Illustrate the concept of team synergy with Black Bear, a challenging adventure simulation that addresses formulating a strategy under pressure and consensus decision making. Participants experience first-hand the advantages of teamwork when they are asked to choose one of 5 strategy alternatives and rank 10 backpack items, first as individuals and then as a team. The concept of synergy is conveyed when the team results are shown to better those of an individual working alone.

The Scenario

On an early-morning hike in North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains, your group stops to enjoy some blueberries growing along the trail. Just then someone spots a small black bear cub, the mother bear lunges from the bushes and attacks — with near-fatal results.

Can you work as a team to save an injured person’s life -- addressing five strategy options and ranking 10 backpack items?

Black Bear is the ideal training tool for any group that works in a high-pressure environment. Inspired by HRDQ CEO Brad Glaser’s six-month hike of the Appalachian Trail, this survival adventure also incorporates expert information from many books on the Smokies, wilderness survival, and backcountry rescue, in addition to the input of Buck Tilton, director of the Wilderness Medicine Institute, Inc.

Learning Outcomes

• Learn how to manage and resolve group conflict
• Hone group problem-solving skills
• Improve communication
• Discover the advantages of consensus decision making

Theory
 
Based on information from experts and Brad Glaser’s real-life experience on the Appalachian Trail, Black Bear demonstrates the concept of team synergy — the belief that decisions made by groups are better than decisions made by individuals acting alone (Michaelson, Watson, & Black, 1989). Groups bring a greater sum total of knowledge and information to the discussion of a problem, as well as a greater number of approaches and perspectives. Black Bear can also demonstrate “process loss.” This phenomenon occurs when a knowledgeable group member outperforms the group, indicating that the member’s knowledge was lost sometime during the group discussion. In order for group decision making to work, unique information must be shared and absorbed by the group (Stasser, 1992).
 
How It Works
 
This realistic, roundtable simulation challenges groups to rank 5 strategy alternatives and 10 backpack items — first as individuals, and then as a team. First, as the facilitator, you’ll introduce the adventure scenario. Participants will then rank the alternatives and items on their own, using pressure-sensitive scoring forms. Next, each team conducts the same ranking process as a unit. The differences in results are compared and discussed and the team calculates whether or not it achieved synergy in its group discussion.  Finally, you’ll lead the participants into a group action planning discussion, providing the team with the opportunity to apply the learning to the workplace.

Uses for Black Bear

• Illustrate the concept of team synergy
• “Break the ice” among new or conflicted teams
• Give teams a non-threatening opportunity to work together
• Help teams practice consensus decision making
• Improve active listening, probing, and confronting behaviors in a realistic setting
• Train team leaders in team facilitation skills
• Open or close a learning session
• Introduce an organizational change, such as the transition to self-directed teams
• Interject a fun activity into an otherwise serious agenda
• Supplement outdoor experiential learning

What to Order/Product Contents

Order one Facilitator Guide per trainer and one Participant Guide per team member.
Note: Black Bear works best when participants are divided into teams of seven or fewer per table.

   Facilitator Guide includes:

• Administrative guidelines
• Step-by-step facilitator instructions for a 2-hour workshop
• Preparation checklists
• HRDQ Experiential Learning Model™ 
• Background information on consensus decision making, synergy, and black bears
• Technical development
• Expert rationale
• Frequently asked questions
• Microsoft® PowerPoint® workshop presentation
• Scenario setting slideshow in PowerPoint®
• Reproducible masters including training evaluation and certificate of completion
• Content from Participant Guide

   Participant Guide includes:

• Scenario description
• Pressure-sensitive response forms
• Team discussion guidelines
• Team synergy model   NEW!
• Team synergy score chart
• Questions for team reflection and action planning   NEW!

Team Adventure Series Products HRDQ Team Adventures are geared for teams at several levels of development. Follow our "compass" guide to choose the appropriate scenario for your team!

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