walk away!!). I've never yet seen a team succeed but there's always plenty of cheering and loads of excitement at the end.
I'd recommend having a few people to ensure there's no cheating and to observe the groups. Things get very frantic towards the end and it's good to have some additional observers to call out some of the behaviours during the debrief.
With the HR team, we used this activity at the start of a conference, where one topic was managing change. On arrival, instead of meeting up in the foyer as normal with a coffee, we sent people to different rooms with no explanation. At 9.00, an observer presented them with their instructions and materials. They struggled on many levels: to be in a room with only a few people, to experience something different from what they expected, and then to go straight into an activity. With no brief on arrival, they also found working together much less intuitive and quickly competed with each other before realising they had to work together. The debrief brought out a lot of learning on change as well as working remotely.
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Paula Knight
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a fun interactive teambuilding excercise that is simple to set up and can also be used for leadership and great for assessing planning and communication skills too! Highly recommend this activity!
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this exercsie with 40+ gradutaes recently. The briefs for each team were clear and easy to use. The information provided for the facilitators was also clear and helped the additional facilitators enormously. The delegates found the exercise interesting, fun and energising. The learning which was brought out also was very valuable and was developed further during the remainder of the course programme. I can thoroughly recommend this exercise and would only add that it is useful to produce a matrix to monitor which team is meeting with which team to ensure that they do not 'cheat' and try and have more than their allocated meetings!
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used an adapted version of A Bridge Too Far last week at Westward Housing Group's first ever staff conference. The organisation was recently formed through the bringing together of 4 separate housing associations into a group structure and one of the aims of the conference was to bring people together to help them to get to know each other better, understand each others roles, and begin working more effectively together (especially across different departments, functions etc as well as the different organisations within the group). My teambuilding workshop had to support these overall aims, but was only 1 hour long, and had to be run 3 times during the course of the day, with around 55 people in each session. Fortunately, with such large numbers, I had a very big room with lots of moving around space to do it in. After an initial icebreaker where I got everyone to stand up and walk around the room and shaking hands and introducing themselves to 4 people whom they had never met before, I introduced the task. Basically I followed the same format as in your instructions except that I reduced the times to 30 minutes to design and build their element of the bridge with 2 minutes to assemble it, and just 15 minutes for discussion afterwards. Everyone had a sweet on their seat at the beginning with a coloured wrapper and these colours signified the teams people would be in so that they were randomly mixed up and were in teams with a range of people from different parts of the organisation. (I colour coded each team so that all their materials, pens, post-its, instruction sheets, hats etc were all in that colour, which worked really well and helped to give each team an identity. I even gave out appropriately coloured party poppers and indoor sparklers for people to set off at the grand unveiling!) In order to make it easier to complete the task in the shortened time (and because of the big team sizes) I allowed each team 2 communications experts rather than just one, and I gave them glittery hats to wear (I do find that the prospect of wearing a glittery hat always helps draws out willing volunteers!) I also allowed them to have 2 verbal conversations with other comm.s experts as well as using the message boards (again just to speed up the process slightly without losing too much of the learning). I also adapted the brief, and told them that they were re-building the Tamar Bridge (they were all from Devon & Cornwall) after their organisation had caused its collapse by holding a sponsored event to break the world record for the number of people jumping up and down on the bridge at once and many of them seemed to take on a real responsibility to sort out the problem as though it was actually true!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, despite my worries about numbers, timings etc, the whole thing worked brilliantly, and it was fascinating to see how in each of the three workshops, people dealt with it slightly differently, thus raising different learning points. Overall, the activity really helped to break down barriers and encourage mixing and communicating between different bits of the organisation, as well as resulting in some great discussion about team-working both within and between different teams. The only drawback was that due to the large sizes of the teams (between 10 and 14 in each team) this meant that it was too easy for some people to sit back on not get actively involved (although we did highlight this as a learning point in the discussions).
I'm still waiting for the written comments from the evaluations, but all the verbal feedback was excellent - there was loads of energy and some amazing bridges (even if they didn't stay standing for very long!)
Overall, I just wanted to say that A Bridge Too Far was the perfect exercise for the task in hand. It was easy to adapt to suit timings, numbers etc, and offered lively, participative activity whilst highlight valuable learning points, so many thanks! I will definitely use it again in future.
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Nicki Davey
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 150 minutes.
Aims: • To check understanding of UK workplace Equality Law and build awareness of the responsibilities all employees and managers have.
About
Time: This game will take about 90 minutes to play. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 150 minutes to complete the game and ensure that all of the learning points are brought out.
Aims: • To check understanding of UK workplace Equality Law and build awareness of the responsibilities all employees and managers have.
Group Size: This module is suitable for use with groups of between between 8 and 12 participants.
Useful For: Everyone in the workplace – because everyone needs to be clear on what they can and can’t do. This is not a topic bound by status and participants will have the most fun from the game if there is a mix of roles, seniority and experience in each team. The game will be especially useful for managers and team leaders who are usually closest to managing diversity and equality issues and need to be clear on the law.
You'll Need: • A Spinner. • The Game Board. • A Questions and Answers sheet. • 4 differently coloured sets of 8 counters. • Up to 12 participants (4 teams of 3).
Notes: This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 12 participants. It’s run as a competitive game, which is a race to the finish and played in 4 teams with 2-3 players in each team. We do not recommend having teams with more than 3 participants. Most questions have multiple choice or yes/no answers. This means that the third team to have a go at a question is pretty much guaranteed to get a correct answer when the question comes round again. This keeps the overall time for the game within reasonable limits and adds to the fun, because of the danger of a team getting the answer wrong and allowing another team to get in with the right answer next time. The game is very easy to play. We suggest that you have a practice run beforehand to ensure you are clear on how it works.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • To help participants develop their communication skills and in particular their listening skills, their ability to share information effectively and their ability to explore problems objectively. • To illustrate the importance of teamwork and develop the skills needed to work effectively with other teams – particularly where teams are small and geographically diverse. • To understand that effective teamwork involves identifying and capitalising on all of the unique skills and talents of individuals within the team.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 75 minutes.
Aims: • To help participants develop their communication skills and in particular their listening skills, their ability to share information effectively and their ability to explore problems objectively. • To illustrate the importance of teamwork and develop the skills needed to work effectively with other teams – particularly where teams are small and geographically diverse. • To understand that effective teamwork involves identifying and capitalising on all of the unique skills and talents of individuals within the team.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, teamwork, collaboration, information sharing, information gathering, listening, questioning, attention to detail and problem solving.
Group Size: A minimum of 2 participants are required for this exercise.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • At least two rooms or separate work areas, ideally one for each team. • A mobile phone for each team (they can use one of their own, if willing). • One OS Landranger map 125 and one OS Landranger map 124 for every two teams participating (available from the Ordnance Survey website). • A brief for each team (Brief 1 for Team 1 and Brief 2 for Team 2). • A length of string (at least 1 metre long) for each team.
Notes: Each team will work with 1 other team (the partner team) in a separate location, who they should be able to contact by phone. (If there are only 2 participants involved, each team will consist of 1 person!) If it’s a nice day, the exercise can be very successfully run outside. Position teams as far apart from each other as you can.
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A brilliant game to consolidate the learning of the day. Now I have used it I also think it could be used at any point. Tones and laughter from the group and loads of points to draw out and explore in terms of behaviors, communications etc.
The group didn't quite get the right answer but they did find a spot to meet at, well ish lol. I ran this course for an American sales audience who just loved it. Pronouncing the places was tricky but we got through it. If your going to use this activity multiple times you might want to ask the group not to draw on the maps as they can be pricey to keep purchasing and they are inclined to want to draw out the route. I grabbed a poly pocket for them to draw on with marker which helped and have laminated some sheets to use next time. Having the rooms close to each other is also helpful so you can observe the 2 dynamics at play as it was fascinating to see how the sperate groups took to the task, loads to unpack but you do need to float between them as I had multiple big personalities wanting to drive the outcomes so be at hand when needed. They loved it, and so did I, so much opportunity and learning and finish my day with them on a high with key take aways.
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Kirsty Marshall
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have ran this activity twice now, both times were a great success!
I bought some backpacks and walkie talkies and made up a adventure pack for both teams.
To allow you to use the maps again, I also used some coloured sticky dots, which remove easily from the map once you are finished.
The activity provokes a lot of thought and fun! Making for some really inciteful conversations after the activity. The trainers notes are great and give you some really helpful questions and topics to really unpick some of the behaviours you are likely to see in the teams during the bike ride .
A top tip, I added some clues to cut outs and hid them in different parts of the bag, as well as the string etc, This gave the activity an almost escape room kind of feel.
Another brilliant resource from the trainers library!
Thank you so much
Danny and the team at HC-One
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Danny Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used this several times for team building and it is excellent. With the added benefit of passing on some map reading skills. It is so good for developing listening, checking understanding and communcation.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is so practical and enjoyable. I have used quite a lot during some of my experiential learning programmes. It's a great way to set up an outdoor activity especially if you want the team to do any orienteering or clue finding. Really brings home key learning about communication.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Phew - this is a very clever but tough challenge!
I tested this out with my own team and very glad I did, before using it with other groups. I didn't have time for a full debrief but learning points for me are:
- Ask questions in advance to check level of existing map reading knowledge. In hindsight I would have provided a few tips at the start.
- 45 minutes wasn't long enough, I would extend it to 1 hour.
- 4 people per team is definitely the maximum, simply due to being able to fit around the map! 2 or 3 may work better.
- Finding the start points was tricky, although one team used initiative - Google maps :-), so I gave the grid references fairly early on. I would probably give the grid references from the outset next time.
- Agree with a previous review about providing post it notes and sticky dots and reminding staff not to write on the maps.
Definitely tested patience and perseverance as well as communication skills!
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Alison Bucknall
rated this item with 4 stars.
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What a success! I ran this exercise with a team of people from across an engineering company. I had hoped that the fact that there are two teams communicating in separate rooms using a mobile phone for contact would replicate the real world situation of field based service engineers calling in to the office with queries. The feedback was that it felt real. Using two versions of the same map worked well and the fact that the place names were Welsh added to the confusion in communication. I would add in as a reminder on the Trainer Notes that the maps will be reused and i would add a pack of stickers or post it notes to your kit for this exercise.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I ran this activity with a very dysfunctional and underdeveloped team. The design is very clever and does a great job in provoking extreme emotions and reactions. The learning that came out of the de-brief was very valuable and we had a few light bulb moments of self-awareness. I set up the full experience and gave the teams a ruc sac with water bottle, sandwiches, biscuits, the map, a pencil, string and an anorak which went down well. It's useful to give the teams coloured dot stickers to stick on the map so they're not tempted to write on the map - so you can re-use. Thanks Glasstap for another brilliantly designed game - I would thoroughly recommend this.
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Lorna Logan
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used Welsh Holiday with a wide range of groups and learners. I have used the exercise to enhance communication skills and also as a team building event tacked onto some work related exercises. Most delegates find the exercise a real challenge and surprisingly those with some experience of the 'great outdoors' rarely fare any better than those who claim an affinity with couch potatoes! My most memorable delegate was a person who claimed that the exercise would be 'a piece of cake' as they ran trips with the venture scouts every weekend - oddly, as it turned out, they failed to notice the sea on their map, and were unable to steer their 'family' to the meeting point!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used this exercise to great effect when training Coaching Programmes for middle to senior managers. Often, in business, there is a challenge when we need to coach someone to get to an outcome when they see things very differently from us – they hold a “different map of the world” – or in the case of this exercise, a different map of Wales. Through questioning, each team has to establish what the other can see – before they can decide the best route to their outcome. The outcome is clear – the constraints etc are not – and they are not shared. It is important as a coach that we learn to respect the coachee’s “map” and then lead them from there to an agreed outcome while helping them around the constraints that they can see along the way – this exercise is perfect for this. Comments like “of course you must be able to see it” , and “there’s nothing to stop you doing that” are common – we are imposing our map onto our coachee – often a problem in business. Delegates love the exercise as it draws out all the learning and key skills of coaching at the attitudinal level. I would highly recommend using it.
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Rosemary Taylor
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims: • To help participants understand the importance of building a thorough understanding of customer needs.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 90 minutes.
Aims: • To help participants understand the importance of building a thorough understanding of customer needs.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Attention to detail, communication skills, creative thinking, customer care, decision-making, influence and persuasion, marketing and sales, teamwork.
Group Size: You can run this exercise with as few as 3 or 4 participants working together in one team. It works best however, with more than one team, competing to win the contract.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • Plenty of space. Ideally each team will have a separate breakout room to work in. In addition, you will need a central point where all teams will go to meet Sandy Shore (that’s you!) and to ‘buy’ supplies. • A supply of materials for the teams to build their prototype fish tanks (see the Supply List for full details). • A whistle (optional). • A prize for the winning team (optional). • A ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.
Notes: We’ve based our timings on a group of 12-18 participants (three teams), but this exercise could successfully be run with more teams than this. If you do run the exercise with more teams, you’ll need to consider appointing a ‘secretary’ for Sandy Shore and adjusting the running time.
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I first saw this exercise when I was attending a course. As a participant I found it really interesting and enjoyable. The group I was in really engaged in the exercise and there was a healthy competition amongst the wider group. It was really good watching the presentation at the end and seeing the different ideas people had. It worked really well
I decided I would try and use it in a session that I ran, but sadly I struggled with the facilitation of it. You need at least 3 people to co-facilitate if it is going to work well. It is not an exercise that you can do without support. If you have a team of experienced facilitators then give it a go but make sure you do your preparation before hand otherwise it can go horribly wrong as I sadly found out. A good exercise if you have support
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 3 stars.
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Used in a team building session, focusing on our company values. Lots of fun, and teams reflected a lot on how they each brought different strengths, the value of questions, and customer focus.
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Jane Butler
rated this item with 4 stars.
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This activity is used at the end of the day to put their learning from questioning, listening and customer service all together. Unless they communicate properly with Sandy Shore then they won’t find out what the needs of the fish are and won’t complete an adequate fish tank. This highlights the need for using proper communication skills and the delegates have a lot of fun competing against their colleagues. I did find the calculations a little complicated to work out but enjoyed facilitating this one.
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Previous Member
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I recently used this as a group exercise for an assessment centre for recruiting Team Leaders in a financial services environment. When looking for an exercise, the learning points in Acquatic Experience corresponded really well with the competencies we were looking for of customer focus, team work, problem solving and decision making and leadership. It then worked really well in pratcice with assessors being able to clearly observe behaviours of individuals to measure them objectively against the competencies. The participants thoroughly enjoyed the exercise, and though we didn't spend time drawing out the learning points as in a training session, the trainer's notes were used to help inform individual feedback given after the assessment centre. A really enjoyable and rewarding exercise for both participants and observors, don't be put off by the list of supplies needed.
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Previous Member
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Aquatic Experience was a great team building activity, which made the delegates think about their own roles within their group to ensure that after the 45 minute time slot, they had a complete business plan. You may want to extend the 45 minute time slot to 60 minutes because only one of the four groups had actually built the tank in the time given. Extra time for presenting back is important and I gave them 5 minutes each to put their business case across.
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Previous Member
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I needed an activity at short notice that would give a trainee team leader an opportunity to practice their skills at briefing and managing a small project, and this fitted the bill perfectly. I adapted the brief, as I wanted the team leader to practice briefing the team, where they have a huge amount of information. The info normally doled out by Sandy Shore was given to the team leader as part of their 'project brief', with instructions to convey this info to the team as part of the briefing. The briefing went well, with the key points being outlined, although a few were overlooked, they were picked up when the team asked questions - illustrating the value of getting other people's perspective on a task - because they picked up on things that the leader had not necessarily viewed as important. This organisation work in a highly regulated environment, and leaders have a tendency to brief teams only on the elements they feel are important, which can lead to costly errors - so this activity really helped them to see the need for exploring all restrictions , and their implications - such as a 'safe egg laying site' that is only big enough for mummy fish!! The implications of the different sizes of the male/female fish were only spotted by one relatively quiet member of the team, and was a big plus. The key learning came with trying to co-ordinate the range of tasks within the project. Team members came to agreement on a company name as a full group, and were then invited to volunteer for different elements of the task according to where they thought their skills lay. The team leader kept a watching brief, maintaining morale and checking progress (or so they thought!) whilst not being directly involved in any of the tasks themselves. Unfortunately, the team leader took their 'helicopter view' a little too high above the clouds. When checking progress, it was just a 'how are you doing' surface check. This resulted in the construction phase only beginning 10 minutes before the deadline for completion, and all hands being called to the pump to construct rocks, greenery etc, only to realise that there was a fatal flaw - they were missing one side of the tank, and had no time or materials left to construct it! The 'sales' team did a fab job of blagging the presentation, with no model to show, focusing on the fact that they did not want to pre-empt Sandy Shore's own ideas, and that the resulting tank would be entirely bespoke! Great learning, they had fun doing it, were hopelessly devastated when they realised their mistake at the final moment, and huge learning for all, including how they responded with apportioning blame! - great activity - thanks very much!!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a manager and how to approach them with the right balance of ethics and pragmatism.
