Team Survival Simulations for Workplace Team Building

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 for your next scheduled team-building exercise. Instead, simulations can do wonders to help you build a high-functioning team.

The Benefits of Team Building Simulations

Team building activities such as survival simulations are incredibly powerful because they provide an interactive and engaging way for team members to develop essential group process skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, decision-making, planning, and more.

Additionally, team simulations can boost morale and foster a sense of camaraderie among team members, as the activities often require coworkers to break down barriers to complete the simulation. They also highlight what areas can be improved and provide valuable insights into team dynamics so organizations can tailor their training programs to the specific needs of their teams.

Team Simulation Activities

HRDQ offers an extensive collection of team survival simulations for workplace team building. Take a look at what we have to offer and select your next team bonding activity!

Master Conflict Management with Whiteout

Whiteout is a great team-building survival scenario 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 develop vital group-process skills such as decision-making and problem-solving.

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 after a hot-air balloon tour in Egypt crashes. Teams 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.

New Teams Can Break the Ice with Marooned

Marooned presents a classic team-building scenario. Participants are stranded on an island when they don’t make it back on the cruise ship on time, so they 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.

In this simulation, 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.

The exercise also includes an introduction to the three elements of synergy, a five-step problem-solving technique, and four critical group maintenance skills.

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.

Tips for Facilitating Team Survival Simulations

As a facilitator, the key to all these survival activities 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 simmulations like these are excellent ways to truly dive in and experience what does and doesn’t work for your team first-hand.