Forest of Time

About Forest of Time™

Forest of Time™ is an innovative approach to project management and time management training using a practical and motivational board game. Forest of Time™ moves beyond the traditional classroom learning experience enabling participants to become immersed in applying teambuilding and project management skills. Forest of Time™ can be used as a stand alone learning event or as part of a larger program.

Participating in Forest of Time™ will allow participants to demonstrate:

Time management and project management skills through planning, organizing and managing a critical project
Communication skills through the sharing and assimilation of project information
Teambuilding, identifying the barriers to effective teamwork and characteristics of high performing teams
Different leadership styles and how to apply these to changing situations
How their personal style impacts the way they interact and influence others

“This was a great tool, I really enjoyed Forest of Time, it was nothing like what I expected and a really nice change of pace. I didn’t expect so much learning to come out of the box!” – VP HR, Healthcare Organization

The Mission

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to save the villagers of Yoves Falls, who are dying at a rate of five people per day as a result of a polluted water supply. You will need to plan the most effective route through the forest, collecting ingredients to make a life saving potion along the way. The quicker you complete your mission the more people you will save. It will not be easy!

There are two main phases within the activity.

Phase 1: Planning your approach – You and your team will need to process the information provided and work out your route, providing a project plan including your estimated time to completion and the anticipated number of villagers who will be saved.
Phase 2: Execute the plan – As you move your characters across the map you will monitor your actual progress against your plan, adjusting your approach as new information comes to light and events unfold.

NB: If the game is being used for Project Management, part of the planning phase will include building a ‘Terms of Reference’ and a ‘Project Plan’. The plan may include ‘A Work Breakdown Structure’, ‘Gantt Charts’, ‘Critical Path’ etc…

“Forest of Time was a fantastic exercise in project management and team building. I could see us using this in a number of different ways within our company.” – VP HR, Technology Organization

The Process

Forest of Time™ can be run with individual or multiple teams. The team (or teams) are given a large map of an imaginary forest. They are also provided with key information that needs to be reviewed carefully before building the plan of action. This planning phase will help the team to identify their mission and critical milestones and dependencies along the way. The team will need to:

Highlight and prioritize tasks
Allocate tasks effectively within the team to leverage the skills of each team members
Update the plan, the team members and re-adjust the team priorities, as situations change.

We believe all training should be practical, fun and motivational and Forest of Time is guaranteed to breathe extra life and enjoyment into your training session.

“Forest of Time is a great tool for developing project management skills, it is just like real life (though with more trolls and mushrooms!). We can’t wait to use this with our teams.” – Project Managers, Global Publishing Company