The Business is a development game specifically designed to encourage individuals working in larger companies, but often in segmented teams or departments (or supply chains), to appreciate what effective role they all play in the overall organisation. But of more importance, how those roles are interdependent and interconnected.

Appreciation of the whole situation (or roles we all play) is a clear way to communicate the problems associated with running a large organisation and the respect for the individual role in that organisation.

The method is simple but highly effective. The team is split into 3 teams that represent the working departments of a large fictitious company.

These teams form the departments otherwise known as:

• Finance – Team tasks
• Sales – Clay Shooting (Every target is the competition)
• Marketing – Pilot Buggy Racing (The product needs to be on display)

Objectives
Each team has set objectives and/or tasks to complete which will require financing. Only the finance team can supply the cash as it becomes available – and this is dependant on how hard they work on team tasks, as individuals and as a team.

No team can tell the other what they are doing (physical activity) or what they need the
cash for, but they will have to individually work out how much cash they need for each task and request it by mobile or radio from the finance team.

Time on mobiles (or two-way radios) is limited to make teams think about what they ant, or more importantly need, before they make a request on an already very busy team.

Notes:
This event can be duplicated so there can be 2 of every team, to ensure everyone has a role to play during the team game. In our experience, all team development games are best kept a secret, so the teams experience a more natural reaction to the problems faced.

Prior knowledge or pre planning will not give management a true reflection of where the team currently is or highlight any potential areas of concern.

After approximately 50 minutes on each task, the teams will be told to stop what they are doing and without warning change positions. This process allows each team to appreciate what role they were playing, the demands on the other teams (and individuals within teams) and what processes they can immediately apply to improve working relationships and business processes.

The teams change for a third time so that every team has had the opportunity to experience the three roles.

All teams are working for the same overall objective: To make the company profitable!