About
Time: The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims: • To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a manager and how to approach them with the right balance of ethics and pragmatism.
Group Size: This module can be used with groups of between 4 to 18 participants.
Useful For: Learners who are brand new managers (or very soon will be), particularly if they have been promoted from within the team.
You'll Need: • Playing pieces, one per team. • Small prize for the winning team. • 60 second timer or stopwatch. • Facilitator Traffic Lights. • At a Crossroads Conundrum Cards. • At a Crossroads Diversion Cards (3 per team). • At a Crossroads Game Board. • At a Crossroads Suggested Answers (for the facilitator).
Notes: This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 18 participants. It is run as a competitive game, which is a race to the finish and played in teams of two or three players. We do not recommend having teams with more than three participants. All the scenarios contained in the cards are based on actual experiences faced by managers in their first year of managing a team. It is a particularly useful exercise for people who have been promoted from within the team to become the manager and who are struggling to adapt to their new role with people who were once their peers.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I recently used this during a two day introduction to management course. The participants loved and it was a great resource to use that was fun but achieved important, relevant learning outcomes. This will be a resource that I will continue to use with the added advantage that the gameboard can be used with the performance management cards, when I run the next course for managers on coaching and mentoring.
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Sue Bartlett
rated this item with 5 stars.
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On Tuesday this week I used the At a Crossroads activity from Trainers Library with a group of 4 newly appointed managers.
What a great activity. We had full interaction and the conundrum cards really threw up some challenges that the participants could relate to. It was great to be in control of the traffic lights so that we could really discuss each challenge and hear the different perspectives on how each individual would potentially deal with that challenge.
We didn't get through all the cards, however the participants have asked for round 2 at our next workshop because they enjoyed the activity so much.
I am aware that you can download the road map and cards however I made the small investment and bought the resources from Trainers Library as I know this will be used time and time again.
Great resource, easy & fun to use and definitely encouraged much debate and thinking.
If you've not used it then try it.
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Pauline Weddell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This exercise provides a lot of different scenarios for managers to consider how they would respond.
I have used a slightly adapted version of this exercise as a warm up for management development training. I have a series of workshops focussing on different aspects of management behaviours, with the same group of participants each time, and used this as a warm up exercise for workshop 2. Instead of using the board, I asked the teams to pick a card from the deck and read it out. Team A picks and reads then Teams B and C have 30 seconds to come up with a response. Team A picks their favourite response and awards that team a point. Then move on to Team B. I repeat this to cover 9 randomly picked cards. Each card read gives an opportunity for discussion around the best way to handle the situation.
As there are so many cards, I will probably repeat this as the warm up for workshops 3 and 4 too.
Another great resource from Trainers' Library!
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Lisa Lester
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a trainer and encourage trainers to reflect on how they’d approach them.
About
Time: The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims: • To explore some of the challenges participants will face as a trainer and encourage trainers to reflect on how they’d approach them.
Group Size: This module can be used with groups of between 4 to 18 participants.
Useful For: New trainers or those looking to build their skills and review challenges they might face or have faced.
You'll Need: • Playing pieces, one per team. • Small prize for the winning team. • 60 second timer or stopwatch. • Facilitator Traffic Lights. • At a Crossroads Conundrum Cards. • At a Crossroads Diversion Cards (3 per team). • At a Crossroads Game Board. • At a Crossroads Suggested Answers (for the facilitator).
Notes: This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 18 participants. It is run as a competitive game, which is a race to the finish and played in teams of two or three players. We do not recommend having teams with more than three participants. All the scenarios contained in the cards are based on actual experiences faced by trainers.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • To explore some of the challenges participants will face whilst managing the performance of individuals in their team.
About
Time: The exercise in this module can be completed in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 75 minutes for this module.
Aims: • To explore some of the challenges participants will face whilst managing the performance of individuals in their team.
Group Size: This module can be used with groups of between 4 to 18 participants.
Useful For: Anyone who is responsible for the performance of others, or who soon will be.
You'll Need: • Playing pieces, one per team. • Small prize for the winning team. • 60 second timer or stopwatch. • Facilitator Traffic Lights. • Conundrum Cards. • Diversion Cards (3 per team). • Game Board. • Suggested Answers (for the facilitator).
Notes: This exercise is suitable for use with groups of up to 18 participants. It’s run as a competitive game and is a race to the finish. Played in teams of 2-3 players - we do not recommend having teams with more than 3 participants.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I recently used this activity as part of a development centre for aspiring leaders. It was really well received by the group. We had about 18 people split into 6 teams. The intention had been to run the activity for 45 minutes but the group enjoyed it so much it went on for over an hour and we still hadn't got close to a winner. The scenarios generated lots of debate. I would perhaps suggest starting with smaller groups at first as it is difficult to facilitate with such large group sizes
I used the board game pack that I purchased, and whilst this did provide a nice visual to accompany the activity, the conundrum cards would have worked perfectly well without the board game if used as discussion topics. An excellent activity that is guaranteed to get the group engaged (Just make sure your answer sheet matches your conundrum cards!)
At the end of the session the group asked for a further full days session dedicated to discussing these types of scenarios and for me that says it all about how good the activity is.
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 200 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ abilities to analyse information effectively and identify problems and their causes. • To test participants’ abilities to think strategically, develop long-term solutions and be able to ‘sell’ these. • To develop team skills and test time management skills. • To test participants’ abilities to develop and deliver a persuasive presentation.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 135 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 200 minutes (based on 2/3 teams).
Aims: • To test participants’ abilities to analyse information effectively and identify problems and their causes. • To test participants’ abilities to think strategically, develop long-term solutions and be able to ‘sell’ these. • To develop team skills and test time management skills. • To test participants’ abilities to develop and deliver a persuasive presentation.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Project management, leadership, teamwork, time management, communication, information gathering, problem solving, attention to detail, planning, creative thinking, marketing, presentation, negotiation.
Group Size: You’ll need a minimum of 4 participants for this exercise.
Useful For: Managers at all levels, particularly those involved in managing projects. It can also be used with other staff as a way to assess a variety of skills over a three-hour period.
You'll Need: • One complete pack of information for each team. • Plenty of space. (Ideally each of your teams will have a separate breakout room to work in.) • Name cards for each member of the Parish Council – Martin Webster, Glenda McWilliams, Robert Fungle, Richard Longfoot and Denise Roberts. • A supply of grant application forms, which you can hand out on request. (If using the simpler version of the exercise with no grants, you won’t need these.) • Card, scissors, colour pens etc. (optional). • A small prize for the winning team. • A screen (for the PowerPoint Calendar countdown).
Notes: All of the documents required by participants are included in each of the Participant Packs. You can run a slightly simpler version of this exercise, without the grants, by using the ‘simpler participant pack’. The time required for this exercise will be determined by the number of teams. Each team is required to give a 15-minute presentation at the end of their preparation time (135 minutes).
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I have used Boosting Glasstap's Future on numerous occasions both in the UK and abroad with a mix of nationalities. It has never failed to impress everyone who takes part. I have now added a couple of "twists" that really put the "cat among the pigeons" towards the end of the exercise. This is a truly excellent exercise and whilst it may appear daunting at first glance due to the volume of materials, it is quite straight forward to run. From my experience, I have started to allow longer for the team presentations as participants really get in to it. I run the presentations as a Parish Council meeting where the villagers can ask questions to challenge each firm of consultants. This really helps when reviewing the key learning points.
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Andy Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this last week with 36 graduates at the end of a week long training course. The exercise was excellent and all the graduates enjoyed it. The detail of the handouts was brilliant, and the names used caused some giggles but there was some serious learning throughout being leadership, attention to detail, analysis, problem solving, communication and team building not to mention time management! The only area I would improve on would be to perhaps add in an example of calendar, notes on whether the teams can meet with "council members" (we decided to meet them although only 2 "members were ever present"!) I also could not find the handout to use if you weren't going to include the funding request. Overall excellent exercise and I will be using it again. Thanks for another brill exercise!
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used Boosting Glasstap Grange as a Problem Solving exercise but it can be used for a variety of skills as it really makes people work together. The exercises involve analytical skills and decision making as well as team work. As the group had done a creative problem solving session previous to this exercise which also involved decision making it helped them practice their decision making skills.
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Previous Member
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What a great little exercise! I ran it with a small team who have struggled to work together, particularly as two of the team have very strong personalities and tend to dominate any discussions or team meetings. In just two hours working on "Boosting Glasstap's Future" it was evident what strengths each player could bring to bear that would create a synergy not previously observed. The two strongest characters both proved to be 'ideas' people whereas one of the two quieter ones naturally assumed a support and research role, checking calculations, finances and researching the various options available such as property development choices. The most interesting discovery was with the youngest member of the team who turned out to be a quiet genius! She sat back, observed everyone's input and then concisely, accurately and unfailingly came up with the most appropriate solution. The outcome of the exercise was a comprehensive debrief where the team analysed their own and other's contributions and discussed how this should enable them to work better as a team in the future. I saw that they were genuinely surprised to realise that each one of them had a valid and valuable contribution to make. The real surprise, however, was just how involved they got in the exercise. They all became thoroughly immersed in trying to build a better future for the town and, even during the debrief, were still mulling over ideas. The funniest bit of the morning was where one participant stood by the window looking at our carpark trying to work out how many parking spaces they could fit into the site they were planning on buying at Glasstap. Priceless!
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Tracy Croft
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • Test analytical skills and encourage clear thinking. • Test participants’ attention to detail, individually or collectively, and to test levels of accuracy under pressure. • Allow participants to work together to solve a specific problem.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 75 minutes.
Aims: • Test analytical skills and encourage clear thinking. • Test participants’ attention to detail, individually or collectively, and to test levels of accuracy under pressure. • Allow participants to work together to solve a specific problem.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Analytical skills, attention to detail, problem solving, teamwork.
Group Size: We recommend placing participants into teams of 2–4 for this exercise. However, strictly speaking there is no minimum number of participants – this exercise can even be used to test individual skills.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • At least one Farm Map for each team; if teams have more than three people in them, you might prefer to provide teams with two copies of the map. • One copy of the Team Brief for each team.
Notes: In this exercise participants are presented with a lot of information and success will depend on their ability to approach the problem in a structured, methodical way and work effectively under pressure. This exercise can also be used to examine the role of leaders within teams. If you wish to use the exercise in this way, you might want to pre-assign the role of leader to someone from each team.
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We recently ran this as part of a team meeting and it's harder than it looks! As a team we are guilty of delivering quickly and this can lead to missed opportunities. This activity perfectly demonstrated this in a fun and engaging way and provoked a lot of discussion. I've only not left 5 stars because I personally think the time in underestimated due to the amount of insightful discussion so to anyone picking this up as an activity, be prepared to give it the time it needs.
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Katie Hastie
rated this item with 4 stars.
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This exercise is categorised as "testing analytical thinking", however I would suggest that "thinking logically" would be an accurate description. I have used it with several teams and have found that it works with staff at first and line management level who operate within a fast moving environment,(such as manufacturing), where decisions are often made at speed, but may not stand up to close scrutiny in the longer term. Team members learnt quickly the relevance of thinking clearly in the exercise and how this related to their jobs.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Bringing the cows home was excellent for these managers whom need to be goal directed, attend to detail and accuracy, and individuals who need to apply their logical reasoning ability. It also immediately brings out the team work and co-operation between participants. Bringing the cows home was very challenging and they had to communicate constantly in order to get to their answers. These participants were very specific in their work and were very sure that the routes they identified were precise and accurate. They were wrong and double checked! (Checking up on why they had less routes than the answer sheet indicated took a bit long, but they even got a method in order to check why their answers differed from the training program's).
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Previous Member
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Loved 'Bringing the Cows Home'. It was a delight for staff who had no idea what was coming and a great opportunity to get them working in their new teams. The game was involved without being too daunting and the range of problem solving techniques all came to the fore. Great fun, educational and terrific for team building and attention to detail. Interestingly nearly every group didn't read the brief properly!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I use this exercise regularly to start off a module on Problem Solving for first-line managers. It has proven to be a very effective lead into further discussions on the problem solving process. Most delegates find themselves jumping straight into the exercise without first analysing the problem or discussing alternative strategies for solving it. I have to say that very few are successful in getting close to the right answer in the time allowed, but they usually have fun trying and always draw out some excellent learning points that we refer back to as we progress on through the module.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ attention to detail, individually, or collectively. • To test participants’ levels of accuracy under pressure. • To show how tasks can be broken down into achievable goals, and how teams can use short term goals to improve performance. • To test participants’ abilities to work together effectively. • To examine the impact of change on comfort zones and confidence.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 90 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ attention to detail, individually, or collectively. • To test participants’ levels of accuracy under pressure. • To show how tasks can be broken down into achievable goals, and how teams can use short term goals to improve performance. • To test participants’ abilities to work together effectively. • To examine the impact of change on comfort zones and confidence.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Accuracy and attention to detail, teamwork, goal setting, managing change and leadership.
Group Size: There is no minimum number of participants – this exercise can even be used to test individual skills.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • One set of Filing Frenzy and instruction cards for each individual or team (see notes). • A stopwatch or watch. • A whistle or bell (optional).
Notes: This exercise is normally run as a series of short 10-minute activities (with discussion at various points). These activities can be run back to back, but are perhaps more effective when used as an intermittent energiser during a training day/course and used to illustrate or highlight learning points covered in detail elsewhere in the training programme. You will need one set of Filing Frenzy cards for each individual or team. (We recommend a set of 180 cards for each individual or team, i.e., 10 copies of the ‘Filing Frenzy Cards’ document if running the exercises on the following pages.) However, for a simple ‘accuracy test’ you could use fewer cards. For example: • Individuals – 36 cards (2 copies of the ‘Filing Frenzy Cards’ document). • Teams of 2-3 – 90 cards (5 copies of the ‘Filing Frenzy Cards’ document). • Teams of 4-6 – 126 cards (7 copies of the ‘Filing Frenzy Cards’ document).
Note of Caution: This exercise may not be suitable for participants who are colour blind or visually impaired. However, in most cases anyone who falls into this category can still be involved. Ask them to observe/listen to the teams during the exercise, identifying effective and less effective behaviours in order to provide constructive feedback afterwards.
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I just ran this exercise for a group of our Indian colleagues out in Amedabad - and they loved it. It was easy to run, fun to do and really stimulated some juicy conversations about team working, accuracy and proactivity in addition to the intended learning outcomes. They enjoyed it so much they wanted me to run it a second time to another team who hadnt been intended to come to the training. I think it's fair to say it proved a popular exercise!! I didn't need to adapt the exercise in anyway. Just print, cut and go! Definitely 5 stars and will definitely be using it again in the future.
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Becky Booker
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I use Filing Frenzy again and again. Lots of different applications of this game, team building, coaching skills, setting objectives. It really is an excellent activity.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Excellent Team Building Activity. Fun and many learnings
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Anthony Cige
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this for an admin team away day. We only had a small group (4) and there was a real mix in terms of experience and ability. Some of the group struggled with it but they got there in the end. I would use it again but probably with a bigger group.
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 3 stars.
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I used this on a small team away day (4 people) as part of a team build. I was worried that the learning points would not come out due to the small numbers and unsure as to how many cards to use for each pair (I found the instructions on the number of cards to use a little confusing). I ended up using 4 sets of card per pair which seemed the right amount. We did the first 3 tasks/rounds with feedback between each one on how they approached the task and it really worked well to highlight planning, team working, quality checking, attention to detail and working together in general. We did the rounds one after the other which was quite a lot and more than enough to highlight key points. They enjoyed it but had had enough after 3 rounds as it can be quite intense! I will definitely use this again - I can see it being really useful for bigger teams to explore ways of working together. Recommended, despite the time it took to make laminated cards!
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Rebecca Peat
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I used the Filing Frenzy on a Change Management course for first line managers. It was a brilliant icebreaker as it got the participants involved from the start whilst also illustrating the key messages about change and how we react to it. It was amazing to see how something simple can still have an impact on people when you change the instructions slightly. For some people the change was minimal and they changed their approach but for some (particular those who had won the previous rounds and had got their process down to a fine heart) felt quite disappointed by the change.
