• to see more photos of the High Ropes Course click here…

High Ropes-Courses, I have a continual struggle with using them for Team-Building.

I was really against it then Christine (my wife) went away for a Leadership Training with her work. She called me and shared the wonderful experience she had on a High Ropes Course…and that shook my thinking.

High Ropes Courses are most effective for individual vs. element issues (i.e., identifying what’s holding you back from moving forward, getting over fears, and moving forward); it helps leaders create new pathways for thinking and behavior. Ropes Courses are also beneficial for creating a strong bond within a group. When properly sequenced they help teammates better trust one another.

Create-Learning Ropes Course Outcomes:

• Enhanced trust, support and encouragement between team members.
• Appreciation for the unique strengths and contributions that each person has.
• Confidence and courage to try new processes and ideas.
• Enhanced feeling of culture and team connection.
• Amazing shared memories that will last.

I know the above statements to be true…

Please share your ideas on the value of High Ropes Courses for Corporate Development; Youth Development; and other applications that you are familiar with. I am curious to hear what you think?

michael cardus is create-learning

I have been slacking a bit on the photo inquiry Friday posts (BTW they are my favorite posts to write.)

So this week I felt the need to share something that I know is a challenge and we as professionals need to continually focus and strive towards mastery on. The use of clear and distinct language that is understood by those you are talking with, your peer group, and you…

The above video is from a Train-The-Trainer I lead with an Adventure Camp Staff. These staff members are in charge of the High Ropes Course, Low Ropes Course (Challenge Course) plus lead many TeamBuilding & Leadership programs throughout the summer.

In this video is an example of when we are challenged and scared (eyes closed, with your hand hovering over a loaded mouse trap) that clear and distinct language is needed. Language;

• that has the right tone
• with the right message
• sent in the right manner
• at the right time
• from the right person
• etc…

This applies to anyone in a leadership position…the words you use and how you use them are powerful and can pull people towards the goals and commitments of the organization OR repel them and confuse people…Here is the inquiry;

• When you are at your most comfortable with a person or situation how do you know that they are comprehending what you are saying?
• What is an example of when you knew clear & distinctly what was expected and how you would be evaluated? What caused that to happen?
• Within your team…what feedback loops for comprehension of goals + task exist?
• How can use you this video; in your professional life?
• Metaphorically; have you ever had you hand snapped by the trap because the person who was explaining the goal/task gave unclear directions & expectations?
• In what ways might you ensure that the language you are using is understood by the listener and you?

Lets hear about good + bad examples of how language inspires you to do more…or ends up catching your fingers in the trap.

michael cardus is create-learning

Continuing with the goal of making teams and leaders better here are some resources that will help you in working with your team or team building & leadership provider. Plus ways you can assist the team in connecting what is done in the program to the workplace.

Here are articles about ropes courses, application to work, and facilitation.

• Case Studies of TeamBuilding & Leadership Programs
• Case Studies of Leadership & Team Coaching Processes
• How to lead successful teambuilding programs eBook
• 4 Steps to Facilitating Results in Training Programs
• 5 Questions for Processing Team Building
• Organizational Perception Charts: Activity
• Team Building Activities and Application to work: Nail Balance
• Rope Courses For Corporate Team Building? Think again
• Processing the Experience on a Ropes Course
• Processing & De-Briefing Questions for Team Building
• How to Process & De-Brief Team Building Activities
• Your team is the benchmark not the competition
• Facilitation is Your Work, Use Your Judgment

The content above should suffice in transferring some of the activities to work. Additionally Mike offers Train-The-Trainer programming for individuals and groups. 

Contact Mike to make your team & leadership better.

Mike Cardus is Awesome!

Did you ever wonder “How does one lead AWESOME team-building programs? The ones that ensure that content and learning take place. A teambuilding program that is fun, and teams leave better than when they arrived?”

Click to Buy “How to Lead Successful Team Building Programs”

Article originally printed in the Association For Experiential Education North East Region Newsletter.

2011 Northeast Regional Conference is April 8-10 at Berkshire Outdoor Center and Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA

What is Work?

If you ask 100 different facilitators you will get 100 different answers. Just what is work?

Elliot Jaques “Requisite Organization” supplies an explanation of work by stating;

As currently used, the term refers to three different things, all important, which need to be separated out from one another: That was tough WORK (my “effort”) doing my WORK (my tasks or assignments) they gave me to do at WORK (my place of work) today! (Jaques 1998)

In the context of a ropes course program you can see how facilitation being “work” can be identified and defined in at least three different ways.
1. Your effort…today I worked really hard facilitating that group
2. Your tasks or assignments…I worked all day facilitating trust building with a corporate group, and we had amazing breakthroughs.
3. Your place of work…Today I am facilitating the Climbing Tower.

With an unclear foundation of work, facilitators operate off the culture, norms and expectations (whether implicit or explicit) of the organization who they are working with and their direct managers.

