Christmas Paddling 2010

For when the usual haunts are too big for our skills....

such as the "Butchers Knife" Rapid on the Barron Gorge....

And the "Cheese Churner" Rapid on the Barron Gorge.... we then revert to :


A usually Babbling Brook that turns into a seething torrent....well for Grade 2 paddlers....

Freshwater Creek : Crystals Bottom Pool to Redlynch Valley Bridge

The river run on the Crystal Cascades Gorge Rapids at this time of year are inundated with the gods of kayaking from the Cairns Kayaking Club, who run devastating rapids like "No Fear".


However being true to the first rule of kayaking - only run rapids of which you are confident in doing - brings us to the Grade 2-3 section beneath the Gorge Rapids (of which are Grade 4-5).

This section of rapids generally have pushy water at Grade 2 level where the adventurer needs to clearly read water dynamics to ascertain the flow, pick up on any water pillows (water flowing over rocks and boulders), and dodge any tree limbs that threaten to unseat the unsuspecting paddler.

The crew for the paddle (Dec 27th) were Adro, Lucky, Dano, Tangles, Flick, Tank, and Flounder all in kayaks, and we were also joined by Dan and Eddie in a small two man raft.

Most of this expose will feature around the Grade 3 Drop rapid of which everyone took part in. But with the lead up to this rapid, we all had our share of drama and fun. A safety note for this though is that there are a couple of downed trees across the river of which we had to carefully navigate, and to be utterly safe, you can always portage (carry the boat and walk) around them
.

Eddie and Dan navigating their way through the rocks. Footnote : Dan was the absolute virgin paddler, of which we carefully watched.

The crew after a downed tree. We eddyed out mostly where we could on the stretch between the bottom pool and the Crystals Bridge.

The Drop Rapid : This is a Grade 3 drop of about a metre and a half to which it flows into a boil basin, and then the paddler needs to negotiate a rock wall to get into the flow. You need to paddle middle to left of middle for the correct line. Too far right heads you into a nasty tree branch. Safety Cover was set up, and the group went through three by three with the raft heading out in the middle of the group. (Adro to the left about to jump into the boil).

Once you negotiate the drop, you splash through the boil at least about chest deep, follow the river flow after the branch and head river right.

(Dano splashing through).

(Flick negotiates well)


Once you leave the secondary rapid, you can then either eddy out right or left.

A no-no. The raft boys headed too far right and had to fight with the tree branch. Dan then complicated the matter of not fending the tree branch away however, then grabbing hold of the branch (another no-no) and of course as always happens, the boys went swimming. In this case, the boys were covered by Adro, Tank, Tangles, and Flick. While Flounder and Dano paddled off in search of dropped paddles (another no-no). Footnote : those paddles were recovered a further 100-200 metres down river luckily.

(Flounder leaping above the wave train)

The Crystals Bridge is another small portage due to the water pipe shown left. This is where we recovered one paddle....the other eddyed out another 100 metres down stream.

This water pipe is a great indicator for water levels further up. But this is a dangerous spot as the water pipe can turn into a strainer where a person can get entrapped easily if they do not eddy out ot the right in the appropriate time.

After the carnage of the Drop Rapid, the crew then set about running the grade 2 rapids below. The Boulder Slip past did not claim anyone, but the Liana Hang Vine Rapid did. Adro managed to cut across Flounders Bow only to be upturned, then turning his (brand new) Nevis paddle into two small hand paddles, thus then eventually losing them to the river when he decided to submerge for a swim. Yep, he snapped it straight in half....and they disappeared. This is how it goes sometimes on the river.

Eddie and Dan surrendered a paddle (Adro's old faithful) and the crew continued to play in the small Grade 1-2 rapids that followed, occasionally eddying out to take in the scenery that is Freshwater Creek.

Flatwater Relaxing.....

The Redlynch Bridge provides an easy extraction point for paddlers. However, on a safety point, please be aware of the river levels as the older bridge is a lot lower to the water than the main bridge. This can also act as a strainer depending on water level.



Please remember : If you paddle the fabulous waterways of this great country, always take nothing away except for photographs and memories, and do not leave anything behind except for your footprints in the sand.

