This simulation was originally produced by Betty Gardner for a healthcare client struggling with issues of resource use and service availability in a hospital's emergency, surgical and critical care departments. Your team's job is to keep service quality high as well as control the financial impact of that increased demand. While Friday Night at the ER is based on health care, it offers valuable lessons on systems thinking and total quality for professionals in any service industry. The maze is a highly-motivating and fun learning device. It consists of a grid and a control module.
Some squares have a pressure-sensitive switch.
If some steps on an activated square, an alarm sounds. The maze can be used for training, teambuilding and testing. Training activities help participants learn interpersonal principles and procedures. In this action-learning exercise, participants actually experience abstract concepts like leadership, trust, synergy, empowerment, and dependency. Teambuilding activities improve the performance, productivity, and cohesiveness of the team.