Develop the Team - Toolkit 1

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2 INTRODUCTION This Compass Point provides a varied collection of tools and exercises to help you, as a leader, develop your team. Whilst most of the other Compass Points within Learning Quest are about developing the skills and capabilities of individuals and teams, it is also important to have some fun and avoid a solely workorientated focus. We have successfully used these exercises throughout our careers as learning and development specialists, and they are an excellent way to encourage team bonding and lateral thinking before embarking on a team development session or training day. There is an exercise for every occasion contained within these 3 toolkits and we hope that they help you in getting your development session off to a fun, yet productive start. ARCTIC SURVIVAL 1. It is approximately 2.30 p.m. on 5th March and you have just crash-landed in a light aircraft on the east shore of a small frozen lake in the Saariselka Wilderness region of northern Finland, close to the Russian border. The pilot was killed in the crash, but the rest of your team members are uninjured. Each of you is wet up to the waist and has perspired heavily. Shortly after the crash, the plane caught fire and sank through the ice into deep water the pilot s body pinned inside. The ice covering the lakes is approximately 36 inches thick. The pilot was unable to contact anyone before the crash. However, ground sightings indicated that you are 10 miles east of your intended course and approx. 64 air miles north east of Kemihaara, your destination and the nearest known habitation. It is reachable only by air or by a single road to the south of the town. There are no roads in the area between your present location and Kemihaara. Your party was expected to return from Kemihaara to Ivalo airport at around midday on 10th March. The pilot filed a flight plan at Ivalo airport to that effect. The immediate area is covered with small evergreen trees (4 to 6 in diameter). Scattered in the area are a number of hills and small lakes. Innumerable streams and rivers flow into and connect the lakes but all the water in the rivers and lakes is frozen. Heavy clouds cover the sky and it is snowing lightly. Although there can be heavy snowfalls at this time of year, most days are clear and bright. Temperatures during March vary between 4 and 30 degrees centigrade, although it will occasionally go as high as 2 and as low as 40 degrees. Twenty-four to thirty-eight inches of snow cover the ground: however, the actual depth varies enormously because the wind sweeps the exposed areas and builds drifts of five to eight feet deep in places. The wind speed averages miles per hour and is mostly out of the east-northeast. Sunrise is a 8.15 a.m. and sunset is 7.45 p.m. You are all dressed in cold weather clothing: thermal underwear, socks, heavy wool shirts, insulated one-piece suits, gloves, knitted wool caps and

3 stout, insulated walking boots. Collectively your personal possessions include a selection of coins, 1 pocket knife (2 blades and an awl), one stub lead pencil and an air map. Before the plane caught fire and sank, you were able to salvage the 15 items listed below. 1. Individually rank each item based on its importance to your survival and record your score on the attached template. 2. Then discuss the situation with your team members so that you agree: your most effective team strategy for survival. a collective team order for the listed items. 15 salvaged items: A magnetic compass One gallon of syrup One sleeping bag per person Water purification tablets One 20 x 20 sheet of canvas A box of waterproof matches One 250 length of 11mm thick rope One battery torch (+batteries) Three pairs of snowshoes One litre of Bacardi rum Shaving kit A wind-up alarm clock A small axe A 14 diameter punctured tyre tube A book on star navigation FACILITATOR S ANSWER Survival Strategy: The only valid strategy is to stay with the plane and seek to conserve your resources and energy so you can survive together until you are rescued. The chances of survival of anyone trying to travel in these extreme conditions are very low. A key part of your strategy to stay should include using the items you have to both maintain life and also attract attention for anyone looking for you (correct ranking below). A magnetic compass One gallon of syrup One sleeping bag per person Water purification tablets One 20 x 20 sheet of canvas A box of waterproof matches One 250 length of 11mm thick rope One battery torch (+batteries) (13) (5) (4) (15) (3) (1) (6) (10) Three pairs of snowshoes One litre of Bacardi rum Shaving kit A wind-up alarm clock A small axe A 14 diameter punctured tyre tube A book on star navigation (7) (11) (9) (12) (2) (8) (4)

4 KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU Team Development Tools Within the time allocated your team must complete the following tasks: Team Coat of Arms Create a team emblem/coat of arms to be drawn and displayed on your table flip chart. The team emblem/ coat of arms must include: A colourful graphic image representing your team. An appropriate team name. A team motto that must include as a minimum all the initials from all your team members first and family names. A number prominently displayed that is the sum of all the ages of your team members (a wisdom count!!). 2. Memory Doubles Nominate one person from your team who must discover and remember the first names, work locations and two unusual things about every individual in the other teams. Your nominated person must then introduce each individual in turn to the other tables with the required information at the end of the exercise (no notes are allowed for this). 3. Audit Rap To accompany your team emblem/coat of arms, please devise a simple rap that captures the essence of your team. All team members must perform this at the end of the exercise. BLIND SQUARE 3. Create a perfect square from the length of rope provided. This task is a test of the team s ability to plan effectively and communicate precisely under a tight time pressure. All of the team will be blindfolded once your planning period is completed. Equipment 22.5 metres of rope which is placed in the middle of the ground where you must undertake this task. Blindfolds for all team members No other resources can be used when completing this task!

