TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITY LEARNINGS

What is Team Building Activity? – As what I’ve read Team Building Activity is use for improving oneself within the group for aiming some task or goals and also to enhance social relations to others. Team Building also is an activity to clarify some group or team roles. Within the activity there are frequently assign task for a group of people to work and collaborate with. Usually it contains important exercises to motivate every group members. Team building also intended to address interpersonal problems that will affect team performance. This was made to help every individuals particularly in the groups to become more active and productive to the goals that they are aiming for. Improving interpersonal relations and social interactions is the main purpose of the said activity. As this activity longing it developed to address best practices for achieving results, meeting goals and accomplishing tasks. The teams are said to be engage to change the situations and also to gain team competencies to enhance performance. It is somewhat like group or team training, which each of the members will learn functioning and effectiveness. Team training and Team building are not totally the same they still have differences. Like in team building it is not needed to be formal because it didn’t focus on skilled – base competencies. The bottom line of this kind of activity is generally sits within just the theory and practices of the organizational development that can also applied to sports team, school groups and other fields of team activity.

Our team building activity or other known it interpersonal activity was set on July 20, 2015. Before the activity was happened I was expecting that it was like before, that the activity was smoothly going better until it was adjourn. I think of this thoughts because I was once became part of the last interpersonal activity. By then, my job was a photographer and at the same time a somewhat like a secretary because aside from taking pictures I also jotting down all the significant topics of the activity and also tell and keep everyone to log in and out. For me as what I have witness before, the last interpersonal was quit enjoyable because majority of my batch took was there. What I like about then was my task that our facilitator assigned to me and that was being a photographer. Even though I’m not part of their activity I still freshly remembered all the enjoyment that they experienced. That was also my first time that I was chosen to took pictures of them and that was also the happiest moment that I was remembered. I still remembered that during that time some of their activities can make everyone became emotional, others was crying and some are half meant  affected. I think every one of them realized that not all the time they were right sometimes they should learn to listen to each other for the reasons that they could made many solutions to their problems as a team. But anyways these are just a recap about what I had experienced before when the last Team Building activity was held.

