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Program

Abbott India | Very Large Group Engagement

Objective

The challenge was to engage the 2800 strong sales team of Abbott India in a two-part event. The team comprised multiple business units with varying team strengths. The first part of the event needed to involve the teams working in their business unit level groups and the second part on Day 2 needed to involve all 2800 people coming together for a common cause. Adding to the complexity, the first day needed to be facilitated in seven different locations across the city for groups varying from 200- 1200! The theme of the event was Shikhar – symbolizing growth. Any activity design had to fit with the context of the event as well and result in an unveiling of the Shikhar Logo as a finale event!

Solution

After iterating multiple design options, we arrived at the solution – The Shikhar Challenge. A team of more than 35 facilitators delivered the day 1 of the event in 7 different hotels in NCR. The Shikhar Challenge involved participants in each location working in smaller groups to create self-standing pyramids of around 4 ft height from cardboard kits specially designed for the event.

The challenge required teams to use their collaborative skills, execution and team work to assemble the pyramids. But this was only part of the challenge! Each of the smaller teams had to come together as one unit to assemble 19 of these smaller pyramids into one giant pyramid around 10 feet high. Seeing the big pyramids come up was a huge Aha Moment and lent itself beautifully to the metaphor of Shikhar (Growth).

The pyramids from each of the locations were transported to the main location where all 2800 participants assembled the next day for a Republic style parade along with their giant pyramid creations. However, in order to drive home the element of teamwork and alignment to one vision, there was a further catch. Elements from each of the sub-businesses had to come together for a finale where the business leaders assembled a giant 4 layer pyramid 12 feet tight using smaller pyramids from each of the 7 locations. It beautifully drove home the point of Shikar and working together to scale great peaks. The final logo of Shikhar was also unveiled by projecting it onto the giant pyramid structure built by the group.

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Program

Axis Bank | Team Engagement Workshop

Objective

To launch their new sales incentive plan for the financial year, in an innovative way that captures the hearts and minds of participants. The entire incentive plan was based on the theme of Formula 1. Our brief was to design a team experience that would serve as a launch pad for the new incentive plan. It also needed to highlight the critical success factors for an F1 team, including execution skills, collaboration and incorporate the different exciting elements of F1 racing.

Solution

The FocusU Team designed a custom Soapbox Challenge for the Axis Bank Sales team. The challenge to the team involved being divided into smaller teams to participate in an F1 Style Racing program. The teams worked in F1 style, two cars per manufacturer.

The equipment involved professional grade carts from the global leader Berg. Running a F1 style race also means setting up a customised track that recreates the look & feel and the passion of the race. All this was arranged end-to-end by the FocusU Team.

To make the whole experience more exciting though, it was broken up into two stages – the Build stage & the Racing stage. During Build Stage, teams had to build their F1 carts from scratch as a team – nuts, bolts and all. For the Racing stage, teams then needed to choose their best drivers who raced it lap by lap, one after the other in “passing-the-baton” style. This was done through an additional Pit Stop Challenge, where drivers and tyres had to be changed. The excitement generated, right upto the prize distribution finale fit in well with the client theme and served as the perfect backdrop for launching the incentive program.

The Soapbox Challenge has subsequently been discovered and experienced by a whole lot of other teams, who have wanted to experience something very physical and with a rush of adrenalin, but something that also brings out deep learning that comes out in the debrief. A few such companies being: XL Catlin, Harley Davidson, HUL, Clifford Chance, BCG amongst others. One thing common to all these experiences has been the customer delight.

Impact:

Here is what Kedar Lele, Vice President – HUL had to say about a similar experience:

“We have been depending on FocusU for more than 6 years to conduct team-building sessions and exciting outbounds for our managers & employees. The SoapBox challenge done with racing cars brought an innovative challenge to the team. It is not just about building a car and decorating it. Or for that matter racing it on a small track by choosing right drivers, pit crew and cheerleaders. It is a lot more about team work, creativity, communication, performance, collaboration and finally the excitement of winning, all rolled into one. I would strongly recommend everyone to go take the SoapBox challenge and spend a day learning with and about their colleagues.”

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Program

Marico India | Team Bonding Workshop

Objective

To bond the members of an intact team (the FCM team) in Marico.

