Eldorado!™ 6-team | Conference Training Activity

The Treasure

First, you’ll need to gather the Treasure of Eldorado. It can be whatever you choose; chocolates, cash etc. The treasure eventually goes to the winner – if there is one. If not, and if it's money, a popular outcome is that it goes to a charity of the group’s choice.

The Activity

Each team receives a Folder containing a team brief, a riddle, some clues, six tasks and a treasure map. All teams need to do is solve the tasks, locate the position of the treasure on the map and find the right key to open the chest.

What it does

It’s all to do with teamwork versus rivalry. What becomes clear is that most organisations fail to create a truly cooperative atmosphere in which teams can trust each other and function effectively. Instead they create inter-departmental rivalry, suspicion and competition where there is a reluctance to share information and resources and a tendency for departments to win for themselves – even at the expense of the organisation as a whole.

In our experience...

On one occasion seven teams joined together and even though time was running out and the prize was slipping away, they were unable to convince the other three teams to join them and share information. On another occasion, teams were told at the start that the secret of the activity was to cooperate – one team even drew up a protocol for all teams to sign. But lack of trust, an unwillingness to share and more than a dash of competitive spirit spelt disaster! One senior delegate even ate the clue sheet because if she couldn’t win – no-one else would! This is one of our most successful exercises ever. It’s revealing, it’s very easy to use and it can handle large groups of delegates. Try it yourself – and check out the team temperature in your workplace – if you dare!

Includes re-printable originals for using over and over again.

• Reminds groups to look at the bigger picture – their organisation
• Highlights the importance of working together in one big team
• Exposes the abuse of trust, honesty, integrity and ethics
• Demonstrates the importance of sharing knowledge and information
• Unifies all participants and creates high energy
• 10-team version also available here

1. Divide participants into teams.
2. Issue Team Folders.
3. Stand by with supplies of coloured card, flagpoles, sticky tape & scissors (all provided), to issue to teams as soon as they have solved a riddle.
4. Observe the teams in action and wait for a team or multi-teams to come to you with all the answers.
5. After 90 minutes, stop the activity.
6. Lead a Debrief highlighting the learning points.

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

• Trainer’s Notes
• Trainer's PowerPoint
• Set of 6 Team Folders
• Set of three Keys
• 6 Sets of Resources (Card, 'Flagpole', Sticky-Tape, Scissors, Pen)
• Set of two Datacards
• Team Review Form

This activity is for face-to-face training. It is supplied as a hard copy pack and the digital files are supplied via the Northgate Trainerhub.

This Northgate Training activity comes with a five-year licence for repeat use with up to 36 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.