Deir El Medina

Deir El Medina
by Rollin Glaser

Groups often fail to find the solution to solvable problems because team members do not recognize the importance of their role, or they overlook the information that other members possess. Deir el-Medina is an engaging game designed to identify the various roles each team member plays during work processes and demonstrate how each role contributes to the group’s ability to accomplish goals, solve problems, and achieve success.

Overview

Introduction

Deir el-Medina was created in 1994 for TEAMPOWER, one of INNOWISE's most popular multi-day training programs. The context of the original activity was inspired by an exhibit about this fascinating village in the Egyptian collection a The British Museum in London. In 2002, the scenario was completely revised to give it a more upbeat tone. (Please note that certain historical facts about Deir el-Medina were modified for the purposes of the activity.)

Given an interesting scenario and multiple pieces of information, participants are asked to solve a problem within a short time frme. The purpose of the activity is to help teams:

Identify the various roles each person plays during work processes.
Better understand how each role contributes to the team's successful accomplishment of tasks.

Learning Goals

While a variety of learning goals can be accomplished, three important learning goals are:

To experience the various task and interpersonal issues that occur when people undertake a project requiring joint problem solving and decision making.
To increase individual awareness of the impact of one's behavior on productivity and team satisfaction.
To introduce important elements of team roles and responsibilities.

How Deir el-Medina works:

Based on factual records from the Egyptian collection and The British Museum in London, Deir el-Medina asks participants to work together to solve a problem based on a realistic scenario. Each team member is given particular facts that can help solve the team’s problem. Success is determined by how well participants perform their roles in the group and process the information each team member possesses.

In group situations, individuals tend to adopt characteristic roles that can be categorized into three different types: Task Roles, Maintenance Roles, and Self-Oriented Roles. Deir el-Medina explores how the dynamics of these roles impact the group.

Deir el-Medina Learning Outcomes:

Identify the various roles each person plays during work processes.
Understand how each role contributes to overall success of the group.
Experience the various task and interpersonal issues that occur when people undertake a project requiring joint problem solving and decision making.