Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Couple's Team Building

I have just completed a couple’s team building ropes course and it was interesting to see how the group dynamics change when the participants know each other on a different higher level.
One couple has been together for 16 years and obviously knows each other very well. Or so they think! When the circumstances are so different from the normal day-to-day routine and the consequences are so vastly exaggerated, the dynamics become so different. The 5 day long class saw a huge move from normal behavioral habits to a more sensitive approach and thoughtful process of what they perceived their opposite partner needed or indeed wanted.
If only we could get the same breakthrough to our other clients who maybe spend as much time with each through work and school but do not communicate on the same level.
I guess 16 years of marriage stands for something!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Lessons from a Canopy Tour Experience

A co-worker of mine recently visited one of those new canopy tour adventure parks which seem to be going up everywhere you look. They are designed with all the new gadgetry that is supposed to keep people from unclipping themselves as they move from one canopy element to the next. I can safely report that this system works but without a trained guide in the air with you it can still lead to problems for the customer.

While my co-worker was there as a guest enjoying himself on his day off he witnessed a young girl in another party who managed to get herself stranded. She was hanging from the cable she was on unable to go forward or backwards. She didn't have the strength to pull herself back up to safety despite the frugal advice from the canopy tour "supervisors" who were directing her from their position on the ground. Her mother, who was on the next platform, made an attempt to rescue her daughter but with no success. Seeing the struggles of the stranded girl and her family, my co-worker decided to act.

He went out and pulled her safely back to the platform. The locking mechanism that prevents individuals from opening both clips kept her safe however she was still stranded, this time at least on a platform where she could rest and regain her strength. Eventually the guides got their butts up the tree and used a key to unlock the mechanism to send the young girl down an easier cable. What a palaver! What if the girl had of been hurt and needed urgently to be grounded for help?

These self-guided entertainment canopy tours are all very well in the right place but personally I prefer a good solid well trained facilitator like we have at Upward Enterprises that can problem solve all situations and give customer care and service all as working together as a team.