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Clare Wilkes
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 180 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ creative thinking and innovation skills. • To test participants’ business acumen and marketing skills. • To develop team and leadership skills. • To test participants’ abilities to work creatively under pressure. • To think about and practise skills covered in the training programme.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 120 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 180 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ creative thinking and innovation skills. • To test participants’ business acumen and marketing skills. • To develop team and leadership skills. • To test participants’ abilities to work creatively under pressure. • To think about and practise skills covered in the training programme.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Creativity and innovation, leadership, teamwork, time management, marketing and business acumen.
Group Size: You’ll need a minimum of 3 teams for this exercise with a minimum of 3 participants in each team. This is the minimum and the ideal is 4 or 5 teams, with 4-5 participants in each team.
Useful For: Staff at all levels, including those in senior roles.
You'll Need: • A GamePlay game pack for each team, (which contains ‘hats, bidding paddles and coins). • A supply of ‘game elements’, including, for example, dice, boards, cards, counters etc. (You’ll need 4 or 5 components for each team and each component should be unique.) See more detailed note under ‘Set Up’. • A brief for each team. • A set of ‘Lot’ cards for every Gameplay game pack. • Plenty of space - ideally each team will have a separate room in which to work.
Notes: In this exercise, teams create a new game, which can be linked to the key skills you’re looking to develop. It is ideally suited to residential courses, where participants can continue to refine their product during the evening, ready to make their ‘sales pitch’ the following morning. Or, you can allow them the usual two hours, then provide an opportunity for players to play all the games in the evening before voting for their favourite the next morning. Having a co-facilitator for this exercise will really help, as it will give you more opportunity to observe interactions within the teams that you can use in feedback later.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants' planning and communication skills. • To demonstrate the importance of listening and using summary and clarification to check understanding. • To consider what makes communication effective and the dangers of getting it wrong. • To energise a group of participants.
About
Time: This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module.
Aims: • To test participants' planning and communication skills. • To demonstrate the importance of listening and using summary and clarification to check understanding. • To consider what makes communication effective and the dangers of getting it wrong. • To energise a group of participants.
Group Size: This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 25 participants.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • Whistles (one for each team). • A stopwatch. • Skittles and hoops (or similar-see note). • Prizes.
We don't often develop exercises specifically for the outdoors, but this is a simple exercise that can be used by anyone with access to a park, lawn or yard. A great energiser for sunny days and one which really does contain some important lessons about communication and the importance of checking understanding.This exercise does require some preparation as you'll need to devise a 'course' for your participants to follow. Preparation will take about 5 minutes once you have the items you'll need. The course maps show three different routes through the same course, which means you won't have to change the course itself if playing more than one round. We suggest using hula-hoops for your 'pens'. If not, you can mark the 'pens' out using other things like rope or giant pick-up sticks. Skittles, cones or balls can be used to mark out the rest of the course.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Fantastic Activity for teambuilding, communication and leadership! I would use it over and over again. Simple to set up, and you can get creative with the equipment I used squeeky toys so when people had blind folds they would step on them which added even more humour to this activity. I would highly recommend this to any trainer that is teambuilding and has some space for the pens. I was a littly reluctant to use it at first as I had never used it before and have no sense of direction myself - once zoe explained the footprints and the direction of the footprints the penny dropped and away I went!
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Anjana Rajani
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I had to run a Team Building event with the members of the Inbound Sales Teams; a couple of the Team Leaders were new to the company and the associates had recently been asked to make a few outbound calls at quieter periods, which they were not happy about. As a result they blamed the Team Leaders for not standing up for them. The situation had deteriorated a bit and it was time to bring the department together. I got my inspiration from Trainer's Library and I selected Glasstap Sheep Trials as an exercise. The results were amazing! The participants were a bit weary at the beginning and they were not talking too much amongst each other. By the time the first group started the exercise all participants were discussing the other group's performance amongst themselves and asking their team leader to communicate with them in a different way or using the same techniques if those were working. When the exercise finished I was very pleased to notice the complete transformation of the dynamics and communication of the department. There was laughter all round and they were all very keen to participate during the debrief. The questions suggested by Glasstap were fantastic at getting the message across and the relationship in the department improved dramatically as a direct result of the team building day. What a fantastic activity to run! Thank you Glasstap!!!!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ abilities to plan and develop a strategy that delivers a good result for the ‘customer’. • To test participants’ abilities to effectively utilise skills within the team to solve a series of problems. • To test participants’ abilities to anticipate and successfully respond to unexpected challenges.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 45 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 75 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ abilities to plan and develop a strategy that delivers a good result for the ‘customer’. • To test participants’ abilities to effectively utilise skills within the team to solve a series of problems. • To test participants’ abilities to anticipate and successfully respond to unexpected challenges.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Teamwork, planning, problem solving, time management, communication, attention to detail.
Group Size: We suggest running this exercise with teams of 3-5 participants.
Useful For: Staff at all levels. It can also be used to examine the role of leaders within teams.
You'll Need: Each team will need: • A copy of the Brief, Task List and Additional Information Handout. • Two Promise Slips. • Plenty of flipchart paper and marker pens. • A blue, green and red pen (or one that is all three). • A length of string. • A ruler. • A self-tie bow tie. • A pack of playing cards. • A ball. • A die. • 25 recycled paper cups. • A range of small toys including a dinosaur.
You will need: • Flash cards for the party guests (provided). • A blindfold.
Notes: This team building game can be used in a number of ways, and can be applied to many different topics including project management, teamwork, planning and setting expectations. It can also be used to examine the role of leaders within teams and if that’s your intention, you might want to pre-assign the role of leader to someone from each team. The activity itself takes 45 minutes and you should allow a further 30-45 minutes to review and score the teams’ performance and explore the key learning points.
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I must admit I had some nervousness before first including 'His Lordship's Garden Party' in a team-building event; but happily I need not have been concerned. There is a lot of preparation, plus quite a bit of shopping to do (bow ties, playing cards, toy dinosaurs etc); however, the reason that this exercise works so well is that so much is going on at any one time, with team members not knowing what each other are up to. This will work well with groups of mixed levels of seniority and with a diverse mix of personalities. The main ingredients for making this a success are; plenty of planning and a good knowledge of the materials by the trainer; plus ample break-out rooms. It would equally appropriate for newly formed teams, as well as for more established teams that are working on achieving greater levels of collaboration.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 150 minutes.
Aims: • Show participants the importance of effective communication when working together under pressure. • Test participants’ abilities to: - Quickly assimilate and share information effectively. - Prioritise and manage changing priorities. • Raise awareness of how critical effective project management and planning skills are when dealing with fast-changing situations. • Highlight the need for a clear process when making decisions quickly. • Understand the importance of building credibility through concise, clear, accurate communication that has the recipient in mind. • Allow participants to practise or demonstrate their leadership skills, managing a project, delegating responsibility and encouraging and motivating fellow participants.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 90 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 150 minutes.
Aims: • Show participants the importance of effective communication when working together under pressure. • Test participants’ abilities to: - Quickly assimilate and share information effectively. - Prioritise and manage changing priorities. • Raise awareness of how critical effective project management and planning skills are when dealing with fast-changing situations. • Highlight the need for a clear process when making decisions quickly. • Understand the importance of building credibility through concise, clear, accurate communication that has the recipient in mind. • Allow participants to practise or demonstrate their leadership skills, managing a project, delegating responsibility and encouraging and motivating fellow participants.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Team skills, planning and project management skills, writing skills, attention to detail, leadership and time management.
Group Size: This exercise works best when you have at least 2 teams competing to produce the best front page. Each team should have a minimum of 3 and, ideally, a maximum of 6 participants.
Useful For: Supervisors and managers or anyone involved in project work.
You'll Need: • Each team will need a separate area in which to work. • Each participant will need access to a computer/laptop (with MS Word or equivalent installed) and a printer (one printer can be shared by all teams). • Each team will need access to a phone. If there is a telephone in the room that they are working in, use this. Otherwise, you could ask one member of each team to keep their mobile phone on – as long as you’re sure they won’t get real work calls. • Teams will need access to pens, notepaper, scissors and glue. • Each team will need one sheet of flipchart paper. (Keep some spare sheets handy in case of need.) • Each team will need a team brief and copies of previous issues of the Fumberland News (downloaded from Trainers’ Library). • Each team will need one complete set of ‘stories’ (downloaded from Trainers’ Library). • You will need the ‘Breaking News’ script (found at the end of these trainer’s notes.)
Notes: Hold the Front Page! can be used to asses and develop a whole range of skills including team skills, planning and project management skills, writing skills, attention to detail, leadership and time management. We think that four in a team for this exercise is better than six, so if you have twelve participants, we’d recommend creating three teams of four. If you have teams of three, you may wish to allow participants an extra 15 minutes to complete the exercise, as time will be particularly tight.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library called Hold the Front Page! - Teamwork Under Pressure .
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I have been facilitating Hold The Front Page for some time. The exercise is always a success encouraging creativity and highlighting team roles, working as a team, Tuckman's team stages and more. Recently I have used the exercise for students making the transition into industry. I relate all the above and also the importance of meeting deadlines in the workplace. Often they are used to flexibility in relation to deadlines and are shocked when we tell them the paper has already gone to print!! The notice on the door really stops them in their tracks, thinking all their hard work has been wasted! Very powerful exercise and lots of fun too.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Hold the front page! was a great activity and most said this was their favourite of the three we had completed that day. You will need the whole time given for this, do not try to cut corners to reduce the time by taking out some of the stories or breaking news, this works fantastically well with the time given. We did come up with an alternative ending for the breaking news right at the end of the session as we thought it could be more exciting and this worked well. We ran this activity with four groups in the same room which worked; however you may want to separate the groups so that they are unaware of what each other are doing.
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Previous Member
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I use Hold the Front Page in Team Leader training. I originally included the exercise to bring out the Leadership Skills of participants. I have found that in addition you can strongly relate Learning Styles and Team Stages. I run the exercise on Day 2 of my programme revisiting Honey and Mumford Learning Styles and Tuckman’s team stages which we have covered the previous day. Hold the Front Page brings out the competitive streak in participants and on several occasions I have been ‘locked out’ of the syndicate rooms as I deliver more ‘breaking news’ or additional news stories. I’ve had people holding their breath over the potential demise of Nobby, Mrs. Tuffy’s dog!! I can’t honestly say Mrs. Biggly’s safety is met with quite the same relief. Still we are a nation of animal lovers they say?? This gives a great insight to behaviours and how people manage others and potential difficult situations. Another ‘side’ to the exercise is the creativity people demonstrate. Often those who are less vociferous come into their own when their creative side is allowed to shine in order to deliver the best front page. This, along with a host of other exercises from your portfolio, is very powerful, well received and a great fun way of demonstrating a wide range of skills.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 300 minutes.
Aims: • To encourage participants to analyse financial and other data using a SWOT analysis. • To give participants the opportunity to identify and explore options and appraise these. • To build an understanding of the key steps in strategic planning. • For participants to create a 3 year outline strategic plan based on the fictional case study they’ve been given. • To encourage participants to prepare and give a persuasive presentation outlining their strategy and the work they have done. • To develop team skills and test time management skills.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 240 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 300 minutes (based on 3 teams).
Aims: • To encourage participants to analyse financial and other data using a SWOT analysis. • To give participants the opportunity to identify and explore options and appraise these. • To build an understanding of the key steps in strategic planning. • For participants to create a 3 year outline strategic plan based on the fictional case study they’ve been given. • To encourage participants to prepare and give a persuasive presentation outlining their strategy and the work they have done. • To develop team skills and test time management skills.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Analytical skills, strategic thinking, entrepreneurial skills, creative thinking, planning, time management, leadership, teamwork and marketing.
Group Size: An ideal group size for this module is 12, with participants working in 3 teams of 4. If you have more than 15 participants in your group, you may want to consider ‘doubling up’ on some of the briefs with more than one team using the same scenario. This doesn’t detract from the learning; in fact it can be interesting to see how different teams approach the same problem and task.
Useful For: Staff at all levels including individuals, groups and teams that need to use strategic planning and analysis skills in the workplace.
You'll Need: • One hotel data pack for each team. • Plenty of space. (Ideally each of your teams will have a separate breakout room to work in.) • You can also provide participants with tools to help them produce a powerful presentation if you wish.
Notes: Hotel Doldrums is a teambuilding game based around a challenging business scenario, where three hotels in the same small town are struggling to survive. Each hotel is represented by a different team that must try to develop a business and marketing plan that will persuade the bank to support their hotel over the others. For a more trainer-led intervention, Hotel Doldrums is also available as three separate course modules that together make up a complete 1.5 day workshop. The trainer’s notes for this alternative version can be found in Trainers’ Library under Course Modules/Strategic Thinking.
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I've used Hotel Doldrums a couple of times now with around 35 first line managers attending a high potential programme. One of their key learning needs is around developing commercial and strategic thinking. On this particular module, over two days, we use this activity to help them review current performance. We ask a couple of our senior leaders to act as bank managers which increases the pressure on the teams. On day two, they have to 'bid' for real improvement projects they'd like to work on in smaller teams. As we take them through this process, we provide further development on topics such as visioning, presentation skills, influencing. The level of detail provided for each hotel works extremely well for our managers, who are looking to step up into more strategic roles.
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Paula Knight
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have now run Hotel Doldrums twice as a 1 day team build exercise. Marketing Team This team is quite large (24 in total) and is spread throughout the country. Their opportunity to spend time together as a team is limited. Also, the team manager knew some elements of the team very well and others hardly at all having ‘inherited’ them following a company take over. A big part of this team build day was to get to know each other on a personal as well as a business basis. I ran the exercise after going through some personality profiling. It was really powerful to see how people responded in their preferred behavioural style and perhaps even more so how their fellow team members recognised the behaviours!! Not surprisingly there was an abundance of creativity going around, when the analytical people tried to intervene there were some ‘clashes’ although always controlled, usually ending up in peels of laughter. It did, however, demonstrate the need to listen to all team members and give everyone the chance to contribute. A good learning for the stronger personalities in the group. Time management was an issue and gave the team manager an insight as to why and how deadlines sometimes slip. She left the session with a strategy for managing this within the team more effectively in the future. The meetings with the Bank Manager weren’t particularly successful. I’m not sure whether this was the way I positioned this aspect of the training or not. The overall feedback was that the meetings contributed very little and took away valuable time. A number of leaders emerged. Some based on personalities and others on expertise again demonstrating the advantages of having a good mix within the team. The need for a 3 month plan did give focus to think about the future. The team are often required to be reactive, rapid change being a trait in our industry. Having to plan in a structured way for the future was a useful learning and demonstrated how much control you get when you are able to do this. The final presentations were very light on financial information which was recognised as something of a problem given that they were for the bank manager!! Known your audience eh? There was much emphasis on how they would ‘pretty-up’ the respective hotels, what fun things they could offer and how they would improve the experience to encourage the return of guests. Not so much thought around what would happen if people didn’t return!! Glass half full perhaps? The most valuable things taken from the exercise were: Recognising and be able to utilise the strengths within the team. The importance of planning Thinking inside the box as well as outside it! Raising awareness of financial implications around the roles of the team members. Working as a team. Strategic Sales Team I ran the exercise again 4 weeks later with a smaller team of strategic sales people. This team have huge transformation in front of them due to changes in our business so it was good to give them a subject they were totally unfamiliar with. The team had slightly less time which proved a challenge and a learning point for me here is that a smaller team doesn’t necessarily mean less time. There was definitely a more financial focused approach and less creativity. As with the previous group the presentations ran over time neither groups having practised. They would argue they didn’t have time….I would argue they should have made time!!! Creativity was limited in this session and it highlighted the need to involve other areas and expertise within the business for the new challenges ahead. This team had a brand new manager who was eager to demonstrate his style. He joined in the exercise which proved really valuable and his team could see he would not ask them to do anything he wouldn’t or couldn’t do himself. We did not include the bank manager role this time and in all honesty I don’t think the exercise lost anything as a result. Again the need for a 3 month plan was very powerful and I would say that this was the most valuable aspect for both sessions. All in all, this is an excellent exercise with an incredible amount of learning from it. It has been a huge success and I will/would use it again and again.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 3 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims: • To demonstrate the importance of building a clear understanding of needs and feelings in negotiation, through effective questioning and listening. • To show the importance of separating people and personalities from the problems. • To show the value of a shared problem/creative solution finding approach to negotiation. • To provide an opportunity to practise negotiation, teamwork and problem solving skills.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 70 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 90 minutes.
Aims: • To demonstrate the importance of building a clear understanding of needs and feelings in negotiation, through effective questioning and listening. • To show the importance of separating people and personalities from the problems. • To show the value of a shared problem/creative solution finding approach to negotiation. • To provide an opportunity to practise negotiation, teamwork and problem solving skills.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Negotiation skills, communication, leadership, teamwork and collaboration, and problem solving.
