Outback
Second Edition

 
 Facilitator Guide now features:

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

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 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 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
• Assess group member competence
• Supplement outdoor experiential learning

How to Order Outback
Order one Facilitator Kit per trainer and one Participant Guide per team member. Note: Outback works best when participants are divided into teams of seven or fewer per table.

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

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