India last week was a great experience……

Working with one of RBS’s most senior teams mission delivers a CSR programme to be remembered for many reasons. From the smiles on the faces of the pupils from St Louis school to the embraces and sense of achievement experienced by the RBS team. This was the hardest team programme Mission has ever delivered. Building a dome in 38 degrees of heat in a location thousands of miles from home with teams flown in from 4 continents.

Working with Kinley and his team from Kathmandu who flew south to supervise the build and stayed on to finish the dome on Thursday.

The first half day introduced the team to Mission’s model of high performance team work and I facilitated the team to focus on their culture. We used the SDI and some classic questions to elicit feedback within the team.

In addition we introduced the team to the dome build activity and the background to the charity and the St Louis school in Chennai.

That evening we relaxed and caught up on some sleep and prepared for the build.

We identified a leader to lead the team for the first session and to get the team to the school for 8am.

Day 2:

We arrived on site and met the school principle who welcomed and thanked us. Building began immediately but which was limited by a lack of tools and materials which arrived some 30 minutes later. The team and leader roles changed after every level of the dome was finished. This enabled the team to refine their process to achieve a faster time for each level laid.

The team had to watch and support one another very carefully as the temperature and physicality of the work were extreme. Looking after one another in such an extreme situation proved to be very positive. Asking for help and showing genuine concern for your colleagues is fundamental to any teams’ success. The team displayed all of these behaviours as the temperature increased and fatigue took hold. There was a real sense of purpose working alongside the pupils who were deaf and dumb. We were building something of value for them and we were all motivated by something more than just the physical size of the building. Working alongside these bright, polite, intelligent, strong and disabled children was an experience I will never forget. Their humility and gratitude were inspirations for all of us.

We worked through until 5pm and managed to get the building finished to 5 feet high which would enable other teams from the bank to complete the dome in the days to follow. In the end 3 separate teams worked side by side with the children to finish the build by 1600 on Thursday.

Everyone was exhausted but elated at the same time. 150 + litres of water, blisters and a few Delhi bellies later we had achieved what we had set out to achieve.

We had a quick wrap up on site and embraced one another to recognise our achievement. I asked the team to identify key individual and team lessons for a fuller review the following day. The programme had been all about the teams’ culture and how they behaved to provide direction and support for one another. All these behaviours were observed and the support and camaraderie were of the highest order.

We enjoyed a classical Indian concert that evening on the beach with the wind and an electric storm as our backdrop.

The team fed back on day 3 and every person ranked the experience as a definitive experience in their careers to date. Demonstrating supportive behaviours in a team context and connecting to each person on the team was a great experience for all. The social cohesion of this team is now bound as tight as the dome we all constructed, a reference point for them as they move forward and embrace the challenges of integration on a global basis.

“By far and away the best true ‘team-build’ I have ever done… I have done many over my career and this one imbibed a true deep sense of team belonging and purpose that previous programmes had only professed to do, this programme actually achieved it… I will not forget this experience…….”

Attention now turns to the teams clarity where this experience will ease those inevitable moments of conflict, where team members can challenge and know they are challenging one another for the good of the team.

Mission will be building more domes ; thanks to Kinley and his team and to Rob, Claire, Rachel and team for their support and confidence in Mission to deliver. I am currently writing up a post programme report, distilling the learning and recommendations for future team interventions.

See pictures on the update blog http://www.mission-blog.com/?p=36

Rob

 More to come…

Deborah (Fleming) and Julia (Carden) have just returned from running a development centre for the Schlumberger SIS Sales University in Kuala Lumpur.

The programme went extremely well with all the delegates receiving a 45 minute personal coaching session.  We used 16PF supported by evindence gathered across a range of exercises to assess strengths and weaknesses. The delegates responded positively to the challenge and for some it was the first occasion they had been given any feedback or developmental goals.

In attempting to identify Alain (the Schlumberger poc in the hotel on Sunday) Julia was seen to be pursuing strange men across the hotel foyer! 

We both welcomed the opportunity to work with the Schlumberger team and are looking forward to the next development centre in Tunisia in September and promise some photographs for the website.

Julia and Deborah

Been going great guns today (15th July). The wind has been coming out of the NE, and has long been strong enough to create a swell also from that direction, both of which have helped me along. Strange weather though - lots of sunshine but also the occasional big black raincloud.  I’ve had my buckets out a couple of times today, but the actual rainfall has been  minimal.  So no hair-washing just yet!

Roz

The result of blood, sweat and apparently tears too! Well done to all involved - what a great effort! - Just the lid, rendering and painting to go …..

It’s clearly not been all work and no play…..

40 degrees, 6 layers high, 5 blisters, sweating like a proverbial and having a wonderful time!  Afternoon session to come, all going well.

Rob

Well I managed to get around the Etape Du Tour the only opportunity an amateur cyclist gets to ride a stage of the Tour De France . With nine thousand other cyclists we cycled over 169 km to strict time frames over two mountain passes of well over 4000 metres of climbing.

Staying in Lourdes (an odd experience) we left the hotel at 3am uk time to make the drive to Pau for a 7 o’clock start.

Lined up with 48 different nationalities we crossed the line heading for Lourdes and up the Col Du Tourmalet finishing on the Hautacam. Built like a rugby player and fuelled on Brains SA (welsh beer) I made it to the base of the Tourmalet in 3 hours and 15 minutes with 22 km of climbing at an average of 7% ahead of me. It took me 2 hours to get to the top and riding in an Alping style I froze. Those better prepared rode down with 2 layers, I rode down in a summer shirt and a hankerchief.

Drafting all the way to the bottom of the last climb of the Hautacam I had 30 minutes to make silver, it wasn’tgoing to happen, 90 miniutes later I crossed the finishing line in +2 degrees in a misty mountain top finish.

Plans for next year bieng hatched, along with commitments to get fitter and lighter may have to lay off the beer, serious then?

Rob

http://www.missionperformance.com/Consultants.html#RobLewis