'Escape from Mount Orijen'

 2 Day Corporate/Academic Training Programme

Herceg Novi - Montenegro

Black Mountain’s Teambuilding and Leadership Training courses are always planned and developed closely in accordance with the Client’s wishes. Therefore this is only the proposal outline – to indicate some of the ideas we use in our programs. We ask our Clients to provide us with more detailed information about the aims they wish to achieve for the participants of the teambuilding program. After this we can develop the program tailored to your needs.

Black Mountain courses are designed to test mental aptitude rather than physical ability. We ensure that all course candidates can compete in each event. Some exercises can be quite demanding but care is taken to ensure that tasks match candidate’s physical abilities and prior experiences. All tasks are followed by a debrief conducted by the students themselves, our instructors facilitate these discussions and contribute advice, the most effective experiential learning comes from self analysis and heightened self awareness.

The Scenario - 'Escape from Mount Orijen'

The course is built around a post earthquake event. The candidates find themselves stranded for 1.5 days in a wilderness environment. There has been a breakdown in normal civic functions and amenities. Some outside help has reached the area; this help is vital to our team’s survival but is still uncoordinated and occasionally detrimental.

Each small team must traverse the exercise area, in their quest for a safe haven. During their travels teams must provide for their own needs and complete a number of tasks in order to obtain food and shelter from 'aid workers'.

Outside assistance is provided by ‘UN aid workers and the surviving local authority’ (the Instructors). The instructors from Black Mountain will run the checkpoints, set tasks, provide food and luxury items or occasionally disappoint the teams who will have been told that provisions are available at the next stop.

Day 1: Arrival Montenegro.

Travel by bus to Herceg Novi and your Hotel.

Black Mountain Ltd has full UK liabilities insurance for all of our activities. Safety is a paramount consideration in all that we do, so first aid and safety instructions are given before each event.

Day 2: Outdoor Land Based Programme:

“Escape from Mount Orijen”

Part 1 - Classroom based training half day.

08:00 The group will be divided into teams (optimum 6 to 8 persons in each team, depending upon the group size), and the exercise will be explained. At this stage maps and compasses will be issued and the teams provided with orienteering instruction. All the teams will be given basic field survival skills, including advice on edible flora, constructing a shelter and environmentally friendly toilet procedures. The teams will be given some choices and tasks connected with provisioning which they agree upon.

At the end of the briefing, the teams will be asked to nominate leaders for the first outdoor sections. Clothing and equipment advice is given. The climate in Montenegro should be benign but we could have anything from warm sunny conditions (25c), strong winds (up to 10bf if the Bura is blowing) or even torrential rain. With suitable supervision none of these conditions should pose a particular hazard with the exception of an electrical storm. These can be severe due to the unusual topography of the area and the proximity of the warm Adriatic. We will advise students of the dangers and correct precautions to be taken. As there may be a disparity in equipment possessed by students, we will issue uniform coveralls for students to wear on the course. We will also provide rucksacks to carry team supplies.

13:00 Part Two – Transfer to the Mount Orijen Exercise area following lunch in the hotel. The exercise begins with the teams following one of two routes around the pre-designated exercise area. Each team will complete both routes over the two days. The course is divided into sections with a new team leader nominated to lead on each section. A section is completed when the team completes a task, receives their next coordinates and reaches a new checkpoint. This must be done under the direction of the student team leader and the supervision of our coordinating instructors. The tasks include; the climb, abseil (rappelling), obstacle crossing/bridge building, vehicle recovery, the minefield, a staged emergency situation/casualty evacuation, extemporised communications exercise. Each task is described in detail below.

18:00 (approximately)

Teams must come together, share provisions, construct shelters, prepare food and set up a watch system to protect their supplies and run a field telephone net throughout the night.

20:00

The teams separate again for reviews and de-briefing around the campfire. There will also be some small exercises based on the needs of the specific team. E.g. Cross-cultural learning, leadership, identity, learning styles and team building etc.

Day 3. Exercise concludes..

08:30 – 16:00 before transfer back to the Hotel

Assessment:

The exercise will be timed to provide a competitive element. The criteria for success will be:

1.Overall time. Less time penalties incurred

2.Points scored on the communications exercise

3.Level of cooperation and team work as judged by the instructors

4. The students own marking of a questionnaire about their team performance although this will not be apparent at the time

De-brief:

Each small group will go through a debrief procedure looking at their successes and failures. It is through the facilitation of this session that the students will discover and build on their learning from their experiences. While change does not happen overnight this experiential learning enables each person to develop and grow in their own way. Learning taking place at this moment sometimes is revealed later, for example when they are working back in the office environment and a situation arises. The various elements of leadership, teamwork, communication and understanding of self all contribute to students/candidates dealing with a difficult situation more constructively and adequately than they may have done previously.

After each smaller team has debriefed the whole group will come together for a wider sharing of experiences. This will again include any stories of successes and failures that any group wishes to share. It is important at this point for the group as a whole to be comfortable with each other, and for there to be high levels of honesty and openness. Again these are elements that are vital for this group to be able to work well together in the future.