Teamwork and creative problem solving
Simulation Game Overview
The Heist is fun, challenging and very competitive. Teams will stretch their skills to the limit in an attempt to retrieve all the diamonds inside the time limit. What starts off as a paper exercise soon turns into the real thing as team members confront the security apparatus and realise that, with anything less than near perfect teamworking, they will fail.
Learning Outcomes
Teamworking and Leadership:
The demanding nature of this activity reinforces Belbin's team role theory and accommodates the contributions of each role type necessary for success. The effective leader needs to be sensitive to the changing needs of the group, the individual and the task, adapting his or her style to the current demands of the situation.
Analytical and Creative Problem Solving:
The Heist graphically illustrates the subtle integration of thinking styles required in problem solving. Clean logic and fuzzy creative, aiding and supporting the breaking down of the problem into manageable chunks and the construction of a working solution.
Planning:
For the solution to work the team must have a plan that is understood by all its members. A good plan is a simple plan; a product of complex ideas reduced to a set of procedures appealing because of their simplicity and the confidence it generates within the team.
Resourcing:
Most managers and team leaders have at some time been heard to say, "if they won't give us the resources, how can we do the work?" In the Heist, delegates are given no resources if they want something; then they must be innovative and adapt their thinking. Once you learn to ask the right questions it is surprising the options open to you.
Areas Covered
- Leadership
- Teamworking
- Creative problem solving
- Planning
- Communication
- Resourcing
How it works
Teams are charged with the task of working for a gang of international criminals. Their objective is to locate and then retrieve a valuable collection of diamonds hidden in a novel security system, fitted with sophisticated sensors. One false move, or exceeding the very tight deadline, and all is lost.
The Heist is a two-part activity: In Part 1 delegates can have up to 2 hours and 30 minutes to:
- assess how they will carry out the task
- ensure all team members know what to do
- secure by fair or foul means the resources they need to complete the task successfully
In Part 2 teams turn their plan into action and attempt to retrieve all the diamonds and escape without detection.
This is a task well worth videoing if you wish to examine the process and the interaction of team members engaged in a task that invites reactive behaviour but rewards the proactive.
Contents
Facilitators guide
6 long balloons
6 large balloons
5 rubber balls
1 Heist set - 6 assembly pieces
Trainer Helpline
We know that games and simulations can bring fun, learning and challenge to the programmes you deliver. Therefore, we would welcome the opportunity to talk you through any of our wide range of activities to ensure that you obtain the maximum benefit from your purchase. Please
contact us or call us on
+44 (0) 1202 729823.
Need Help Facilitating?
From as little as £500 we can send you an experienced consultant to help facilitate this simulation game. Contact us to find out more.
Who is it for? First line supervisors to senior management
Duration: 2 - 3 hours
Number of participants: teams of 4 - 8 participants
Customer Feedback
“We have used The Heist a number if times at Herman Miller as part of various team building and cross functional communications workshops. It cleverly combines a number of elements in concise exercise providing an ideal vehicle to explore numerous skills, both live during the exercise and the debrief afterwards. Importantly the task requires a group to accept that the most abstract and easily dismissed ideas are often the ones most worthy of development. The Heist has helped move new project teams rapidly through the early stages of team development, encouraging them to think laterally and creatively as quickly as possible.” Director of People & Quality. Herman Miller