To build a shared under-standing from this point forward, work will be defined as; Work (W): The exercise of discretion, judgment and decision making, within limits, in carrying out tasks: Driven by values, and bringing skilled knowledge into play (Jaques 1998).

So, is that work? Work is about using YOUR judgment to make the best decision possible at that time, within defined and known limits to complete a task; this is YOUR work.

Work is not a routinized process or activity that you have done 1000s of times…if that’s work, then YOU ARE NOT adding value.

Is work Facilitation, is facilitation work?

Reading the definition of work from Eliot Jaques it sounds like a great re-source for facilitation. In Jennifer Stanchfield’s “Tips & Tools…The Art of Experiential Facilitation” Stanchfield writes;

Experiential Facilitation is an intentional approach to facilitation based on the idea that people learn and change more from the process of work-ing through problems and finding solu-tions than from being given answers and solutions….(Stanchfield 2007).

Experiential facilitation is Work…an intentional approach is similar to exercise of judgment. The idea of working through problems is parallel to bringing skilled knowledge into play.

Facilitation is your work…the steps that are taken to purposely exercise judgment in decisions of what to do and work through problems to find solutions, while driven by values (explicit or implicit) using the skills and capacity you have as a facilitator. When you are with a group, and the activity is not going according to plan – what you do in that moment is facilitation. When you are leading an initiative and the expected outcomes are not happening – what you do in that moment is work. When you are in a classroom and the lesson plans are taking on a life of their own and the students are amazing you with their talent – how you facilitate and the decisions you make are work. What you do in the moment that requires you to make a decision that is based upon your mental processing, the process by which you take information, pick it over, play with it, analyze it, put it together, reorganize it, judge and reason with it, make conclusions, plans and decisions, and take action (Jaques 1998) makes your work as a facilitator valuable.

How does a facilitator improve their work? If facilitation is work and work is our ability to make decisions within limits based upon our mental processing. How can facilitators and managers of facilitators;
1. Determine current skills?
2. Improve current skills?

Determining current facilitation skills
We must turn our experiential lenses upon ourselves and staff. To determine current levels of facilitation and mental processing for work you must observe, question and match facilitators to their highest level of complexity in work.

Think about this as matching the proper content to the activity or matching the proper tool to the need. If you are a manager of an experiential program you know which facilitators have better skills in completing work than others. Additionally as facilitators we need to stop and reflect upon our current skills for work, listen to and take advice from those we admire and are wiser than us to improve our facilitation work. The greatest way to grow facilitation skills is for a manager (more experienced facilitator) to mentor and / or coach another facilitator.

This must be the work of program managers…your work is facilitation and should be focused on the facilitators you manage. Too often experiential program managers lose sight of their direct staff and focus on the participants in the program. This has to stop…as an experiential program manager your work is to add value to those who report to you, through judgment to make decisions within the limits you are given.

A primary value of a facilitator is to add value to those they interact with. Continually evaluating and ensuring that people are working within their capacity, knowledge, skill, and value to expand their comfort and use judgment to solve problems and offer value.

Facilitation is your work…and you deserve to continually improve the value offered through facilitation. Making decisions, using judgment can NEVER be replaced and taken from you.

michael cardus is create-learning

Reference:
Stanchfield, Jennifer. (2007) Tips & tools: The Art of Experiential Group Facilitation.
Jaques, Eliot. (1998) Requisite Organization: A Total System for Effective Managerial Leadership in the 21st Century.

By joining the create-learning community you will receive 9 Team Building Activities: That work and allow people to learn from the experience delivered to your inbox.

Plus monthly team building + leadership tips, activities and ideas. Additionally early releases of new products and processes focused on Making Organization, Teams, and You better!

• What would motivate you to join?
• In what ways can I make this community of value to you?
• If you were going to have a community letter, what would it entail and in what ways would you get people to join?

image by Todd_Billiar

High Ropes Course Processing & Reflection

Materials:

• High Ropes Course. Can be a circuit course, or individual element. Application of scaling process will require the facilitator’s best judgment.
• Flip chart paper & markers

Group Size:

• This version is meant for Adult & Corporate audiences. For youth variations contact mike.
• Works well with any size team. In my experience with ropes course processing and reflection smaller teams of no greater than 6 people work best. For variations with larger groups contact mike.

Objective:

To frontload and increase the comfort zone for people on the high ropes course.

To develop a language and system for sharing external signs of comfort and reactions to challenge.

Completing the process with the group and individual being able to know and recreate situations where discomfort was addressed and through practice increase the person’s knowledge and skills to lessen reaction time from discomfort to comfort.

Leading to greater ability to;

• focus while under stressful situations
• knowledge of self and reactions
• skills in noticing stress and quickly gaining comfort
• others on team knowing your signs of discomfort and how to coach you back to a comfort zone
• empathy and understanding of others
• respect for the talents and diversity of the team

Preparation:

This entire process needs a great deal of time…and is worth it if you allot the time and focus on creating breakthroughs with the individuals and team on the ropes course.

