EMRS TEAM BONDING 10/03/2016
Selection
Emily, Pearline and Xinyue are selected as OICs to plan and facilitate the upcoming Team bonding event to aid the new batch of EMRS students to bond as a whole, have better relationships to assist future working experiences through a series of physical and mental activities.
Preparation
We (Emily Pearline Xinyue) gathered the whole of team 4 to discuss some of the forfeit ideas and to vote for some general ideas like game instructions for charades and broken telephone.
We listed down our checklist for the event which includes:
1. Production schedule
(allows team 4 to have a better idea of what's going to take place behind the scenes)
Time Activities
11am-1130pm SET UP SPORTS HALL ZONE ONE -paste triangular masking tape -paste division line -bottle and string to stand by at the side -clear any obstructing items -double check area to minimise injury rate to the minimum -double check portable sound system
1130-12pm SET UP EMRS ROOM -place containers and instruction lists at respective tables -double check sound system and open videos -file all the related documents and stand by tickets. -prepare forfeit slips
12pm-1245pm LUNCH -come back 15-20mins earlier
1245pm-1pm SET UP BRIEFING SLIDES -last check for errors and prepare the room for briefing
130pm-3pm ONGOING EVENT -proceed to EMRS room during water break
245pm-330pm DOUBLE CHECK EMRS ROOM -final check for relevant indoor games logistics -check if video is loading -final sound check to prepare for game start
430pm-5pm RBF -Pearline does a debrief while the rest collate the ticketing system
2. Programme schedule
(allows team 4 to note the activities that are suppose to be taking place currently)
Time Activity
12pm-1pm Lunch Break
1:30 – 2:00 pm Briefing / Introduction (By using power point) Introduce our ticket system
2:00 – 2.20pm Game one: Blow Wind Blow (individual)
2.20 –2.40 pm Game two: Crows and Cranes (individual)
2.40 –3.10 pm Game three: Tied Up Dog and Bone (group, ticketing system 01)
3.10 – 3.30pm Water break
3.30 – 3.50pm Game four: Broken Telephone (group)
4.00 – 4.30pm Game five: Charades (group)
4.30 – 5.30pm Debrief and end of programme
3. Games instructions
(assist gamemasters in case they forget how to explain a particular game)
4. logistics list
(assist logistic IC to purchase the necessary items, calculate budget etc)
5. Ticketing system blank template
(for game masters to allocate teams with respective tickets fast enough)
Pearline and Xinyue started on the proposal by gathering and filling in all necessary information while Emily noted down all the logistics and gathered them from various different places.
Days before the event
Our team (team 4) went down to the event site to book the venue and check for any form of potential dangers and obstacles that might be present. We wanted to reduce the level of danger to the lowest to ensure that our EMRS mates are able to have maximum enjoyment and learning points.
3 hours before the start of event
Under the lead of the three ICs, team four went down to the event site to scan the venue for one last time and to set up relevant logistics. Team four played the various games before hand to spot any possible loopholes and to test if the hall is too humid for activities. The security guard alerted us that our booking did not come with aircon so Pearline and Xinyue contacted the teacher who helped us to book the venue immediately. She then kindly informed us that we should make do with fans. Xinyue asked permission from her to request for aircon and she approved however when the security guard called the maintenance centre there was no one working on that day. We decided to make the best out of that day with the fans in the sports hall.
Briefing
A powerpoint slide presentation was made for the briefing. Briefing was conducted by Pearline. The slides includes programme schedule of the day, to allow the participators to have a better understanding of the team building activity. Besides that, a safety measures were also briefed during the presentation to remind participants what are suppose and not suppose to do.
Mass games
- Blow wind blow
Xinyue gathered everyone nearer to form a circle surrounding herself, she gave out instructions and pearline assisted and observed from the side recording down points to take note for AAR. Emily played with the rest to note down points for AAR in the shoes of a participant. Everyone had great chemistry and the ice was melted almost instantly. Sleepy faces turned into happy smile, laughing goofily at one another.
- Crows and cranes
Xinyue divided the hall into two equal halves using the centre red line as the line of division. One side was called crows and the other is called cranes. The Two halves were asked to play with fairness and they are to take note of the safety of their peers while chasing and escaping
- -Tied up dog and bone
Xinyue got all three teams to stand in a neat line facing the centre bottle, they are then assigned numbers and partners as the game proceeded on. This game didn't go according to plan as the moment strings was involved, the atmosphere got really challenging as there were many people involved some were confused as they headed to the centre with their partners, the dropping and grabbing of the “bone”was simply too fast and furious.
