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How 'Jungle Escape' Helps Teams Work Better Together - HRDQ
December 13, 2019 Bradford R. Glaser

How 'Jungle Escape' Helps Teams Work Better Together

Learning how to work as a team can be difficult. Not only is teamwork challenging, but the actual act of learning can be hard. Information is easily ignored and training can be ineffective.

Typical training sessions may drag on too long and often lead to learners being distracted and unfocused. When they walk away from a training, they may find that they didn’t learn very much. How can this be fixed?

According to Attune, research shows that learners retain only 5% of the material presented through a lecture and 30% of material taught by demonstration. Hands-on participation, however, leads to as much as a 75% retention rate.

Hands-on Learning

Jungle Escape is an excellent way to introduce the basic elements of teamwork, energize mature teams, uncover team blockages, or improve productivity between work groups.  What makes it so powerful is that participants get to experience group-process skills ­firsthand through a fun and adventurous survival scenario. When learners perform activities themselves, they absorb information and leave the session with newfound knowledge.

During Jungle Escape, teams are challenged to work together to build a makeshift helicopter with the help of limited parts and each other. The game’s hands-on design allows players to discover and practice critical group-process skills such as:

While playing the game, the team will experience first-hand the differences between a cohesive team and one that's fragmented or divergent.

The Game Plot

Stranded in a jungle after surviving an airplane crash, teams are challenged to build a helicopter to exact specifications using only toy parts, limited access to an assembled model, and teamwork. Starting with a planning phase, they discuss how to execute the project, and then the construction begins.

Jungle Escape

When the team believes they've properly built their aircraft, the facilitator checks the helicopter for accuracy and then records the amount of time dedicated to planning and construction. The winner is usually the team that spends the most time planning. Following the activity, team members take part in a discussion about team dynamics, offer insights to each other, and create an action plan for improvement.

Who Should Use Jungle Escape

Jungle Escape can be used as a standalone team building game or as part of a more comprehensive training program. It was developed specifically for new and intermediate workgroups, but it's also an excellent refresher and energizer for more mature teams.

You can also use the game to introduce the elements of effective teamwork, kick off a team-building workshop or seminar, improve productivity between multiple work teams, identify group issues or concerns that block team performance, and energize established work teams.

What’s New With Jungle Escape

Now, Jungle Escape comes with even more materials and tools to help you train your team! The Deluxe Game Kit is packed with everything you need to train up to three teams of five to six players at one time, including a comprehensive facilitator guide, helicopter parts, support materials, and an initial supply of 18 participant guides.

Also included is the newly-updated Prop Pack. This suitcase is filled with many fun and reusable props for an immersive experience. It includes safari hats, inflatable palm trees, a jungle backdrop, burlap twine, camo netting, binoculars, compasses, stuffed monkeys, snakes, parrots, and bugs that will completely transform your training space into a jungle scene.

Jungle Escape helps participants:

  • Understand the difference between Cohesive, Fragmented, and Divergent teams
  • Learn and practice the nine elements of effective teamwork
  • Experience vital group-process skills
  • Demonstrate the balance between planning and execution
  • Recognize the impact of individual behavior on group productivity
  • Establish action-planning steps for improved team performance

Click here to see how Jungle Escape provides teams with better learning!

Tags: Conflict Resolution, Decision Making, Experiential Learning, Games, Problem Solving, Team Building
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About our author

Bradford R. Glaser

Brad is President and CEO of HRDQ, a publisher of soft-skills learning solutions, and HRDQ-U, an online community for learning professionals hosting webinars, workshops, and podcasts. His 35+ years of experience in adult learning and development have fostered his passion for improving the performance of organizations, teams, and individuals.