What you should expect from a Team building program

Team development trainings have not only become a popular program in the training department, but also as a company’s annual agenda. The power of teamwork is indisputable, consequently for many companies it’s deemed as one of the most important values and required skills for the people to have. It’s no wonder HR managers will seek expert help in order to acquire it.

My last article “Is your Team building training worth the investment?” raises the point of how team development programs may have been trivialized and confused with fun company events – when in actuality they are 2 parallel but different things.

I want to talk about how you can make the most out of your team building program, and give you a couple of tips on what to look for in a good program to make your training investment worth while.

“What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand”

While there are plenty of training methods out there, there’s nothing that teaches us better than our own experience. When something happens to you, you’ll remember the experience and understand the learning much better. Imagine learning to ride a bike by reading the steps off a manual instead of actually trying to ride it. In the same tone, in a team building program that uses Experiential learning method, your team is engaged to go through a relationship building experience first hand by exercising communication, coordination, leadership, followership. Essentially, instead of just learning about building teamwork from a theory, you are actually learning through it from practice.

While a team building program should be engaging and active,  make sure your teams go home with CHANGE:

1. Change in Paradigm

When a person decides to shift his way of thinking, a change in paradigm is taking place. A good team building program should be able to facilitate awareness of a person, and of himself in the context of community. It acts like a mirror for the team and team members to see how they are, how they work and interact together. They should be able to reflect on the weak and strong points and where they can develop more. In essence, a good team building program is able to empower self-development and self-transformation of each team member from bad to good, from good to better, from better to great. The first step of transformation is for someone to say “I can change”.

2. Change in Behavior

A development program is a link between the “past and future”. People should take away from a training a sense of empowerment and a set of tools to act on it. It’s not enough to know about your weakness if you won’t do anything to improve it, vice versa it’s not enough to know about your strong points if you won’t put them in good use. Awareness that is followed by commitment and action can move mountains, so to speak. In the same light, a good team building program should be able to generate commitment and action of each individual team member as well as the team as a whole. The next step of transformation is for someone to say “I will change”.

I always say that teamwork is easier said than done, it’s almost like an art in developing and managing people. It takes craftsmanship, commitment and action mixed together to make it go well. If you’re overseeing the cohesiveness of your units and people, I hope you will keep in mind that effective teams start with effective people that have positive relationships with other team members.

This article has been published on Outward Bound Indonesia’s blog

Is your Team building program worth the investment?

I often get asked by HR Managers if “fun” team building activities can really be effective in developing teams, and more specifically be worth the investment? Fun learning is good. People retain more information and longer in a conducive learning environment, where they are relaxed and can enjoy the process. Learning should be fun, but that is not necessarily useful. Fun alone is non-existent in the training world!

Photo credit: accountingstockton.com

Team development training programs should be able to help build relationships among the people, but further than that be able to give key inter-personal communication tools for which they can use afterwards. Training participants should go home with a sense of empowerment and team cohesiveness.

There are a few mistakes that HR Managers often make in addressing a team building need that can result in a bad training investment:

Misconception #1: Team building = Fun

Unfortunately, many HR Managers get the notion of team development all wrong. Many confuse team building as some kind of a paid vacation that’s injected with some amount of learning, sponsored by the company.  When Dr. Kurt Hahn pioneered experiential learning method in the 40′s as an educational concept for young sailors to develop their character, tenacity and ability to work with others, he never put fun as the ingredient. In fact, his fundamental philosophy of self growth comes from having people put through challenging environments where they will be impelled to step out of their box. And trust me, this process can be difficult for some people, let alone fun. Human beings grow the most when their mind is stretched and when their old views are challenged. So if you’re thinking of investing money on fun in the name of training, you’d better think again.

Photo credit: leadershipwithsass.com

Misconception #2: Team building = Happy People

Yes! We want our people to be happy during the learning process as well as after, when it’s over. Although the truth is, more often than you’d like to admit, people in your company have communication issues with each other, and they are not happy about it. Depending on how critical and serious the issue is, addressing it is always the best policy. It’s not always going to make people happy in the process, but raising the issue and resolving it can give a more permanent and productive result in the long run.

Investment tips : ensure that the training program will give you a lasting and productive output for your people and organization.

Misconception #3: Team building = Quick Fix

Rome was not built in one day, and neither do teams. A good team building training should be able to offer a solution for your teamwork issues. But be mindful, it’s not a quick fix for every problem or for ever. It requires steady work and commitment from all stake holders, even after the training is over. A culture and system that support a productive teamwork can go miles in reaching success for the company.

