Welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse: How popular culture can facilitate team building and understanding leadership
Alice Srugies, Vedran Maslic, Benjamin Grumley · Communication Teacher · 2023
This paper introduces a scenario-based learning activity to bring challenges in strategic communication and leadership to students’ lived experience. It details the goals, setup, steps, and appraisal of a group activity conducted at a course’s start. The activity aims to foster cohesion among students from diverse backgrounds and offers a hands-on introduction to the challenges faced by strategic communication practitioners and leaders.Courses Leadership, Strategic Communication, and courses within communication that include a complex group assignment.Objectives The Zombie Apocalypse (ZA) learning activity is part of a second-year course in an international master’s program. The course introduces students to key concepts in strategic communication and leadership and encourages students to apply these in practice. The ZA aims to 1) prepares students for undertaking a complex group assignment (develop a strategic communications concept) in a diverse group. Specifically, it concentrates on the following objectives: assess priorities, challenge own values and perspectives, experience challenges of planning and acting with limited information, understand the importance of delegation and trust in teamwork, reflect upon emotional responses and their impact on performance under time pressure. By that, the ZA is not limited to strategic communication and leadership courses. It is suited to prepare students for complex group assignments in a wide variety of communications courses.