Teamwork, Team Games - Group Initiative Tasks 1

Peter Drucker quoted once " The Leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I". And that's not because they have trained themselves to say "I". They don't think "I". They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done. "

Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005) was a writer, management consultant, and self described "social ecologist". His Books and scholarly popular articles explored how humans are organised across the business, government and non-profit sectors of society. His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century including privatisation and decentralisation; the rise of Japan to an economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing; and the emergence of the information society with it's necessity of lifelong learnings.

So it is with S-Teem Training and Coaching. The company is empowered to aide persons, either management or staff, to understand the "team concepts" of which can produce fruitful activities of efficiency and brand realisation.

In past blogs, we have explored basic team games to aide the person to understand the "helpful" concepts. It is only when you place all of these bases together, that you can then empower the team to function to complete a required task. The courses supplied via S-Teem enables the group to take a journey together through all of the four main stages of team bonding . These are Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. I have outlined two major games below that can be described as group initiative tasks.

TP Shuffle

This is an exercise which incorporates the previous factors of which we have explored, personal space, communication, supporting of teammates, and group initiative thinking.

What happens is that the Leader explains that the team is perched high above a boiling pit of lava (Radioactive Dinosaur Snot comes into play yet again...). The initiative is to get the team to swap it's order of standing on the perch. At this point, "the Perch" can be just a plank of wood capable of supporting the team placed on a few bricks - or a Tent Pole placed on stumps as in the photo.

The itiiative task is for the whole team to swap their positioning on the perch and they must complete the task by not touching the ground.

Personal space becomes an issue, and thus it is advisable that this initative task be undertaken once the team members are familiar with one another.

The solution for this task is basic in it's explanation. Team members move from one end to the other of the task area. Team members aide each other by "supporting" the passing person by hanging on to their body or clothes as they pass. Other team members support the aiding team member by hanging on to them. Thus forms a chain link.

If you think about it, support for colleagues forms a concrete basis for an organisation to operate. Once colleagues discover the fact of trustworthiness amongst their workmates network, the organisation/group runs to an optimal level and thus the "performing" stage kicks into action.

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Prouty's Landing

Another of the Group Initiative tasks, Prouty's Landing also demonstrates the power of support between colleagues forming the stabilisation brick for teamwork amonst the individuals of the organisation/group.

The Leader explains that the group , to get off an exploding island need to get to the highest point for a helicopter extraction. In this case, the extraction point can be just a crate lid or platform. You also need a "swing" to be able to transfer group members from the eroding safe zone to the extraction point. The swing should be made of at least a 24mm rope attached to a bombproof pivot point. Generally that pivot point would be a sizeable branch of a tree, or a beam of a building.



The team is then to transfer all of their members safely across to the platform via the rope swing, avoiding the radioactive dinosaur snot, in a timeframe determined by the leader.

The team has to work out that to have the 10-12 people to land and stay on the platform, they are to each give everybody in the group support by hanging on to the bodies whereevr possible to stabilise the area and not "fall off" . The rule is that no one is allowed to touch the ground around the platform, or otherwise the team starts the task from the beginning.

The Leader ensures that the team has "qualified" to complete the task by remaining as a group all as one on the platform by an amount of time.

Feedback is definately required by the group to partake as it is up to them to realise the gravity of group communication, personal space, trust, and working together all builds to ensure their understanding.

The leader also ensures that all of the team participates and above all that everyone has fun.



Whilst partaking of team games, also try to ensure that all team member participants remain safe.

Teamwork, Team Games - Initiative Group Games

Teamwork

Great teamwork makes things happen more than anything else in organisations. McGregors X-Y Theory illustrates how and why empowered teams get the best results. Empowering people is more about attitude and behaviour towards staff than processes and tools. Teamwork is fostered by respecting, encouraging enthusing, caring for people, and not exploiting or dictating to them.

At the heart of this approach is love and spirituality, which helps bring mutual respect, compassion, and humanity to work. People working for each other in teams is powerful force , more than skills, processes, policies, annual appraisals, management-by-objectives, more than anything.



Teams usually become great teams when they decide to do it for themselves - not because someone says so !



Something inspires them possibly, but ultimately, the team decides. This is usually after the team goes through the Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing process. Some teams can do it quicker than others....and usually find greater rewards for themselves earlier.

