1
THE FAMILY BUSINESS GAME
FACILITATOR GUIDE
OBJECTIVE
1. To look at what happens in and between family groups when they work on an
interdependent task that is ill-defined.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Divide group into an even number of groups of 2-5 members. (3 teams of 4; 1 team of 3).
An easy way to do this is to have all the students count-off 1 through X – X being the
Give them the role options available from The Family Business Game worksheet and have them
select a ROLE/NAME for their group.
Write team name on chart pad after group(s) have identified themselves (as follows):
Name
1
Name
2
Name
3
Name
4
Name
5
Name
6
2. Then read through sheet marked “Points.” When you reach the end of the second
sentence in 2, “…..are interdependent,” stop and say, “For this exercise Name 1 (from
chart pad) is interdependent with Name 2, Name 3 with 4, and Name 5 with 6 (if there are
6 teams), etc.
Then read sheet labeled “Rules.” Give them copies of only Points, Rules and Tally Sheets.
(Negotiation Instructions will be passed out later.)
At completion of reading Rules sheet out loud, send teams (with even numbers) to locations
outside the main room. Turn your chart pad away from the group and fill out as follows:
3. Once the groups submit their first vote (Round 1), take the ballots from the courier and
record the vote in the upper left triangle under the Team’s name in row (Round 1). Then
4. Accept ballots for Round 2 and total Round 1 and 2 in the lower right triangle under the
5. While one facilitator posts the scores on the chart pad, a student observer who has
6. Proceed down to end of Round 5 and then give the courier copies of “Instruction for
Negotiations.” Read it with them and tell them the meeting will be held in the main room
in five minutes. (All the teams that were seated outside the main room will rejoin all their
classmates in the main room to view their representative carry out the negotiations.
Negotiations will take place in a “fishbowl”. In other words, each of the interdependent group
pair representatives will negotiate in front of the others. You may want to have multiple
7. PROCESS—Turn chart pad with new empty sheet to face entire class group. Have
individuals and groups openly discuss what they thought this exercise was about, what it
reminded them of, and what may be lessons from it for them.
Post on the chart paper any key words you hear, i.e., trust, competition, win-lose, cooperation.
8. Comments that you, the Facilitator may wish to share with participants include:
• There were no tricks here. But several things contributed to making it hard for
• The 3 possible approaches were:
1. Win-Win: Both interdependent teams win. If that approach had been followed, each
team could have scored +55 points for a total for both teams of +110 points. This is
called VALUE CREATION.
2. Win-Lose: One interdependent team won, the other one lost. Notice that the dynamics
for win-lose are often established early, in the absence of clear and shared goals and
information/communication. The first YES/NO or NO/NO gave rise to this pattern.
3. Lose-Lose: Both interdependent teams lose. Most teams end up here after having
started to have a win-lose relationship in earlier rounds. But win-lose relationships are
not stable because the losers want to make the winners “pay”. Paradoxically, this is a