Pirates!™ | Conference Training Activity

• Social interaction
• The importance of working together for success
• Highlights the need to communicate freely and not to hoard information
• Seeing the BIG PICTURE
• Trust and ethical behaviour
• Teamwork within and between teams

Pirates! is designed for 10 teams but it can be run with fewer – but the more the merrier. Each team represents a pirate ship en route for Treasure Island to find the fabled treasure hidden there by Long John Silver.

The first task is to find a 10-digit code which will gain each team a portion of the overall map. Of little use on their own, if the parts of the map that each team collects, are fitted together, they give an overview of the island, important place names and a hidden clue.

While nine teams collect map pieces (and have a designated Map Area where they can assemble the bits), Team 10 – with no map piece – has vital information about three key points that are at the extremities of a ‘X’ and as all pirates know, ‘X’ marks the spot! The fourth point can be discovered by finding the hidden clue on the map (if teams have assembled it correctly).

In addition, teams have six tasks to complete and a model pirate ship to construct – as their current vessel is not seaworthy and they need to escape with the treasure.

Teams also need to work out which (of three) treasure chests contain the real treasure, and they need to avoid the Black Spots! Black Spots are issued for any errors and cut the potential payout for any team by 50% - so best not to collect too many!

Solving many of the problems involves teams meeting one another which they can only do if wearing a pirate hat and eye patch. Plus there’s the inflatable parrot and the Trainer’s gear!

1. Put on the Trainer’s Pirate hat, eye patch, sash and inflatable parrot.
2. Introduce the activity verbally or with the PowerPoint supplied (you will already have set up 10 tables each numbered with a team number).
3. Issue a Team Brief Folder to each team.
4. Stand by to issue a portion of the map to each of Teams 1-9 when they come to you with the full 10-digit code. Team 10 does not get a map part - instead give them a Special Instructions Sheet.
5. Once all map parts are issued you are free to visit teams and make a note of how they are getting on and what levels of trust (or otherwise) there are in the room.
6. At some stage (hopefully) one, or more, teams will come to you with the vital information about the treasure location, the correct chest, the answers to the six tasks and a completed pirate ship.
7. Either award the treasure to the winning team(s) or move into the debrief about what went wrong and what lessons emerged from the activity.
8. The Trainer’s Notes contain all the answers and notes for the debrief. If using just for fun you might not want to go too deeply into the potential learning points – but they are all there and often hit participants weeks later when back at the office!

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

• Trainer’s Notes
• Trainer's PowerPoint
• Team Briefs 1 to 10 containing: Introduction, Tasks, Construction Plans & Answer Sheet
• Treasure Map (set of nine separate pieces)
• Special Instructions Sheet for Team 10
• Trainer's Pirate Hat, Sash, Eyepatch & Inflatable Parrot
• x60 Pirate Hats & Eye Patches
• Set of Resources for Boat Construction (Card, Scissors, Sticky Tape, Rulers, Blu-Tac & Masts)
• Whistle, Black Counters, Set of 10 Desk Plates, String
• 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 60 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.