How is this achieved ? Through good communication with each other...that's how... Communication is vital for teamwork to occur and to have everyone thinking and working towards the same goal. Consider a Hockey Team..... they all have the same goal...by scoring the ball into the net to win the game. However, this does not happen unless team members communicate well. This is where the coach comes in....he/she sees it all from the sideline and tells each member what they are doing well, what's not going so good etc.



Some of the games that coaches and instructors from S-Teem Training and Coaching would utilise are shown below :



Blindfold Line Up : This is a great communication tool where the group is blinfolded. The instructor would whispers a different number to each of the participants. The group needs to line themselves up in the correct increasing sequence. Variations can have this game increase in difficulty by -

• the group not being able to talk
• the group needs to make a perfect square with a long piece of rope they are holding
• the group needs to line up in height, shortest to tallest, or youngest to eldest.

It is advantageous for the instructor to run through the game without blindfolds first to highlight the advantage that communication by spoken word has on ourselves. The participants would then find it slightly hardedr to complete the task when blindfolded, and no one is able to speak.



Giants, Wizards, and Elves : Purely a communication Game similar to paper, rock, and scissors. The team as one, has to decide as to whether they are to be Giants, Wizards, or Elves....and must do the accompanying action along with each of the choices. Giants are to raise their arms high and scary over the head whilst roaring in a deep grumbling throaty yell. Wizards are to crouch and place their hands out as if they were projecting a spell and make an electrical buzzing noise with their mouth. Elves are to crouch even lower and wiggle their fingers towards the other group whilst whimpering. The two teams line up facing each other about 10 metres apart when they have decided as to their choice. At the call of 1,2,3, they are to action out their selected choice. Now the fact that remains is that Giants scare Wizards, Wizards scare Elves, and Elves scare Giants (sound familiar ?). The losing team then runs for a safe area about 10 metres behind them while the winning team chases them to tag as many people of the team that they can. This can be done on a timeframe, or when one team runs out of participants. If both teams choose the same choice, then they go back to their safe area to choose again. This then becomes the strange strategy of people thinking about what the other team is thinking.
Sociogram : With communication, comes awareness and familiarity. In this game, the group needs to organise itself with the people who know each other the closest by standing closest to them, and the people that they do not know or are the lease known, are to stand furtherest away. The group will start off confidantly, but it will take extra shuffling around as the exactness of familiarity is questioned, or the people who know someone well, may not necessarily know someone else who is standing close to that person well.

This is a great before and after game as to let each participant realise in graphic form as to how the team has bonded.

Human Knots : This game gets the participant up right and the personal space is definately invaded. The group stands in a tight circle places both hands into the middle of the circle, and grabs the right hand of someone else. They then do the same with theoir left hand grabbing the left hand of someone totally different. The group is then to untangle themselves and make a circle without letting go. The grip however can be adjusted accordingly.

Remember : When considering organising games of a nature where there is body contact or an injury can occur, please ensure that all safety precautions are in place before you start.

Teamwork, Team Games - Tag Games and Personal Space Games

Tag Games


Consider when you were a child....


Playing tag was very simple when someone was "in" and if you weren't....you tried your best not to be. Simple rules to simple games....make life simple. You can possibly then make the assumption that simple rules of your life....make simple life direction, morals, behaviour etc.


So to add to that simple games were FUN. Doesn't everyone want a FUN life ?


You ask how does this relate to team building strategies ? Well, whenever you are in a performing team, you have to be comfortable with the person next to you, the way they act in certain situations, the way they speak, and the way they think etc. So being comfortable means being comfortable with an impingement upon your personal space, mind, and thoughts.


Tag game represents a simple rule of touching and you the are "in".


S-Teem instructors may spend only a small time on this subject to demonstrate, but how many times do you play tag with your children, and instantly your face breaks out into a smile ?


So here are the games :


Chain Tag : In a small cordoned off area, people are ushered into the area, and one person is "in". That person then tries to tag another person, they then hold hands and try to tag other people. When tagged, the person must join the chain. However the rule is that only the outside people must tag the free runners or otherwise the chain is broken, and thus the tag is ruled invalid. The chain must act as a team to successfully tag all and sundry within the area.


Seem familiar ? The chain is a team of people trying to reach their goal of tagging a person/s to successfully reach their goal.


