Team Spirit- Interactive Simulation

Team Spirit is an interactive learning simulation that challenges participants to collaborate, communicate and enhance group dynamics as teams work to solve a fictional but realistic problem.  This experiential exercise clearly demonstrates that it takes many different talents to achieve a team goal.

Team Spirit also shows how formal and informal leardership styles can influence a team's performance.  As with any group based learning activity, Team Spirit serves as a vehicle to generate candid dialogue and offers groups the chance to build on best practices in team effectiveness.  While solving the simulation puzzle through a structured group and group wide debriefing process, participants will:

• reflect on various group and leader dynamics occuring during the process
• explore how these dynamics apply to their everyday work or educational environments
• identify enhanced strengths that support their roles as team members or leaders and consider which ones they will adopt at work

Team Spirit has been developed by Charles Petranek and Randy Hollandsworth and has proven effective with a wide range of teams from many different organizations.   Charles Petranek , PH.D., is a professor of sociology at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.  He has earned the Teacher of the Year Award twice and the Distinguished Professor once.  Randy Hollandsworth, PH.D., is an instructor and program director for Athens Technical College, Athens, Georgia in management and supervisory development.  In addition, he managed e-learning for American Freightways,Inc. ( Fed Ex Freight East)  He has also served as director for the Center for Leadership and Professional Development for Radford University, Radford, Virginia.