Outdoor learning is not outward bound
Outdoor learning is not outward bound
Keywords: Outdoor training, Experimental learning, Training techniques
Recruiting high calibre staff is one priority but training these same staff so that they become skilled team leaders is even more important for many businesses. So what skills should companies be looking to develop in their teamleaders and what are the best ways of going about developing such skills?
Like many companies the consulting engineering group, Ove Arup, has implemented a competency framework which pinpoints exactly what skills it expects from its employees in the various roles they undertake. And for new graduates and first line managers that means being able to work in and lead effective project teams.
"In the case of our teamleader training we are looking at demonstrable skills such as planning and organisation, decision-making, effective communication, teamworking and leadership," explained Ove Arup's training manager, Debra Larkman.
However, such skills, Larkman believes, cannot be developed solely by sitting in a classroom. To borrow from the current jargon, when it came to teamleader training she was looking for a blended solution which would include theoretical input, psychometric profiling and experiential learning.
"Most of our training is outsourced as we believe that we get greater flexibility that way. We've been working with Pera for about five years and the teamleader course which we run with them is tremendously successful," she said. "We know this from the formal feedback we request and from the anecdotal evidence that we gather which is often more telling. Our graduates frequently talk about this programme years after the event. It's clearly memorable and we see people who have attended the courses together maintaining contact through their careers."
So how do Pera achieve such a successful outcome? The answer appears to be through proven tools, skilled facilitation and creative learning activities. For example, one of the most powerful team psychometric tools currently on the market, and one which Ove Arup delegates are required to complete on the programme, is the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI). The SDI helps people to identify their personal strengths in relating to others both when things are going well and when they are faced with conflict. It doesn't provide right or wrong answers but rather helps people to understand how they are likely to feel and act in different situations.
Like many questionnaire-based tools the SDI is not a test and the accuracy of the results depend on the honesty of the person completing the inventory. What it does do well, however is help people see how they are likely to relate to other people. For teamworking situations this is clearly invaluable. Awareness of our own behavioural characteristics helps to provide us with choice regarding how to act and respond to others.
There are seven core aspects of the model. In summary these are:
- 1.
An altruistic/nurturing style, where the primary concern is for the protection, growth and welfare of others.
- 2.
An assertive/directing style, where the main concern is for task accomplishment, organisation and winning.
- 3.
An analytical/autonomising style, where concern is for things being properly thought out, for meaningful order and for individualism.
- 4.
A flexible cohering style, where concern is for flexibility and the welfare of the group.
- 5.
An assertive nurturing style, where concern is for the growth and welfare of others through task accomplishment and leadership.
- 6.
A judicious/competing style, where concern is for intelligent assertiveness,justice, leadership and order.
- 7.
A cautious/supporting style, where concern is for the development of self sufficiency and the development and affirmation of others.
Larkman continues: "SDI is an ideal tool. It provides a quick and accurate insight into the way people interact in teams." She continues:"In a company like Ove Arup we tend to have people who either have their strengths in the areas of logic and self-reliance or who are natural team players with strengths in consensus building. This mix provides some interesting dynamics. As a project-based organisation we need people who recognise and respect each other's differences. SDI highlights these issues and the facilitators use these profiles to help people build awareness of their own motivations and behaviours. We also use SDI on other courses and we have found that it gives people a common language. They take the vocabulary of SDI away from the courses into their own operational areas of business. It's practical and it helps them to see what is going on in their teams."
Larkman is also committed to the appropriate use of the outdoors on the team courses: "I think there are questions to be asked about relevance to learning on those programmes where people are sent abseiling or where they have to skin a rabbit for their supper. But again at Ove Arup there's a highly practical aspect to our work. The concept of our people solving problems in an outdoor setting is pretty close to what we do for a living."
The outdoor activities used on the programme are designed specifically for,or adapted for use by, Ove Arup. One of these, The trust trail, is a module which helps to accelerate the "forming stage" of team development and is often used as an icebreaker on the programme. The activity involves people working in pairs with one of the pair being led, blindfold, through the various terrains of the grounds and even across a rope walkway. To add to the challenge the pair have to maintain silence throughout the activity. This means they have to agree in advance how they will communicate. Not surprisingly this exercise throws up all sorts of learning around leadership, trust and interpersonal relationships.
Apthorp believes that it's the combination of creative exercises and powerful facilitation that make the difference to learning outcomes: "The feedback reviews may sound simple but this is where facilitation comes to the fore,"he continued. "As facilitators we both provide feedback and teach participants the skills and attitudes involved. We also illuminate what we see is going on during the tasks that people are undertaking. We focus on the relationships, the behaviours and the way people communicate as well as how well people and teams meet their objectives. This sounds easy but facilitation is a considerable skill. The facilitator must have excellent observation skills, they must know how to listen and draw out key messages and they must understand how to challenge people without making them defensive. On top of all this, of course, the facilitator needs to know their subject area – to be able to provide pertinent examples and provide useful models which people can apply to themselves and their work."
In essence Apthorp believes that facilitators have to be extremely flexible and ready to work with those issues that present themselves on the programmes. This flexibility is also a principle that he and Larkman extend to the courses themselves. Those delegates who think they can prepare themselves for the training are sure to be disappointed. There may be set solutions to some exercises but Larkman and the Pera management team are continually updating the programme.
"People talk", said Larkman "so we have to make sure that the activities are always different. We also learn from every programme we run. That's why we keep modifying this programme. It keeps it fresh and ensures that it will always include an element of surprise."
For further information on training with Pera, call +44 (0)1869 340361 or e-mail training@pera.com
