Crime Squad Business Game

Teams act as a police squad investigating a complex murder case. By analysing evidence, questioning assumptions and working collaboratively, they must identify the guilty party from a number of possible suspects.

Most teams make the assumption that they all have the same information, but if they use effective communication skills, they will realise this is not the case.

Only by sharing all the information each team member has gathered and using good planning skills can the facts be identified from the “red herrings.”

Even armed with all the information, the offender will only be identified by effective problem solving strategies, methodical planning and collaborative teamwork.

Effective teams will identify the offender, but inferior teams will arrest the wrong suspect!

• See the benefits of working together to solve the problem that faces them
• Appreciate important communication skills of listening and questioning
• Realise the need for planning methodically
• Use problem solving skills
• Practise analysis skills
• See the benefits of teamwork to solve the problems that they face
• Value inclusion and the importance of addressing silo-thinking
• Have made effective decisions
• Recognise leadership skills
• Understand the importance of co-operation and teamwork.

“It is a pleasure to use the game. My clients are more than happy (and sometimes frustrated) by the end of the exercise. They all comment that they enjoyed working through it. Here are some interesting points I have noticed about running the game:

• I think this game could be an interesting one to use for Team Planning. It is interesting to observe that once teams discover that they have different information they do not consider how they could best solve the problem i.e. They do not plan. This is also related to team effectiveness.
• I like the idea of the Blank Solution sheet. I sometimes give it quietly to one person on a team. At times it is incredible to watch as one person simply looks at the paper and then discredits it without sharing information with other participants.
• I have noticed that the time you assign for the exercise determines how quickly teams work towards the solution. Some teams I give only an hour. Other teams I give 1.5 hours. Irrespective of the time it is quite interesting to observe how teams work to find the murderer and forget about the last 2 questions. This emphasizes the importance of clarifying the objective upfront with fellow team members.”

Chris Colaço – Initiate

• Crime Squad Business Game PDF
• Business Games Brochure
• Course Brochure
• Team Building Brochure

“Very good. All the people in the team had an input and you slowly get to know them better as individuals.” A. Whitehead – Veterinary Business Development

“Good exercise which showed interesting aspects!”
J. Bushnell – Kent Police

“Very useful team building exercise. Enabled one to understand how others think and was a valuable lesson in listening skills.”  T. Thornton – Veterinary Business Development

• The licence for a game purchased covers 3 to 28 participants playing at a time; up to 4 teams of 3-7. We recommend one trainer per game.
• Additional licences are required to play more than one game at a time: Two games are required for 29-56 participants, three games for 57-84 participants, etc.
• There’s no restriction on the number of times you can use our games.
• Also available to play remotely.