Group Size: This game involves participants working individually (or in pairs) representing one of 3 or, ideally 4 tribes. So each game requires a minimum of 3 participants and a maximum of 8. You can have several games running concurrently alongside each other.
Useful For: Staff at all levels who are involved in negotiating but managers in particular.
You'll Need: • An island map for each group of 3 or 4 tribes and ideally they should be A3 or larger and laminated. • A different brief for each tribe. • Chinagraph pencils (or similar) and wipes are recommended if your maps are laminated.
Notes: It’s best to run this exercise module without too much explanation. This exercise has many different potential solutions – the learning comes from the experience of trying to find one that all parties can agree to.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I train our new starters to become Recruitment Consultants. I decided to run a group interview evening, using a couple of the Trainers Library sessions. This one was perfect for identifying who got involved in the exercise, who was too eager to take over and those who sat back and let others lead. I used printouts of the map and it worked but I would definitely order the maps next time.
The game was fun and really helped us to identify who to recruit, so I will definitely use it again!
Caroline
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Caroline Kemp
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I love this exercise because after preparing the materials you can almost sit back, relax and watch the complete lack of negotiation skills most people have. I always emphasis at the start how important it is for each tribe to get what they need. Having done that you can guarantee lots of folded arms and shaking of heads. I always make sure that the negotiator is different for each round and that I have plenty of maps available to draw on. Occasionally the result is agreement but I've also had many occasion where I've ended up with a beautiful island all to myself. Give it a try, as the discussions after the exercise really do help explain the art of negotiation.
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Richard Linder
rated this item with 5 stars.
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What a flexible session this is. I have used it in sessions for Team building,
influencing, conflict management, assertive behaviour and planning.
The best result I have had with it is in a team building session. They discovered
how they treat each other and the impact it has in the team whilst learning
their own behaviour and bought into it how they treat other teams too. They were astounded at how easy it is to deal with other parts of the business to gain support and solve problems together instead of constantly hitting brick walls and not achieving their goals. They did this by taking the emotion and history out of the problems and getting everyone's needs out in the open before they tried to solve anything.
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Karon Campbell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I joined a little over one month ago and recently used the team building exercise Island of Opportunity at a senior managers three day transformative conflict/mediation workshop. I chose this activity as an evening event on Day 2 because the exercise allowed for team building, some fun and laughter after two days of role-playing conflict scenarios, and it also contained key learnings for trainee mediators. Specifically the exercise- - was aligned with the general workshop content (negotiation, understanding of needs and collaboration to reach a solution Vs aggression and conflict provoking tactics). - allowed for team building as some participants did not know one another but worked in the same unit. - provided light relief after 2 full days of discussing conflict which produces low energy in the group. - can be used to discuss cultural aspects of teams/organisations and how they might deal with differences/disputes. I provided a bag of wigs and party hairpieces, beads and other materials for those who wanted to create their own ‘tribal’ attire. Each of the teams in the exercise (4) used the gear or made their own tribal dress. No coercion on my part to dress-up. The exercise worked very well and completed the day with a huge amount of fun. I left the debrief until the following morning (Day 3) when everyone was a little more focussed! Very versatile exercise with good learning points for teams and you can use it with or without the hairpieces.
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Previous Member
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I used Island of Opportunity for team negotiating on a Negotiating skills course recently. I had teams of two representing each of the tribes who arrive on the island and need to decide how to divide it according to their needs. I found it worked really well and better than a previous team negotiation I had used on this course. Island of Opportunity really helps the negotiators to think about what everyone’s needs are and to negotiate according to need in a problem-solving way, instead of taking up positions. Occasionally, they were in danger of taking positions but the brief provides enough information to enable them to think of ways to barter and that reinforces the idea that you may have something you can offer easily which will be valuable to the other side. It provided some good learning points for team coaching, as the new information being offered by other tribes in the negotiation prompted discussion between team members, and helped them to realise the need to present a united front. Everyone enjoyed it and I was able to give lots of good feedback about the constructive negotiating behaviours they had displayed.
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Valerie Fawcett
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have recently used the Island of Opportunity Excercise as part of a training session incorporating Influencing and Persuasive Techniques. I used this excercise at the end of a day long session and it certainly help embedd their knowledge and it was an excellent way for them to hone the negotiation and persuasive techniques that were learned during the earlier training session. I am planning to incorporate into our Communications Course as our staff got a huge benefit. I look forward to running more sessions with this really fun and easy to adapt excercise.
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Previous Member
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Island of Opportunity has provided a really useful exercise within an assertiveness course. It allowed delegates to practice being more assertive through negotiations and pulled out some very interesting and useful learning points.
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Tracy Barlow
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I was in the middle of designing a 3-day sales training course when I ran out of inspiration for exercises on negotiation skills. I decided to check Trainers' Library and I came across "Island of Opportunity". I have now been using this exercise for about 10 months as part of the sales training induction for new outbound and inbound starters. Island of Opportunity opens up my 3-day sales course as it is a great icebreaker and it really gets people talking to each other. On the other hand, it also allows me to get to know all my delegates quite in depth; it is really easy to spot the quiet ones, bossy ones, argumentative ones, logical ones, etc. I really like the fact that delegates have a lot of fun with this exercise while learning the skills that they will need in order to sell and negotiate with both internal and external customers. The debriefing questions suggested at the end of the exercise are extremely effective at highlighting the key learning points of the activity. All in all this is one of the best exercises I have ever used and as a result I have also used it as part of Negotiation Skills training and Coaching Training for Team Leaders, as the Island is fantastic at ensuring that participants realise the importance of communication skills and understanding other people's point of view. Many thanks for a great activity!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The delegates found being part of a tribe was fun. The brief does state to start the activity with as little explanation as possible, I did explain the basics of the activity and found that some were confused by this; in future I will give them the information and leave them to work it out. This activity works better for people who do not know each other; there is more scope for aggressive negotiation, rather than group discussion.
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 90 minutes.
Aims: • Show participants the importance of effective communication when working together. • Test participants’ attention to detail, individually, or collectively. • Test time management skills and participants’ levels of accuracy under pressure. • Allow participants to work together to solve a specific problem. • Identify the diverse range of skills within teams and how to use them effectively.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 45-60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 75-90 minutes.
Aims: • Show participants the importance of effective communication when working together. • Test participants’ attention to detail, individually, or collectively. • Test time management skills and participants’ levels of accuracy under pressure. • Allow participants to work together to solve a specific problem. • Identify the diverse range of skills within teams and how to use them effectively.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, attention to detail, problem solving, teamwork, time management and leadership skills.
Group Size: A minimum of 4 participants is required – ideally you will have a minimum of 8 participants, which will enable you to run the exercise with 2 teams of 4 competing.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • One set of 78 Treasure Hunt ‘Riddle’ Cards for each team. • A whistle and a prize for the winning team (optional).
Notes: In the exercise, teams are provided a series of riddles, puzzles and questions to solve. Solving these will help participants put together a rhyme that will tell them where Jack’s treasure is hidden. The riddles and puzzles have been deliberately designed to be diverse in nature and to draw upon different skills. They include riddles and cryptic clues, mathematical questions, word questions, and general knowledge questions. Some have been especially designed so that they require close attention to detail. This exercise can also be used to examine the role of leaders within teams. If you wish to use the exercise in this way, you might want to pre-assign the role of leader to someone from each team.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I run Jack Fruggle's Treasure quite regularly in our organisation, and it goes down a treat. Colleagues enjoy working together in a different environment to normal and thinking about strategy when managing information overload at the beginning of tasks. Sometimes when it's found to be too tricky we give out hints during the task, and then discuss afterwards. A good task overall
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Sarah Sutherland
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I chose to use the Jack Fruggle's Treasure activity as part of a focus day for a high-functioning team. What I hoped was that the activity would be first and foremost fun and energetic and secondly allow them all to reflect on their own contribution to the functioning of the team and how that helped and hindered success. I felt it would be particularly good for this group as it involved a degree of brainpower rather than being a more physical activity which was very suited to the group. I was nervous about whether they would work out the numbering system for the clues and while it did take them a good 15 or so minutes to work it out, they got there. Only one of the two teams solved the puzzle in the allocated 45mins which gave rise to some great discussions about how the team organises itself, uses people skills and shares information.
I would highly recommend this activity and would also recommend buying the printed cards as it adds a degree of professionalism. Feedback from the delegates was that this was “the best team building game that they had ever done” and I think part of that was because it challenged them mentally more than physically. Can’t wait to have an excuse to use it again!
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Lindsay Hawkins
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Used as part of a team day to add a competitive and fun element. Some excellent talking points emerged around leadership, team roles, communication and behaviours.
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Katharine Shaw
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I love Jack Fruggle's Treasure! It is always really well received and today I used with a team of people who know each other quite well but work on a project together and come from other departments. They really quickly got the idea and I thought were going to fly through the challenge but chaos ensured. 1 team then thought they had solved the challenge but had a word wrong, this was actually hysterical for everyone. There were some really powerful learning to come out of this about listening to each other, asking for help and being organised. This will continue to be a go to activity for me!
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Charlotte Gee
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this exercise for a team building workshop which included Belbin team roles. It was great for building the teams as well as encouraging a bit of competition. I also swapped a couple of players from each team half way through the exercise and then swapped them back towards the end. There were many learnings from the exercise including identifying Belbin strengths within the teams and playing to them, leadership, planning, organising and paying attention, the impact of having a new team member and how to integrate them, working together, time management and getting help when it is available by using the pass cards - teams were reluctant to use them initially as they wanted to do it without help until of course they thought of google which was also allowed. A great exercise that can be adapted to fit many learning objectives and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the participants.
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Stephanie Fry
rated this item with 5 stars.
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What I really like about Jack Fruggle is that it encourages everyone to get involved. I've used it a few times and every time after an initial slow start, as teams try to work out what an earth they are supposed to do, the ending is often frenzied and competitive. It's always tempting to give some help to get teams started, however I've resisted every time except for once when after ten minutes it was clear the team had no clue what they were trying to achieve. I love sitting back and watching the approach to answering the questions, usually initially as a whole group and then as time passes in smaller groups to speed the process up. It's a this point they realise they don't know which questions have been answered and which haven't. I always have a piece of flipchart paper available for each team to write the message on. The briefing afterwards brings out so many useful learning points, time management, team work, leadership and communication. Oh and don't worry about the questions, my experience is that someone will know. You might also want to ban phones, google can be such a temptation.
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Richard Linder
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I was looking for an exercise that would promote teams working together to achieve a purpose. Although I liked the idea of 'Remote Teams' (designed specifically for large groups), I thought the quiz questions would be too challenging for my delegates. So I adapted Jack Fruggle's Treasure. I ran the exercise for 5 x 10 teams and it worked really well. I gave each team the clue cards, no pass cards and only 1/5 of a mix of the quiz cards. So no one team could complete the exercise alone, and after about 20 minutes they worked out that they had to share/collaborate with other teams. We allowed max of 2 people out of their rooms at a time. After 50 mins all teams returned to the main room and shouted out the rhyme in unison and opened the treasure. The treasure was 50 X £1 coins and 50 x chocolate coins. Everybody was allowed to choose 2 each. Some obviously got £2 and others didn't. I then suggested that as none of them could have succeeded if they hadn't worked together, they should share out the treasure more fairly...which they did!
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Sally Jones
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I have now used Jack Fruggles Treasure more than 30 times over the past few years. As well as using for team building/development events, I have also used the activity in training sessions on topics such as problem solving, decision making, and leadership modules. It has also been a great activity to build into my Belbin Team profiling sessions, as it clearly highlights different ways in which individuals contribute towards a team. What a great activity it is and it is so versatile, fun, challenging and can be adapted in so many ways. Many thanks for a super resource; it has brought me and my delegates many hours of fun with so many valuable learning points…
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Gary Shewan
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I have used this exercise twice, firstly for Teambuilding and Leadership and secondly for Time Management. On both occasions the participants enjoyed the exercise and learned valuable lessons from the experience. The instructions provided are excellent and the questions under the various headings, such as Leadership, Teambuilding etc are a useful support for the trainer. All the participants have stated that the time goes very quickly during this exercise, so it is ideal for use to highlight planning and organising of resources for any task they may encounter back in the workplace. Regarding Teamwork and Leadership, the participants learn about how they react under pressure in a new situation, which reflects well in the workplace as we are often faced with new challenges! I would recommend laminating the cards as in their enthusiasm the participants tend to write on the cards (even when asked not to!).
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used exercise as part of a team day for a new team of student’s wardens here at York St John University. The group had only come together that week and many of them didn’t know one another prior to the training. After the week long training programme they would be located remotely from one another but would still be expected to work as a team. The exercise was met with some frustrations to start with but it went down well and the element of competition really got the smaller teams bonding. There were so many relevant learning points to draw from this exercise; approaches to team work, utilising individual skills, different approaches to problem solving, different personalities, not always having all the information upfront, making sure everybody is enabled to engage in the process etc. etc. In facilitating the exercise you need to do your preparation, and make sure you are clear on your role, once people start asking you questions you have to be on your toes! I would definitely use this exercise again, its good fun!
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Previous Member
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I've used Jack Fruggle's Treasure and the team LOVED it. Great fun. Challenging. And lots of observable behaviours for discussion.
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Previous Member
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We have used this team building activity as part of a team building event with a very broad team of 40, some of whom have minimum contact with each other. Despite one or two initial reservations by the group about team building activities in general, it was well received and even the most reserved member of the group was passing cards around and puzzling over the answers. I would suggest reading the questions carefully before the start and hanging onto the answer sheet for the later parts of the exercise. It is also important to avoid 'helping' teams stuck with the numbers for as long as possible. It was very positively evaluated. It is an excellent exercise if you are looking for something that can be easily tailored to cover subject specific knowledge in a fun way as you have the opportunity to replace some or all of the general knowledge questions with ones that relate to the topic in question.
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Helen Walker
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I had a team leader who is incredibly task focused, but could not see the effect their hands-on involvement was having on the team. This activity really helped. The team leader, having briefly seen the activity and flipped through the cards, briefed their team. The briefing was very rushed and gave little opportunity for questions, and the team had not seen the cards, so were unable to 'see' what had to be done - a huge learning point in terms of helping teams understand their brief. Logistically, this task caused the task-focused team leader big problems. They wanted to (and did) get stuck into solving the clues themselves. The difficulty this posed was that there was no actual 'management' of the task - no planning or organisation. Everyone took a batch of clues and did their best to solve them, sharing their answers with whoever would listen, with the result that some answers were not heard, and no-one kept track of what had been solved and what hadn't - utter chaos! Once they realised the significance of the numbers on the cards, there was a great opportunity to pause and re-organise, but this was missed. Work continued in fragmented style, with some people solving clues that had already been completed. Towards the end, as time pressure was mounting, the leader began attempting to fill in the blanks in the verse 'hangman' style. The team made a significant leap forward at this point, but did not check their answers against the clue cards to see if they fit - with the unfortunate result that one key word was incorrect, and this threw the whole verse out. Great learning, as they realised that there are a range of ways to solve problems, and the importance of cross-checking info to validate their ideas. Thanks for another great activity.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 120 minutes.
Aims: • To help participants develop their negotiation skills and in particular their ability to establish their needs and wants, and those of the other party, prior to commencing negotiating.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 90 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 120 minutes.
Aims: • To help participants develop their negotiation skills and in particular their ability to establish their needs and wants, and those of the other party, prior to commencing negotiating.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, leadership, negotiation, teamwork and collaboration, and problem solving.
Group Size: This exercise involves participants working in four teams. You’ll need a minimum of 2 participants in each team and a maximum of 6.
Useful For: Managers, and particularly those at a more senior level.
You'll Need: • Access to the Internet, to use our online scoring tool, necessary to assess teams’ performances and a printer to provide participants a copy of the results. (Only you will need this, not your participants.) • Plenty of space. Ideally each of your four teams will have a separate breakout room to work in. • A calculator for each team. • Highlighters, pens and pencils for each team. • A small prize for the winning team. • A bell (optional).
Notes: The exercise can also be used at the end of a training event focused on negotiation, allowing participants to apply new knowledge and skills.
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I have to agree with a previous reviewer that this exercise is a great concept, however it falls down because it is over complex. I have had a high degree of success using Glasstap Case Studies and Exercises with a team of capable Directors and Senior Managers, however "Jess Blonde" confused them and they failed to grasp the key points, getting somewhat lost in the film world details. However, I feel that with a clearer brief and fewer parameters for success, this could work well with senior people.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have enjoyed using products from Glasstap to date, however I'm sad to say that this one, Jess Blonde, did not work well with my group of 9 reasonably experienced negotiators today. The main issue - it's way too complex, so people spent most of the time trying to work out how on earth the film market works, and no where near enough time trying the negotiation tactics I'd been teaching them. As a result, it also went way over time. I did it in 4 chunks instead of all in one go, and I'd estimate it tool at least 3 hrs all up. Would love to see it reworked as a more simple version.
