Cave Without a Name
Second Edition

Facilitator Kit now features:

• 2-hour workshop design with detailed preparation checklist and step-by-step facilitator instructions
• CD-ROM including Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation and reproducible masters
• Alternative training designs
• Sample copy of re-formatted Participant Guide
• New binder format that’s easy to use and store
• Updated page layout

Teach the concept of team synergy with Cave Without a Name, a challenging adventure simulation that focuses on consensus decision making, problem solving, and managing group conflict. By comparing individual solutions to solutions reached by the group, participants experience first-hand the advantages of working as a team.

The Scenario
It was dark — really dark. Darker than you had ever experienced before. Not the ordinary nighttime dark where you can still see a faint outline of your hand immediately in front of your eyes. But the absolute blackness of black, that sent a nauseating little surge of panic into your gut.

Instinctively, members of the group reached out and found one another. The simple touch of others brought momentary relief to everyone’s growing terror — the terror of being trapped in one of the unexplored passageways of the Cave Without a Name.

Can your team survive with only its wits and 10 daypack items?

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
Based on actual explorations and named for a cave near Boerne, Texas, Cave Without a Name demonstrates the concept of 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 member’s 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 4 action responses and 10 daypack items — first as individuals, and then as a team. First, as the facilitator, you’ll introduce the adventure scenario. Participants will then rank action responses 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 Cave Without a Name

• 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
• Assess group member competence
• Supplement outdoor experiential learning

How to Order Cave Without a Name
Order one Facilitator Kit per trainer and one Participant Guide per team member. Note: Cave Without a Name works best when participants are divided into teams of 7 per table or fewer.

Facilitator Kit includes: Administrative guidelines, sample Participant Guide, 2-hour workshop design, expert rationale, alternative training designs, and CD-ROM containing Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation and reproducible masters.

Participant Guide includes: Scenario description, instructions,  pressure-sensitive response form for ranking salvaged items, score chart to determine whether team has achieved synergy, and guidelines for team discussion.