5 Constraints You must observe the following ground-rules in completing this task: All team members must hold the rope at all times i.e. at least one hand must always be holding the rope at all times. All of the rope should be used to create the perfect square. Blindfolds must be worn throughout the task. Any removal of a blindfold will signal the end of the team s attempt to solve the exercise. When the team feels that they have created a perfect square using all the rope they should lay the rope on the ground, step back and remove their blindfolds. Timing Briefing - 5 minutes to read this brief. Planning - 15 minutes as a team to plan how you will create a perfect square. Task - 20 minutes to undertake the task. Review - 5 minutes to quickly review the task. ELECTRIC MAZE 4. Start Finish Cross from one side of the groundsheet to the other, by stepping on the appropriate squares. The problem is that some of the squares are "electric" and will "zap" any player who stands on the wrong square. Materials Required A large groundsheet, with a grid marked on it in duct tape, that looks something like the grid above. Rules and Process These electric squares are not visibly indicated on the groundsheet - the leader of the challenge needs to have a sketch of the playing area on a small piece of paper that the players can't see.

6 Players try to cross the maze one at a time. The leader of the challenge will indicate whether the player is on a safe square or an electric one. Players may move horizontally or vertically but not diagonally. As the game progresses, the group will slowly figure out the safe route across the groundsheet. The game is over once every player on the team has safely crossed the maze. An example of a possible game board is given above, with the "safe" squares indicated in the order they would need to be stepped on. Note that the players must step on each square in order, otherwise they are "zapped" and the next player on the team gets their turn. PROJECT WINE BOTTLE 5. Erect a support for your wine bottle (to a pre-specified height). The wine bottle must stand free of any other support (apart from the constructed support) and the support must be constructed using the materials provided. Rules and Process You have a maximum of 10 minutes to erect and support your bottle of wine; if your bottle is not supported within 10 minutes your team will be eliminated. Test time will start from the moment your bottle is supported solely by the structure Time will be stopped if any part of the bottle descends below the minimum height. Height is measured from the supporting surface to the lowest point of the bottle. In the event of any dispute the training team s decision is final. Income (estimate) Height over 150mm Building time under 10 minutes Test time Total Income mm min secs secs Expenditure (estimate) Paper Tape Total Expenditure Estimated Profit sheets lengths

7 THE DEBT COLLECTOR Team Development Tools 6. One of you owns a debt collection agency. You will be given a whistle. The remaining team members are your agents. Plastic domes will be placed around the area. Your agents will also be taken to various locations on the lawn. Direct your agents to the domes and for them to bring a dome each to the collection pen (an area marked out by rope on the lawn). The pen can be entered only by the gap in the rope. You need to work out a way of communicating with your agents using only the whistle. Once the communication system has been agreed no further talking will be allowed and the agents will be blindfolded. No physical contact is allowed. FACILITATOR S NOTES Blindfold delegates (take care with contact lens wearers) after communication system has been established and lead them out onto the lawn in crocodile fashion, dropping them off individually at suitable locations. Place domes around the lawn area. Trainers should agree in advance approximate locations in order to be seen to be even handed with the teams, e.g. whether or not to place a dome on top of a tree stump and in a clump of trees. etc. Mark out collection pen with rope. This should have a fairly narrow entrance and should not be too near the leader with the whistle. The leader should be positioned on a raised area if possible on the edge of the lawn. Delegates may come up with a complex and therefore, probably unworkable system of whistle blasts. Equipment 1 whistle Blindfolds for members of the team 5 plastic domes 1 small rope feet The Simplest Solution The simplest solution follows along similar lines to; 1 blast = Agent 1 walks forward 1 blast = Agent 1 stops and begins to turn slowly clockwise 2 blasts = Agent 1 picks up dome 3 blasts = Agent 1 drops dome and Agent 2 is alerted

8 1 blast = Agent 2 walks forward etc. They need to agree on the order in which agents will start to move. The more complex the system the higher the chance of several moving at once. Blindfolds can be removed once an individual has completed his/her part of the task. Scoring This initiative can be partially successful e.g. 2 domes deposited in the pen. The gamble points should be divided by the number of domes and the points doubled in relation to successes. The share of the gambled points relating to failure must then be deducted. If the teams are unequal in size a handicap formula will have to be agreed in advance. ACTIONS All of these exercises are really useful for facilitating team bonding and lateral thinking among your employees and so you should try and work a couple of the exercises from these toolkits into any regular training sessions you have - it will give the team a chance to talk and think about something other than work which will make them more receptive and willing to engage during the rest of session.