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Rob Pyne
rated this item with 2 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 150 minutes.
Aims: • To assess team dynamics and their ability to communicate effectively and work cooperatively. • To show the importance of sharing information with others and gathering information through effective questioning and listening. • To understand the importance of a thorough investigation when solving problems. • To provide an opportunity to practise working effectively under pressure and maintaining the focus and momentum needed to complete the task accurately and in the allotted time.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 120 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 150 minutes.
Aims: • To assess team dynamics and their ability to communicate effectively and work cooperatively. • To show the importance of sharing information with others and gathering information through effective questioning and listening. • To understand the importance of a thorough investigation when solving problems. • To provide an opportunity to practise working effectively under pressure and maintaining the focus and momentum needed to complete the task accurately and in the allotted time.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, team building, team skills, effective meetings, time management, leadership and problem solving.
Group Size: This exercise is specially designed to be used in small groups of between 4 and 6 participants. In larger groups, teams can compete against each other to see which can come closest to solving the mystery.
Useful For: Staff at all levels working in a team. It can also be used very effectively for virtual teams with individuals participating via a conference call, email or internet forum.
You'll Need: • One printed copy of the story for each individual. (Take care to ensure that each team of participants has at least one copy of every version.) • One floor plan and set of character cards for each team. • Sufficient room to for each team to work without being distracted by other teams. Ideally, place each team in a separate syndicate room.
Notes: Murder at Glasstap Grange is a powerful tool that can also be used to assess skills in an assessment centre.
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I ran Murder at Glasstap Grange for the first time recently. The team enjoyed the challenge and the feedback was positive. Some struggled with having only 30mins to read the instructions and wanted more, although it is a long exercise and having this initial timebound challenge offers more opportunity to observe how others accommodate the ones who have not yet finished (in my activity, two of the teams started the exercise without them!). There was a positive outcome when we used it to reflect the challenges of communication in teams and reflect on the habits that we defer to when we're not making progress!
Ironically, the teams all thought that they collaborated well throughout and only observed their behaviours and process as positive..... until I fed back some of my own observations of their behaviours and their ineffective communication habits!
Reading other reviews has given me more food for thought for when I run this exercise the next time.
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Naomi Coleman
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I have ran this brilliant activity a handful of times now, each time the groups had a different spin on the activity, it is so versatile and and such a fun way of getting the groups really working together and solving the murder!
The resources are brilliant and I spent some time laminating the character cards and turning it into a board game style activity.
The session allows for a brilliant wrap up at the end, with it providing some brilliant talking points to draw out some success/best practice and also some areas to focus on for growth.
Another well thought out and meaningful resource from the Trainers Library.
Thank you so much
Danny and the team at HC-One.
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Danny Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Murder at Glasstap Grange is a firm favourite for team building, each time brings a new perspective as groups are different. It's great to help revitalise long standing teams as well as integrate different teams and engage new members - would highly recommend.
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Leonie Palmer
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I love this activity. Used it many times, particularly in my talent development programmes. Really highlights the importance of sharing information and asking great questions. Also the pitfalls of making assumptions and jumping to conclusions.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this as part of a team building event that I was running for a call centre. It requires a bit of preparation but is worth it. People were randomly assigned to teams to break up any cliques and get people working with people they didn't always work with. It injected a bit of fun into the day whilst also highlighting some important messages around teamwork and communication. I didn't buy the pack from trainers library, choosing instead to print the resources out. With hindsight, buying the pack may have been easier. Would recommend this to people doing a full day team building event
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Mike Taylor
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I first did this on a Trainers' Library course and loved it. The pressure to get it done in the time and the need to communicate, use logic and avoid stereotypes is brilliant. A great exercise to do as part of a longer course and the element of competition is great.
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Emma Wynne
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Used within a small team-building session. Fantastically well put-together, really got everyone thinking and engaged. Facilitators observed and gave out awards at the end (for communication, leadership, teamwork, problem solving etc.), with feedback, which went down really well. Definitely will use again.
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Jane Butler
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Great Exercise for reviewing leadership learning
My colleague and I have now successfully used this three times during 2013, (as part of an internal leadership programme for first line managers) as an opportunity for participants to put into practise, all they have learnt over the programme. Whilst each cohort has been different in their learnings, the outcomes are shared in that it reliably demostrates what they have learnt and are starting to put into practise plus provides insight into actions to take forward.
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Louisa-Jane Olive
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used "Murder at Glasstap" for a group of circa 25 international delegates from a global company. This included people from USA, Russia, Latin America and the UK. The exercise worked brilliantly all the way through. People were so engaged they carried on working through their break!! The presentations generated a huge amount of debate and humour. Although one of the groups were close to solving the murder, no one managed to find the solution which really helped with the discussion about collating information and communicating within teams. This is another really clever and well designed exercise from Glasstap. Andy Pickin, Motiv8 Development Ltd.
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Andy Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I wanted an exercise to embed the importance of effective meetings that took delegates outside of their normal working processes and helped them to identify the importance of understanding others, questioning skills to identify facts and listening skills in order to interact within a successful meeting environment. To meet my needs I chose Murder at Glasstap Grange. As this was the first time I had used such a significant piece of work in a course I was nervous at whether the key messages would be landed. What I found was a robust piece of training that was simple to facilitate and backed up with quality guidance in implementing, as well as support in unpacking the exercise. I would not hesitate to use it again or recommend this material. Excellent.
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Louise Nicolaou
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Murder at Glasstap Grange can be used as both team building exercise and a way to identify leadership skills with individuals. I used it as part of a leadership workshop. Once the delegates had worked out [the twist] a clear leader came out and took direction of the group deciding what should be done. If you split the delegates into two groups it can become quite competitive. It is also useful to see how a team works together. Some people just guess at the answer and others spend time trying to work out logically who is the murderer.
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The exercise was well explained and extremely adaptable to any situation. I work in a Mental Health Care setting, and in addition to the team/management issues already covered by your material, my staff came up with new and very pertinent ideas, such as the role of Stigma in society. In this exercise, many were convinced that the secretary was the killer, and most cited her criminal record as being crucial in convincing them that she was the killer. This taught us a very relevant point, that even in settings where people believe themselves to be aware and immune to the danger of stigmatising people because of their past, we are also in danger of falling into that trap. It also gave us some insight into the thinking of people outside our organisation and how they may tend to judge our patients because of their history.
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We have used Murder at Glasstap Grange a number of times in college and our staff love it! They turn into detectives and get very involved in the task. The feedback we get is that they enjoy the task and also realise the rationale behind it and the fact that they have got to communicate to work together to be effective.
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Previous Member
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We have used Murder at Glasstap on several ocasions for events such as away days, team building and communication events. It is an effective tool which enables the group to learn key points on communication and team working in order to solve the mystery. This exercise is one that we will continue to use due to the positive feedback and comments we have received. The exercise can be used for various group sizes. The plenary sessions after the exercise have been extremely effective. We have focussed on areas such as communicating with peers and the the differing roles that people play within groups. It has also been effective in looking into people's styles such as reflector, activist etc. I would recommend this to any organisation.
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Tracy Barlow
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I recently used this resource with a large team on their first team development away day. It was hugely successful and great fun to do. The team was a large one, newly created and not very familiar with each other and each other’s style and preferences for working. The exercise provided ample opportunity to get into all of these issues. I split the group into four smaller teams of 6 to run the exercise. The timing suggested was perfect and kept the teams interested and working well. The hand-outs were clear and easy to read. All four teams got into the spirit of it right away. One team solved the murder - just in time. One nearly got there and the other two were way off. None of that really mattered though, it was the discussions we had afterwards that really emphasised the value of the exercise. We covered: 1) Communications and communication style. 2) Influencing others and allowing oneself to be influenced despite one’s better judgement (going with the flow, going with the majority). 3) Sharing of information and making assumptions about everyone’s level of knowledge and understanding. 4) Problem solving approaches. 5) Time and process management. That’s pretty good value from one exercise. In addition though, I had done a Belbin team role exercise earlier in the day and it gave everyone the opportunity to spot the different team roles in action and provided food for thought about how the team could use its Belbin profile to best advantage. At the end of the event, the team all went to the pub and took me along with them. It was interesting how much the conversations related to the exercise and the fun they had whilst working on it. A by-product of all this is that I’ve been asked to run it again for a number of other teams in the organisation because they’ve heard the team members talking about it in the workplace since they got back from the event. So, thank you for an excellent product which helped me to deliver a first class event. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone thinking of using it.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Recently we were asked to facilitate a session for a large team and were given very little detail as to what was required apart from that it should take around 1.5 hours and it should be interactive and fun. I stumbled accross the Trainers Library and was instantly attracted to alot of the icebreaker/team building activities. We were able to narrow down the many choices we had available, and our "client" loved the idea of the Murder at Glasstap Grange. The session was a huge success and the feedback we got was that the activity "met the brief of been fun and had some great team working lessons. It was also an excellent choice for groups that don't always work together as it got them working together quickly." This was something that we had never tried as a Learning and Development Team, but we are very pleased we gave it a go. Word has spread because we only just recently were asked to faciliate the session again to another team in our Organisation! Thanks for a great site and great ideas..it makes the process of finding something unique and fun much easier for us.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 70 minutes.
Aims: • To assess team dynamics and test individuals’ commitment to team work. • To test participants’ abilities to communicate effectively within and across teams. • To develop team skills and to work co-operatively together. • To test participants’ abilities to work together to overcome problems by understanding the causes and finding appropriate solutions. • To examine the role of leaders within teams.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 30-40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60-70 minutes.
Aims: • To assess team dynamics and test individuals’ commitment to team work. • To test participants’ abilities to communicate effectively within and across teams. • To develop team skills and to work co-operatively together. • To test participants’ abilities to work together to overcome problems by understanding the causes and finding appropriate solutions. • To examine the role of leaders within teams.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Leadership, teamwork and collaboration, communication skills, problem solving, conflict resolution.
Group Size: You’ll need a minimum of 9 participants for this exercise. We suggest running this exercise with teams of 2–4 and an observer for each team. For smaller groups, you can reduce the number of teams to 3 (leave out team 4).
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • Two sets of 'Pairs' cards for each team. (Each set consists of 8 different picture cards.) • A brief for each team. • Two envelopes for each team – one clearly marked ‘correct’ and one marked ‘error’. • Plenty of space – see note below.
Notes: You will need plenty of space for this exercise. Teams should be far enough apart so that they cannot see the cards on another team’s table (without physically going to have a look). Separate syndicate rooms for each team is the ideal. The exercise will take 30 minutes where you have three teams, and forty minutes where there are four. We recommend another 30 minutes for the debrief and review.
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Absolutely brilliant!!! Easy to implement as people can easily relate to the concept (as long as you’re careful when you set the cards up). Used it with a really large team who worked across 3 sites. They got really into it. I used this just after doing some work on conflict (Thomas-Kilmann) and it really helped to illustrate people’s responses when their team didn’t listen to them. Loved it so much I had the cards printed up professionally and laminated.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have just come back into work having run the Pairs exercise yesterday at a Team Away Day. This was used as the last exercise of the day and I have to say worked extremely well. The team in question are based in different buildings within the authority and it demonstrated very effectively the need to communicate and problem share. I ensured that all teams were in separate rooms and I would advise others to do the same. It was really interesting to see the risk takers within the team and people who took the role of leader within each team. The observers do play a vital role in the game and their feedback at the end was invaluable. I would recommend this to any trainer facilitating a team day and the feedback received yesterday was that they really enjoyed it and the exercise was the best of the day.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 135 minutes.
Aims: • Raise awareness of the importance of a clear strategy and a shared understanding of their team’s needs and priorities. • Show participants the importance of working effectively together to agree on a strategy, allocate roles and trust one another to complete their allocated tasks. • Test participants’ influence and persuasion skills and their ability to think creatively during negotiations.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 60-90 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 105-135 minutes.
Aims: • Raise awareness of the importance of a clear strategy and a shared understanding of their team’s needs and priorities. • Show participants the importance of working effectively together to agree on a strategy, allocate roles and trust one another to complete their allocated tasks. • Test participants’ influence and persuasion skills and their ability to think creatively during negotiations.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Influence and persuasion, negotiation, conflict resolution, strategic thinking, creativity, teamwork and attention to detail.
Group Size: You need a minimum of 8 participants for this exercise (4 teams of 2) but 16 is better (4 teams of 4) and more is better still as you can go on adding more teams or increasing the size of the teams slightly. In fact this exercise is ideal if you have a very large group – for example, 50 participants could be split into 10 teams of 5.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: Each team will need: • A separate area (ideally a separate room). • A supply of card and/or newspaper. • A small amount of modelling clay. • A ball of string. • Sticky tape. • Scissors. • A ruler. • Toy money to the value of 270 doubloons of various denominations. • A small roll of kitchen foil. • A team brief and a supply of sales ledger sheets, which can be downloaded from Trainers’ Library. You will need: • A separate meeting area. • A bell. • A stopwatch or watch. • Spare doubloons. • A prize for the winning team.
Notes: The exercise will typically take about 60 minutes to run but you will need to allow up to 90 minutes if none of the teams fully complete a new ship. Pirate Challenge is a hands-on exercise that is designed to test a number of skills and behaviours including influence, persuasion and negotiation, conflict resolution, strategic thinking, teamwork and attention to detail. For this exercise, the more teams you have, the better, as a greater number of teams increases the trading options available to each team, making this exercise ideal for events where you are working with very large groups. For example, 50 people could be split into 10 teams of 5.
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I ran the Pirate Challenge with 24 people (who all worked in Finance) in 6 groups or "pirate gangs". The delegates were multi nationalities with English being the common language. The exercise was aimed at consolidating the delegates learning in regards to questioning, listening, empathy, working together, teamwork and communication in general. The exercise worked brilliantly! All the delegates threw themselves into the challenge! The brief was clear, all the equipment purchased was of excellent quality and the doubloons can be reused, as could the clay. I would recommend though that less clay is used. I ended up taking 6 packs when in reality probably three would have done for the 6 groups. I also purchased a foam sword so as "Swordfish Charlie" I could encourage them to leave my Inn when the time was up!
There were numerous learning points which came out after the exercise, which included time management as well as planning an effective strategy and preparing questions to ask the other gangs. As the exercise wore on, the meetings at the Inn became quite frantic as each group wanted to have the most money and have the ship completed. I would recommend the exercise as a fun and motivational way to use at the end of a session to pull together key learning points.
There is a fair amount of additional equipment required but some can be reused.
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used ‘Pirate Challenge’ at the end of an influencing and negotiation 2 day course with some middle managers and it went down very well as we'd done a lot of discussion based activities and the hands on materials aspects of this were very engaging (although some rude plasticine figureheads were made!!) but I don't know if this was more by luck than design or facilitation! Some of my groups were quite naughty and resorted to stealing from distracted groups and others were totally shocked and abhorrent when this came to light in the de-brief, but this was brilliant for me as it brought home some powerful messages about organisational politics, naivety etc and some people had real light bulb moments when they applied this learning to memories of situations and people back at work. When I met up with the group again several months later for their next module it was very memorable for them although one of the most innocent participants (jokingly) said she had been 'traumatized' by the revelations!
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Carolyn Blunt
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Just had to write to let you all know about the Pirate Challenge exercise I recently ran. I had been looking for something to run as part of an assessment process for taking on level 3 apprentices. I finally plumbed for Pirate Challenge as it claimed to cover many of the qualities we were looking for. I got all the materials together, card, paper, silver foil and play doh, I didn't have any modelling clay. I even produced some doubloons for added effect. On the day of the assessment I set the rooms up including the Broken mast Inn with sweets and drinks available should they be required. At ten o'clock we started the exercise and I read out the instructions, although I drew the line at doing it in a pirate accent. The groups divided and the discussion began. Initially the discussions between groups, whilst at the Broken Mast, were very good-natured. However as time progressed and strategies changed the discussions became more aggravated as teams tried to outwit and out bid others. Towards the end, normally mild mannered staff were double crossing others as the will to win took over and started to cloud some judgements. By the end, interestingly, the team that had decided from the start that they would just build and adopt an aggressive under cutting policy won the day. In terms of the assessment the exercise was invaluable as the assessor were able to see clearly who was displaying the qualities they were looking for. From a trainers point of view this was a fantastic exercise, enjoyed both by the participants and by myself. I?d recommend you try it, It?ll prove a huge success.