Smurf Tag : Again, in a small cordoned off area, one person is Gargomoyle (tagger) and walks around with stiff arms and legs. The rest are the Smurfs, and they mustonly skip while singing the smurf tune (la la la lalalah lala lah). When a smurf is tagged, they stand still and call out in a little voice..."help me , help me". Other smurfs can free them by pairing up and holding hands around the tagged smurf whilst jumping up and down three times calling out " be free, be free, be free". However, it is important who you first select as Gargomoyle. If Gargomoyle struggles, you can add another Gargomoyle to the game to help wind it up.


Smiling yet ?


The above may seem childish, but how many times we let our barriers down once we are having fun. These games have a direct feed into teamwork, whether they are acting together to tag the "survivors....or they act as a team to "free" their friends...albiet in an impish sort of way.

Remember : When considering organising games of a nature where there is body contact or an injury can occur, please ensure all safety precautions are in place before you start.

Teamwork , Team Games - Icebreakers and Energisers

IceBreakers and Energisers

Games are an excellent way to understand peoples thinking and feelings. They provide an insight into the personality and even sometime the soul of a person.

The way that the games would draw out these integral facets of the person's being, would be to instigate basic strategies and theories into the mind of the participant.

Consider two people. One who is relaxed and pliable to ways of meeting new people, and flexible enough to accept new ways of learning , as compared to the person with only one line of sight, and socially unaccepting of other people's ideas.

Whom do you think may be the better team player ? Whom do you think would be more able to have their own personal space invaded. Personal space is an issue in everyday life, but when aiding in teamwork, honesty, trust, respect (all important building stones to a great team environment),... personal space issues can be eliminated to form the basis of a successful team.

So in the first of the series, we examine some of the energisers and icebreakers that will be used in the programme.

Icebreaker games have the role of getting people to meet each other for the first time, and also to get each participant to be more relaxed in the company of the others. The target is to enable each participant to provide their own input and personal experiences into the strategies of the team and the task at hand.


Some of the Games that S-Teem can use to get this task underway are :

Toss a Name : The simplist form of learning names of people in the group. Task 1 is where people are to assemble in a large group, and toss a ball to a person across the other side of the group. When the person catches the ball, they say their name and then toss the ball to someone else. A variation to this would be that when catching the ball, the person can indicate something about themself to enable the group to link what they indicate to their name. (eg. the theme may be what country they would like to visit and why).

Task 2 could be an addition to enhance the memory by calling the persons's name, and the n throwing them the ball.

Gotcha : where people are grouped into a large circle and position their left hand palm up and open, and their right index finger pointing and resting in the left palm of the person to their right. On a command each person has to try and grab the finger of the person to their left whilst not trying to get their own finger caught from the person on their right. This shows reactionary cognitive thinking and adds fun as an energiser.

Killer : This game can be played for the entire duration of a required task. At the start of the task (for example hiking the Pyramid), the group forms a circle and each person closes their eyes. The leader then explains rules to them whilst walking around and around the group. The leader then selects the "Killer" by tapping them onto the shoulder. Once all rules are explained and the killer is selected, the group undertakes whatever task that they may be doing.
The rules for this game is that the killer has to try and secretly "kill" all of the group whilst remaining undiscovered. He/She does this in the way that they indicate a sign to the intended victim (such as the fingers forming a circle on the knee). Once the victim receives that sign and no other person sees that happening, they are then "killed" and encouraged to die a rather noisy and dramatic death by acting at a later stage. But they must not give the identity of the killer away.
The surviving group members have to try and solve who is the killer before the group task is completed. The killer is the winner if he/she is able to "kill" all members of the group. The surviving person who solves the case and correctly identifies the killer is the winner.
This games adds the element of intrigue and fun to such outdoor tasks of hiking and bushwalking in groups. It also adds dramatic tales of assination attempts at the feedback sessions after the group task is completed.



Game : Mirror Knock Over













Game : People to People

Other Icebreakers and Energisers that S-Teem staff like to use are :

"HandShake Knockover"

"Mirror Knockover"

"People to People"

"Boffer Name Game"

"Walk this Way"

Ask about these games through the comments.

Remember : When considering organising games of a nature where there is body contact or an injury can occur, please ensure all safety precautions are in place before you start.