Also before the group is brought to the high element that they have a comfort, positive norms and behaviors with each other, that they feel safe sharing ideas, and are able to be supportive of each other.

Prior to moving any group to a high ropes element ensure that it is sequenced properly into the team building program. Additionally be honest about the risk both physically and mentally, ensure that any and all facilitators who are on the course are trained and have experience with adult and corporate clients plus high elements on a ropes course.

All operating procedures for the course have been completed.

Instructions and Facilitator Script:

This description will use a pamper pole as the element, remember that not all ropes courses are the same. Here is how I front load the pamper pole, following a discussion of risk, harnessing, equipment, etc…

Feel free to change what is said to fit your conversational style.

“Now that we have covered all the technical and safety protocols we are going to engage in a processing activity before we begin the pamper pole.

Think of a continuum scale of 0-10. On this scale think about where you would place your current comfort level of the pamper pole with 0-being No comfort, and 10-being Total Comfort. Think for the next 90 seconds to yourself about your personal comfort continuum with the challenge and where you would place your comfort”

Allow for about 90 seconds to pass in silence

“Find a partner and share your level of comfort and discuss why you chose that level, take about the next 3-5 minutes with a partner to share where you placed yourself on the scale and why.”

Allow 3-5 minutes if the group is still talking, choose how long you want to let them share.

“Thank you, using that same scale as before with 0-being No comfort, and 10-being Total Comfort where do you have to end on that scale in order to feel that you were successful with the pamper pole challenge today. Where on the scale would you have to be to feel that success was reached on a personal level for you? Take another 90 seconds and think about it.”

Allow for about 90 seconds to pass in silence

“Does everyone have a number on the scale for success? Great now please break into groups of 4 people per/group”

You can assign the groups according to a myriad amount of things, work teams, family members, learning co-horts, etc… OR you can just let the people choose who they want to be in a group of 4 with.

“Each person in the group please share the following information 1) What your current level of comfort is on the continuum 2) where it would have to be to feel that today is a success. About 10 minutes and each person share those 2 things; Current level of comfort and where it would have to end to feel that today is a success.”

Allow for about 10 minutes if they are still sharing allow for extra time as needed.

“Thank you for sharing those 2 items. The final question before we begin the pamper pole is within the team take 2 minutes per/person to share with your group what external signs they will notice about you when you are achieving success according to your comfort scale. Each person is going to share what external signs they will notice when you have moved closer to and achieved success.”

Allow for 8-10 minutes.

“It is now time for the pamper pole – who is going first? People on their team take notice of their external signs of moving towards success and let them know when you notice the signs they mentioned. Person climbing remember where you placed success on the scale, you can stop at any point.

Those watching please be positive and respectful. Also we all placed success at different levels, the focus is on knowing what to look for and how to recognize your success plus sharing how others can assist you in recognizing and achieving success”

Allow all the people to go through the element.

Once all the people have taken their time on the pamper pole, call the group together for some final reflections and processing.

“Thank you all, that was great! Now let’s process and reflect upon what we have done. Returning back to our continuum scale – 0-Being No Comfort and 10-being Total Comfort where would you place yourself now?”

Allow for about 15-30 seconds of quiet.

“Does anybody wish to share?”

Allow for people to share their current levels on the scale.

“Another question how do you know that the number is different? What external signs, sights, feelings, observations do you have to tell you that you have moved either up or down on the scale?”

Allow for people to share their responses with the group

“Great please return to your groups of 4 from earlier. Each group is going to take about 10 minutes to discuss their experience and thoughts of the pamper pole, and their levels of comfort. Following the 10 minutes each team is going to share an overview of what was discussed with the rest of the groups. Is that alright…any questions?”

If you wish supply the group with markers and flip chart paper to write and draw notes.

Give the group a 2 minute warning – and ask who wants to go first.

“Each group will have ~3 minutes to share, following that the rest of the groups may ask questions and share comments, let’s start.”

Once each group has shared and questions, comments have come to an end, thank them for a wonderful time and say good bye or move on to your next part of the program.

Notes:

Take your time allow for people to define their own scales of comfort.

A concern that I always have – What if the person does not achieve the point on their scale of success? Or what is they go down a level or more on their comfort scale following the activity?

Tough stuff – this is why you are a facilitator. Whether you choose to use this process or not there is a risk that people will be disappointed with themselves on the high ropes element. That is why high elements for groups are risky and challenging to facilitate.

If you are not prepared to deal with the chance of failure on the element, then you should not be taking the group to the element.

In the past when someone has openly shared that they did not achieve on their scale what they set for success, I ask that person if we can speak privately at a later time. Most people say yes, during our time together we talk about their scaling options, the numbers they chose and how they chose them.

I would like to hear any ideas, stories, solutions, problems, thoughts in the comments about this process.

Reference:

The scaling continuum idea is from Solutions Focused Brief Therapy.

michael cardus is create-learning