Planning, Leadership & Change

Antarctic Challenge

All the teamwork issues are here - plus leadership, motivation, planning, delegating, setting objectives, data retrieval EVERYTHING! There isn't a more challenging teamwork activity than working together to get to the South Pole! A project with real information available by written request.


How it works

At the start teams have NO INFORMATION at all and so their first task is to decide what data they actually need in order to plan an expedition to the white continent. Relevant data is stored in a Databank controlled by the Trainer. Datacards are issued when requested but if you don’t ask – you don’t get! Data on sledges, food, clothing, emergency planes, base camp etc are all available and teams need to analyse it quickly and come up with a viable route on the map (assuming they’ve asked for one). They then present their plan to ‘sponsors’ to raise money for the trip.

What it does

This activity covers all aspects of group work including leadership, motivation, sifting information and good planning. Often used for assessment it is also ideal for residential courses where it can be split over several sessions. All the data and information is real which gives the exercise added credibility. Great too for presentation skills.

Shorter version (2.5 hours) By omitting presentations and using a special handout in the pack this activity can be done in a shorter timescale.

Customer feedback

  • We use Antarctic Challenge to allow course members to experience real issues of strategic planning in some depth. with little prior knowledge of the'environment'. for the Trainer, the format is flexible and the powerful image of Antarctica creates a memorable connection to the learning.

    – I. Sasse, EmPower Training, PowerGen UK

  • We love running Antarctic Challenge. We appreciate the level of detail and research behind the exercise.

    – S. McCoy, John Lewis Partnership

  • Antarctic Challenge: fun, challenging and interesting - and run competitively makes it quite exciting.

    – S. Oerton, Soul Partnership