Girls on Wheels members Nancy Burns, Karen Dipietro, Susan Hebert, Cassie Richardson, and Vicki Baker were ready to take teamwork to the next level.
Vicki Baker
Teamwork involves people working together and combining their skills and perspectives to produce a result greater than what any single person could accomplish alone. Over the past decade, Girls on Wheels frequently stepped out of the box and faced a range of new experiences: rock climbing, indoor sky diving, horseback riding, electric go-cart racing, self-defense training, and so many more. We met these challenges head-on with encouragement, support, and quite a bit of cajoling from each other. That’s teamwork.
Now it was time to foster and strengthen that “teamwork” at Group Dynamix. This 38,000-square-foot event center’s (one of the largest facilities of its kind in the nation) mission is to “Connect People in Fun Ways” that improve relationships, increase collaboration, and build team unity. Spot-on for Girls on Wheels.
We immediately discovered we had entered the ultimate adult indoor playground. By turning up the fun through a variety of bonding exercises, it brought us together to play, compete, and have a good time, all the while challenging us both mentally and physically.
Starting off with some pretty simple cognitively stimulating tabletop games, we got a gentle mental and observational skills workout. We had the most fun with “Spot It” where we raced to spot the only matching symbol between any two cards.
Successfully completing those tasks, we moved onto exercises a bit more physical. There was “Stacking Cup Pong” and an advanced version of “Simon Says.” Both tested our hand-eye coordination and lightning-fast reflexes, with some of us a little less coordinated and others a bit less fast.
And to finish up the day, navigating the ropes course suspended some 40 feet above the ground, though it felt more like 400. This mid-air obstacle course involved swinging platforms, wobbly log-like beams, a single-line wire bridge, and zip-line. With the harness firmly fastened, our heads knew what needed to be done. Even our hearts maybe knew. But our bodies; not so much. With a bit of coaxing and shouted encouragement, we took that first step with a seriously shaky sense of fear. Gradually gaining confidence, we finished up with a zip-line back to the starting point. Bigtime scary, but exhilarating.
Group Dynamix’s adventure-like team building approach pushed us to stretch beyond our comfort zones, connect with each other, and solve problems creatively. Recharged and empowered, Girls on Wheels faced unexpected challenges, tossed away our self-hindering assumptions, created a bunch more fun memories, and, of course, boosted our superpower of friendship.