“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you
want to go far, go together.” This African proverb simply grasps what had
happened in Pacific Cebu Resort, one of the many resorts in Lapu-Lapu City,Cebu, Philippines that are conducive for team building programs and other recreational
activities.
The
main facilitator, Thaddeau Engaling II, together with his co-facilitators Marc Julius Rizada, Clint Eduard Fuentes, and Kevin Johnrey Sosas, were all set to conduct the team building program for Ameeratel, a business process outsourcing company based in Cebu City, Philippines.
The whole event was documented by Hoven Andre Encontro.
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1st Ameeratel team development training |
Introductions took place in
one of the function rooms of the resort in Mactan Island. Because the participants looked
drained from the travel from their place of gathering going to the venue, the mirror activity was conducted as an energizer. Here, the participants were instructed to choose a
partner and assign to themselves who will be person A and person B. One person would be acting as the mirror while the other one looks at the mirror. The one
acting as the mirror would raise his open-palmed hand and that person’s partner
would have to look at it and follow it wherever the mirror moves and however it
is moved. This was done with 2 rounds for everyone to experience both roles.
Everyone hesitated to move around at first, but eventually took their sweet time
on moving on their own accord. Some were very creative, others were
conservative. The room was then full of lively and energetic people.
After
which, it proceeded to World’s Record
as the GTKY or the Getting-To-Know-You activity. In here, they were instructed
to arrange themselves according to a designated category starting from the left of
the facilitator going to the right side of the facilitator. They were
challenged with three rounds of categories in which they have really done well.
After each round, they get to ask those beside them questions about them. The
participants even threw their own questions during the asking part of the
activity. They were then made to settle down after the activity.
The
participants were then grouped by table and were asked to huddle in setting
their expectations for this day. They were asked to give an expectation or
expectations to the training, the facilitators, their co-participants, and to
their selves. Each table was asked to have one representative to speak for the
group. Of course, the facilitators also laid out their expectations to the
participants by having the ground rules set on. Then we proceeded to the
activities.
First
up we had the
Helium Ring. The
participants were divided into three and were each given a hula hoop ring. They
were instructed first to set a particular height they think they could do. They
were then given the rest of the instructions. When there were violations to the
given instructions, the assigned facilitator in the group would inform them to
take a reset and start all over again. All the groups had their struggle even
if others have been exposed to it from a previous event or activity. As they
all kept on restarting, eventually all groups achieved the goal of putting the
ring down to the ground. They all pointed out teamwork and cooperation were key
points that made them achieve their goal. The main facilitator explained about
Stage of Team Development before going out to have lunch.
They
were given another energizer in preparation for the next activity after lunch. Forming a
big circle and facing to their right, they were instructed to massage the one
in front of them prior to the facilitator’s instructions. Another one was
conducted to initiate interaction between the participants.
After lunch and energizers, participants went through the Minefield activity. This
time, the participants were separated into three groups, the same as
the previous grouping in the morning. They were instructed to choose a representative to give
out directions when the activity begins. They are to travel one by one from
point A to point B with their eyes closed and at the same time avoiding the
obstacles and not going out of the boundaries set. For a few minutes, everyone
struggled to get past the obstacles. They need not to be told that they have to
reset by the facilitators since they themselves go back to the beginning when
they hit an obstacle. When the one person got through, everything else
followed. Though not everyone accomplished the activity, most of them got it.
Everyone had mixed emotions as to what happened during the activity. They
pointed out communication and leadership which were the core values that would
have allowed them to complete the challenge. This led the participants to talk
about simple things about what has been happening in their workplace and made
everyone aware of what they are currently facing.
The
facilitators wrapped things up from the beginning until the last activity, briefly
explaining to them how this is just a stepping stone for them to become even
better, not just as a group or a company, but also as individuals. As the
facilitators have emphasized by the end of the program, “We can only do so much on this day. Everything else after the program
is entirely up to you”.
Note: This article was written by Kevin Johnrey Sosas, a team building facilitator affiliated with Cebu Teambuilding Facilitators Network since 2013. He was a facilitator for the Ameeratel BPO team building program 2016.