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Watch a movie of the El Galleon training....here or download as ZIP file 36Mb |
Please note: These are large files so will take time to open or download....
Latest Mission Possible News Updates
Mission Possible now have a representative office in Manila. This means that any companies or people located in the Manila area will no longer have to call us in Puerto Galera but will have a local contact. We have also established an office in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Ralph Balmaceda and his company Essence and Scenes, who represent us in Manila, have been successfully involved in the Adventure travel business and event managing for several years so there is good synergy between our companies.
Ralph said the following about the opportunity: "We are looking forward to a mutually beneficial relationship in the future, where we can find other avenues that we can explore wherein we can both use our skills, experiences and networks."
From Ian Meikle, Course Director: "It will be through partnerships like this that we will grow our business in a way that benefits all parties. This fits in with our strategy of partnering with high quality resorts to offer attractive, flexible business package deals to clients at the location of their choice."
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June 6th-8th 2007, Mission Possible Team Building at Atlantis Dive Resort, Sabang, Puerto Galera |
Its 5pm on Wednesday 6th June. Once again Mission Possible facilitators are in front of a group of people who are clearly not sure what to expect, in fact most of them would rather not have been there!!
The first group of eighteen members of the staff at Atlantis Dive Resort in Sabang, Puerto Galera were introduced by Andy Pope.
Ian and Peter once again set the stage and and started them on their Jigsaw Puzzle challenge, the first part of the team building program where they all have to work together to successfully achieve their objective. This showed us however, that one puzzle is not equal to all others, based on the time taken on both days!
The Mission Possible program this time was the same core program, details of which you can see on our programs page and the El Galleon story next door, but was finished in one day instead of two.
As we only had two days and thirty six people to work with, running the program this way was the most effective answer.
Continued...
The only real difference in the programs was that the jungle experience was shortened and done closer to home, and the teams did not have the same consolidation time, but that in no way diminished the final outcome.
So, three teams of six members started each day on both Thursday and Friday, with the initial briefing the evening before. Of course we had to swear the Thursday team to complete secrecy so the Friday teams would have the same opportunity to enjoy and experience the program, which they maintained.
Clearly the dynamics of every team and every combination are different, but the excitement and energy when the objectives are achieved are always the same. The whooping and sense of achievement were very apparent in all cases.
Although the final outdoor challenge was shorter and not as rigorous as the two day program, the traps and the map reading set the same challenges, and a lot of fun was had as the victims were caught. There were also some uphill stages that tested the groups in different ways.
When the teams on both days came together at the end of the final challenge to find the treasure, an antique Jade Buddha this time, each group on the different days had different approaches, however, they both succeeded by working together as teams and achieved the final objective as a complete team.
So, when we were all back at Atlantis after the final challenge Mission Possible held a debrief and a final after action review, and clarified what was expected at the awards dinner.
The dinner was really another fun, energetic affair with each team presenting their TOTEM pole in a creative way, some really quite creative, and an opportunity for each team to show their entertainment style, also some more creative, followed by the well deserved awarding of certificates of achievement.
Dinner afterwards was a bit of an anti-climax after the excitement, but an opportunity for everyone to share their experiences.
Many thanks to Andy, Matt, Atlantis in general, and mostly to the participants of the program who were great fun to work with and who showed commitment, enthusiasm and, most importantly, a sense of humour throughout the program.
Once again, the lessons learnt, when transferred to the workplace, will help keep a sense of harmony amongst all the staff. There will be a follow up program in August for the rest of the staff.
Remember "If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always gotten!"
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Its 5pm on Monday evening and twelve El Galleon/Asia Divers staff are sitting expectantly, and maybe a little apprehensively, in the classroom waiting for the MISSION POSSIBLE team to start their team building program.
After an introduction from Allan Nash, Ian set the stage by taking everybody through some theory about teams: types of teams, why they form, how they work, leadership vs. followership, etc etc. Peter ran through the overview of the two days to come, plus the background ‘story’ around which all the activities were based, and the evening finished with a team jigsaw puzzle game to help get them working together, followed by an early night.
Tuesday dawned fine and clear and everybody was at breakfast at 7am, excited and keen to get on with the day. Two teams of 6 had been picked at random the previous evening and, after an in depth planning session, each was given the task of building a lift-bag from canvas and various bits of rope, clips, and karabiners.
When the task was completed and approved by us, the teams took turns to achieve their first objective, to lift a heavy submerged object from the seabed just off the end of the pier.
Watch the El Galleon photo slide show....here
Progress
Success was met by load cheers and some jumping around. This was a vital stage as it contained the message and clues for the rest of the quest.
Their next challenge was to figure out what the jumble of letters in the encrypted message meant!!
Each team had a different message so off they went to their respective rooms to tackle the problem. One by one, they discovered bits of the map which was to lead them to the buried treasure the next day and again, whoops and cheers were heard around the resort.
The enthusiasm and cohesion of the teams was now very obvious and Ian and Pete were feeling good about a job, thus far, well done.
Early Thursday, after a break day, both teams made it to their allotted, but different, starting points on the map on schedule and the hunt was on. Now, life at El Galleon is pretty good. Not too much jungle trekking involved, so most of the guys and girls on the quest were, figuratively and literally, on new ground.
Snakes were expected to be hiding round every corner; it was hot; there were a couple of small hills to walk over and some searching in long grass to be done.
Then trip-wires and things that made you jump (or get wet) kept messing with them. So, for some on the teams, it was a physical challenge too, however they were all up to the task.
That’s what teamwork is about, overcoming whatever confronts you with team assistance and joint effort.
Notwithstanding, they each achieved their individual team tasks and then the teams combined to share information and finish together as a large team.
The joint objective of finding the gold cup was achieved together and everyone shared the satisfaction of success.
We were all back in El Galleon for lunch followed by a debrief and a final after action review, before a break to prepare for the grand awards dinner in the evening.
The dinner was a fun, energetic affair with each team presenting their TOTEM pole and a ong/dance routine, followed by the well deserved awarding of certificates of achievement.
Many thanks to Allan for taking up the challenge of letting MISSION POSSIBLE run the program for the first time with his staff.
Many thanks to the participants who were great fun to work with and who showed commitment, enthusiasm and, most importantly, a sense of humour throughout the program.
The lessons learnt, when transferred to the workplace, will help keep a sense of harmony amongst all the staff.
Watch a movie of the El Galleon training here or download as ZIP file 36Mb
