Team Challenge Day

This is an exciting and dynamic team development day, which makes use of experiential learning to engage individuals and accelerate the team learning process.  Focussing on a range of generic team development issues we structure the day in order to meet the following objectives:

• An opportunity to work together in a new and challenging environment towards an agreed and shared common goal
• Getting to know each other better through different experiences and various roles and responsibilities
• Exploring communication between team members, breaking down barriers and recognising the opinions of others through positive discussion
• Understanding the skills and abilities of other team players and using them to best advantage
• Increasing the motivation of individuals and enhancing the climate and morale of the team
• Establishing the need for continuous team improvement in order to meet the challenges ahead and fostering the ability to regularly review progress and adapt to changing circumstances. 

FOCUS makes use of an impressive and imposing 9m mobile climbing and abseiling tower as the centre-piece of the team challenge.  All we need is a suitable and accessible flat area of ground, such as part of a car parking area and a meeting room for team planning and feedback review sessions.

Personal equipment for individuals is minimal – just suitable outdoor clothing and ‘training shoe’ type footwear is ideal.  We supply additional waterproof clothing if required and all other specialist safety and technical equipment. 

Overview of the Day:

The morning session initially focuses on objective setting for the day and the team then work though two practical problem solving activities which explore how individuals communicate establish roles and responsibilities and motivate team action towards achieving identified goals.  Subsequent feedback and review sessions encourage openness and honest discussion in order to recognise individual and team behaviours.  Using Kolb’s Learning Cycle; the team confirm positive aspects of current team effectiveness and agree areas of development to be immediately applied to the main project of the day. 

The afternoon session is centred around the Climbing Wall Project.  The team is required to organise, plan and deliver a practical session where each individual can play a pivotal part in achieving an agreed target within a set time scale.  The planning phase includes a series of workshops where nominated members can learn new skills and then transfer knowledge to others in the team.  Within the project there is scope for allocating a range of roles and responsibilities from attempting different climbs or abseils, supporting from the ground using newly learned belay techniques, coaching and motivating others and monitoring progress.  The project will also need leading and managing, requiring regular reviews and positive decision making.   

The day concludes with a final review of team performance and a report back on the key areas of learning to be transferred back to the workplace. 

Bespoke Opportunities:

Although this day has been pre-structured there remains the flexibility to adapt the delivery to encompass you specific and appropriate training needs.  We can discuss your particular objectives and desired outcomes and dovetail them into the day to ensure the desired emphasis and relevant learning experiences. 
We also provide additional theory inputs such as:

• Team Roles Questionnaire
• Communication Styles Questionnaire and Managing Change in order to enhance the learning.