Step 1:

Bring the group together and explain the rules of the game.

The group will split into groups of 4-6 people and imagine they are a group of famous people on a lifeboat.

Set a theme for the game such as "favourite fictional character" or "famous historical figures." and invite each person to choose a character that fits the theme.
If you prefer, create a bunch of flashcards with the names of famous figures on them and hand them out to participants at random.

Each lifeboat is leaking air and so the group must decide one person to go overboard reach round in order to keep the lifeboat afloat as long as possible.
In each round, each participant has 30 seconds to state why they should stay on the boat.
After each participant has made their argument, the group must vote on who should go overboard.

You can choose any voting method that works for your group. Keeping it quick and simple by asking each person to simply state the name of who they think should leave.
In the event of ties, I recommend having those people who are tied for the most votes do another 30 second argument where they state why the other people should go overboard. Then have everyone who has not tied vote on who should go. If the tie is not resolved, have all those people go overboard.

Continue playing until there is only one person remaining on the lifeboat. Players who have gone overboard are still able to vote.

Step 2:

Separate into groups of 4-6 people and let the group play! For some groups, you may want to announce timing changes and be on hand to reiterate rules and resolve ties in voting.

In some time-sensitive sessions, it can be worthy to set a deadline for groups to complete the process or everyone goes overboard. This can help create a sense of urgency and ensure things move smoothly.

Step 3:

Once everyone is done, I'd recommend bringing everyone together for a debrief and ask the group to reflect on the experience.

Do you think the most deserving person was on the boat on that end? Why?
What made the most compelling arguments?
What did you learn from the debate?
What would you do differently next time?
How do you think this activity ties in to the theme of today's training/workshop?

Variations:

For some groups, you may wish to set an opening statement to guide discussion and the arguments the group makes such as: "Your lifeboat is drifting towards a desert island, try and choose people based on how they may help you survive on the island."
The lifeboat is only one possible framing. When working with particular training scenarios, it can be helpful to create a framing that matches your training subject. For example, "We're creating a legendary sales team using characters from history: each person must state why they should be on the sales team."
For younger group, it can be helpful to designate a group leader to each group who is responsible for breaking ties during voting and keeping time. This can help ensure things keep moving fluidly.
Often, a single session of Lifeboat Debate is enough to get people thinking, energized and engaged. If you have particularly large groups, it can be fun to invite the winners of each individual lifeboat together into a champions game
For online sessions, this works equally well so long as you put folks into breakout rooms.

Save time and effort designing your workshops

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