Lost in the Wilderness!™ | Energiser | Training Activity

Lost in the Wilderness! is the perfect starter activity for your next training session! This energising and exciting activity challenges your team to work together to solve a problem under time pressure.

Each team receives a Brief. It tells them they are part of a team on a flight over Canadian territory en route to a fishing holiday in a remote location.

Their seaplane is fitted with amphibious floats and when the engine falters it crash lands in the wilderness killing the pilot. The plane points in the direction the pilot was flying and his last words were that they were 20 minutes flying time from the destination (so knowing their speed they can work out how far they are from their goal).

There are 15 items that have survived the plane crash. No food or water but some useful items that might help with survival. Teams do NOT rank these items but can use them in any plan they come up with.

Each team's objective is to plan a way forward. They have limited time - just 30 minutes! Should they stay with the plane? Striking off into the wilderness, especially as two of the team are slightly injured, without food and water, compass or map could be dangerous.

Teams must sum up the situation, list the options and decide on a plan. Good leadership and decisiveness required.

During the debrief you can pull out the key skills required to succeed in this task such as how to analyse a problem, brainstorm effectively, prioritise ideas, and work collaboratively as a team. This short activity also emphasises the importance of decisive leadership and encourages participants to express their ideas forcefully.

Jumpstart your training session with Lost in the Wilderness! and your team will be energised, engaged, and ready to tackle any challenge that comes their way!

• To discuss an issue under time pressure
• To analyse a problem
• To work together as a team
• The usefulness of brainstorming
• How to prioritise
• The need for decisive leadership
• To express their own ideas forcefully

1. Explain the general nature of what is going to happen. (Do not go into detail or repeat what is on the Team Brief.)
2. Divide your group into teams (of 3-4 delegates per virtual team) and send them to virtual breakout rooms. Give a Team Brief to each team.
3. Write down the current time on a shared virtual message board or whiteboard or announce the time. Tell teams they have 30 minutes for the task (you may want to extend or shorten this by 10 minutes either side).
4. Visit the virtual breakout rooms in turn, and observe the teams at work. Note how their discussions progress, how they work as a team, whether they elect a leader or one emerges etc.
5. Give teams a one minute warning before you stop the activity. Then stop the activity at the deadline and bring your delegates out of their virtual breakout rooms and back into plenary session. (You may want to give extra time if they are behind schedule. It's up to you.)
6. Start the Debrief: ask each team to report back on how they approached the task, what options they considered and their final plans. Allow teams to quiz each other on their decisions.
7. Use the Trainer's Notes to raise points for discussion and use the (optional) Debrief PowerPoint to summarise points.
8. Finally, ask teams what they learned from the session about themselves and their teamwork. What lessons can they take away from the experience? Draw up a set of learning points that can be taken back to the workplace.

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

• Trainer's Notes
• Trainer's Debrief PowerPoint
• Team Brief

This activity is supplied digitally via the Northgate Trainerhub. No delivery charges apply.

This Northgate Training activity comes with a five-year licence for repeat use with up to 24 participants at a time, for use by Trainers based at one licence-holding site.

All Trainers physically based at the same office location can access the Northgate resources during the five-year term, including the digital resources supplied on the Trainerhub via your own site-specific Trainer Dashboard. If you have Trainers based at other locations, and/or remote workers, who would like to access and use the Northgate resources, we can advise further depending on your requirements.

For further information on our licence terms please view the Northgate Licence Agreement.