Milestone II Workshop @ CUG

I love to READ and each new day is like flipping pages of an intriguing novel. Good day or bad day, there's always new experiences to cash in. And this is what triggered me most in accepting myself as an Instructor at Chaudhary Udyog Gram (CUG) Milestone II workshop for Chaudhary Group (C.G) at Nawalparashi, Chitwan. I had absolutely no clue how I would be reacting being one of the instructor of the workshop organized by Nodan club. Surprisingly my inner instinct took over and am quite happy about this newly discovered self.

Words like 'Communication', 'Leadership' and 'Team building' sound pretty big fish but they are just small ones. And this kind of workshop allow people to jog back to basic of human civilization and evolution which I think is very important for you to know our potential and limits. Today's craze of chasing advance technologies has transformed us into a techno-savvy and we miss this real joy of being close to nature.

Milestone II workshop was clearly focused and hold these vital purposes to equip the participation with knowledge, realization and skill which enable to empower participant and infuse themselves with positive power. It was also targeted on helping senior executives become better leaders and build the kind of leadership teams to position and sustain group at the top. Interacting among teams within can ultimately acquire the insights concept and strategies required to take charge as inspiring leaders who create a culture of leadership through out the group. And workshop fostered every single participants to be a leader.

On 25 January 2007, we 'Instructor Team' of Nondan including 80 participants had gathered at the Chaudhary Group Headquarters at Sanepa, Lalitpur. By 2 pm all the equipments and personal belongings had been loaded on two buses we all headed toward CUG Nawalparashi. One can easily feel the enthusiasm among the participants from the very beginning as everyone was very curious for the next day. Soon after the buses set off for the destination participant started to make fun singing songs. The journey toward CUG was one full dose of fun and excitement.

After such a fun fill ride of 5 hours we reached CUG and it was already late in the evening then all participants were immediately assigned to the different blocks for the two-night stay. After a short rest, all participants gathered and there was a brief formal program of introductions and purpose of the workshop Milestone II. Mr. Ashesh from HRD welcomed all participants to the workshop and requested them to make most out of this opportunity. He also committed himself as a participant of the workshop. Then Raman Bhattrai, director of the workshop introduced the instructor team, which consists professional from different profession, from outdoor adventure expert to media person. Raman also outlined programs of next day.

Later all participants were divided into seven groups as Team 'Ka', Team 'Kha', Team 'Ga' Team 'Gha' likewise. After the formal program, everyone was swing back to weekend mode and everyone had great time enjoying wholesome dinner and dancing. Dancing itself is a good stress buster therapy and participant also enjoyed dancing till late night. They were aware of the three basic key elements of the workshop, Leadership, Communication and Team building and ever since their arrival at CUG, they were conscious to perform their best to achieve high team score. And everyone was mindful of the fact that the next day was going to be most exciting one and we said good-night while still in the party mode.

On the 26th Jan 2007, Finally the big day started at 6:30 am and the instructor team sprang up to set grounds ready for all the activities and drills. For the participant, the day started by modern meditation and yoga at the Learning Center of CUG. Interaction that took over after the yoga session was also very interesting part of this session which shows that participants were very aware of the fact that mental health is equally important. Many participants were asking various questions to know more about the yoga and its benefit. Yoga session ended at around 8 am and day followed by breakfast.

After short breakfast break, the self chosen leaders from all seven teams displayed banner of the workshop as formal inauguration at the CUG tower and each team were given a creative task of giving unique name and slogan for their team. Then participants were led through warm-up games like “Team Spiral and Undo” and “Blob Tag”, which helped all participants to get in the proper frame of mind for the day ahead. Then Mr. Ashish was pulling all the participants in HR way and team CG was running towards his pace. It was quite encouraging sight to see everyone participated in this session with full zeal, despite varied ages.

Station : A
Nightline was played in the Station A. In this game, all the participants are blindfolded and led through a specially designed trail. The game aims to improve the communication in a team and builds trust among the participants who learn to depend on the instructions of the person in front of him about what lays ahead.

Station : B Subash and Smriti, were in charge of Station B. The games played were Toxic Waste and Raising Team Attitude.

Toxic Waste: Here the team has to transfer the contents of a bucket to another and dispose of it in a safe place. The catch is that all this has to be done with the help of ropes and elastic band provided and the members cannot go into the area where the buckets “Toxic Waste” are kept. This game teaches the members to think as a team and come up with strategies while providing plenty of opportunities for the members to develop leadership.

Raising Team Attitude: This is a very simple game and consists of a bowl which is filled with water and the challenge here is to lift the bowl without spilling the water and hands are not to be used. If the whole team didn't cooperate aim of this game can't be achieved.

