Like individuals, work groups have their own personalities or interaction styles. These
styles are reflected in the way group members approach a particular task and work together.
Groups can be effective and constructive, or they can be ineffective and defensive.
Used after a real or a simulated exercise the Group Styles Inventory (GSI) assesses how the
group worked together. Startling correlations have been discovered between the GSI results
and the quality of the group’s solutions. Use the Participant Guide to pinpoint dominant
styles and develop improvement strategies.
Team Development
Group Styles Inventory™
Group Styles Inventory™
Group Styles Inventory kit includes …
❖ Group Styles Inventory – This self-scoring inventory consists of 72 items with
a five point response option.
❖ Participant Guide – Includes style interpretations, improvement suggestions
and an action plan for committing to changes.
What GSI measures:
Constructive Teams
❖ work towards
a consensus
❖ generate superior
decisions
❖ enjoy high degrees
of satisfaction
❖ improve group and
individual effectiveness.
❖
❖
❖
❖
Passive Defensive
Teams
less than optimal
solutions
lack of individual
initiative
low levels of
satisfaction
feelings of
frustration
Aggresive Defensive
Teams
❖ individual agendas
vs. group goals
❖ marginal quality
decisions
❖ limited commitment
to the group
❖ impersonal, tensionridden process
22505 Group Styles Inventory Kit ....................................$20.00
GSI Scoring Supplement ........................................................$4.00
GSI Facilitator Materials
General Certification Program
This recommended three-day program will teach you how to de-brief the LSI, STYLUS,
GSI and OCI. You will receive leader’s guides and other facilitation aids as part of your fee.
Please refer to page 25 for more information.
44102 ..........................................................................................$1495.00
GSI Leader’s Guide
This guide assists facilitators in understanding the twelve group styles, interpreting group
results and how to combine the GSI with a simulation to create a dynamic
teambuilding workshop.
22507 ........................................................................................$95.00
GSI PowerPoint® Presentations
A “must” A-V aid for every Group Styles debriefing.
22513 ........................................................................................$150.00
Combine LSI, GSI and OCI PowerPoint® presentations:
99911 ........................................................................................$300.00
Generic Circumplex Flipchart (bilingual - 25 per pad)
Allow groups to draw their profiles to stimulate conversation.
23613 ................................................................................$50.00
11
Team Development
Acumen Team WorkStyles™
Acumen Team WorkStyles (TWS) is a multi-rater feedback
tool for assessing and developing individual teambuilding skills
for members of intact teams. The computer-generated report
will provide individual team members with valuable feedback
on the way they approach tasks and interact with others. By
using TWS, you can effectively improve the collaboration and
synergy of your teams.
Derived from the Life Styles Inventory, TWS uses 94 survey items and provides team
members with feedback along the 12 circumplex styles.
Acumen Team WorkStyles: Self Report
The TWS Self Kit includes …
❖ Paper or online, 94-item inventory
❖ Processing and printing of 15-page Self Report
❖ Team WorkStyles workbook
32111 TWS Self Report ..............................................................$160.00
Acumen Team WorkStyles: 360° Feedback
The TWS Others Kit includes …
❖ Paper or online, 94-item inventories (8 paper inventories or up to
30 online inventories.)
❖ Processing and printing of 24-page report, including a 3-page self profile.
❖ Team WorkStyles workbook
32113 TWS 360° Report. ..................................................$260.00
TWS Related Products
TWS Group Report
Pinpoint each team’s strengths and weaknesses with a group report. This
will encourage group members to concentrate on improving common areas.
32115 TWS Group Report..........................................................$60.00
32117 TWS Workbook ..............................................................$17.00
32119 TWS Leader’s Guide ........................................................$215.00
12
Will Your Teams Survive?
The importance of teamwork and group decision making cannot be understated. This begs the question
– how do your teams stack up? And, will they survive? Or will they flounder or survive?
Don’t wait for fate to take its course. Start now to train your teams how to work together to achieve
common goals. Human Synergistics survival simulations never fail to entertain and develop good
teambuilding skills.
Desert Survival Situation™
After their plane crashes in the desert, participants must rank 15 items in order to secure
the survival of their team. Time required: 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
12401 Participant Booklet ......................................................$7.50
12403 Leader’s Guide ..............................................................$35.00
12405/9 Video Enhancement (VHS or DVD) ..........................$189.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ..........................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ................................$25.00
Desert Survival II Situation™
This more complex Desert II requires participants to identify problems to overcome,
survival strategies, item priorities and item uses. Time required: 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
12411 Participant Booklet ......................................................$7.50
12413 Leader’s Guide ..............................................................$35.00
12415/9 Video Enhancement (VHS or DVD) ..........................$189.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ..........................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ................................$25.00
Improve
Group Decision
making
effectiveness
with GSI
(pg. 11)
13
Can Your Teams Achieve Synergy?