Investment tips : make sure that you’ve identified your training needs and objectives before you select the type of training program to match.

We all desire a team that works like a well-oiled machine and yields high productivity. Sometimes we have them, sometimes we don’t have them yet. For those who don’t have them yet, don’t be disheartened. We call it teamwork because it is work. In order to have a well-coordinated engaged team, it requires action and nourishment, it doesn’t operate automatically. When you nourish your people, you’re investing in them in the hope of higher returns for the company. If you invest correctly and wisely, you ought to be well on your way to a healthy return.

This article has been published on Outward Bound Indonesia’s blog

Reports on Power Teen summer camp

We recently had a group of teenagers come to our 6-day Youth summer program “POWER TEEN Camp & Expedition” from 25 – 30 June 2012. The group consisted of girls and boys, aged between 12 and 18. A select few of the participants were avid outdoor fans who had been to adventure trips prior, although the majority were not as enthusiastic, but all of them were great sports and very participative in the program.

The Tower of Courage

Reynard (13) climbs the 15 meter Tower | Photo credit: Outward Bound Indonesia/Yulius Bahy

The parents brought the kids and dropped them off at the training site in the early morning of June 25. After their good-byes, they didn’t waste any time and got right down to business. In the introduction and ice breaking phase, it appeared that the young participants were still uncomfortable with each other. Nonetheless, the group dynamics started shaping quickly as they were assigned problems to solve as a team.Their communication skill, leadership, teamwork and analytical skill were honed on during these problem solving activities. It also broke the barriers among the participants. The biggest challenge of day 1 for these teenagers had to be the 15meter high multi element tower, where they climbed to the top of it and continued with ropes challenge that surrounds the structure. 

For someone who’s afraid of heights, this would be the ultimate challenge, for someone who has no problem being in high places this would also be a test of mind over matter. For them, it was the first taste of learning about overcoming self-doubt and building self confidence. “I was so scared to do it at first, but I didn’t give up, and I did it!” said Adven, a small but tenacious 14 year old boy. 

The true meaning of “Packing Light”

For the next 5 days and nights, they would be building tents to sleep in, preparing and cooking their own meals, packing, unpacking and carrying their own 15 kgs worth of gears and equipments for 6 days. I was astonished by how relentless and independent these kids were, regardless of age and physique, they all persevered through every challenge.

Evening discussion at Camp site

The “Ox” Tale

One of their greatest achievements throughout the journey was also the staggering climb to Mount Lembu (Mount Ox). Their perseverance, positive mental attitude and ability to work together as a team were outstanding. “The kids looked out for each other and helped one another in their journey. They worked as a team, not individuals,” said Satriyo, the lead senior instructor of the expedition. Their take-away of the climbing expedition was unanimous, which was “to never give up”.

Journey to Mount Lembu

Service Learning in the local Village

For 24 hours, the kids lived in homestays in one of the villages around Lake Jatiluhur. They interacted with the families, shared meals together, helped with the daily work of the hosts and spent the night in their homes. The host families work as farmers, goat shepherds, fishermen and fish traders.

Bella & Lingkan’s Catch of the Day: Helping host family with their chores

Needless to say, they lived very simple and inter-connected lives. The impact of this activity to the kids was profound, in that they learned about humility and appreciating the simplicity of life, they learned the important values in family like respect, understanding and compassion. Kelvin Rei (15) said “Jatiluhur was the best place I’ve been. I want to go back to the village one day and build a bamboo house there.” Caecilia, Kelvin’s mother was surprised by the change in her son and reported back to me a week after the program saying “Kelvin preferred to help me in the kitchen to playing video games. I was so touched.”

Kids learning West Java traditional music instrument

I am very pleased with the outputs of the program and with what the kids were able to learn and take away. Each one of these young participants truly embodied the spirit of Outward Bound, which is to release their “anchor” of comfort zone and sail the ship into the unknown sea. Raphael Ibrahim (12) sums it all up the best “The program put me through hell. But I’m in heaven!”

At Graduation

A big congratulations to Kristo, Bella, Stephen, Adven, Thomas, Raphael, Reynard, Lingkan, Kelvin and Hazel for completing the journey and having been such courageous warriors. And for the proud parents, thank you for supporting the program and being extremely patient during the process.

This article has been published on Outward Bound Indonesia’s blog