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Team Survival Games for Workplace Teambuilding - HRDQ
January 1, 2020 Bradford R. Glaser

Team Survival Games for Workplace Teambuilding

When the only way to survive is to work together, teamwork is essential. Of course, we’re not suggesting you plop your employees on a deserted island to build teamwork. Instead, games and simulations can do wonders to help you build a high-functioning team. Explore this collection of the top team survival games for workplace teambuilding from the HRDQ library!

Master Conflict Management with Whiteout

Whiteout is a great teambuilding game that focuses on the conflict management aspect of working together. This activity is perfect for teams that may be experiencing conflict. While off on a dog-sledding adventure through the wilderness of Alaska, one of the sleds—including the driver, guide, and dogs—plunges through the ice into unforgiving water. Now it’s up to the rest of the team to put their differences aside and work together to save the injured and rescue themselves. The two-hour workshop explores the concept of synergy and helps teams to develop vital group-process skills such as decision making and problem solving.

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Build Synergy with Beyond the Valley of the Kings

Teamwork is as important in the brutal cold of the arctic as it is in the relentless heat of the Sahara—where this next simulation will take your team. In Beyond the Valley of the Kings, participants are stranded in the desert and must work together to survive by ranking six action strategies and 10 duffle items—first as individuals, then a second time as a team. Participants compare their team scores to the best individual score and expert rationale to determine if synergy was achieved.

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Strategically Plan with Jungle Escape

This immersive, best-selling team survival game requires teams to work and build together. During Jungle Escape, teams must build a helicopter to get out of the threatening jungle in which they’re “stranded.” This game rewards careful, collaborative planning above all else, driving home the necessity of consensus building and strong foundations when it comes to collective decision-making.

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New Teams Can Break the Ice with Marooned

In this game, participants are challenged to rank four immediate response alternatives and 10 daypack items in order of priority—first as individuals and then a second time as a team. Participants compare their team scores to the best individual score and expert rationale to determine if synergy was achieved. Marooned presents a classic teambuilding scenario. Participants are stranded on an island and must collaborate to survive and escape. Marooned is an excellent training tool for any team, and it's particularly effective as an exercise for newly-formed teams, groups that have been assigned to a new project, or as an icebreaker game.

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Collaborate Under Pressure with Black Bear

Following a bear attack, Black Bear teams must work together to save their scout leader using items from a backpack. This will require quick, strategic planning and cooperation under pressure. By ranking items, the group is asked to make a crucial strategy decision: "What is the most effective means of ensuring the victim’s survival?" The backpack items are then evaluated for their usefulness to the group as it carries out its plan. The team must then select the best strategy to improve the scout leader’s chances for survival.

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Tips for Facilitating Team Survival Games

As a facilitator, the key with all these games is to foster open discussion—before and after—about what was expected and what was experienced. Encourage all team members to actively assess their own role in the group, talk about what aspects of teamwork worked for them, and reflect on their successes.

A follow-up discussion helps articulate individual contributions and illuminate how teamwork helped, while also giving specific prescriptions for improving collaboration moving forward. Immersive games like these are excellent ways to truly dive in and experience what does and doesn’t work for your team first-hand.

More Teambuilding Training Materials From HRDQ

click hereFor even more ways to improve cooperation in your organization, explore our full collection of Team Building Training materials. Shop Now!

Tags: Experiential Learning, Games, Whiteout
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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.