"Island Castaways: Ranking the Survival Skills of Office Teams"


Imagine you and your entire office crew are suddenly marooned on a remote island, facing the ultimate test of workplace synergy. It's like a corporate version of "Lord of the Flies"! With different teams, each with its unique strengths and skills, the challenge of survival becomes a thrilling adventure.

Let's delve into this exciting island scenario and rank the survival skills of various office teams as they tackle the challenges of their new environment and eventually escape the island.

12) DevOps: The Island Innovators

DevOps comes in last, not because they lack survival skills, but because they're missing their usual tech gadgets. However, their problem-solving, adaptability, and resourcefulness shine through. Without their usual tools and scripts, they might initially seem out of place, but their ability to create systems and processes can significantly improve their chances of survival. Although, let's be honest, what can they deploy without their gadgets?

11) Facilities: Building the Bamboo Empire

Facilities take on the role of architects, crafting luxurious huts and ergonomic office chairs from driftwood, ensuring everyone's comfort. They become the go-to team for essential resources like food, wood, and weaponry. In fact, they might never want to leave the island, finding fulfilment in providing for everyone else.

10) Health & Safety: Keeping It Safe

Safety becomes the top priority for this team. Daily safety drills are a must, especially when campfires are lit, and they meticulously check the safety of fruits and berries. Safety equipment and precautions are designed to support the survival of all teams. Escaping the island is not a priority, given the risks involved.

9) Database Admin: Data-driven Survival

In the absence of computers, this team maintains intricate spreadsheets using stones and sand. They record data on cave walls and analyze coconut yields per square foot, making them indispensable for island organization. However, their role in escaping the island is limited without their tools.

8) Sales: The Negotiators

These skilled negotiators set up campsite shops and trade with island natives for essentials like pearl necklaces and rare stones. While their sourcing skills might be questionable, their ability to secure vital resources is impressive. The materials they gain could undermine any desire to escape.

7) Project Management: Keeping Everyone on Track

Project management conducts regular campsite meetings to track progress on tasks such as hunting for food and building shelters. They firmly believe that meticulous planning is the key to the survival of the entire island community. However, the completion of projects, especially those involving building an escape raft, remains uncertain.

6) Service Desk: IT Support Island Resources

Surprisingly, the service desk analysts continue to provide technical support, even in the absence of computers. If your coconut mug breaks, just log a request, and they'll fix it ASAP. However, with the volume of incidents on the island, they are too busy to consider escaping.

5) Change Management: Adapting to Island Life

Change management is cautious and requires change forms filled out in the sand. They organize weekly Change Advisory Board meetings to authorize any changes to rules and policies, ensuring that adaptations are made with care. They'll never allow a risky coconut raft escape plan.

4) Senior Management: Delegating Survival

Senior management conducts frequent board meetings on palm trees and delegates survival tasks to others while secretly plotting their escape on a palm frond yacht. It's safe to say that only senior management will be leaving the island but without the rest of the office workers.

3) Development: Code Wizards Turned Survivalists

This team dedicates most of their time to developing an escape raft, although perfecting it might take years. Their survival depends on the success of this craft, but completing it and ensuring it doesn't sink are daunting challenges.

2) Problem Management: Identifying all Island Problems

The problem management team keeps a detailed log of all outstanding issues and prioritizes them for resolution. While they don't directly fix problems, they excel at delegating and following up. They rank second because they have the opportunity to resolve many of the islanders' problems and provide some hope of escape.

1) HR: Keeping Island Harmony

HR's role is to ensure everyone is happy, productive, and compliant with HR policy. They implement a strict disciplinary system, offer questionnaires, mindfulness workshops, and a fair system of pay. They oversee the recruitment and integration of island natives, creating more productivity and ensuring the raft will be built as a result of everyone coming together. HR truly leads the way to survival on this island adventure.