The Doll House Experience for Team Building

Build a Doll House Philanthropic Team Building
to Fine-tune Your Team's Sales & Marketing Skills

The Doll House Experience merges our Inc. Inc.: Breaking Down Silos and You're the Boss: Apprentice Team Building Simulation to create a truly unique experience. It involves and Apprentice style project with an actual client and a debriefing in "the boardroom". This business simulation creates a parallel universe that mirrors and reflects your organization's realities. The goal is to give your team an opportunity to:

• break down silos
• work with members of other teams
• enhance cross-functional teamwork and communication
• hone their sales and marketing skills and strategies
• Identify strategies to reduce red tape and duplication of effort.
• Reduce friction and "turf wars" between organizational levels and departments.
• Forge stronger alliances and build stronger links between geographically dispersed teams.
• experience and gain an understanding of departments, functions and organizational levels that are different from their usual roles

Please note that dollhouse assembly is NOT a low budget team building option. Each doll house will cost about $650 - $750 to assemble, decorate, and furnish. We can have a team of 15 people work on each dollhouse and assemble furniture for it. The other participants will be involved in marketing and selling the dollhouses. Their projects will include creation of a brochure, development and filming a TV commercial and making a sales presentation to an actual client.

We will require 1 coach per doll house. As a business simulation, we recommend 1 business facilitator per doll house factory (30 - 35 people).

If you don't have the budget for dollhouses, we can do this same simulation using toys:

The Toy Factory

In this cost effective version of the simulation, teams can be involved in assembling:

• toy workbenches (about $50 per work bench)
• scooters ($50, $80, $130, or $200 each)
• remote control cars (range from $40 - $225 each)
• toy kitchens (about $150 each)
• Christmas shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child to be distributed to children from underprivileged and war torn countries (very cost effective option)
• Gingerbread Houses $ 12.00 each (March, April, November & December only)

We strongly recommend that you devote at least 1 1/2 days to The Doll House for a thorough debrief and to give your group ample opportunity to return to their intact teams and bridge between the simulation and your real world business challenges.

The 1 1/2 - 2 day version of this team building session will give us an opportunity to guide your team through decision making, strategy formulation and implementation planning.

Another option would be to have a half day planning and strategy session a week before the day on which the doll houses will be built and sold.

Approach

Business Simulation

We will divide your group into at least 2 dollhouse and dollhouse furniture manufacturing companies (or toy manufacuturing companies in the Toy Factory version). Your team will run the dollhouse companies for about 5 - 6 hours (not including lunch). They will run the toy factories for about half a day. Then, we will debrief your experience using an Apprentice style boardroom to glean key learnings about working in a cross functional environment, the importance of operating as a cohesive unit, and overcoming the silo mentality.

After a brief recruitment and orientation session, participants will begin to operate at least 2 companies, competitors in the same market. Each company's role is to manufacture, market and sell doll houses.

Scenario:

There are several approaches to the sales task.

• We can select a specific charitable organization that will receive the doll houses.
  Representatives from that organization can play the role of corporate client. The sales teams will design and develop a customized presentation for the client. During the presentation, they will also use the brochures and collateral developed by the marketing team. "The client" will select the winning team.
  
  
• In advance, licenses and stalls can be obtained so that the sale can take place at a local market.
  The role of each marketing team will be to create a buzz and draw in as many customers as possible so that the sales team can sell the dollhouses. The company that raises the most money for charity through the sale of the dollhouses wins. All funds raised and doll houses that are not sold will be donated to a local charity for children.
  
  
• Another strategy could be for the teams to to sell raffle tickets for the doll houses and raise money for charity.
  
  

For Team Recreation

For a recreational option, the doll house assembly can be done in and evening plus a half day or a 5 1/2 hour session divided in half by lunch to allow sufficient time for the glue and paint to dry.

This session does require some logistics so we strongly recommend that you book it at least 6 weeks prior to the date of your team building session.

Pre Session Logistics:

A Few Weeks Prior to the Session
Participant Profiles and Learning Styles Inventories will be used to assist with planning and team formation. Some of the questions will help us identify which participants are familiar with some of the tools we will be using, which individuals possess video equipment and digital cameras and which individuals are proficient in Powerpoint. We will ensure that we spread the individuals with the required skills out between the companies. Participants will receive communication about the purpose of the simulation, organizational charts and floor plans, their position, role and responsibilities within the simulation.

