• Time: 1 - 2 hours
• Level: Intermediate
• Participants: 8 - 15

• Understanding the overall objective
• Planning and revising plans
• Inter-team communications
• Co-operating, not competing teams
• Instructing

Using similar components, 2 or 3 teams work independently to assemble a model of their own design.Then, using only face to face, verbal and telephone communications (nothing written or drawn) each team has to build an exact replica of another team's model. The task becomes more complicated because each group only has enough components to create one model at a time.

• Time: 1 - 2 hours
• Level: Intermediate
• Participants: 8 - 12

• Understanding the overall objective and constraints
• Planning
• Teams working on related tasks in different locations
• Communicating effectively between inter-dependent teams

Two teams that work in different locations have the opportunity to meet in a third location. The teams have to work together to build an articulated truck and two skips that can be transported by the truck. One team has to build the tractor unit and a skip that can hold all of the unused materials, the other the trailer and a skip for any scrap that is produced.

To be successful teams need to be aware that their actions will have an immediate effect on each other, so they must communicate and work accordingly.

• Time: 1 - 2 hours
• Level: Intermediate
• Participants: 6 - 12

• Project management
• Understanding the big picture and constraints
• Planning
• One team working on a task but in different locations
• Communicating within a team
• Basic finance

The aim is to make money by producing a model oil rig. The value of the oil rig depends on set criteria and everything has a cost. The group has freedom to organise itself in anyway it wishes, but there are 3 set locations (tabletops) where sub-assemblies must be made before they are moved to the final assembly area.

It is all too easy for the task to take over and for the overall aim (making money) to be forgotten.

• Time: 2 - 3 hours
• Level: Advanced
• Participants: 9 - 13

• Leading different teams at the same time
• Understanding and working with priorities
• Managing changing situations
• Satisfying customers needs
• The cost of rash promises

The leader has promised that two teams will each deliver a price and a product within a set time. Each team has different constraints, but the tasks seem achievable. Very quickly the stores become a major bottle neck and the promises become daunting. As pressure mounts the need for the manager to focus on the key issues (meeting customer needs and managing human resources) is critical.

• Time: 1 - 2 hours
• Level: Advanced
• Participants: 6 - 12 participants

• Personal attitudes to change
• The benefits of diversity
• Merging teams (and organisations)
• Recognising and benefiting from others' potential

Initially three teams work independently to produce a product. It's easy. Later they come together as one big team, the brief combining their earlier briefs but additional constraints become the big issue. Teams fail to capitalise on the resources offered by the new 'big team' so the merging of the 'companies' delivers almost no benefit. Why? The answer almost always revolves around attitudes to change and the failure to change approaches to capitalise on the new situation.