Solution

The FCM (Factory Commercial Management) team in Marico comprised 9 members. These were people who had been working together for over a year. There were no stated issues per se with the team. However, while they worked well with each other – the relationships were very transactional. This meant that team members would do what was necessary – but would rarely go beyond the remit to help each other or collaborate with each other. The team had a new leader, who wanted to bridge this divide between team members by bringing them closer together as one team through a workshop intervention.

Like in all such interventions, we had a very open discussion with the leader in terms of setting up expectations on the expected outcomes from an intervention like this. Becoming a well oiled performing team is always a journey – and it is important that the leader and the team members see it as such. Hence this intervention was positioned as the kick-off intervention.

The workshop was set up at the company guesthouse, so as to create a very informal atmosphere between the participants. We started with a few energizers to break the ice and get everyone into a more relaxed frame of mind, with easy laugher ringing across the room. We built it up through a few Experiential activities which engaged the minds of the participants. “What are we glad about?” “What are we mad about?” “What do we wish we had in this team?” People gradually opened up and many issues were surfaced and talked through – some known ones, some came as surprises.

We broke for lunch. When we came back, it was time to move from the mind to the hearts. Using the Johari construct, we introduced an activity called The Iceberg. Like icebergs, all of us have an outer visible self and a hidden self. The hidden self is made of different facets – our deepest beliefs, our values, our perceived strengths & weaknesses, our prejudices, our many stories and our dreams. We generally reveal these vulnerable facets only to the closest of our friends. But when it is done in a team context – the effect it has on the team is magical.

This team came as 9 different individuals – and went back as one team.

Impact:

This is what one of the participants, Aman Gangadharbhatia had to say about the intervention:

“A big thanks from the entire FCM team of Marico for conducting such a memorable workshop! The FocusU Team did a great job in creating an informal and casual atmosphere which was perfect for the kind of sessions that were conducted. Though the team has been working together for over a year, the team has obtained a greater understanding and has developed a renewed sense of bonding.

The program was simple in design, energetic and stimulating with exercises that were both fun and informative. The highlight of the program was the sharing of life experiences which was conducted with remarkable ease and affability. Just while we thought the program had come to an end, we were pleasantly surprised with the recap video and photographs.

It is safe to say that we have now been upgraded from colleagues to friends. This one-day workshop will not only go a long way in enhancing effectiveness at the workplace but has also created a strong human connect amongst the team. We look forward to have many such workshops in the future.”

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Program

The Union | MBTI based Leadership Workshop

Objective

To take a group of very senior doctors and health care professionals through a two day Leadership engagement. The key objectives defined for the intervention were to understand self and others better, discuss the challenges of working as a single team, arrive at consensus of future ways of working together as a single team.

Solution

Considering the seniority of the group, there was a need felt by the internal stakeholders to use some widely accepted psychometric tool to anchor the workshop. After understanding the participant profile and some of the internal challenges, we zeroed in on the MBTI instrument.

One of the most widely used personality instruments in the world, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is used in the workplace, so that participants gain self awareness of their working behavior, drawing out their potential and improving relationships.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) began with an online assessment which was administered around 2 weeks before the actual workshop. In the actual workshop, participants were first introduced to the differences behind the apparent similarities – and guided through a step-by-step process, through which they arrived upon their own individual Type. Once individual Type is determined satisfactorily, the workshop then moved on to determine the big picture composition of the group and highlighted how different people react to the circumstances around them.

The workshop was a revealing and surprising experience for participants. “Do you really think like that?” we heard participants ask each other.

Through an engaging two days that was interspersed with intense discussions, lot of laughter and engaging activities, the team came together to chart out new understanding between its members and a new way of working together.

Impact

Here is what Pooja Agarwal, the Head of Human Resources for The Union had to say about the whole intervention:

“As an important and defining step towards focused Leadership development at International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (the Union), South-East Asia office, FocusU helped us design and conduct the initiation workshop with the Senior Management Team. We needed a competent, experienced, confident and flexible partner to pair with us on this journey and FocusU team performed with excellence. It was not easy to keep a group of highly experienced Doctors and seasoned professionals engaged through the two days. FocusU team did a great job navigating the group with confidence. The FocusU team also added the element of colour and fun through the pictures and videos they captured. We all enjoyed and therefore learned through the process with lots of laughter, fun and new insights. FocusU is now working with us to conduct our Annual Staff team building meet with 100 staff members at Goa. Working with the same team, I am sure, will be a pure delight for all of us!”

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