When a group of high-level business executives met for a 2-day planning session during Autism Awareness Month, they wanted to include a way to give back. Magnovo’s Rescue Buddies™ workshop, coupled with a customized Team Fusion™ element, filled that need by helping them help kids served by the Arc of Chester County.
A Big Meeting in Wayne, PA
Lincoln Financial Group held a special training session intended for company executives across several levels of management. Participants included members of both information technology and human resources teams. While everyone had the same employer, their roles and responsibilities in the company were pretty specialized, with little interaction and overlap. This particular training hinged on the ability of folks to work together well and effectively. Rescue Buddies™ was a good opportunity for participants to brush up on critical communication skills, like problem solving, leadership, delegation, and conflict resolution.
Rescue Buddies™ and Team Fusion™ in Action
Because the 20 people in attendance didn’t work directly together very often, we opened with a few low-key ice-breaker games. After that, everyone met up with their pre-assigned team members. We had two groups of seven, and one group of six. Fortunately, because of the way our team activities are structured, a difference of one person, more or less, among teams doesn’t have a significant impact on a team’s success. Our emphasis is on the team as a unit.
In a Rescue Buddies™ workshop, teams play games and complete challenges to earn the parts necessary to finish assembling stuffed animals for kids. For the Lincoln Financial Group, we incorporated our Team Fusion™ program as well; with Team Fusion™, workshops are customized with additional elements in order to meet an organization’s specific needs. Here, our emphasis was on understanding and working with personality differences. The event organizer from Lincoln Financial Group wished to make their own arrangements with a local charity, and so these Rescue Buddies™ were going to the Arc of Chester County. Because this meeting was in April, they wanted to support Autism Awareness Month. The Arc of Chester County helps developmentally challenged children – including kids with autism, and their families.
Helping the Arc of Chester County
At the end of the workshop, the participants made a brief presentation to Jeanne Meikrantz. She was the representative of the Arc of Chester County, who was on-hand to accept the donation. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place! Participants spoke from the heart about their families; their motivation for helping others, especially children; and how the Arc of Chester County helped some of them directly.