Indoor games
The indoor games is conducted by Emily.
Broken Telephone
The game was supposed to be played outside the EMRS room along the corridor but the portable speaker we had was not loud enough to provide distraction for the game, we decided to use the EMRS room as the speakers in the room are louder. Everyone understood how the game went and achieved the objective of the game and even though we thought the EMRS room would be too small for the game, everything went well and everyone had fun.
Charades
Even though we have chosen words that are of a certain level of difficulty, the teams still played with ease. As Charades is quite a well-known game, there were no challenges faced while trying conveying the instructions to the participants.
Debrief
Our debrief was conducted earlier because our activities ended slightly earlier. The purpose of that debrief was to get feedback on how we can improve in future and to let everyone has a say on our they feel about this activity and how this activity will benefit them in EMRS team in future. Debrief was conducted by Pearline. We personally felt very heart warming to listen to everyone’s thought and we also felt a sense of achievement because most of the people enjoyed the activity that we planned. We were happy to get many good responses from everyone :)
Forfeit performance
A lesson was learnt during the forfeit. Doesn’t mean that the team that had the most number of tickets will win. Despite having the most number tickets, team 2 & 4 lost to team 3.
1st place : Team 3
2nd place: Team 2 ( only need to do 1 forfeit )
LAST : Team 4 ( need to do 2 forfeit !!! )
Forfeit of team 2 was to post an unglam picture on social media !!
Forfeit of team 4 was to eat korean spicy noodle and drink vinegar. The game masters weren’t spared either. Pearline almost died in korean spicy noodle while xinyue and emily could not stand the smell and taste of the vinegar !!
To be honest, forfeit can be improved. Forfeit should be conducted in front of the whole emrs groups instead of the team. Rest of the team seemed left out when one group is conducting the forfeit. Joy and laughter should be shared among everyone :)
AAR
Xinyue’s thoughts and discoveries:
I learnt from the teachers that EMRS usually don't play team bonding games in an airconditioned environment and i thought that it would be great to implement and improve for future activities because if we have the facilities, why not use them! It is reflected that the tied up dog and bone did not go according to how we thought it would but nonetheless, everyone had fun. Some people responded that the forfeit should be more mild. Some also reflected that there were too many physical games and we should start off with ice breaker games.
Pearline’s thoughts and discoveries:
During the AAR, we prepared a powerpoint slides on what we did well, did not do well, challenges faced and overcome and what we can improved on. We were happy to get many good responses and we also learnt to accept new feedback and responses on how what we can do to improve our activities in future. AAR is a good time for us to reflect and improve ! :)
Emily’s thoughts and discoveries:
I have learnt that it is very important to be able to adapt to last minute changes as not everything will go according to plan. If the organizers panic and do not know what to do, the whole event would be affected. But overall, it was a great learning experience and I believe that we have achieved our objective.
Overall thoughts
“It made many students bond together including the DBI students. After the team bonding games, it have proven that it’s effective as many were opening themselves up to the rest which result in better team rapport.”
-Andy Leng, gp 2
“It was fun and enjoyable, it really helped teams to have better rapport and not only that but bonded the whole EMRS as a whole.”
-Kristian Jeremiah Joseph, gp2
“Good interaction with the teams and we get to know each other better. I think it would be better if there were ice breakers before the mass games”
-Oh Kai Qi, gp 3
“Able to know my fellow peers in EMRS more and know their working styles”
-Zheng Rongxin, gp 2
“Can relax and have some fun while bonding with the team”
-Pamela Lim, gp2
“It’s very fun and bond us more and i've enjoyed myself! I want more of such activities”
-Zuriel Ma, gp 3
“It was a good opportunity to make new friends and future colleagues.”
-Andre Leow, gp 4
“It was fun organising and making sure that the event went well. It was truly an enjoyable event. Beneficial to hold it at the start of this stopover ”
-Amberlyn Ong xin hui, gp 4
“I had a great time with my team and i think we should have more events like this”
-Gladys Kee, gp 3
EMRS Group photo
