Desert Survival: Team Building
Video Animation
Tool(s): Adobe Premiere Pro, Envato
Development Time: 5 hours
Role: Multimedia Designer, Video Editor
Client: Health insurance organization
Challenge
The Senior Vice President of a team consisting of over 250 associates wanted to foster stronger collaboration and improve problem-solving and prioritization skills within his team. Given the team’s busy schedules and limited opportunities for bonding, the challenge was to create an engaging, interactive team-building experience that would also offer practical insights into teamwork and decision-making under pressure.
Solution
I developed the Desert Survival activity, where participants were first presented with a video I created (shown above), depicting a plane crash and the resulting survival scenario. Associates were tasked with individually prioritizing a list of 15 survival items, then collaborating as a team to do the same. Their rankings were submitted via Survey Monkey, and transferred to an Excel sheet with a formula to automatically score their responses based on the accuracy.
This activity included a workbook to guide participants through the process, which also connected the scenario to real-world team dynamics. The workbook (below) featured a Value vs Effort Framework for prioritizing tasks, as well as a section on navigating team-based problem-solving. A reflective discussion was led, focusing on how the strategies used during the activity could be applied to their everyday work.
Results
At the end of the session, participants completed a digital survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the Desert Survival activity and assess whether the learning objectives were met.
Participants found the session to be a valuable use of their time, with many noting a stronger sense of connection to their teammates and increased appreciation for group collaboration. Several participants shared that the exercise helped them reflect on how they approach prioritization and decision-making.
The Senior Vice President shared that he thought the session was well done and appreciated the balance of fun, interaction, and practical relevance.
Workbook
Due to the proprietary and confidential nature of the workbook created for this project, it is not available for public viewing. However, I’m happy to provide a walkthrough or share excerpts upon request.