FAQ & GENERAL INFORMATION

• small groups working round a table
• activity duration of 55min - 3hours
• being debriefed to maximise learning
• smart groups who would respond well to cerebral challenge.
• purchasing single use or multiple use, with or without a facilitator.
• providing practical experience of managing ambiguity, uncertainty, collaboration and agile thinking.
• when minimal set up and preparation involved.
• being run anywhere (with table and charting space).
• being printed off or having delivered ready for use
• first timers as all instructions are included in single use.
• those wanting set up guidance and ongoing support for multiple use purchasers.

Most of the activities are designed for groups of 6-10 people. One activity, Rum Baba, is specifically designed for larger groups of 12 - 20. It can be run on its own or following on from a small group activity experience.

There is nearly always flexibility with numbers e.g. Taco works with smaller numbers. Call to discuss your particular requirements.

A lot - personal and shared learning. Every group we’ve ever encountered has really enjoyed the activity, despite often being driven to distraction at the uncertainty and ambiguity! Full engagement at this emotional and cerebral level means learning can be deeply felt and taken away.

For groups of people looking to develop their careers, a safe experience of working through uncertainty and ambiguity highlights the skills and behaviours needed to ensure performance can be sustained in demanding and unknown situations.

For individuals used to working on their own, and initially feeling overwhelmed, it can be a potent opportunity to find working with others offers valuable insights into problems as well as recognising how best to manage themselves and input their own contributions.

For teams new to responsibility, working together through a contained task where the only expertise is how people think and work together, can release new confidence and trust that the team can face challenges together, work collaboratively and with success.

Activities can be bought one off use for a single group, at £400 - £1200, depending on the activity selected. This is a Single Use licence. Extra groups running in parallel are charged an extra £35 - £55 per group.

Multiple Use Licenses are usually based on a figure of 6.5 or 10.5 times the Single Use price paid. Hence a rollout of over 7 programmes might be more cost effective if you have in house administrative support to set up the activity.

Alternatively, as a training company or consultancy, you may be looking to expand your range of activities to draw on when designing programmes for your clients, and decide Multiple Use is a good investment to expand your resources.

Get in touch so that you can let us know what you are looking for. Initial conversations can be months ahead or just a week from the event.

When know you want to proceed, we will need information from you that is integrated into the materials - name of your group, training venue, as well as purchase order number, dates and delivery address. The information is recorded on an electronic booking form and emailed for you to sign, confirming the information and agreeing Ts & Cs.

Allow up to 4 days from our receipt of the confirmed booking to delivery.

They are more cerebral and complex and best suited to groups looking for a mental challenge.

They are all unstructured. There is no task or objective: no ”your task is….to build….design….produce etc.” In a Braintoffee activity, groups are thrust into a scenario where they are aware that something needs sorting out, but they still have to work together to articulate the problem, by making sense of the material and data in front of them. The process is not linear or logical so requires collaboration and all hands (and minds!) on deck. Once the problem is identified, the group can begin to resolve the scenario.

No, not really. First of all, there is no role playing. Secondly, murder mysteries often rely on information being retained by one or more individuals, which also takes them out of the group process.

In a Braintoffee activity, all the information is accessible to everyone. No roles.

Up to you, but we can help. The most straightforward format is to ask groups how they felt during the activity and what they did as a response, again throughout the activity.

The activities generate a lot of material and learning can be linked to many different concepts, particularly those concerned with managing self and others in challenging times, adaptive learning and leadership.

Typically there would be both individual and group learning to take away. Don’t be surprised if discussions over run!

Please get in touch if you think it might be useful to discuss your plans.

Not much! Included instructions tell you that you need to ensure that the activity envelopes are in the right location before the start, usually left at a reception desk or similar for the group to collect. The activity is started by the facilitator handing over an envelope, or two, to the group, and ends with the group submitting their answer on a form to reception.

There are instructions for handling the answer (as there is a choice of two endings) to give to the group as feedback on the task - great to do over the coffee break. In between the start and finish times the facilitator is free to observe the group.

There is more information to read, the storyline for example, if you want to, but it makes no difference to the group’s experience whether you do or not!

Yes and No! In process terms the amount of learning generated is high, so yes. And no, because often teams fail the task/and/or run out of time.

Probably about 50% of teams get the correct resolution, other teams flounder in uncertainty and don’t leave themselves enough time to analyse the data for a solution, or have enough clarity to mobilise the whole team towards the solution.

Everything needed for the group and more than enough information about the activity for the facilitator.

All the group materials tailored to your event, distributed in 3-5 envelopes depending on the activity. Two of the activities include a ‘prop’  - a framed picture, and a document bag with key fob.

Each pack will also contain information for the facilitator - instructions and what to expect, the story of the scenario, and sometimes workings out or analysis. Only the instructions are crucial, but we’ve heard that some facilitators out there enjoy getting to know more about the whole scenario.

Not fixed! Timings are built into the activity e.g “90 mins from receipt” so the facilitator can decide when start the activity. Sometimes being driven by the timetable doesn’t help some groups, and then things like lunch overrunning happen so this isn’t a problem with a Braintoffee activity.

The duration of the activity can be changed at set up. The suggested times work well, but if you have group that needs more or less time, this is easily accommodated - and we’re happy to talk it over with you if that would help.

All the information required is on paper. Groups that do access the internet will find corroborating though not useful data as the activities are researched and well embedded in historical time frames. Usually more information just complicates the group’s process!

The activities also work well for those programmes and workshops where phones and devices are placed in a creche as they are very immersive and engaging.