Demonstrate the concept of team synergy with Outback, a challenging adventure simulation that focuses on team leadership, communication, consensus decision making, and problem solving. Participants experience first-hand the advantage of working as a team when they realize that the results achieved as a group out-measure those of any one individual.

The Scenario
 
This morning you and your friends left on a daring hike without a guide. Now, after following a herd of beautiful wild ponies for more than an hour, you've lost all sight of any recognizable trail. Every tree, shrub, and patch of ground look exactly the same -- you're lost in the Australian bush!

With darkness approaching and more animals soon to emerge from daytime resting places, can your group prepare for the unknown and survive the wilderness experience of your lives?

Outback makes an especially effective training exercise for management teams.

Learning Outcomes

• Learn how to manage and resolve group conflict
• Hone group problem-solving skills
• Improve communication
• Discover the advantages of consensus decision making

Theory
 
An unforgettable trip to the wilds of Australia brought about the idea for Outback, a survival simulation that demonstrates team synergy - the belief that decisions made by groups are better than decisions made by individuals acting alone (Michaelson, Watson, & Black, 1989). Groups bring a greater sum total of knowledge and information to the discussion of a problem, as well as a greater number of approaches and perspectives. The simulation can also demonstrate "process loss". This phenomenon occurs when a knowledgeable group member outperforms the group, indicating that the members knowledge was lost sometime during the group discussion. In order for group decision making to work, unique information must be shared and absorbed by the group (Stasser, 1992).
 
How It Works
 
This powerful roundtable simulation challenges teams to rank 10 action alternatives and 10 daypack items first as individuals, and then as a team. As the facilitator, you'll begin the exercise by introducing the adventure scenario. Participants will then rank the alternatives and daypack items on their own, using pressure-sensitive scoring forms. Next, each team conducts the same ranking process as a unit. Finally, you'll lead the participants into a group action planning discussion, providing the team with the opportunity to apply the learning to the workplace.

Uses for Outback

• Illustrate the concept of team synergy
• Break the ice among new or conflicted teams
• Give teams a nonthreatening opportunity to work together
• Help teams practice consensus decision making
• Improve active listening, probing, and confronting behaviors in a realistic setting
• Train team leaders in team facilitation skills
• Open or close a learning session
• Introduce an organizational change, such as the transition to self-managing teams
• Interject a fun activity into an otherwise serious agenda
• Supplement outdoor experiential learning

   Facilitator Guide includes:

• Administrative guidelines
• 2-hour workshop design 
• Expert rationale
• Experiential learning/training methodology
• Training design options 
• CD-ROM containing Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation, reproducible masters, and color slides of scenario location 
• Updated page layout 
• Sample copy of Participant Guide 
• Convenient binder format 

   Participant Guide includes:

• Scenario description
• Pressure-sensitive response form
• Team synergy score chart
• Team discussion guidelines