Workstations Online

Dive into a captivating virtual team challenge with Workstations. This game is not just about problem-solving; it's a deep dive into the intricacies of team communication. Participants must strategize, using only verbal communication, to manage and categorize individual inputs and foster shared understanding. Each player receives a unique link, revealing task details through images of playing cards.

Ideal as an introductory team exercise or ice-breaker, Workstations is especially suited for groups unfamiliar with each other's working styles.

While the exercise necessitates both task and group leadership, it also sharpens critical thinking. Merely sharing the card details won't reveal the solutions. Instead, teams must collaboratively interpret the combined information to deduce answers to the posed questions. This immersive experience mirrors real-world challenges teams often encounter, offering insights into effective problem-solving dynamics.

Workstations is closely related to our Celtic Cross activity.

Workstations is an immersive virtual team challenge designed to hone team communication and problem-solving skills. Participants, armed only with verbal communication and unique task details presented on images of playing cards, must collaboratively interpret and strategize to deduce answers to posed questions. Beyond mere problem-solving, this game delves deep into the intricacies of team dynamics, making it an invaluable tool for groups aiming to enhance their collaborative efforts.

Applications:

Outcomes:

Workstations is a team communication and information-sharing activity, ideal for groups inexperienced in working remotely together.
It can be run with virtual participants using any simple video conferencing solution like Zoom, Google Meet etc.

Workstations is based on the original physical Workstations activity from RSVP Design which uses 30 x different playing cards with a live co-located working group, and minimal set-up. This virtual version requires little advance planning and preparation too and can be completed successfully without losing focus on the learning objectives of the original physical activity.

In Workstations the team members are required to share information verbally in order to solve a ‘matrix puzzle’ - although the objectives of the task are not explicitly stated by the facilitator, providing for a potentially uncertain and ambiguous initial stage of team working.

They must share information on each of the cards they have been given, then use a process of elimination, logical and critical thinking to identify the answer to two tasks. The team members will only uncover this if the individual holding information on three 'key' cards used to explicitly state the task objectives, shares that information with the team.

The difficulty can be increased by setting a rule that participants should not write anything down - the group must identify other ways of remembering and sorting key information. Each person must contribute and all participants hold important information necessary for the team to be successful.

Team members working together tend to move at different paces and have different strategies for remembering information. Can they, together, develop an approach that everyone understands and which supports different individual needs? Can they be sure by the end of the activity that everyone has the full picture so that they can correctly complete their individual parts in the implementation process?

Timescale
The exercise is designed to last up to 35 minutes, followed by a 25 minute review to highlight the learning points.