Navigate The Minefield: Improve Communication & Collaboration

The “minefield” game is a popular team building exercise used by many organizations and training programs.

Minefield game activities for team workshops provide an interactive way for team members to improve communication, collaboration, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Why Use the Minefield Game for Team Training

There are several key benefits to using the minefield game for team training:

• Improves communication: Team members must clearly communicate directions and instructions to safely navigate through the minefield. This builds communication skills like active listening, questioning, and feedback skills.
• Develops collaboration: Participants must work together, listen to input from all members, and find consensus to succeed. This fosters cooperation.
• Enhances problem-solving: The team must strategize to find the best path through the minefield. This promotes creative thinking, analysis, and planning.

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• Builds trust: Participants rely on and support each other through the challenges. This strengthens relationships and trust between members. We hear this from customers that regularly use of our training courses.
• Provides a shared experience: Going through the activity together gives the team a shared experience to debrief and learn from. This builds connections.

How to Run the Minefield Team Activity

To run a successful a blindfold minefield activity for team building workshops, you need the following:

Resources Needed:

• Open space (indoor or outdoor)
• Objects to represent mines (cones, cardboard boxes, etc.)
• Blindfolds for each participant
• Stopwatch or timer

Set-up:

1. Use cones, boxes, or other objects to set up a “minefield” in the space. Place mines randomly throughout the area.
2. Have the team gather at the starting point on one end. Choose 1-2 members to be blindfolded to begin.

Instructions:

1. The blindfolded team members must navigate through the minefield relying only on verbal instructions from teammates.
2. Teammates must guide them through safely without hitting any “mines.” Teammates can give any directions except physically guiding them.
3. Once they reach the other end, the next pair of blindfolded participants goes. Continue until all have gone through.
4. Time each pair and try to improve times with each round. Teams can go multiple times to lower times.
5. Have the team debrief on communication, collaboration, and problem-solving after the activity.

Variations

There are many variations of the blindfold minefield activities for team workshops:

• Have participants go in pairs or threesomes instead of individually.
• Blindfold all but 1-2 members who guide the whole group at once.
• Have participants wear noise-canceling headphones so they can’t hear verbal directions. Teammates must use touch signals.
• Use pool noodles to simulate the “mines” that participants must avoid touching.
• Set up multiple minefields and have teams compete for the fastest time.
• Create a more complex path with multiple turns that must be navigated.
• Allow teammates to give only limited instructions (e.g. left, right, forward, back).
• Have blindfolded participants carry an object through without dropping it.
• Blindfold teammates also and have them direct a participant by only using verbal commands.
• Set up mines so there is only one safe path through to follow.
• Time the activity and challenge the team to improve their time with each round.

The minefield game is an engaging and rewarding team building challenge that develops key skills like communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.

With some creativity, it can be adapted in many ways for productive team training sessions.

The shared experience provides fodder for rich discussion and learning.

Catherine Fitzgerald B.A. M.A. PGDip( Founder )

With 30+ years of training experience, I founded Oak Innovation (oakinnovation.com) in 1995. I help busy training professionals and business managers deliver better training courses in less time by giving them instant access to editable training course material. I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from University College Cork. I hold qualifications in Professional Development And Training from University College Galway. Clients include Apple, Time Warner, and Harvard University.