Swamped!

Intended For - New or intermediate teams; 4-7 Participants
Time Required - 1 to 1-1/2 hours
Product Format - Survival Simulation

Deep in the northern wilderness, a leisurely canoe trip almost ends tragically when your group capsizes into icy, windswept waters. One of our best-selling simulations, Swamped! boasts a lively, original, and very believable scenario. A memorable way to introduce the concept of team synergy.

Development

Deep in the wilds of Northern Minnesota your group is paddling across scenic Lake McEwen in three canoes. Suddenly it begins to rain - and as the wind reaches gale force, your canoes capsize. You're Swamped! - and your troubles are just beginning.

To achieve both plausibility and defensibility, this project began with the reading of a variety of books and magazines about wilderness canoeing. Co-author Jim Roadcap is an experienced canoeist and wilderness camper. He has trained both adolescents and adults in wilderness survival skills as a leader in the Boy Scouts. His last trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) was two years prior to the creation of Swamped! Authenticity called for a re-visit to the area to spend a week with our enlisted experts, field testing ideas, and experiencing the adventure first hand.

Swamped! is intended for use as a small group or team-building activity. Teams with four to seven participants learn most effectively. When more than eight people participate, it is difficult for everyone to have meaningful input into the discussion. When fewer than four are involved, there is insufficient input for debate and decision making.

Our experience with other survival exercises has caused us to work at simplifying the collection of data, allowing the participants and the group facilitator to spend more time discussing how they handled the rationale and interpersonal issues during the exercise. Scoring has been facilitated with pressure-sensitive paper. The Expert Ranking has been preprinted so that the participants do not have to take time to transfer numbers. In general, Swamped! has been structured so that a group can self-administer the exercise, if it chooses to do so. 

How to Order Swamped!
Order one Facilitator Kit per trainer and one Participant Guide per team member. Note: Swamped! works best when participants are divided into teams of five to seven people.

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.