Duration: 1.5 hours

Participants: 3-24 (1, 2, 3 or 4 teams of 3-6 people per team)

Who: Staff at any level

PC required: None

Factsheet: 5-Steps to Good Decisions!  (click to download)

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Demonstrates the importance of a structutred approach to decision-making and allows you to assess a number of other workplace skills such a teamworking and budgeting.

As Local Pollution Officers teams must protect a stretch of African coastline in the event of an oil spill at sea.  Tankers passing close to the shore are a constant threat to the environment and the livelihood of the local community. With a budget is $30,000 teams make contingencies to deal with the possibility of a 1000 barrel spill.  As yet there is no oil spill but afterteams have made their decisions news breaks of a spill and the success of their contingencies is put to the test.

A Team Brief explains the task and gives basic information and a sketch map showing critical areas such as fishing grounds, beaches, lagoons etc. But further information: the methods for dealing with oil on the sea, the effect of the weather etc must be obtained from a Data Bank (of just eight Data Cards). Teams need of course to ask the right questions and be prepared to pay (out of their budget).  And the Data Bank opens only intermittently so teams need to be well prepared before ‘opening time’.

Once teams have all the data they review alternatives, make final decisions, allocate budget. They then submit their contingency plans on an Anti-Pollution Planning Form.

At this point teams receive news of an actual spill at sea - and their plans are put to the test. Working through an Incident Response Form exposes to teams how well their plans cope with the actual incident.

A discussion and debrief follows where the whole group can discuss performance, air views and list the learning points (all covered in the Trainer’s Notes). Finally scores are announced.

Highly motivating, fun, lots of learning!