Learn how to overcome and move beyond difficult interpersonal and inter-team relations in the workplace. Communication Derailed is a high-energy simulation game that demonstrates the profound impact of poor communication and teaches the skills needed to communicate effectively.
Three comprehensive, self-contained 2-3 hour modules address:
- Impact of poor communication
- Methods to improve communication skills
- Creation of personal action plans
How it works
The simulation asks participants to imagine they are employees of a toy manufacturing company. As such, teams are charged with building new toy prototypes using fun, colorful parts available in the kit. The challenge is that the hands-on tasks become more difficult when they are faced with obstacles that challenge their communication skills. Through the experience of working together and with the help of the facilitator, participants learn how to overcome these problems to improve their performance through effective communication.
This hands-on activity tackles three typical communication challenges:
- Communication within a team
- Communication among teams
- Communication during organizational stress
Three comprehensive, self-contained modules provide the necessary framework to conduct independent training workshops or a series of sessions. In each module, participants work in groups to design and/or construct a toy: The duration of each module is about 2 hours. Each module follows the same general framework, which consists of 5 parts: (1) poor communication, (2) midpoint debrief, (3) effective communication, (4) final debrief, and (5) action planning.
- Module 1 (Communication within a team): Excellent for general team communication skill-building. Use with new teams to prepare them for challenges they may face, or with existing teams to expose and identify current communication problems.
- Module 2 (Communication among teams): Perfect for organizations that require cross-team or cross-department work.
- Module 3 (Communication during organizational stress): Valuable for organizations dealing with transition. This material is also beneficial for fast-moving organizations that function under continual time pressure.
Trainers love this game because it's easy to facilitate and all parts are reusable. Everything you need to deliver a powerful learning event is included in one kit!
Module 1: up to 3 teams of 4-7 participants; 2 hours minimum
Module 2: 2 or 4 teams of 4-6 participants; 2 hours minimum
Module 3: up to 3 teams of 5-7 participants; 2 hours minimum
The Communication Derailed Complete Game includes a complete Facilitator Guide with step-by-step guidelines on how to administer the game, theoretical background, reproducible participant materials, and presentation masters.
Also included: game parts for 3 teams of 4-8 people
