• Time: 1½ hours to 2 hours
• Level: Introductory / Intermediate
• Participants: 4 - 24

 

 

The Culprit is a team problem solving exercise which involves the effective communication and management of information.

Besides covering the fundamentals of team problem solving The Culprit is a non-threatening but very effective way to:

• Introduce feedback to each individual about their personal style and impact on the team
• Compare their intended impact with their impact as perceived by others
• Raise awareness of personal attitudes to, and the ease and dangers associated with, pre-judging others.

In The Culprit teams of 4 to 7 people work independently to solve a murder mystery.

As part of their brief participants are told that; every member of the team may not be equally committed to the given objectives (i.e. these people may be 'Solo Players' working towards personal rather than team goals), one of their objectives is to track down these 'Solo Players'.

This information heightens every-one's awareness of others' behaviour. Frequent 'internal investigations' provide a fun and effective feedback mechanism giving participants an opportunity to give and receive direct feedback about their behaviour in non-threatening way and for those making the challenges how easy it is to misinterpret others.

Four sets of cards are supplied, each slightly different. The differences between these four sets; enable up to four teams to operate in a single room at any one time, reduce the likelihood that pre-knowledge will become an issue even with repeated use of the activity within one organisation.