Building Better Teams: Dynamic Events' Team Training for Government Employees

The Brief

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine contacted Dynamic Events while planning a development day for one of its sections.

The event was booked for 115 people and ultimately took place at Midlands Park Hotel, with 106 participants attending on the day.

The schedule was already busy. The group had a conference session in the morning, followed by a tea break at 11:00 and lunch at 13:00.

That gave us a clear 90-minute window for team training.

We recommended Detour, our facilitator-led business simulation, with Dynamic Events Managing Director Niall O’Connor leading the session.

106 People, 14 Teams and a Change of Room

Our team was due to set up during the group’s morning tea break, ready to begin Detour at 11:30.

When Niall arrived, however, the room allocated for the activity was too small for what we needed.

Rather than trying to force 14 teams into a space that wasn’t going to work, Niall checked the hotel for another option. The Barrow meeting room was available, and after speaking with the hotel, we were given permission to use it.

The hotel team helped us make the change, and we moved the equipment into the new room before the session began. The new room gave us a much better setup for the activity.

Good AV was already available, including a projector, screen, sound system and microphone, which meant Niall could brief and facilitate the full group effectively.

It was a relatively small change behind the scenes, but an important one. When you are running team training for more than 100 people, the room setup has a direct impact on how the session can be delivered.

Running Detour in a 90-Minute Conference Schedule

At 11:30, the 106 participants were divided into 14 teams and Detour began.

Detour is a business simulation rather than a conventional team-building game. Teams work through a series of challenges where circumstances can change and they have to decide how to respond.

A large part of the experience comes from participants having to deal with what happens as the simulation develops.

Niall facilitated the session throughout and finished with a structured debrief, giving the group an opportunity to look back at what had happened during the simulation.

Everything was completed within the 90-minute window, with the session finishing at 13:00 in time for lunch.

What the Client Said Afterwards

The feedback we received after the event said more about how the session landed with the group than any claims we could make ourselves:

“Just want to say thank you so so much for last Thursday. Everyone is complementing Dynamic Events so much. You all got a very tough crowd to loosen up and have fun. I really appreciate it.”

That feedback is particularly useful to us because the organiser described the participants as a “very tough crowd”.

Team Training for Public Sector Groups

This event is also a good example of how a team training session can fit into a wider development day without taking over the entire programme.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had its morning conference content, we used the 90 minutes before lunch for Detour, and the wider development day continued afterwards.

For organisations considering a similar format, the starting point is straightforward. Tell us your group size, venue, available time and what you want the session to focus on. From there, we can advise whether Detour or another of our team training programmes is the right fit.