Synergy occurs when the group’s results are superior to every individual’s results. Approximately 25% of all
teams reach this goal. Those teams that do, experience healthy working relationships and experience longterm success.
DON’T BE LEFT OUT IN THE COLD! Teach your teams how to achieve synergy.
Subarctic Survival Situation™
After their plane crashes in the Canadian north, participants must rank 15 items in order to
secure the survival of their team. Time required: 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
12421 Participant Booklet ................................................................$7.50
12423 Leader’s Guide ........................................................................$35.00
12425/9 Video Enhancement (VHS or DVD)....................................$189.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ....................................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ..........................................$25.00
Cascades Survival Situation™
After their helicopter crashes in the Rocky Mountains during a snow storm, participants must
rank 12 items in order to secure the survival of their team. Time required: 1 to 1.5 hours.
12431 Participant Booklet ......................................................$7.50
12433 Leader’s Guide ..............................................................$35.00
12435/9 Video Enhancement (VHS or DVD) ..........................$189.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ..........................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ................................$25.00
14
Can Your Team Stand the Heat?
Time pressures. Crises. Rush orders. Unforeseeable problems. These are all real-world problems that teams
face almost every day. Teams that are well-trained on how to work together stand a much better chance of
dealing with these challenges – even thriving on them.
Practice makes perfect!
Bushfire Survival Situation™
While on vacation in Australia, your team realizes it’s in the path of an on-coming bushfire.
Rank 12 items to determine your chances of survival. Time required: 1.5 to 2 hours.
32421 Participant Booklet ..........................................................$7.50
32423 Leader’s Guide ..................................................................$35.00
32405/9 Video Enhancement (VHS or DVD) ............................$189.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ..............................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ....................................$25.00
Improve
Individual team
building skills
with TWS
(pg. 12)
Jungle Survival Situation™
Your small plane crashes in the Panamanian jungle. You salvage 15 items that might
aid your survival. Rank them to see if you survive. Time required: 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
92401 Participant Booklet ..........................................................$7.50
92403 Leader’s Guide ..................................................................$35.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ..............................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ....................................$25.00
15
Will Your Teams Sink or Swim?
Whether your groups are ad hoc or intact teams, don’t “throw them to the sharks” and see if they
will sink or swim. Take control of their destiny by providing sound training and development.
Remember: Experience is the best teacher – but the tuition is very high. (So use a simulation!)
Reef Survival Situation™
A yacht excursion is threatened as the vessel strikes a coral reef in the South Pacific.
Prioritize the 12 items you have salvaged. Time required: 1.5 to 2 hours.
32411 Participant Booklet ................................................$7.50
32413 Leader’s Guide ........................................................$35.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ....................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ..........................$25.00
Sea Survival Situation™
Your sailing vessel sinks in the Caribbean Sea. You and your shipmates must prioritize
strategy options and then rank the 15 salvaged items. Time required 2 – 3 hours.
92411 Participant Booklet ................................................$7.50
92413 Leader’s Guide ........................................................$35.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ....................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ..........................$25.00
16
Do Your Teams Need a Shake-up?
Has the performance of your teams become stale and lackluster? Are their solutions to problems
conventional and lack creativity? It might be time for a shake up. Use Human Synergistics simulations
to create a training program guaranteed to revitalize your teams.
Help your teams to thrive – not just survive.
Tsunami Survival Situation™
Your group is enjoying a beach party on the coast in Chile, when you receive warning that a
tsunami is approaching. You have 8 items to rank. Time required: 1 to 2 hours.
32431 Participant Booklet ................................................$7.50
32433 Leader’s Guide ........................................................$35.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ....................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ..........................$25.00
Earthquake Survival Situation™
You are working late in the basement of a 10-story office building when a major earthquake hits.
Sequence 12 action steps to survive. Time required: 1 to 2 hours.
92431 Participant Booklet ................................................$7.50
92433 Leader’s Guide ........................................................$35.00
92421 Survival Simulation Observers Guide ....................$7.50
12495 Simulation Scoring Flipchart Pad ..........................$25.00
17
Leadership Simulations
Improve teambuilding and group decision making in your management teams and improve their leadership
skills at the same time. Use these simulations to “kick-off” your workshops or as culminating, “show-us-what
-you’ve-learned” exercise. Either way, these simulations will become the highlight of your meeting.
Creatively improve the learned knowledge, skills and attitudes in your leadership workshops.
Coach™
You have just accepted an invitation to coach a team that has lost five of their first six games in the
current season. Identify the most appropriate approach, goals, selection strategies, training methods,
and team talk objectives from 54 possibilities. Time required: 2.5 - 4 hours.
