Yesterday was a busy day racing around Sydney for four teams of new graduates in the BOC graduate programme, competing in BOC's own Amazing Race around Sydney in an effort for the grads to experience team building, decision making and execution, and problem solving.
Starting Points
The teams started in various positions - some with a military style kick off at Hyde Park Barracks, and others with a more holy influence at St Mary's Cathedral. The teams faced many challenges throughout the day such as the weather, busking challenges and trying to beat some seasoned University Beer Pong pro's - Mike and Dave- at Ginger Beer Pong at the GradConnection headquarters.
Team D were given some green masks to wear around the city on their challenge by Mike and Dave as a practical joke - and it turns out that these ended up being graduate Tim's highlight of the day (phew!)- "We had met up as a team before start time for a coffee to get to know each other a bit, but the masks actually helped us build rapport & created quite a good spirit within the team."
Ginger Beer Pong Points
Ginger Beer Pong in the GradConnection office was quite competitive - with team Dave and Mike winning only one round, drawing one, and uh... not winning two.
The grad teams were presented with many challenges throughout the day, with graduate James pinning the hardest part as the "..highly stressful environment.. We got stuck on Cockatoo Island for an hour which was frustrating - although we did use the time to strategise which ended up being beneficial."
Team A told us they had come prepared though, packing a Didgeridoo and Tapping Sticks to bust on the Opera House Steps - we hope you made some cash for all that busking work!
Team C were the lucky winners of a double movie pass for each team members, but It seems the grads all had something great to take away from the day, with the Amazing Race teaching the grads a lot about themselves, and each other.
What the Grads learned
Rachel learnt "about stress resilience and who was the calm, grounded person - and who was assertive in the team, and how to utilise that." while Diana says she learnt that she is " quite competitive - so I wanted to win. As the day went on, I realised it was more important to have fun and deal with the setbacks. I noticed I was stressing out the team, and injecting negative energy into the team. They kept me grounded & my spirits high.
The new grads told us that the day "..exceeded expectations of a graduate position induction. It was a great way to get to know each other as the day went on, built a stronger team and stronger sense of trust with each other." Daniel says "personally the best bit was getting to know each other better and spend time with the people in your team. I learnt that James was the type of person who would go onto a ferry and have the confidence to ask the crowd if there was anyone named John. I wouldn't have thought that of James. That's what I enjoyed" -
Feedback from BOC's HR consultant, Emma
"The key objectives were teambuilding, decision making and execution, and problem solving. I'd highly recommend the exercise for other Grad Managers. It worked in well with the sessions the day before and after - which were around communication, listening skills, body language and understanding their impact on others and their 'personal branding' which were all really critical things to be aware of as they were racing around the city. They learnt a great deal about themselves under pressure, and also about their peers, notable who is resilient, grounded and a good team player in times of stress. The teams had to debrief on the behaviours they also saw in themselves, that had been noted in their Psych feedback reports - so it linked into 'development areas' for them as individuals and a group."
