The Extreme Team Software Survival Challenge #1

[Editor's note: Click here for the top-level page of this collection of software development team-building games, simulations, and exercises. You can also use the next, previous, and up links to navigate the structure.]

By Donna L. Davis

The Purpose
Is your software development team bored, discouraged, or stressed? Take a break - play a game. Modify the options to suit your environment as desired.

The Abduction
You and two coworkers are abducted by force and locked in an empty office building. Fearing for your lives, you immediately begin plotting your escape. The door suddenly swings open, revealing your supervisor dressed in black. He explains that you’ve been selected for an extreme team building exercise that will last through the weekend.

The Reward
To make up for the traumatic experience, not to mention a blown weekend, he explains that if you successfully complete the challenge, each of you will be awarded an all expenses paid week-long vacation for your family to a destination of your choice (along with the time off and $1000 spending money).

The Caveat
Your supervisor clarifies that while team members are free to leave at any time, if any one team member abandons the challenge, none of them will receive rewards.

The Challenge
Your supervisor says that the challenge will involve software development and details will follow. Without knowing exactly what the challenge entails, he hands out a piece of paper to each team member with 25 items listed.

The Rules

• Form teams of about 3 people.
• Each team member must individually mark ten items from the list below to be provided as their only resources during the weekend.
• The team will only receive the items that they all selected in common. Therefore team members are encouraged to “think alike” though they cannot confer.
• You can assume the office is climate controlled, with access to minimally equipped restroom facilities. There are three desks and three straight chairs – nothing else.
• Tally your common responses from your team to see how well you know each other, and to see how well equipped you’d be in a coding crisis. Remember, you only get the items you select in common.

The Resources
1. ____ Unlimited Starbucks coffee
2. ____ Unlimited pizza
3. ____ Unlimited Chinese food
4. ____ Unlimited salad and fruit
5. ____ Access to any Microsoft products requested
6. ____ Access to any open source products requested
7. ____ High-end Windows-based laptops for all team members
8. ____ iMacs for all team members
9. ____ PDA’s for all team members
10. ____ Printer (1)
11. ____ Paper (printer paper and notepads), pencils, markers
12. ____ Big-screen TV with premium cable channels
13. ____ Telephone
14. ____ High-speed Internet connectivity
15. ____ Access to any APress books requested
16. ____ Sleeping bags and pillows
17. ____ Toiletries: tooth brushes, tooth paste, antiperspirant, wash cloth, soap, and towels
18. ____ Comfortable chairs
19. ____ Breath mints and chewing gum
20. ____ Fresh drinking water
21. ____ External, USB attached hard drive
22. ____ One third-party software product of your choice
23. ____ Access to any of your in-house developed code
24. ____ Access to your in-house templates, policies, and procedures
25. ____ Cigarettes and/or beer

Copyright (c)2005 by Donna L. Davis