The Day Before the Session
Facilitators will set up the large meeting room and one of the breakout rooms to be used as a company the day prior to the session. It is also highly recommended that we set up the area the day prior to the session and hold a 2 hour briefing session with the individuals who will be playing the role of team leaders in the simulation. The facilitators will set up the other rooms the night before the session.

3 - 4 Organizational Levels

• Chief Team Leader(1)
• Team Leaders (4)
• Manufacturing Team Supervisors
  (for Large Groups Only)
• Team Members

4 Teams

• Manufacturing (14)
• Sales (5)
• Marketing (5)
• Corporate Communication (6)

Role Descriptions
and Task Assignments:

Manufacturing Team
The manufacturing team will assemble, decorate and test the product (1 fully furnished doll house per company). There will be a QC inspection by a specialist in miniature building. The testing could also consist of a brief relay and obstacle course.

Marketing Teams
The marketing teams will design and implement a marketing strategy to create a buzz and generate interest by prospective customers.
(You will develop a TV commercial that will be shot and used in both the sales presentation to select a winner and the final boardroom when the presentation specialists are re-capping the Company’s strategy).

Skill and Equipment Required: The marketing team members should be proficient in the use of Powerpont and have one or two lap tops.

Sales Team
The sales team will prepare a sales presentation, set up the sales display and be the primary force to sell the doll houses. (The Marketing team will develop a TV commercial and other marketing communication pieces for prospective client.)

Corporate Communications Team
This team consists of:

• Presentation Specialists
  Presentation specialists will stay at the venue and develop a 5-minute presentation that provides an overview of the each company’s strategy, strengths, challenges, and results.
  
  Skill and Equipment Required:The presentation specialists must be proficient in the use of Powerpoint and must have their own laptops that they can bring to the location.
  
  
• Videographers
  Videographers will be assigned to each area of the company to capture the experience on video and take still photos. They will have an opportunity to edit to their footage and create a 2 - 3 minute montage for use in conjunction with the company presentations.
  
  Skills and Equipment Required: Great care should be taken to select people with their own camera equipment and editing skills for the videographer roles.

PROPOSED AGENDA

Day 1

AM

Pre-briefing of Team Leaders

Afternoon or Evening

Orientation

Team Briefing Sessions

Manufacturing & 1st Strategy Sessions (1 1/2 - 2 Hours)

• Manufacturing Teams Assemble and Decorate the Doll Houses and Doll House Furniture
• Marketing Teams Design the Marketing Strategy, Print Brochures and Market Dollhouse Sale
• Sales Team Prepares the Sales Presentations and Sets up Stall or Presentation Room
• Corporate Communication Team Prepares Presentation to Describe Company Strategy and Capture Highlights of the Day

Day 2

AM

Breakfast

Manufacturing & 2nd Strategy Sessions (3 Hours)

Lunch

PM

Sales & Marketing Challenges (1 Hour)

Final Preparation for Boardroom (1 Hour)

The Boardroom (1 - 2 Hours)

• Company Presentations
• Video Highlights
• Discussion of Team Strategy and Lessons Learned
• Announcement of Results and Winner

Day 3

• Application Exercises Focusing on Your Company's Business Challenges

Estimated Cost

How much will it cost?

For Team Recration:

• $150 Per Person (60 People)
• $175 Per Person (45 People)
• $225 Per Person (30 People)

As a Business Simulation:

• $175 Per Person (60 People)
• $200 Per Person (50 People)
• $250 Per Person (30 People)
  - Will require an additional half day for 30 people

To help you plan your corporate team building session, please check out:

Our Corporate Team Building Primer

Spice of the Month: Accelerated Learning Ezine

Due to the complex logistics involved in pulling this session together and the lead time required to order toys, dollhouses and furniture kits, we STRONGLY recommend that you book it at least 2 months in advance.

Our payment terms are 50% at the time of booking and the balance 1 calendar month prior to the session.

If this session is booked less than 6 weeks in advance, there will be a 15% late booking surcharge due to the compressed timeframe for logistics and to order supplies. NO EXCEPTIONS.

To describe your requirements and find out how we can help you achieve your objectives, please submit the Booking Request Form that you can access through the Book Services tabs or links.

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