Designed to provoke discussion, the Survival Simulation exercises present unfamiliar scenarios, ensuring team members must rely on their problem-solving ability, not merely the application of knowledge.
Ensuring that all team members have the same minimal level of knowledge about the situation, they must rely on their ability to set objectives, analyse alternative strategies and then evaluate them. Teams will then be required to choose a solution that will best meet the objective.
This approach also allows all group members to participate as equals. Starting on an equal footing enables participants to focus more intently on the quality of the team performance.
Team members will complete the exercise individually, as well as a team. This allows for the identification of the differences between individual solutions and team solutions. This becomes a real measure of the groups ability to perform as a team.
These exercises are built on the very best of research into adult learning – i.e. that adults learn best when they have the ability to enquire into something and discover the answer for themselves.
There are several exercises, each presenting their own challenge. A Team Development Workshop can be developed using multiple simulations – having a team experience one exercise, then analyse how effectively they performed, and then put that learning into practice with a second exercise actually provides a measure of team learning.
Popular simulations activities include:
- Earthquake
- Jungle Escape
- Lost at Sea
- Everest