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Richard Linder
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I was recently asked to put together a one day Team Building session with 35 delegates, away from their business. So, I decided to use Pirate Challenge for the main exercise of the day. Each team had a table with all their materials on them, including a large brown envelope which contained their Pirate brief, their doubloons, and their Pirate names – I just chose these so each team could be identified i.e. Flying Dutchman, Black Pearl and so on… Each table also had a laminated name plate which was displayed for all the other teams to see.
I nominated two of the managers to play the Tavern keepers, again, they had a large picture of a skull and cross-bones on their desk, along with a large bell and stopwatch to keep time.
The groups also had to write their sea shanties on flip-chart paper and in their groups, once we had all seen each others ships, they had to sing their shanty, again this was a great giggle and we even had some groups getting into their pirate roles by dancing a jig whilst they sang!!
The day went fantastically well and the feedback I received from the Pirate Challenge was excellent, they all thoroughly enjoyed the session and it got 3 teams, who were not used to working together really working as 4 tight-knit (Pirate) teams. The motivation levels were high in the room, we had a great buzz going and the competition was fierce. At the end of the session they all proudly displayed their pirate ships and they now take pride of place in the middle of their office, as a constant reminder of how important it is to work together as a large team, and not 3 different departments when working towards a common business goal, how imperative it is for us to ask open, probing questions to gain understanding and clarification of a goal/objective. How to negotiate effectively, which we all have to do sometimes in business, whether it is externally with suppliers or internally for a process change for example.
Pirate Challenge, for me really gets the creative juices flowing, I found people who would normally class themselves as quiet, reflectors not being able to draw a straight line on a piece of paper were the most vocal, creative delegates in the room. I have now been asked to run the same session with other business groups and relating it to their department objectives. This session is a great all round learning experience that can be tied into virtually any learning objective/scenario.
A must for any trainer!! It’s an Excellent session to run!!
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Buffy Sparks
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used the Pirate Challenge for the first time yesterday at a staff conference at the University of Glamorgan. I only had one hour to run a workshop on Personal Skills in Action, so had to adapt the Challenge a little to fit the time we had (less ship's components, less opening and closing of the Inn). So I was a little anxious as to whether it would work, but it went down a storm! I had 30 people in the workshop, so divided them into 6 'gangs' of 5 'pirates', which proved to be a very good number for this exercise. It took them a little while to grasp what was required of them, but once they'd got the hang of it they threw themselves into it with much enthusiasm! There were some quite suspect strategies and tactics ("well, we are ruthless pirates afterall" seemed to be the justification!), but also some demonstrations of excellent planning, team work, creative thinking and negotiating. Several gangs decided (sensibly) to rethink their strategies after about half an hour, which was a very good learning point. There was also a need for some conflict-resolution skills to be practiced, as members of gangs expressed conflicting opinions on how to approach the task. Again, this was a very good learning point. In our discussions after the exercise, we focused on team work - how the gangs had worked effectively (or not!) within their own teams and how they had interacted with other teams. Issues around the importance of every member understanding the team goal and their own and each other's roles were drawn out. I highly recommend the Pirate Challenge. It's not only great fun, but it tests so many skills - planning, time management, negotiation, conflict resolution, prioritisation, communication....the list goes on. I have found it hard to find suitable exercises to run with larger groups, but this one fit the bill perfectly. It requires only easily obtained and cheap resources - another important factor for many trainers on tight budgets! And just finally....Why are pirates called pirates? They just aaaaarr!
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims: • To explore common problems/conundrums associated with working in telesales or a call centre role and discuss ways of overcoming these. • To identify and share best practices and tips for making calls successful.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60 minutes.
Aims: • To explore common problems/conundrums associated with working in telesales or a call centre role and discuss ways of overcoming these. • To identify and share best practices and tips for making calls successful.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Telesales and telephone skills, customer service, communication skills, effective questioning, building rapport, creative thinking and problem solving.
Group Size: In this exercise participants can play individually, although we recommend they play in pairs/small teams.
Useful For: Staff who are involved in a telesales or customer facing call centre role.
You'll Need: • A counter for every team. • Dice. • A 'Pitfalls and Trampolines' game board and a set of Pitfalls cards and Trampoline cards for each game in play.
Notes: Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. It can be used at any point within a training event, but is perhaps most useful as a tool for reviewing key learning points and for sharing knowledge and ideas. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampoline cards and remove any that aren't relevant.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims: • To encourage discussion about customer service. • To identify common pitfalls to avoid in relation to customer service. • To highlight and share best practices for satisfying and delighting customers.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60 minutes.
Aims: • To encourage discussion about customer service. • To identify common pitfalls to avoid in relation to customer service. • To highlight and share best practices for satisfying and delighting customers.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Customer care, communication skills, teamwork and collaboration, creative thinking and problem solving.
Group Size: In this exercise participants can play individually, although we recommend they play in pairs/small teams.
Useful For: Staff at all levels especially those in a customer facing role.
You'll Need: • A counter for every team. • Dice. • A 'Pitfalls and Trampolines' game board and a set of Pitfall cards and Trampoline cards for each game in play.
Notes: Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. It can be used at any point within a training event, but is perhaps most useful as a tool for reviewing key learning points and for sharing knowledge and ideas. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampolines cards and remove any that aren’t relevant.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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I played this game for the first time yesterday at the end of a customer services skills course and it went really well. I was surprised how competitive they all got - insisting on playing right through to final place when I would happily have let them end when we had a winner. It was a really good way to re-cap what we had done. The game is also favourably mentioned in the majority of the feedback forms as a highlight which is
great.
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Harriet Ray
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I’d recently just finished a 10 module project on Customer Service with a regular client, and was looking for something, fun exciting, and motivational to use as a review of the customer service work we had done. A quick search of Glasstap and I found the Pitfalls and Trampolines exercise!
Woohoo! – What a find. Easy to follow instructions, great game flow, fantastic concept and easy to use cards and pertinent real life scenarios made this activity a hit with the team and was an excellent way to review and apply the learned content!
Thanks team – looking forward to the next gem!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I’ve used the Pitfalls & Trampolines (Customer Service) in some recent customer service training I’ve ran with Estate Agency and Reception Staff.
I didn’t use the board as I felt with 12 delegates it might not be practical. In pairs, delegates went through the cards discussing how they would deal with the pitfalls or discussing tips for ‘trampolines’. Some cards prompted lively group discussions, whilst others prompted some role play from some of the more enthusiastic participants!
A really great activity that I will definitely use again and again in various ways depending on their level and group size. Once again, five stars Glasstap!
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Loved it. Used it most recently with a group of leisure staff all at different levels in the organisation and everyone competed well. The concept of the exercise is easy for them to grasp as it’s so familiar to them, and the challenges are really good. On one occasion, I started the game early on, then later in the course asked the groups to write some of their own challenges (relevant to their own scenarios) then switched these for the ones provided to conclude the game. Fun and appropriate for all levels of experience in customer service.
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Nicky McCrudden
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I have recently completed my first training session on The Customer Experience and used the module Pitfalls & Trampolines. This was excellent, it involved all the delegates who thoroughly enjoyed this fun exercise and many commented on the fact that they were learning whilst having fun.
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Karen Malbon
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We use this as part of our induction. Firstly to identify transferable skills of new recruits and secondly to lay the foundations of the Customer Services skills we expect. We don’t always use the board. Often we will ask the questions and award points. Having put the group into pairs the ones who gather the most points are the winners and we award small prizes/privileges etc. Works very well to set expectations.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 2 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 60 minutes.
Aims: • To examine common problems/conundrums associated with giving presentations and discuss ways of overcoming these. • To highlight and share best practices and tips for making presentations successful.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60 minutes.
Aims: • To examine common problems/conundrums associated with giving presentations and discuss ways of overcoming these. • To highlight and share best practices and tips for making presentations successful.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Presentation skills, communication skills, influence and persuasion, planning and preparation, creative thinking and audience engagement.
Group Size: In this exercise participants can play individually, although we recommend they play in pairs/small teams.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • A counter for every team. • Dice. • A 'Pitfalls and Trampolines' game board and a set of Pitfalls cards and
Trampoline cards for each game in play.
Notes: Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. It can be used at any point within a training event, but is perhaps most useful as a tool for reviewing key learning points and for sharing knowledge and ideas. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampolines cards and remove any that aren’t relevant.
Endorsed by The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, NASBTT.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This activity really helps to embed learning on a presentation skills course, I have used it several times with a positive impact.
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Clare Bell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Although I didn't use this activity as a board game it is an extremely useful module. It covers several challenges we face when delivering presentations and tips to overcome some of these issues. Rather than use a board game (because of the audience I was delivering to) I split the learners into small groups and gave them different activity cards to discuss and feedback on. This worked really well as an alternative way to get the learning points across.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I have used this for my training team with great effect. I tweaked the rules, as
my team are new to training. I used it as a training session rather than a
review of knowledge. With each card turned over, I gave them some suggestions;
they then had to come up with their own ideas. They then broke out into groups
and had to work out a way that they could actually use this in their own
sessions. We
have had several sessions on this game, as it takes a lot longer to complete
the way we are doing it. They want to use it over and over again as each time
they use it they get new answers. Feedback from the team is that it is a great
way to learn, practical, fun, informative and an excellent way to work as a
team.
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Karon Campbell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The training team use this exercise as part of a two day Presentation course. It is useful to use the exercise as a quiz at the end of day one to summarise what they have learnt throughout the day. If you use the questions as a quiz rather than on a snakes and ladders board I find that it is easier to set up and more competitive as each team shouts out their team name before answering.
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Previous Member
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I have successfully used Pitfalls and Trampolines for a couple of years now with great results. I usually use the exercise as an opener for a 9 month Management programme for Assistant Managers on an internal development programme. The game is part of a day long Presentation Skills module, which introduces delegates to the most effective way of presenting a Case Study they are about to work on to our Board of Directors some 4 weeks later. I have had tremendous fun with the exercise... All delegates have agreed that, whilst public speaking is not necessarily ever going to be their favourite management duty, they nevertheless learn lots of useful tips from the day which they can use again and again.
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Previous Member
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I used Pitfalls and Trampolines for Presentation Skills on a course last week. I was looking for something to summarise the course, and this fitted the bill perfectly! It gave people an opportunity to demonstrate what they had learned, and to review techniques that maybe had only been 'skimmed' at the time of discussion. Best of all, it did so in a light hearted and fun way. The competitive element was very strong in the training room that afternoon! Thanks for a great activity.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 105 minutes.
Aims: • To tests individuals’ commitment to teamwork, as well as their ability to communicate effectively and work co-operatively together. • To explore how participants react when trust within their team is undermined and to observe how well individuals work together when under pressure. • To examine the impact changes in personnel can have on a team, as well as an opportunity to consider the size at which teams achieve optimum performance, in terms of their decision making abilities.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 60 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 105 minutes.
Aims: • To tests individuals’ commitment to teamwork, as well as their ability to communicate effectively and work co-operatively together. • To explore how participants react when trust within their team is undermined and to observe how well individuals work together when under pressure. • To examine the impact changes in personnel can have on a team, as well as an opportunity to consider the size at which teams achieve optimum performance, in terms of their decision making abilities.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, problem solving, decision making, teamwork and team dynamics, leadership, conflict, trust, adapting to change and time management.
Group Size: You’ll need a minimum of 6 participants for this exercise with a minimum of 4 participants required in the criminal gang (5 or more is better) and at least 2 participants in the police team.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • At least two rooms or separate work areas, ideally one for each team. • A stopwatch, dice and a whistle. (Whistles are optional.) • A copy of the relevant maps, cards and handouts for each team (available to download). For larger groups additional Criminal Gang Packs are also available.
Notes: This exercise has been designed to look at teamwork in a general sense and to provide an opportunity to think about what happens to teamwork when trust is impaired or missing. The first 10 minutes, before the exercise begins, should be used to give the teams a chance to clarify their understanding of the rules, and begin thinking about their strategy.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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A brilliant game that I've yet to come across a participant who's not loved it! High energy, lots of skills tested and fun overall!
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Lottie Skuthe-Cook
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I've used this exercise a number of times virtually. With junior & middle managers primarily to explore the use of various leadership styles and the impact that has on their teams. When the prospect of a mole is thrown in, the extra dynamic of mistrust is a great learning point.
The trainer notes are great and very comprehensive so make sure to pre-read several times to understand your role as facilitator throughout the exercise.
A lot of fun and a rich topic for conversation throughout a programme, one cohort still talk about it 2 years on!
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Darren Smith
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this in a team with trust issues. It was so obvious that while there was mistrust and suspicion they had to deal with this before they could move on. We followed this by creating a check list of what is involved in building trust and I left this with the team, suggesting they audit how they are doing - in team meetings and supervision - to try and bottom out where the issues of trust are coming from. Great exercise. I will use lots.
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Bernadette Walsh
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I found this exercise great to use with a junior team, fast paced and fun and able to generate plenty of discussion. It needs careful consideration of the logistics and both teams need a coordinated clock to make the time pressure work effectively. Ideally, the Crime Boss/Police Chief should be someone other than the lead trainer as this ends up being mainly an administrative task and the trainer should focus on observing the groups to be able to really add to the debrief.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Although I have only used Police Chase four times in my team building events – it is a fabulous activity that always goes down well with the delegates. Although you need to put the work in up-front to make sure that you are organised and comfortable with it – it is really worth the effort. I think 2 facilitators are needed, especially when there are 2 criminal gangs. If you are running an event with a competitive edge – it is a winner. It explores trust, decision making, time management and leadership amongst so many other things. The delegates always love it - it is like a modern day battleships!
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Gary Shewan
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The activity itself proved useful in providing a vehicle for observation of delegates’ team and individual behaviours. By setting the activity in a competitive framework, delegates’ natural behaviours come to the front. It was possible therefore to identify leaders and followers styles and identify passive, aggressive and assertive behaviours. In this setting, we saw more varied behaviours in the criminal gang simply because we had a split of 6 criminal gang members and 2 police team members. This was just a result of the delegate numbers but clearly with larger groups we would expect to see more from both teams. The activity needs strong facilitation skills post exercise in order to draw out findings and relate them to the objective which has been set. Because the delegates are so involved with the exercise and having fun, our experience is that they do not notice a lot of the behaviours in themselves or others. For this reason, we used a video camera during the exercise and were able to run parts of the replay to highlight behaviours. Not only was this enlightening for delegates but it helps the trainers to demonstrate key points without any risk of denial on the part of the delegates! The delegates also find this review entertaining and funny. Equally we felt that the facilitator should also record this information in the spirit of fairness and accuracy! To help this we designed two sheets for the facilitator as a pre-prepared template to make it easy to record. Ed's note: These have now been formally added to the exercise. In summary, a useful exercise which can be adapted to meet several objectives involving team and individual behaviours. Good facilitation skills are essential in order to have meaningful discussions and we would also recommend the use of video review. Our customer has booked another 8 of the courses based on very positive delegate feedback and so we will continue to include the Police Chase activity with these courses.
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David Morrison
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 120 minutes.
Aims: • To raise awareness of the importance of attention to detail when problem solving. • To show participants the importance of working effectively, not just within their own team but with other teams too, in order that shared goals might be achieved. • To test participants’ competitiveness and demonstrate how being overly focused on personal goals can be detrimental to team goals. • To allow participants the opportunity to practice their analytical and communication skills.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 75 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 120 minutes.
Aims: • To raise awareness of the importance of attention to detail when problem solving. • To show participants the importance of working effectively, not just within their own team but with other teams too, in order that shared goals might be achieved. • To test participants’ competitiveness and demonstrate how being overly focused on personal goals can be detrimental to team goals. • To allow participants the opportunity to practice their analytical and communication skills.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, attention to detail, analytical skills, teamwork and collaboration, leadership, information gathering and problem solving.
Group Size: This exercise works best when you have between 8 and 16 participants. Participants must be separated into four teams, with roughly the same number of participants in each.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • A separate work area for each team, ideally a separate room. • Access to a (mobile) phone. • A stopwatch or watch. • A computer with internet access.
Notes: Professor Warmkote's Safe is one of our most challenging team building games, and introduces participants to the eccentric Professor Warmkote. The beauty of this team building game is the need for teams to work together - so this time it's not just about teamwork within teams; teamwork across teams is equally important. The task? Well each team represents one of the Professor's four daughters - together they need to extract vital information from the Professor's often barmy letters in order to open his safe and get their hands on the 'Elixir of Brilliant Leadership'. Challenging, but fun, with a vast array of learning points that can be developed, this really is experiential learning at its best!
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This is one of the best activities I have ever facilitated and the feedback from delegates was excellent. I used it as part of a team building event and although it is quite a challenging task, the delegates were enthusiastic, excited and engaged the whole time.
One delegate had recently paid to attend an Escape Room experience and she said that this beat it, hands down!
