CASE STUDY 1
| Activity: | Team Building |
| Rationale: | Team Bonding combined with Corporate Social Responsibility |
| Client: | Leading Firm of Chartered Accountants |
| Project: | Building Out Door Classrooms |
The Brief:
Our client came to us with a brief to organise a fun, team building day for 30 people in which the group could tackle and complete a project of value to the community. We were told that a little competition wouldn’t go amiss! Above all there needed to be a specific end product where they could sit back at the end of the day and say ‘We did that!’
Background to the Project:
The Epping Forest Field Centre specialises in connecting people of all ages with the natural environment by providing safe and enjoyable learning experiences in Epping Forest and the surrounding area. The centre had a number of excellent indoor classrooms. However, there was nowhere outside for lessons to take place. As it is the Field Studies Council’s mission to bring environmental understanding to all they were crying out for some outdoor classrooms!!
The Project Itself:
We split the group into 3 teams. Their brief was to design and construct the ultimate outdoor classroom to accommodate up to 35 children. The classrooms needed to be safe, have good access, provide natural habitats for small animals and be a place where children would be inspired to learn.
Each team was given a designated area in which to build their classroom and a set of tools and materials with which to work. These included 8 benches which the teams had to build from scratch. The design of the classroom, the shape, the set up and any ‘add-on’ features was left entirely up to them.
The morning was spent brainstorming ideas, dissecting the brief, and allocating roles and responsibilities. Some began clearing the site, others started building benches, others still working on access routes and some people went off looking for bits and pieces to decorate their classrooms. The variety of tasks and nature of the work ensured that there was something for everyone to do.
Lunch came and went without a break - the teams deciding that there was too much to do and no time to stop. People were really getting drawn into the task in hand and teams were keeping a close eye on the competitio sending out scouts to see what they were up to!
Overall - It was an incredibly rewarding experience as everyone knew that these classrooms would be used and enjoyed everyday by school groups from the local area.
The end result was unbelievable – 3 fantastic classrooms and 30 exhausted but very happy people.
This email was sent out by the Senior Partner the following day:
“Looking back, I think we achieved a huge amount during that day and worked harder physically than most of us can remember doing for some time. We have left a great legacy for Epping Forest and for schoolchildren who visit and in a great spirit of friendly rivalry but co-operation. It made me quite emotional to think what a great team and great team spirit we have. If I'd have been able to think and speak clearly at the end of the day, I would have said something then; but perhaps you see these things more clearly with the benefit
of a little reflection…
So what I wanted to say was ...what a great team we are all part of and how lucky I feel to be part of it.”