Northgate Training Activities

Astronaut Rescue Mission™ | Team & Leadership Training Activity

Name: Astronaut Rescue Mission™ | Team & Leadership Training Activity
Brand: Northgate Training Activities
Price: 636.0 USD
Availability: InStock

In stock

5.0 6 reviews

Teams are put in a fast-paced, pressurised situation. Who will emerge to lead? Will they be the right person - and will they be effective?

to identify 10 trigger points where leadership is required

to show that the leader role can move between different team members

to recognise some basic leadership traits

to see the benefits when a team is organised and well led

$636.00

Choose Supply Format (see Contents) Hard & Digital Copy - £495 Digital Copy - £445

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Product details

Type Training Activity
Timing 1 hour + debrief
Use F2F & Virtual
Target Audience All Levels
Min Participants 3
Max Participants* 24
*More delegates? Contact Us
Computer Required No
Printer Required No
Supply Format Hard & Digital Copy

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Northgate says...

"Astronaut Rescue Mission brings teamwork and leadership skills back down to Earth! Ultimately this activity leads to a useful discussion about what makes a good leader, what leadership is all about and how participants can demonstrate leadership skills back in the workplace. It reveals the benefits of a well-organised and well-led team and the importance of team collaboration. Will your teams stay calm under pressure and who, if anyone, will demonstrate leadership? Use also as an assessment tool to see how individuals perform within a team. A great, multi-functional addition to your training resources toolkit!"

Identify 10 trigger points where leadership is required
Show that the leader role can move between different team members
Recognise some basic leadership traits
See the benefits when a team is organised and well led
Show that there is not just one style for effective leadership
The importance of whole team collaboration
The importance of the team supporting the leader

Ideally suited to:

Observing teams and how they interact under pressure as well as identifying those individuals who show leadership potential.

In this exciting and immersive training activity, the clock is ticking and time is short. Having landed somewhere in the Koruk Mountains teams must reach a certain location in order to be rescued. To achieve that goal there’s a lot to do! The pressure is on.

Teams have a map but no idea where they are on that map, they’ll have to work it out - and the same applies to their pick-up point. How far away is it? How quickly can they travel? They’ll need to camp overnight - in hostile conditions. Survival equipment is in the landing capsule, but which items should they take - it all needs carrying in backpacks.

How will teams work? There’s a lot to sort out so they need to prioritise. Will anyone establish themselves as leader? Who’s good at reading maps (guidance provided in the Brief)? Which items are essential? More important, do they realise the time pressure? The longer they take to prepare, the less time they have for their journey.

10 ‘leadership trigger points' have been identified. At each somebody has to take the lead and push the team on. Taking too long means they won't make the deadline.

Ideal for observing teams and how they interact under pressure as well as identifying those individuals who show leadership potential. Ultimately this activity leads to a useful discussion about what makes a good leader, what leadership is all about and how participants can demonstrate leadership skills back in the workplace.

Introduce the activity as a teambuilding activity with a focus on leadership skills.
Divide the group into teams. Typically 3-6 per team.
Issue several copies of the Team Brief to each team.
When a team gives you the correct answer to a question in the Brief, issue them with a copy of the Koruk Mountains Map.
Observe team performance and note the ‘leadership triggers’ (listed in the Trainer’s Notes).
Issue Planning Forms and remind teams that time taken in making their initial decisions is added to their travel time. After 30 minutes remind teams of the approaching deadline.
Stop all teams at the 60-minute point. Issue the Review Form so they can assess their performance and reflect on examples of leadership they demonstrated during the activity.
Conduct a Debrief, focusing on the 10 triggers. Discuss and summarise key learning points.

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

Our licence offering is designed to provide exceptional value and flexibility for your organisational training needs.

Upon purchase, each Northgate activity includes a five-year licence for repeat use, with up to a maximum number of delegates per training session. The maximum number of delegates permitted for this activity is 24. This grants you the freedom to use the activity repeatedly, with the specified maximum number of delegates, for five years.

All Learning and Development (L&D) professionals based at the same site (or ‘remote hub’) as you are granted access to these resources, including to the digital files on the Trainerhub via your site-specific Trainer Dashboard, fostering a collaborative spirit within your immediate team.

Should you wish to make this activity available to a wider audience within your organisation, additional licences are required. We understand the varying needs of different organisations and aim to provide flexible options to suit your requirements.

For further information on our licence terms, please contact us. We are here to assist you in enhancing your training initiatives and ensuring a seamless and hassle-free licensing experience.

To use with more than 24 or for multiple site licences please contact us for a quote.

I used ‘Astronaut Rescue Mission’ as part of a Strategy Away Day for our IT Management Team. In their respective leadership roles, they have to understand the business needs of their internal clients in order to develop and implement the right systems. This requires a high degree of communication, analysis, resourcing, problem solving, decision making and time management. ‘Astronaut Rescue Mission’ addresses all of these competencies and provided the ideal start to the day. The initial mathematics challenge to obtain the map was good fun and got the 'grey cells' working early on. With the 60 minute clock winding down, the managers had to quickly decide which was the quickest and safest route to reach the safety of their chosen camp. This game certainly addresses the need for decisive leadership, communication, task allocation and time management. One of our IT Managers commented that it was the "best team exercise he had ever participated in". The learning gained from the exercise was assimilated into the core discussions throughout the day - a great way to embed core skills and behaviours.

Astronaut Rescue Mission' went very well. It's easy to facilitate and to adapt to virtual classrooms.

We've run 'Astronaut Rescue Mission' remotely a couple of times now and we’re very impressed!

'Astronaut Rescue Mission' worked really well virtually. I used it as a “pressure game” for people to then reflect on mindset & resilience. So I only gave 30 minutes (rather than 1 hour) for the game. It worked – it created a rich conversation about how perfectionism & team dynamics interfered with performance. I ran it virtually and it worked a treat. All credit to Northgate for design – easy to run & highly engaging.

I used the 'Astronaut Rescue Mission' activity on the first day of a programme with Team Leaders – they all worked in a warehousing environment and were very nervous as they hadn’t experienced leadership training before. The Astronaut activity really helped to put them at ease and broke the ice as they all got involved in solving the problem. Without realising it, they all demonstrated leadership skills at some point in the activity, and the debrief was both fun and enlightening as they realised the different skills they already had (along with those they want to develop). Astronaut! worked well with a group who were a little unsure of themselves and the training, and resulted in some excellent discussions on leadership styles.

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