My advice would be to thoroughly read all the Trainer Notes and briefs beforehand and ensure that all the handouts are set up in advance so that it runs smoothly.
I will definately be running this activity again!
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Mike Darbyshire
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a great activity which I used at a team building event with a large group. The groups found the activity exciting and were well engaged throughout, and the extensive notes helped me deliver a comprehensive analysis/discussion at the end which was relevant to their own roles and had some key take away themes and messages. It took them about an hour to work out each of the codes, and then another 15 mins or so to work out the order of the codes. The activity allowed me to demonstrate the importance of working well in their own teams as well as between teams, and showed how attention detail was important. This had direct parallels with their current roles in their teams, and demonstrated how shortcomings in one team would lead to the overall task not being completed (and this is the case in their current work too). The feedback from the group on the task was entirely positive. We are primarily a work from home company so to see people in the office, some meeting each other for the first time, was fantastic. I ran this all in one large room, rather than separate groups and was more relaxed on how many times groups could meet to discuss. This led to, at times, colleagues running round in chaos trying to work out the answer and getting tied in knots - this is exactly what I wanted as it showed the teams how focusing on one thing can lead to chaos and ineffective problem solving. I would highly recommend this activity to improve teamwork and communication in the team, and will certainly be using it again!
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Tom Eustice
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is an addition to my previous review.
I ran this exercise today but at the last minute had some dropouts so my numbers dropped to 7. I immediately thought "how can I make 4 teams with 7 people?" and panicked a little! However, I decided to split the group into two teams and give each team two daughters' packs of letters. As it was pretty last minute, the letters were still grouped together as they would be for four teams. If I were to do this again I would arrange the letters in date order to make it less obvious as they spotted the wrongly delivered letters quite quickly. I would also change the brief slightly - I told each team they represented two daughters which perhaps directed them to the two lots of letters. If I have to run it with two groups again I would just say "you need to work out the codes for the safe and how they should be entered".
It still worked - I thought this group would solve it quicker as they had more information available, but it simply presented a different challenge of having to remember which information went with which address to identify the daughters.
Overall a fantastic and very flexible activity!!
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Lisa Lester
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I ran this activity as part of a session with 14 senior leaders designed to move our company culture from one of blame and silo working to one with a more collaborative working style. I was slightly apprehensive about how it would be received but they all dived in head first (maybe too quickly for some of the teams!).
It was interesting to observe how the different personality types dealt with the challenges of communication and the "rules" set out at the start. This was something that came out in the debrief and highlighted the value of a mixture of personalities in a team.
It took longer than the suggested 90 minutes to crack the codes, but they had only had one attempt and then were so close I gave them extra time and rescheduled some of my other activities. It was the first time I had run the exercise so I think next time I might set a time limit for the first attempt.
I noticed that the "wrong" letters were direct swaps between two teams in each case. This meant that all 4 teams didn't need to cooperate in the first meeting. Next time I run it I'm going to move the wrong letters so they all need to get together to get the right information.
I also had the issue of the correct codes being remembered by my laptop (mentioned in a previous review). Luckily I had my Head of Digital in the session so he helped me figure out how to stop this. I use Google Chrome and had to disable the autofill addresses function.
The activity got great feedback from the group and they said they would have liked to have had more time to do the debrief so I will build that in next time.
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Lisa Lester
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this exercise in a physical setting with a team of solicitors and it worked exceptionally well.
As expected, I was met with some cynisism from a couple of team members but the majority liked the chance to step away from the day job.
By the end of the exercise everyone was completely immersed in the activity and cracking the code.
The facilitation and learning review for transference back to the workplace is essential so make sure you leave adequate time for this part, otherwise it could end up as a fun exercise without the 'so what?'
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Darren Smith
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The session was delivered as a part of a team offsite/retreat. The theme of their offsite was collaboration which included approximately 65 lawyers (Juniors to Partners) from 3 different offices across NZ. With advice from the Glasstap team we split the team into 3 different groups and then within the 3 groups – they were split into 4 teams of 4-5 people. Despite the size of the group the activity went really well. In the time we had available one of the teams managed to crack the code with a little guidance from myself. The other 2 teams were very close. Due to the room locations and space we were a bit ‘fast and loose’ on the rules around phone calls and meeting times, however the teams still has to overcome the complexity of the task and identify the need to collaborate. The group were still talking about it later on that night and few days later one of the senior solicitors (who has completed many similar team building exercises over the years) gave feedback to say it was very relevant to the workplace and applicable for lawyers. It’s definitely an activity to run again with another group. Lots of laughter and learning.
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Michelle Maidens
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a fantastically designed activity. Very clever with so many learning opportunities. We were spread out in a large 5 story building and I had a facilitator for each team which helped enormously. The main area to watch out for is how to keep track of how many face to face meetings have taken place. I was moving around the teams, observing throughout and found it hard to know who had met with who - then I had to go round the teams to update them on how many meetings had happened. For example, team 1 and 2 met first, whilst I was on my way round to tell teams 3 and 4, 3 and 4 decided to meet! The de-brief was very powerful and some great points about information sharing, knowledge, power and competition, the efficiency of all meeting face to face came out. It's very painful (!) and fascinating to watch the teams go through the process so differently to each other. The other small thing to watch out for is the 'history' of the previously typed codes could show up when the teams type theirs in - so you just need to ensure you've got rid of all information history.
Thank you to whoever designed this game. I'm definitely going to use it again.
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Lorna Logan
rated this item with 5 stars.
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What can I say!? This activity was a massive success. I was slightly worried as I ran it for a group quite a bit larger than it suggests in the brief. I had 8 people in each team and there were 4 teams. In my situation it worked really well and helped us think about how to structure communication between teams as undoubtedly the large number of people placed a strain on what was discussed and how the conversations took place during the sections in which teams were brought back together. Trainers' Library offer a website that your participants can enter attempts of the safe code into. I had originally intended to use this approach and even purchased a pay as you go broadband stick to assist with this – however, when I got to the venue it was a broadband black spot and I couldn’t connect. In the end this worked in my favour as participants had to write their attempts on a flip chart and it meant they could refer to their previous guesses collectively to help them along. This is a well thought through activity. It does require a bit of extra kit, but it’s worth the investment.
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Previous Member
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I use the exercise with a leadership team to discuss the impact of virtual teams. Each team represented a geography. I shorten the times given in the exercise to increase the pressure on the teams. Great fun and learning, resulting in key takeways for every leader, based on goals, process and indivdual behaviours. Highly recommeded and five stars.
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Sat Duhra
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I ran this activity as part of a Team Bonding programme with 14 corporate bankers of mixed cultural background. Overall it was a success: energetic, thanks to the need to go to meeting points, usefully frustrating and revealing. Main learning points: information sharing, attention to detail, communication, listening to each other, time management. Duration including debriefing: 2.5 hours with a mix of native and non-native speakers of English. This particular team was very quick to spot the wrongly delivered letters in their sets – and one of the CEOs immediately blamed me for having made a mistake, which provided a great learning moment! The greatest challenge was structuring the information sharing. This group tried to find out their names mainly by phone calls: “Are you Alice?” which didn’t help much, and they did not use a flipchart for some structured elimination until their 3rd meeting. Also they did not divide tasks within the teams: everybody went for the codes. When I mentioned this later on, they replied that the brief just said: find the codes. Another learning point. I did need to help them correct the birth order of the daughters. The entire group got stuck on the paragraph that says Alice is the youngest if only by 4 minutes. Because Esther is mentioned in the next sentence as “so small when she was born”, everyone logically deduces that she and Alice are the twins. I must admit that I agree with the deduction, and I find this paragraph slightly contrived as a red herring. Without help I don’t think they would have solved the problem. Warnings for the trainer: This activity is challenging for everyone. Take time to familiarise yourself with the material. I created 4 flipchart sheets for the debriefing, on which I indicated, per team, the various vital clues. Also think carefully about logistics. With 4 different locations it is physically impossible for 1 trainer to monitor all teams, but you do need this for a valuable debriefing. I took an assistant. Also if the teams are unclear on when they will meet up, it can quickly turn chaotic and although that is in itself useful, you still want to at least appear to be in control as a trainer. The brief does not say whether all teams should attend the 5-min meetings. I decided to impose this, with at least 1 delegate from each team. Also I specified that a meeting could not begin until at least 1 delegate per team was present. TIP: As a prop / souvenir I created the Elixir of Excellent Leadership using small bottles of flood flavouring in alluring colours (raspberry, banana, lemon). I soaked off the label and replaced it with one showing the name of the elixir, date and occasion, participant’s name, our logo and the client’s logo. I placed them in a wooden box and opened this at the end of the debriefing.
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Previous Member
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I ran the session last week with a group of very technical and clever Offshore Engineering guys working in the oil and gas industry. It was the final exercise after 3 days of training in a variety of interpersonal skills such as time management, communication, influencing, conflict management and assertiveness. We also did the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and this exercise enabled people to work brilliantly to type! The majority of people are quite detail conscious but also introverted. This meant that they spent the first 45 minutes in their groups trying to work out the codes. It took another 15 minutes for them to have their first meeting. (I deliberately left them as I needed them to demonstrate the point that whilst some thinking is good you also need to do some action at some point!) They struggled with the inter group communication due to a few technical issues with the hotel phones but they still weren’t properly prepared or structured for the meeting which turned into a bit of a free for all with lots of conversations on the side and some misleading information given by people who didn’t have all the facts. One group lost the plot completely and said they weren’t going to share – great for some conflict management practice!! They also realised that having meetings earlier would have made a huge difference – a good learning point for their working environment. So overall it worked very well – they didn’t achieve the task as people made assumptions or gave random responses which threw the other team members – but this really helped in discussing what happens back in the workplace. Thank you so much for another cracking activity – the amount of information is staggering and you’ve done a fantastic job – there’s no way I could have put this together without hours and hours of work so thank you!
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Ann Pemberton
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 120 minutes.
Aims: • To test participant’s abilities to work together effectively, avoiding duplication of effort, confusion and misunderstanding. • To understand the importance of co-ordinating efforts to share information and resources effectively within and across teams. • To identify the strengths and weaknesses within their teams and use these to best effect. • To raise awareness of the importance of clear leadership to help teams achieve a more successful outcome.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 45-75 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing between 90-120 minutes.
Aims: • To test participant’s abilities to work together effectively, avoiding duplication of effort, confusion and misunderstanding. • To understand the importance of co-ordinating efforts to share information and resources effectively within and across teams. • To identify the strengths and weaknesses within their teams and use these to best effect. • To raise awareness of the importance of clear leadership to help teams achieve a more successful outcome.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Teamwork and Collaboration (within and across teams), Leadership, Planning, Time Management, Analytical Skills and Problem Solving.
Group Size: This exercise can be used with groups of 12 to 100+ participants and works particularly well when you have more than 20 participants.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • One set of ‘Answer Please’ question cards for each team. • One 44-piece ‘Team Tree’ jigsaw for each team to complete • A way of identifying the astronauts from each team (e.g. a baseball cap , or sash - one colour for each alliance). • A copy of the ‘Answer Please’ answers. • For larger groups you may need ‘nameplates’ to identify the different alliances and helpers to assist with facilitation, each with a scorecard.
Notes: We strongly recommend reading the team brief before reading the trainer’s notes, as it will help you to understand the game.
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I use this exercise all the time to address various topics, and with all levels of staff. Once you get your head around the facilitation, it's fascinating to observe how teams go about the task (every group I've worked with has been different). The feedback I've had from teams about the exercise, including feedback from senior managers and directors has been extremely positive and staff can re-call the learning outcomes months down the line. Would give six stars if I could.
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Roxanne Moran
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I was asked to organise a team build as part of a networking evening for a client. There were approximately 30-40 participants all arriving at different times, but the client wanted something that people could get involved in before a barbecue. The other part of the brief suggested that a treasure hunt could be popular, although as we were in the North of Scotland, dry weather was not guaranteed!
So, I chose to run the Remote Teams exercise with a twist. I think initially there were about 20 participants all keen and eager to get involved so we broke into 3 teams. I used 4 of the jigsaws and allocated them as following:
Left approximately 10 original pieces in each box.
Randomly mixed up approximately 25% of the pieces into small polythene (waterproof) bags, which came to about 20 bags and hid them around the venue.
The remaining pieces (again all jumbled up) were used as rewards for the remote teams quiz questions.
It took a while for the teams to realise that they were a) all working on the same puzzle and b) there were more than 3 jigsaws in circulation but they soon rose to the challenge of negotiating for pieces.
Some of my favourite observations were:
The teams who kept completing quiz questions even when all of the pieces had been given out.
People running around in the very wet looking for puzzle pieces.
The look of frustration when they had 4 identical pieces but wouldn't believe they didn't fit into their jigsaw!
The feedback was excellent from the client, the activity lasted about 45 mins, which was ideal and everyone enjoyed themselves!
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Ann Pemberton
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Just wanted to say how effective the Remote Teams activity is - I used it today with a team of 18 people who work in 3 different locations/buildings. I was a little apprehensive of using it as it seemed quite complicated but once they had been given their brief, it just took off and ran by itself. It definitely raised the key points. I would think with a larger group, you may need a helper but with 18 it was manageable with just one facilitator. The delegates virtually debriefed themselves, not needing much facilitator input. A really fun and useful activity, thanks!
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Rebecca Peat
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a great exercise that was well received by a team of 35 managers who work in several different locations but came together for a team building day. We started the exercise the night before when they arrived for a dinner. They were given instructions that they were to find their fellow team members by the colour of star they were wearing. Then during dinner they were invited to get to know their team with the understanding that they would want to know what special skills and abilities each member brought to the team so they could allocate roles for the following day. After dinner they were asked to take 3 team photographs which included training their astronaut for flight. The cards from the digital cameras were then loaded quickly onto a laptop in the bar and within minutes we had a slide show of amusing photos set to music which set the scene for the following morning. The ice breaker on the morning was then to name their planet and to design a flag that represented their planet. Once the director had introduced the purpose of the event with his own amusing presentation we moved into the Remote Teams exercise properly. What I have discovered is that it is very difficult to do this with only one ‘Faseel Tater'. I was so busy dealing with the astronauts coming to ‘Lurn Ing’ with their responses that I failed to notice that everyone had started to move around the tables. The next time I do this I will brief the whole room and not just the Astronauts and will ensure they understand the basic principles including where their Alliance are based. The puzzles are shaded from blue to green and yet by the end of the exercise one planet had a huge stack of green pieces and another table had a huge stack of blue pieces and nothing had been assembled! Needless to say there were many lessons to be learned and in future I would build in a second exercise on a similar theme so that they could apply what they had learned. The response that I had to the whole day was fantastic and it has already led to several further developmental days. I would heartily recommend this exercise for any team that is having communication issues or the old ‘working in silos’ issues due to lack of geographical contact.
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Previous Member
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After being given the task to conduct a team building event around a Christmas party conference I turned to Glasstap for some inspiration. The company’s main objective was to bring all the remote teams together to increase better independent relationships and communication across all areas of the business. Glasstap (Zoe) gave me advice on how to run the team building exercise ‘Remote teams’ and it was a roaring success. The scene was set with me dressing up as Faseel Tater (optional of course) and giving instructions to the teams of what was required for them to do. This got everyone in the mood and the astronaughts were selected to represent each team. I would advise anyone running this with a large group to have additional helpers to give out the mosaic pieces (jigsaws) as it was very difficult to control and co-ordinate the activities happening throughout the exercise. Great idea to give them names and they also got into character as well; Dick Tater and Con Troller!!!! The teams all worked together to build their mosaic and communication was strong within their chosen teams. At times the negotiations between other teams (not in their alliance) were fraught with individuals being combative and wanting to win out against the opposition. When the exercise had finished you could see that strong independent relationships had formed. The debrief happened almost instantaneous and all of the participations recognised immediately what accelerated or impeded their progress which they then linked back to the organisation's objective. Laughter and fun was had by all – Thanks Glasstap for a wonderful activity to run!!!!!!
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Previous Member
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 75 minutes.
Aims: • To raise awareness of the importance of being aware of the ‘bigger picture’. • Show participants the importance of working effectively not just within their own team but with other teams too, in order that shared goals might be achieved. • Test participants’ competitiveness and demonstrate how being overly focused on personal goals can be detrimental to team goals. • Allow participants to practice their negotiation, leadership and communication skills.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 30 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 75 minutes.
Aims: • To raise awareness of the importance of being aware of the ‘bigger picture’. • Show participants the importance of working effectively not just within their own team but with other teams too, in order that shared goals might be achieved. • Test participants’ competitiveness and demonstrate how being overly focused on personal goals can be detrimental to team goals. • Allow participants to practice their negotiation, leadership and communication skills.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Communication skills, leadership, negotiation, teamwork and collaboration, and problem solving.
