As seminar conductor and HR Developer I have already lead some teambuilding workshops or participated in them myself. It is always a question of creating a sense of WE-feeling, a shared responsibility to pursue a common objective. And many companies therefore book a lot of team-building activities to create exactly this positive effect.
Here in my Nepal group we consist of different personalities from UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Venezuela, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal. We are a colorful mixed bunch between 18 and 59 years of age, and completely of different professional and personal backgrounds and former hiking experience. For a seminar leader this would not be a simple task to form this in-homogeneous group into a team. But there is a crucial factor, we all have in common: We are all voluntarily here and have the same goal of reaching Mount Everest Base Camp! And for that, everyone is willing to go physically to all limits and dispense with luxury and comfort for the next days.
The clear goal in front of our eyes and experiencing moments together are reasons what forms this loose group into a team super fast, like I couldn't have planned it better in a workshop. And not just the beautiful moments in nature or success over a stage achieved are crucial, especially the strenuous and emotionally difficult moments are the ones that brings us together - for example when walking with daily physical maximum exhaustion, signs of altitude sickness with daily diarrhea and vomiting combined with additional team goals. At the latest there, in normal company teams, it would most probably it would start a big team fight...!
Here in Nepal, the team members don't fight! It seems almost like we left out the infamous " storming " phase and would have moved directly to " performing "- What happened?? Was it skipped? No it was not, it's just shifted into an inner combat. In this thin air everyone fights with oneself. Everyone is forced to be present here and now and to focus on themselves, own thoughts and own body. There is no way to project conflicts to the outside. The conflicts are taking place internally.
And the great thing is that there is no desire left at all to wanting or being able to argue with another person. On the contrary, I experience so much mutual care, support and heart-fullness, as rarely before. We laugh and cry together. And constantly we're hugging each other, sit together at the fire place in the evening, play, dance, give massage to solve muscular tensions and feel like a little family!
Hierarchies, ranks or other usual formalities are blurring. The well-known rules of our daily work life do not play a role here. Everyone is equally important and fully recognized. And it works wonderfully! It just matters that you're human and heartful and stay like this. An impressive experience!!
In my previous career as HR Manager and also now as seminar conductor I have learned when a seminar is successful and when not, and when goals were sustainability pursued and implemented and when they were discarded again: It always works when "I" becomes "WE", and not only for pure knowledge transfer, but also the experience together to reach a common goal with emotional, strong, unifying moments. Then, you'll never forget them again!!!
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