Corporate Training Programs
How does one create an environment for growth within a group?
At the Seneca College Outdoor Center we take groups, place them in an outdoor environment and provide them with mentally and physically challenging tasks that encourage them to think and act as a unified group. Success in the activities will be achieved only when the group discovers their “culture of performance”. Experienced facilitators will help to guide the group to discover that culture and adopt it into their everyday life.
This will be accomplished by using reflective sessions that are dynamic, sometimes confrontational (when they need to be), creative, on occasion emotionally demanding, and in the end rewarding. The rewards come when the group discovers their “culture of performance”.
What is a “culture of performance”?
It is the manner in which a group decides to function. How the group communicates, acts, problem solves, trusts and exists. It is not something that can be given to them or identified for them. It is something that they must discover on their own. The beauty of a group is that no one group is the same.
Sounds great doesn’t it! How does a group discover their culture in one day? Upon arrival at the Outdoor Center, the group will be introduced to their environment and given an overview of the day. Then it’s outside to run, play, and laugh. A crucial component of every group is for everyone to feel comfortable about being them selves. We accomplish this by playing games together. These are activities that are catered to meet the needs of the group. The concept is the same though, to set the tone for the day.
The group will then be put through a series of trust activities. These activities will encourage individual trust, taking responsibility for one another and for a group as a whole. All done in an environment created and supported by the facilitator. These activities will be followed by some non-verbal reflections. This style of debrief allows for individuals to voice their true feelings in a non-threatening environment. The results of this activity will then be discussed and brought back to the overall goal of creating a “culture of performance”.
Next the group will be presented with a series of initiative tasks that will progressively become more complex. They will challenge the group mentally, emotionally, and physically. Success is not defined by completion of the activity (although it feels great to succeed), instead it can be measured by what the group learns from each activity. The facilitator will use reflection sessions at the end of each activity to help the group to discover those learnings. A debrief will occur over the lunch break that will help to tie together the mornings activities.
In the afternoon the group will be presented with an exciting challenge of a Challenge Course Element. The Outdoor Center has 6 to choose from. Each element has its own specific outcomes. Programming has been developed around each of the elements to deepen the experience. The overall objective of using these elements is to create a ‘peak’ experience to consolidate the mornings’ activities and to provide the group with an experience that they share together. The emotions they experience during the activity will be exclusive to that group and cannot be replicated with any other group.
As a final debrief the facilitator will help the group to consolidate their experience using some creative methods. The group will be encouraged to describe using any means available to them (they will be provided with several) what they feel is the culture of their group. This activity will be followed with a discussion of how the group will take the experiences of the day back to their ‘real’ world.
Try not to focus on strengths and weaknesses…. Instead embrace these as diversity…. Recognizing diversity will provide success!
For more information please contact Kevin French at (416) 491-5050 ext.5054.