Group Size: In this exercise, participants work individually or in pairs to negotiate with other individuals/pairs. The activity works with up to 12 people, if they are participating as individuals, or up to 24 if they are working in pairs.
Useful For: Staff at all levels but particularly team leaders, managers and departmental heads.
You'll Need: • Small prizes for the winning team(s). • You’ll need to pre-prepare the Goal Cards and the coloured Part Cards using the download files provided. • Participants will need space to sit in a circle. (Around a table is ideal.)
Notes: This activity is simple to set up, run and to debrief. It is relatively quick and delivers a powerful and focused message. In terms of learning outcomes, it is similar to The Wheel, which can also be found in Trainers’ Library. This can be a useful and powerful exercise to include in assessment centres where individual’s behaviours are carefully observed and assessed against pre-determined behaviour indicators.
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This is an excellent exercise, that brings out the need for different parts of the business to work together collaboratively. Co-operating isn’t enough to be completely successful in this exercise – they need to fully collaborate and problem solve as well.
I use it as a first exercise on any kind of collaboration course, stakeholder management training or team building event. When I use the activity, I change the name to the Department Parts Exercise. I’m also very careful to never call the exercise a game. Instead, I set up the exercise by explaining that I am a senior director that manages 6 small departments. They will be representing one of those departments. I have a goal for each department and I hope that as many as possible of my team complete their goal.
I think it is important to stress the above, and I have changed the Team Brief to reflect this, as the original talks about games and playing. The exercise leads to individual competitive behaviour, as if they were playing a board game. The more it is set up as a game, the delegates can resist the learning, saying that they behaved like they did, as it was a game and they wouldn’t act like that at work.
By stressing that they all work for their real organisation, representing different departments and that you want as many of them as possible to achieve their goal – reduces any resistance.
After each round, I pause the exercise and ask them to analyse their behaviour and what they are doing. Even with stressing in the setup, that this is a real work exercise – many go into I want to win and make you lose mode.
Through the reviews, at the end of each round, the group go from competing with little communication, to co-operating with lots. Once they are here, you can take them up a level to collaborative problem solving, to ensure every department achieves their goal.
With the tweak, of moving from a game to an exercise, this is a 5 star exercise and I highly recommend it.
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Andrew Kitton
rated this item with 5 stars.
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A brilliantly simple yet impactful activity.
I used this recently with a group of contractors who needed to work more collaboratively on a project. As a facilitator it was quick to prep and set up and the results were intriguing. Despite the fact we'd been talking about collaboration, once the activity started, everyone reverted to a competitive approach, assuming that the only way to "win" was to trick or outdo the rest of the group. Info was hidden, incorrect messages were shared as the group all got very excited about out doing each other. Only after the debrief, and a discussion about "how well did you work together", followed by a response of "what... we could work together?" did the penny drop and a brilliant conversation followed.
Would highly recommend.
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Caroline Sargent
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This is a great ice-breaker to use at the beginning of a day of team building or where you are trying to break down silos. It doesn't matter whether you are starting from a position where fellow team members distrust one another, or where there are already collaborative. Either way the exercise shows quickly the limitations in having only your own interests at heart and of failing to understand the other person's position or perspective.
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Paula Cook
rated this item with 4 stars.
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What a fantastic exercise. I couldn't believe how well it worked and the fact it created a lasting legacy with the group. I used this on day one of a two day course. Everything seemed to be working smoothly until one participant decided to "stitch-up" one of their colleagues. From this point, everyone became suspicious and the exercise became more like "cheat" than anything else. The review of the exercise generated deep thought in the group and most agreed this provided an excellent life-like comparison to some areas in their work place. What was really interesting was the impact the suspicion generated in "The Department Game" had on another exercise completed on day two of the course. Two teams working in separate rooms were working to a achieve a common goal. However, due to the "cheats" in "The Department Game" there was no trust between certain members of the teams and consequently, both groups failed to achieve their task. I will definitely use this game again and would recommend others to do the same. Many thanks for finding / developing this Rod and the Team in Glasstap. Andrew Pickin, Director, Motiv8 Development Ltd
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Andy Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this on Tuesday with a group of team leaders and it was interesting how they focused on the detail of their own needs rather than the bigger goals of the collective. They put rules where there weren't any and general trading one part for another. It was only after going round a couple of times that they 'got' it and starting dealing to help others as well as trading 2 for 1. Really interesting and great discussions afterwards that enabled them to see how easy it is to focus just on their issues and not what is going on with other teams they interact with. Great exercise.
I will be using this again. Thanks
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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The Negotiation Game is brilliant it gives a great opportunity to improve team relationships and understand how to break down barriers from other teams instead of actively working against them to achieve their own objectives.
My team were shocked at the end of the session to see how far they went in being obstructive and how frustrating it was for everyone. It generated massive emotion and debate.
The outcome is they have set up a weekly team meeting to catch up with each other to discuss workload, issues, problems and plan who is able to support. They are also visiting other dept meetings to discuss how to achieve success for all.
Excellent session.
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Karon Campbell
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 180 minutes.
Aims: • To test participants’ commitment to teamwork, as well as their ability to communicate effectively and work co-operatively together. • To test participants’ ability to work together under pressure and apply a structured and systematic approach to completing a task. • To test participants’ ability to prioritise and plan a range of tasks, based on both urgency and importance. • To develop team skills and test time management skills. • To test participants’ abilities to prepare a work-plan that will enable them to successfully open the hotel to its guests.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 90 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 180 minutes (based on 3 teams).
Aims: • To test participants’ commitment to teamwork, as well as their ability to communicate effectively and work co-operatively together. • To test participants’ ability to work together under pressure and apply a structured and systematic approach to completing a task. • To test participants’ ability to prioritise and plan a range of tasks, based on both urgency and importance. • To develop team skills and test time management skills. • To test participants’ abilities to prepare a work-plan that will enable them to successfully open the hotel to its guests.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Project management, teamwork, time management, communication, information gathering, problem solving, attention to detail, planning and analytical thinking.
Group Size: We suggest running this exercise with teams of 3-5 participants.
Useful For: Staff at all levels. It can also be used to examine the role of leaders within teams.
You'll Need: • A brief, floor plan and a set of 60 Hungry Chick Inn cards for each team (provided). • A calculator for each team. • Plenty of space. (Ideally each of your teams will have a separate breakout room to work in.)
Notes: This exercise can be used in a number of ways, and can be applied to many different topics including teamwork, time management, project management and planning. However, it can also be used to examine the role of leaders within teams. If you wish to use the exercise in this way, you might want to pre-assign the role of leader to someone from each team. The time required for this exercise will be determined by the number of teams. Each team is required to give a 15-minute presentation at the end of their preparation time (90 minutes) and you’ll need to allow a further 30–45 minutes for a general discussion of the key learning points.
Note for Countries where Reference to Alcohol might be Inappropriate: If you wish to avoid the references to alcohol, you can use the ‘alcohol free’ brief. Cards that reference the Bar can be replaced with those included in the file named ‘alcohol free cards’.
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Having used this in previous roles and teams I recently used this activity with our Grads from finance and IT. The activity worked as well as I remembered and consolidated sessions that we had held over the year including time management, prioritisation, problem solving, presentation skills and team working. It received great feedback and really got them thinking and their competitive edge going!
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Katharine Shaw
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used Hungry Chick Inn when launching a leadership programme - it served well to bring together a range of diverse department heads and neutralise everyone - they forgot their job titles and operated as their authentic selves which opened up the mood & rapport really well. They fed back that they felt really uncomfortable at stages as it was so far removed from their roles, but they learned loads in the process.
Also - we will be working on EI in the programme and I wanted to test them a little with a change of plan to see how it affected behaviours. With 20 minutes or so to go we said Hilda had taken a call from the bank - turns out they had miscalculated the budget and they had 3,000 less centums than they thought, and so had to make some changes. They hated me but liked the twist and made them think about how they respond to changing information.
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Carly Brunsden
rated this item with 4 stars.
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I used with a set of Retail Managers and they got a lot of value from the exercise. I've given 4 stars as all 3 teams achieved the outcome with time to spare (so I'm caveating my score in case of facilitation error)
A valuable exercise for planning and prioritising and generated plenty of discussion and realisation of differing priorities and perspectives on preferences & motivations
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Darren Smith
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Used it as a Time Management activity as part of a leadership programme. It was possibly a bit too long/ complicated for the value that was gotten out of it, however it did illustrate some important points around planning that people carried with them throughout the rest of the programme.
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Jane Butler
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Brilliant exercise for time management and other skills such as communication, budgeting and project management. I usually do this within a management programme, often if a residential to do it in the evening and then present back in the evening.
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Emma Wynne
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used this exercise for the first time this week for a Planning & Scheduling session and found it to be very useful indeed. The issues and learning which we could draw out was brilliant. The teams very quickly became immersed in the exercise to the point of almost them becoming the owners.
There were some very valuable discussions which we observed and which we could then use to demonstrate transgerring the learning back into the workplace.
The feedback from the teams were that it really made them think about how important planning is and how to make decisions around what is essential and what is desirable, when time pressures are upon them and when there is limited resources available - just as in real life.
Will definitely being using this one again.
Thank you for another great exercise!
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Carolyn Pickin
rated this item with 5 stars.
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I used The Hungry Chick Inn today as part of my time management course to see how well they could manage the time available and prioritise the workload. I had two delegates from the maintenance team so it was very “real life” to them and they coped with it very well. We had discussed the urgent/important matrix earlier in the day and so they used it to sort the tasks into whether they were essential or non essential tasks and then whether they were urgent issues. I gave them the pest control card about half an hour in which upset them slightly! I would give this 4/5 only because it only took them hour and a half rather than the full time that it said on the front of the brief, however this may be due to them working in a maintenance department and dealing with issues like those in the task all the time. It definitely helped them think about prioritisation which was my main aim.
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Previous Member
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I used this exercise to great effect when running a Managing People and Performance programme for both experienced and new line managers. The exercise provoked a lot of thought in the smaller groups - and a diversity of thought when the groups presented their ideas which led to a lively and very productive discussion around methods for managing and improving performance. The trainer notes gave suggestions which none of the groups had considered and so I added them as discussion topics with a "what if you did ...." - what impact would that have. This also produced a great discussion. The learnings from the exercise proved very powerful - and the delegates were also able to link their findings to the work we had done on leadership and management style (using, among other things, the Putting on the Style case study on Trainers Library)
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Rosemary Taylor
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I use this activity in Time Management; however I use it to assess not only Time Management but also team work and sometimes Project Management. Delegates love this activity and get really involved with it; the activity promotes some healthy competition and delegates like to see how other teams have done, particularly if they have completed it within the time frame and to budget. This activity is always mentioned in the training feedback in a positive light.
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Previous Member
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I've used this in a variety of situations and I've found it easy to amend certain elements to suit particular groups. The layout of the material is perfect and very accessible.
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Graeme Yeates
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Hungry Chick Inn was a fantastic game for our Graduate Management Trainees as the concept was brilliant in addressing issues not only of the obvious topics like financial awareness, teamwork, time management and delegation, but also prompted discussions on the cultural values and business objectives of our company. The post-activity discussions consolidated the learning that you would expect but also took the learning to another level, and for Graduate Trainees this is exactly what you want to achieve from training workshops. A very clever topic for hospitality environments and easy to both plan for and execute, but most importantly is a memorable experience for participants which addresses much bigger issues than you initially think it will.
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Previous Member
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A fantastic exercise that I use at the end of my time management workshop. Having spent time during the workshop discussing the urgent/important matrix it is interesting to observe the delegates behaviour and how they prioritise and manage their time. Depending on numbers I will often split my delegates into two groups. It is very interesting to see how the two groups work together, and provides additional discussion points in terms of how the two groups went about the task. The additional benefit is the challenge that the groups give to each other in terms of why or how they chose to ignore some tasks or prioritise others, a great benefit from the facilitators point of view! In addition to the numerous learning outcomes from a time management perspective it also provides the opportunity to discuss effective team working.
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Angela Wise
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I have been using the Hungry Chick Inn exercise for the past two years during public and tailored training events that I run for Project Management. I run about ten a year. The exercise is very well received by all as it is fun but has some very strong learning objectives outlined in the material. Here are some more I have observed: I have noted that one of the main areas all the teams seem to be oblivious to is the time element for the completion of exercise and to highlight this very important point I go round to the different groups and ask them how much time they have left to complete the exercise; it certainly brings the point home. Another point is I am often asked if they can use their laptops to plan the event – I allow them to do this. However I have found that none of the groups who follow this route are able to complete the task because they too engrossed in the inputting of the data. It has shown the delegates that sometimes the computer can be a time robber on smaller time sensitive projects. Finally one group actually deferred from opening the hotel within the time given, however they did give a very clear time plan of what they would do with the time to ensure when the hotel was opened it would meet the agreed objectives. It was felt by the groups, the trainer and the senior management team (who were observing) that this shows that as a project leader we should have the power to say no when we are asked to do something with an impossible time line –all part of managing upwards - something very difficult for lots of project managers who have to ‘manage’ more senior people. All in all a very successful tool to test the skills of project management!
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Previous Member
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We used this as a planning exercise in the middle of a introduction to project management session and it gave the participants the opportunity to test out some of the theoretical ideas about project management, such as how to plan the order of activities and how to consider dependencies. This activity reinforced learning and added to the delegates understanding of the issues involved in successful project management. The tight budget and timescales make this activity quite challenging and make the priorities that the group set very important. It also highlighted the ease with which projects can get buried under huge amounts of detail and the importance of getting an overall plan before considering individual tasks. The participants had to work together and also consider splitting into smaller sub-groups to manage the project effectively. I like the activity as participants found it easy to understand and thought-provoking.
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Helen Walker
rated this item with 4 stars.
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Time:
In total we estimate this exercise will take 30 minutes.
Aims: • To demonstrate the importance of teamwork. • To show how, by working together, we have the potential to achieve more. • To encourage participants to consider the dangers of an overly competitive workplace culture.
About
Time: This game can be played in about 10 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 30 minutes.
Aims: • To demonstrate the importance of teamwork. • To show how, by working together, we have the potential to achieve more. • To encourage participants to consider the dangers of an overly competitive workplace culture.
Skills and Behaviours Tested: Teamwork, collaboration, leadership, avoiding assumptions and problem solving.
Group Size: A minimum of 2 participants are required for this exercise.
Useful For: Staff at all levels.
You'll Need: • A ‘The Wheel’ game board for each team. • One die and counter for every game board in play. • Prizes. (For example, a pile of wrapped sweets, or mini chocolate bars.) If playing the alternative version of the game you’ll need up to a maximum of 8 counters for every game board in play.
Notes: This module provides a superb introduction to any training around teamwork and co-operation/collaboration, and has been used successfully with participants at all levels within an organisation, from junior clerical staff to directors. It also provides an ideal introduction to training around the service chain, and internal customer care.
Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.
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This is one of my absolute favourite activities.
I recently used it with a new client where their leaders are working independently on their own business areas rather than coming together to drive the overall business forwards. Within a couple of minutes, it was amazing to see the penny drop with a few of them whilst others watched, confused... The debrief at the end was met with many "ahas" and a request to use the activity at their management conference with all their team leaders the following week. Such a simple, yet powerful activity to help leaders understand how much more they could achieve by coming together. It's now given us a language to support their ongoing cultural change journey.
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Caroline Sargent
rated this item with 5 stars.
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Thanks for your prompt response in dispatching the game pack. I used The Wheel for a training session with a focus on team collaboration. I grouped the participants into their departmental work groups and asked them to choose a colour to represent their department. I explained how they would move and how they could earn rewards. I used 10p pieces and told them each one represented £100 and the objective of the game was to raise as much money as possible. Dependant upon performance they would win a prize and as it was easter this was chocolate related (nothing like chocolate to motivate people it seems!!) Initially they all worked in silence and just focused on their own colour and were naturally competing with each other. After about 10 mins I asked them to stop and count up how much had been raised, followed by the question could they achieve more by working differently? A few people asked questions about if they could move each others counters and when they did this they raised more money in the same time. We linked this with the anagram TEAM together everyone achieves more. This experiential learning made a big impact on participants and in their feedback forms rated it as one of the most relevant and useful learning.
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Previous Member
rated this item with 5 stars.
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This works very well to demonstrate that working together brings greater rewards. At some point during the game there is usually an 'aha' moment. As board games are not common here, it is tricky to give instructions in such a way that the participants understand the concept without telling them exactly how to play it. After every session, participants tell me they are going to play it at home with their families (very large) to instil the concept of family spirit!
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Rachel Clayton
rated this item with 5 stars.
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