http://www.human-synergistics.com.au/content/products/simulations/survival.asp
The Survival Simulations
Designed to provoke discussion, the survival series exercises present unfamiliar scenarios, ensuring team members must rely on their problem-solving ability, not merely the application of knowledge.
By ensuring that all team members have the same level of knowledge about the situation (not very much!) they must rely on their ability to set objectives, analyse alternative strategies and then evaluate them, choosing a solution that will best meet the objective.
This approach also allows all group members to participate as equals. Starting on an equal footing enables participants to focus more intently on the quality of the team performance.
By having team members complete the exercise individually and then as a team, when the expert's answers are provided, the difference between the individual solutions and the team's solution can be identified. This becomes a real measure of the group's ability to perform as a team.
These exercises build on the very best of research into adult learning - i.e. that adults learn best when they have the ability to enquire into something and discover the answer for themselves.
There are several exercises, each presenting their own challenge. A Team Development Workshop can be developed using multiple simulations - having a team experience one exercise, then analyse how effectively they performed, and then put that learning into practice with a second exercise actually provides a measure of team learning.
Leader's Guides are available for each simulation, providing administration guidelines, the expert's answers and detailed debriefing instructions.
The Survival Simulations are:
Desert
Situation: This popular simulation involves a desert plane crash and a struggle to survive the elements.
Task(s): Rank order the survival importance of 15 salvaged items.
Time: 1.5 to 2.5 hours
Subarctic
Situation: Plane crash survivors are marooned in a frigid, isolated area of northern Canada.
Task(s): Rank order the survival importance of 15 salvaged items.
Time: 1.5 to 2.5 hours
Cascades
Situation: A helicopter crash in a remote area of the Cascade Mountains.
Task(s): Rank order the survival importance of 12 salvaged items.
Time: 1 to 1.5 hours
Reef
Situation: A yacht excursion from Tahiti to Australia is threatened as the vessel strikes a coral reef.
Task(s): Rank order the survival importance of the 12 salvaged items.
Time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Bushfire
Situation: On holiday in the forest-covered Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, Australia, a group watches as a bushfire rages out of control.
Task(s): Rank order the survival importance of 12 salvaged items.
Time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Desert 2
Situation: Stranded in the desert, a group of travellers must make life or death decisions.
Task(s):
Time: 2.5 to 3.5 hours
Fire
Situation: You wake up in the middle of the night and it appears your house is on fire.
Task(s): Rank order the steps you would take to save you and your family.
Time: 0.75 to 1 hour
Wildfire
Situation: A bushfire is approaching your house, you must decide what is the best course of action.
Task(s): Rank order the steps you would take to deal with this emergency.
Time: 0.75 to 1 hour
Snakebite
Situation: Walking through the Australian grassland, your friend has been bitten by a snake.
Task(s): Rank order the steps you would take to deal with this emergency.
Time: 0.75 to 1 hour
Tsunami
Situation: You are on holiday in Chile. While enjoying a barbecue at a coastal kayak clubhouse, you receive warning of an impending tsunami.
Task(s): Rank order the survival importance of eight available items.
Time: 1.5 to 2.25 hours