Bank Robbery: Information Sharing Mystery

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Synthesize distributed spoken clues into an organized logic grid to deduce a single verifiable solution.

Use it when: Use during communication or problem-solving sessions when a team needs to practice synthesizing scattered, individual facts into a shared operational picture.

Skip it when: Skip when the group cannot sustain prolonged verbal listening, or when quiet individual reflection is needed instead of collaborative logic deduction.

Group arrangement: Single group of 8 to 12 participants seated in a circle or around a shared table.

Timing: Playmeo lists 20 to 30 minutes; UWT expands to 35 minutes to allow sufficient time for 8 to 12 participants to share and deduce all 24 clues.

Materials and tools

• One set of 24 printed clue cards, cut into individual slips
• One blank comparison grid worksheet for every participant or subgroup
• Scratch paper and pens for all participants
• One printed copy of the facilitator-only answer key

Before participants arrive

1. Print the 24 clue slips from participant materials and cut them into separate cards.
2. Print blank comparison grids for participants and place scratch paper and pens on the table.
3. Keep the facilitator answer key concealed.
4. Arrange seating in a single circle so everyone can hear spoken clues clearly.

Say this to open

A fictional bank simulation just took place. Four visitors arrived at staggered times, each carrying a different colored pouch, using a different locker, and leaving through a different door. During one visit, a training token was taken and placed into that visitor's locker. All clue statements are true. You will each receive two or three clues. You may read your clues out loud as often as needed, but you must keep your slips face down and never show them to anyone else. Your job is to determine who took the token, what time they arrived, which pouch they carried, which door they used, and which locker held the token.

How to run it

1. Brief the simulation and distribute cards 4 minutes

   Deliver the opening script. Deal all 24 clue cards across the group so each person receives 2 or 3 cards. Distribute blank comparison grids and scratch paper. Emphasize that no clue is false, nobody is accused of real misconduct, and cards must remain face down without showing the printed text to others.

2. Share clues and establish initial timeline 11 minutes

   Invite participants to read their cards aloud. Suggest that someone track arrival times and visitor names on scratch paper or the grid. Allow participants to ask for clues to be repeated as often as necessary. Keep cards in the hands of their assigned holders without showing them.

3. Cross-reference facts and complete deduction 15 minutes

   The group links pouch colors, exit doors, and locker assignments to the timeline. Team members verify exclusions and resolve which visitor took the token. The step ends when the group agrees on the complete profile for all four visitors and specifies the culprit, time, door, pouch, and locker.

4. Confirm solution and debrief 5 minutes

   Check the group's conclusion against the facilitator answer key. Invite up to three participants to comment on what communication tactics helped sift through scattered oral clues and how the group organized note-taking.

Debrief questions

• What method did the group use to record clues so that people did not have to keep re-reading them from memory?
• When two clues seemed unconnected at first, what helped the team connect them?
• How did the restriction against showing cards change the way people listened to one another?

Finished output: A completed four-visitor comparison grid naming the visitor who removed the token, their visit time, exit door, pouch color, and locker number.

Remote

Send each participant their assigned numbered clues via private direct message before the session starts. Provide a shared collaborative digital spreadsheet containing the blank comparison grid. Participants read their clues verbally over microphone. If auditory processing is a barrier, allow pasting clue text into the central chat.

Hybrid

In-person members receive physical clue slips while remote members receive direct messages. In-person participants must speak into a central room microphone so remote listeners hear every clue accurately. Use a shared online grid projected on a room display so all participants see the emerging deduction simultaneously.

Access and participation choices

• A participant who prefers not to speak publicly may designate the facilitator or a peer to read their clues aloud.
• If auditory processing of spoken clues is difficult, the group may transcribe read-aloud clues onto a shared public whiteboard or shared document.
• Any participant may quietly track notes individually on scratch paper without contributing to the group board.

If the session gets stuck

A participant reflexively shows their clue slip to a neighbor.

Remind everyone that slips must remain hidden in hand, and ask the participant to read the statement aloud instead.

The group gets stuck trying to place lockers before ordering arrival times.

Prompt the team to review the cards that establish the four visit times and who arrived before or after whom.

Terms used here

• Training Token: A fictional item used in the scenario to track physical movement, replacing any real-world weapon or theft.