Session Synopsis

What happens when just a day prior your client informs you to switch from outbound to inbound training and you have to engage a whopping 80 people? What would you do in such a situation?

Recently, we conducted an Outbound Training (OBT) session for an Indian multinational motorcycle manufacturing company, spearheaded by Ganesh Dalvi, CPF and co-facilitated by Waseem Karim , Vahista Anklesaria , and myself Sapna Jain,CFTP . This experience has been incredible and one that I will cherish for a lifetime.

Key Highlight of what worked

First and foremost what came to the rescue was

• Reaching the venue a day prior
• Transforming the entire hotel venue into a dynamic playground for learning and growth.
• Led by Ganesh, redesigning the entire intervention from scratch, we decided to do relay at different different location in the hotel

One of the keys to making any outbound intervention successful is maintaining an optimal group size for effective engagement. The ideal size of a smaller group is between 7-14 hence we formed six smaller groups. However, with only four facilitators on hand, we encountered a logistical hurdle. This led us to recruit and train volunteers(from a non-training background)from the client's events team overnight, equipping them with the skills and confidence needed to assist with the activities. It was a rewarding experience to train these volunteers in such a short timeframe, and they exceeded expectations in executing their tasks flawlessly.

Throughout this process, several key elements emerged as essential pillars of success.

Here, what worked, and the Aha moments I experienced

• Ganesh's ability to trust and set the tone? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
• Carefully selecting activities suited to their abilities and structuring clear instructions
• Making the instructions idiot-proof (the term refers to making something so simple, clear, or foolproof that even an inexperienced or clueless person could understand or use it without making mistakes). Clear and concise instructions ensured that volunteers could execute their roles with precision.
• Having practice sessions to familiarise volunteers with activity and activity props
• Writing instructions down for the participants.
• Opting for a written debrief method instead of a verbal one enhanced the reflective process.
• Ganesh's omnipresence ensured that no detail went overlooked. ( well he completed 25000 steps that day??)

Conducting a Relay at different locations had its own set of challenges, but I am proud to say we ran it smoothly

What worked here is:

• Identifying apt activities for relay across different hotel locations,
• Creating a roadmap for the participant's movement is crucial as to how and where will they move and in what sequence to avoid any confusion
• Naming each designated areas

We started the session with context setting followed by the process Glad,Mad,Sad which helped in breaking the ice, bringing the participants together and creating a safe space. This process was pivotal in transitioning the group from individual mindsets to a cohesive team dynamic.

We then formed the teams, with the paucity of time this was another challenging task and involving the client sponsors in this process proved invaluable. The relay activities followed

To conclude the day, participants were given back all their charts? to gather all the learning points from the activities and present the action plan moving forward,

Our efforts eventually led to a huge success. The intervention was executed flawlessly and seamlessly, thanks to Ganesh's meticulous planning, the dedication of our co-facilitators, and the hard work of our volunteers, who invested themselves fully in learning and executing their roles. We are grateful to our clients for giving us the opportunity to make this happen.

FOLKS School Of Facilitation and Learning

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