Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Self Discovery Team Building in NY

I was asked to facilitate a self discover class for CECNY in New York recently and wanted share the experience with everyone.

The day stated at 8 am with the group meeting and orientation at a camp set on Long Island. The group consisted of moderately young and middle aged folks. It was very apparent that this group had been doing some work together in the lead up to my program. We went through a series of problem solving activities to assess the group dynamics and watch the inter-action of team members.

The afternoon brought our first high activity which we chose as the vertical play pen. We also used the X Factor which was slightly more challenging for some of the couples who were working in a buddy system. Everybody managed to get to the top of the elements with a little help from the belay team and coaching from the ground staff. This set the tone of the processing and with this group we manage to go so much deeper that our normal program allows.

The benefits, of course, were there to see for everyone. Folks were opening up fully to honest feedback and relationships were definitely strengthened because of the deep discussion.

We finish with a trust fall whichis a very powerful activity and the group broke up to continue their discovery journey until the next time. This process lasted 11 hours which was a long long day but the benefits far outweighed the fatigue and need to get back to creature comforts.

I look forwards to the next event with this group and hopefully we can re-create the scene where people can step outside their comfort zones and be open to honest feedback about themselves and the people around them.


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Celebrating the Stars and Stripes

Wishing all my friends, co-workers, and clients a very happy 4th of July. Watch some fireworks to celebrate. Cheers!