The Philosophical Foundations of

Ropes Course and Team Development Metaphors

The team development program at Cal Adventures provides an impactful, experiential opportunity for participants to develop their team through our on-campus, close-to-home program offerings.

Physical and mental team building programs offered at the ropes course present unique challenges from a programmatic standpoint. On one hand we can provide a light-hearted, yet impactful experience that will allow for an introduction to other outdoor pursuits. While this is a benefit of the type of exposure our programs will allow for and provide, our purpose runs much deeper. Our clients are coming to us with a particular objective in mind: further the development of their team and the individuals on their team. In order to respond to this we need to create a program outline that allows for solid, transferable skills and knowledge for each participant. With this point in mind, one can see that developing and offering the appropriate program designs is integral to the overall success of the team building and ropes course program.

Based upon the following metaphorical transfer foundations, we can provide thought-provoking programming that addresses and meets the needs of the groups we plan on serving.
 

Fear: experiencing and dealing with isolation, trying something new.

The ropes course provides an opportunity for individuals and teams to learn new and improve existing interpersonal skills and apply their collective learning in real time. By encouraging participants to step outside of their "comfort zones", we can capitalize on the apprehension, excitement, and different learning abilities of each participant.
 

Support, coaching, communicating & giving feedback in a "remote environment".

The ropes course encourages individuals to ask for, offer, and accept help from other people. As this occurs, participants can cultivate similar skills and expectations to be further developed in our working and living environments.
 

Physical problem-solving.

Ropes course initiatives require individuals and teams to physically work together to complete a task. These initiatives therefore promote cooperation and provide an avenue for the development of skills which can be used to spatially and kinesthetically approach problems. Once exposed to models of this nature, the participants can better perceive and understand other models addressing such issues as meeting management, visioning, and communication.
 

Cross-functioning teams.

By tackling initiative problems at the Cal Adventures ropes course, participants can become a cross-functional team. Acclimating group members to this type of teamwork is valuable because cross-functional teams are well-equipped to effectively handle many types of real-world problems.
 

Production issues.

While working together at the ropes course, participants can address issues around production and production capabilities. By elaborating upon this theme, issues of planning, resource allocation, and vision and mission development can be explored.
 

Group decision-making, consensus.

When working together at the ropes course, group members are asked to share information by participating in a series of initiatives geared toward collaboration, communication, transferring knowledge, and problem-solving. As team members "do" these activities, they employ and develop group problem-solving and decision-making mechanisms.