Objectives

The team development objectives were aligned with the Aiming to Excellence pledges and key messages:

• Deliver one-day team building events to sensitise staff to the need for change and raise awareness of individual and collective contribution to the delivery of an efficient and cost-effective service.
• Engage staff with key Service pledges of; teamwork; everybody taking responsibility; being the best; being an ambassador to the Service; being passionate about service; keeping promises.

Outline

The day started with an initial Management positioning presentation which explained the rationale for programme, created the context and set ground rules. Each group, working as independent sub-teams, then rotated around four outdoor activities which were selected to get the participants thinking about teamwork, the process of change and thinking outside the box. Activities were overseen by a Waste Services Manager/Facilitator and reviewed in light of the organisational context. In the afternoon, the focus shifted and the whole group worked together on a Kinetic Connections task, which was selected as a strong metaphor for organisational working. It assisted in breaking down barriers between individuals or teams, drawing teams together to achieve a shared goal. With little information and no initial direction, only the combined efforts of every individual member of the group made the achievement of the task possible. Success was achieved if all tasks were completed to specification and on time; it was not competitive and needed co-operation, collaboration and a ‘silo-busting’ approach!  Through the regular activity time-outs and the final review phase, the group was encouraged to make links to the values and objectives of Edinburgh Waste Services and key ideas and actions were captured for further discussion and implementation.