Building Success is a project management simulation specifically designed to change the way we look at the world of work.
Its set-up allows participants to fall naturally into their usual approach of tackling a task. After a series of set-backs that are caused purely by their own behaviour, participants discover for themselves in a series of ‘penny-dropping’ moments how they need to change their approach and their thinking in order to complete the task. This is radically different from any other exercise where the method is to tell the participants how to tackle a problem.
By discovering the solutions to their problems themselves, the learning points are far clearer and are retained far longer. Our facilitator then de-briefs the exercise in order to ensure the broadest possible understanding of how these changes and behaviours relate directly to the workplace.
Delegates enter the conference room to find it transformed into a building site, with scaffold, tools and site safety signs adorning every wall.
The event manager acting as a site foreman will address the group and introduce their task. Split into teams, the group must construct houses and businesses. Everything they need to complete this task is in the room. Each team has a stack of materials and a pack containing assembly instructions, budget sheet and a planning application form.
The teams must divide themselves into planners, builders and decorators. Construction may only begin once planning permission has been granted and anyone found not to be wearing the appropriate safety gear for their trade will be escorted off the site.
The task is to construct not just a collection of buildings, but a whole community. Only through pooling knowledge, funds and resources will they all as a larger collective team, succeed.
Our Event Manager and staff (acting as construction workers) will be on hand to help and advise the teams as they create properties consisting of houses, shops, pubs and businesses.
- What constitutes a successful and sustainable community?
- How will the teams divide their resources?
- How will they know what to build?
- What should it look like?
- Why won’t the planners approve it?
- And why haven’t we got enough doors!?
At the end of the exercise the Facilitator (site foreman) presents a 15 minute round-up of their observations from the exercise and will draw out some of the key learning points, including:
- Your natural individual competitive nature won’t always be your most helpful trait
- How a small change in your approach can have massive impact
- We each have different but complimenting skills
- We are all parts of communities – business, social and virtual
- Your efforts as individuals and small teams are crucial to the success of those communities
Success is only achievable through sharing knowledge, pooling resources and working together as one unit – one community, one business