So now, this is my time or our time!! Hahaha comparing before I was completely satisfied about our recent team building, why? – Because I was not expecting someone or a new one will conduct it differently unlike before. Before the staff or the one who was facilitating then are just the University’s employee base in the UGTO department but now it wassomeone else. I do not still remember her name but I do still remember her face and her kindness to us. According to her she was an instructor of Saint Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro, which similarly an Ateneo University of us but I heard they are the same with different names to called. As what I’ve remember which made me confuse she was here in Davao because she was taking –up Masterals or PhD? I don’t know coz all I remembered was something like that. In fairness to her she made a good job to us. So back on July 20 I think that was Thursday I woke up early at quarter to 6am, I have many things  to do then like cooking rice and dishes , then afterwards took a bath and ate some of my cooked breakfast.  For me that day I was quit more excited because God let those times came right for me to finalize my decision about taking a field trip seriously and not confusedly should be. After commuting by then I came at the right time and then proceed to the social hall but I was wondering why there’s no people inside the hall because I thought the said activity venues was in the social hall but then I was wrong . Thanks to my classmate who arrived after me because he informed me where the right place is. So we decided to go together and yeah we went safely. Hahaha.I never knew that it was there because the first batch assigned in the Social hall. And that place was called our University Hostel. For me it was a good place to conduct the activity because it is quit and we can focus well to do our task. When I entered the door I searched for log-in papers first before I ‘am going to sit for me to be proven visible on that day of interventions. After that I saw my other classmates coming and doing the same thing. Then, the new staff came together with the old. So by then, I was so excited meeting her all the way long I define her like she was good enough to communicate well to us. She’s always smiling and gave us some laughs when my other classmates became weird sometimes. When the activity was started we first conduct a prayer with matching slideshow and background music. Knowing that we are in a generation of gradual immerging of technology, this kind of conducting prayer is not new to me. After the prayer of course we sang for our national anthem. Then, we are requested to sit and start our main activity which is the Team Building. Followed by the staff gave us the first activity of what are we expecting to the seminar then we should write it in a plain short band paper, what I wrote to the first question was like this “In this seminar, I expect that it would be fun and knowledgeable “, the second question was “ I think on this seminar I can contribute some friendly advice to my fellow classmates when they are going to share about their MMK lives and get so emotional.” The third question is my favorite because the answer are just drawing of how do we feel today, so what I draw was a smiley face with a caption of “at the same time I ‘am very excited”. That’s what I really feel then. After that we were instructed to generalize our idea or answers to a one fourth manila paper and I am gladly say that we wrote it right according to what we’ve decided to put.Starting from then I realized that we are learning to apply the listening tactics to have a better understanding and communication to our members in a group and to build or make a better presentation to everyone. Next activity was called “My Place on the Tree” where in this activity we are given to relate or mirror ourselves to the pictures that will represent on who we are in this world. Actually this is my favorite part of the activity because it is a visual presentation to us to make some explanation why we choose that image. This also the part when I or each of us can share on who and what we really are in a real situation. For me I choose the image of a girl that swings in the branch of the tree then I explain to them why I choose that image because for me it somehow connects me and what does she do to be happy on her own doings. For me the image of that girl made me realized that my life was also like that, that even thou I am alone I can make myself happy on my own but like the swing and its rope I still need someone or a family in my life to hold on like the tree in order to come up with those happiness and like the swing my life was something go with the flow on what God’s will provide me. Too many explanations I made by then but my team members still listening to me. On that second activity I saw that we learned to be a good listener to each other and made some opinions to make someone comfortable after sharing their selves. The third activity was reading a poem or an article about A CONSIDERATION OF PERSONHOOD. As I read those lines I felt so amaze of knowing that every person that sitting next to us are unique and we all have different experience in life. I have two favorite lines on the article and these are;

“The person sitting next to you is a unique world of experience. Within him is constantly going on a world premiere of experiences that no person has ever had or will ever have. Thus the person sitting next to you is a cluster of memories of the past and the expectations of the future.

He can live not only for himself, but also for you. He can confront, encourage, and understand you … If that is what you want. In turn, he is to be understood. And unless other people take time to understand him, he is thwarted from being personal.”        

About these lines above, I learned that every one of us is different from each other, and no one can replace us. Maybe we will meet each other earlier and somehow we will also going to meet each other in the future. And the experienced we’ve encountered are different from each other that no one could experience it like we do. I agree also that we lived not only by ourselves but also we lived and uniquely meant for each other to share different understanding about what we were going through. So much for that. The fourth activity was also my favorite the “I am Me” poem. This poem was really an eye opener or a reminder for me about myself. I once became lost without anyone knowing it, even myself. During those moment when I read the poem I realized that despite of everything that I’ve experienced I should or must take care of myself because one selves are unique. That there is no one exactly like me. That I own everything about me. My body , including all its thoughts and ideas. My eyes , including all the messages they behold. I own my thoughts , my dreams, my hopes, and my fears. Those are just some of the lines that really captured my ears to be heard again to remind me that I am only one in this world having those physical, manners, attitude, thoughts, ideas, smiles, and a lot more that no can have. So by then I realized that   I should change for the better version of me. I need to survive in this world with the help of those people who loves me, because I know if the time will come I will no longer lived, some will find my own self of having different personality of others that’s why we should take care of ourselves.

In General, I learned to be more aware on every challenge that will come and make sure to solve it with the help of every member in the group. I learned also to listen first before to react then followed to understand the situations. I learned also to be open minded to everyone’s decisions and opinions. Learned also to be more confident of all the things that you do to achieve your goals. Gaining patience also important to a group and many more. The most important of all is having a strong faith to God to make everything easily handle and solved. Do not lose hopes of every challenges, instead think positive to have a better you.