32421 Participant Booklet ................................................$34.00
32423 Leader’s Guide ........................................................$49.00
Turnaround™
You are a general manager in a large company that has just reassigned you to its failing blue jeans
manufacturing plant. Develop a four-part plan for improving the plant, based on your review of the
plant’s culture, production and financial reports. Time required: 4 – 10 hours.
12481 Participant Booklet ..........................................................$34.00
12483 Leader’s Guide ..................................................................$60.00
Cultural Change Situation™
Your team must present improvement plans for a hypothetical organization. Your analysis is based
on profiles produced by the Organizational Culture Inventory™ and the Organizational Effectiveness
Inventory™.
22411 Participant Booklet ..........................................................$15.00
22413 Leader’s Guide ..................................................................$37.50
22415 PowerPoint® Show of the 7 sets of profiles ....................$75.00
18
The simulations in our Business series provide the “how-to” knowledge your teams need to tackle common,
yet demanding business problems and situations with expertise and confidence. At the same time, they
strengthen the skills and behaviours your teams need to effectively and efficiently solve problems and
make decisions.
Team Development
The Business Simulation Series
Participant Booklet ....................................................................$7.50
Leader’s Guide ............................................................................$35.00
Simulation Flipchart ..................................................................$25.00
Business Simulation Observer’s Guide ........................................$7.50
Simulation
The Situation
The Challenge
Time Req.
Project
Planning
Situation™
Your team has been assigned
responsibility for designing a plan
for managing a secret project.
Sequence 20 activities in
the order they should be
followed in managing the
project.
1.5 - 2.5
hours
Meeting
Effectiveness
Situation™
Increasing turnover rates in most of
your stores requires that you call a
meeting to discuss the problem.
Sequence 20 action steps in
the order they should be followed to maximize the effectiveness of the meeting.
2 - 3 hours
Customer
Complaint
Situation™
A customer approaches you with a
complaint.
Sequence 18 action steps in
the order they should be carried out to maximize service
effectiveness.
1.5 - 2.5
hours
Envisioning a
Culture for
Quality™
A recent survey indicates that your
store rates “average” in service quality
and suggests your problem may be your
store’s corporate culture.
Envision a culture for quality
for your store by ranking the
impact of 24 behavioural
norms on service quality.
2.5 - 3.5
hours
Training Tip
Build a dynamic, highly effective one-day
Teambuilding workshop with:
1. Survival Simulation
2. Group Styles Inventory
3. Team strategy session
4. Business Simulation (with Observers)
5. Observers Feedback
19
Team Development
The Challenge Series of Simulations
The Challenge Series is a collection of dynamic team exercises that focus on improving knowledge and skills
in a variety of complex areas. Although the topics addressed by the simulations are appropriate for a wide
variety of audiences, they are particularly relevant to those who are – or who aspire to move into – higherlevel positions.
Participant Booklet ………………………………………………….. $7.50
Leader’s Guide ……………………………………………………….$40.00
Simulation
20
The Situation
The Challenge
Time Req.
Organizational
Change
Challenge™
Concerns about the stagnating
growth of a home health care supplies
manufacturer require that you outline
a change process for revitalizing the
company.
Sequence 17 activities in
order of implementation
to accomplish organizational
change.
1.5 - 3
hours
Critical Thinking
Challenge™
You work for a growing manufacturer
of high-quality plastic parts and are a
member of one of its continuous
improvement teams.
Develop creative and
workable solutions to five
problems – all of which
are difficult to solve using
traditional approaches.
1.5 - 3
hours
Ethical Decision
Challenge™
You are a member of your hospital’s
Institutional Review Board, which is
responsible for evaluating research
proposals involving human subjects.
Rank 10 research practices
in order of their relative
permissibility or
acceptability.
Constructive
Negotiations
Challenge™
You serve on your organization’s
committee responsible for negotiating
agreements and contracts with
prospective partners.
Sequence 17 negotiation
activities in order of
implementation.
1.5 - 3
hours
Strategic Planning
Challenge™
You are the manager of a business
unit and must develop a strategic plan
that is consistent with the mission and
philosophy of the organization.
Sequence 18 critical strategic
planning activities to achieve
a set of integrated plans.
1.5 - 3
hours
Performance
Management
Challenge™
You are responsible for developing
new performance management
guidelines and procedures that
will be implemented throughout
the organization.
Sequence 20 performance
management activities to
improve performance.
1.5 - 3
hours
Project
Management
Challenge™
You are a project manager and
must outline a standard process
for managing projects within your
organization.
Sequence 24 typical project
management activities to
maximize the effectiveness
of the project management
process.
1.5 - 3
hours
2–4
hours