Station : C

In Station C, you would have the chance of seeing Yogendra and Ramesh in charge of the game “Don’t Lose Your Team Member”. In this game, the team is given some half cut pipes. The instructor rolls some marbles on the first pipe and the task is to carry those marbles across the length of the Station without dropping any. Aim of this game is to improve team work and leadership as well as to them feel every single team member is equally important.

Team Crossing
In this game, the task is to cross a river with the help of some mats provided and the only rule is that a mat cannot be left unattended in a river. Team should cross together.

Station : D

Spider Web and Monkey Crawling were the games in Station D. Manish and Krishna were the instructors assigned to this Station.

In Spider Web, there are ropes tied to create something like a spider web and the task is to move the team members from one side to the other without touching the ropes. This game increases planning idea as well as distribution channels.

Monkey Crawling is exactly what it says it is. The team member has to crawl a rope like a monkey, others can help pretty similar as in real situation.

Station : E

Launching the Product was the game played in Station E. The instructors were Sunil and Kiran. In this game, the team has the chance to get very creative, as they have to invent a new language, use it and complete the task. Once the language is invented, team leader goes to other side of the tarp hung like a curtain and the rest of the team stays one side. The challenge is to lift a special product with the help of a pipe, ropes and a hook – the rule is that the team leader can only instruct his friends in the newly invented language.

The other game played at this station was called Hot Potatoes. The team members pass a ball around as if it was a very hot potato. The only rule is that the team member who holds the ball when the whistle blows it out. Theme of this game is when member is in a trouble he/she ask for help or want to share the problem with others.

Station : F

Rajan and Rina were the instructors for the Station. Team Walk was the game played here. The group has to walk with their feet tied to a wooden plank together. The aim here is to create a clear sense of leadership and synchronize the team's movement to the orders of the leader. At the same time instructor give command team members to be in order from disorder - name of the game was stay-by-order.

Station : G

Zip Success Wire – This was the name of the task in Station G. Endra and Maya were in charge there. Each team has to send its members to and from on a zip wire. All the members have to work together to ensure that every one of them have an easy ride across the wire bringing strength ball from one pick up point to another landing site. This game boasts inner strength of the participant pushing them toward wider horizon.

All drills was halted from 13:00 - 14:00 hr for lunch break and during the lunch break, participants got busy degning their team's banner and finding appropriate slogan. All teams were highly engrossed to give creative team name and unique slogan. After lunch the day progressed and all station resume its drills.

Finally, the seven teams came up with their own names and slogans. Teams are as follows:
1. GenEx, the Generation Next
2. Caravan
3. We the Unity
4. Synergie
5. We
6. Gaida
7. Eureka

All seven teams successfully passed out all seven stations. Participation from all teams was amazingly wonderful. In spite of hot sun, each individual showed good spirit and played to be the best. And then banner display program followed and each team leader shared their experiences and views about the drills and knowledge they learnt.

After a brief interval all seven teams were set for the next round of activities, namely group Tug-of-wars. In the first round, all the seven teams competed with each other and it was good example of perfect balance of teamwork and it also showed that if they fight among the team nobody will win.

In the second round, two-team tug-of-war followed to make more as one best team. Even instructor's team joined in this tug-of-war game giving extra excitement to the participants. Finally there were eight teams, including the instructors, who competed against each other and finally the Team Caravan won by defeating the instructors’ Team Everest in the Finals.

This was followed by a group meet where all the Team Leaders gave brief presentation on the day’s activities. The team leaders were invited to share their learning and achievements. One of the speeches given by Mr. AK Sharma was so moving as he mentioned the days experience made him and his team nostalgic and instructor team took his words as prize of honor. After this, all the seven team realized as one team with the help of all the instructors and participants Milestone II declared Team CG 1.

Then the participants had a chance to give feedback displaying their banner presentation. The whole program and the Workshop finally came to an end after each team realized they were part of team CG in the bigger picture Team CG is only one team that is EVEREST CG NUMBER ONE.

The reason for this was that Team Everest should be the best team and CG can only be the best team if they are united. That was the whole point of declaring CG No. 1 team. It was a message that all the different divisions of CG should stand united. This should be main formula to form the best (No. 1) team in Nepal. Then it was time for a break.

During the whole day participants made lots of leadership demonstration and slogan cheer ups.

The instructors conducted a formal program with talent shows and distribution of Tokens of Love to various participants. Among the participants Matina Maharjan was given a token of love for being inspiring participation and like wise Mr. AK Sharma was given toke of love as best learner. The talent show consisted of two mini-skits: “The Contagious Doctor’s clinic” and “Maha Bharat: Draupadi Vastraharan Part II”. Since the final program participants announced to support a days' salary for a noble cause 'Clean Bagmati Campaign' doing by team Nodan which was really one perfect example of outcome of the workshop Milestone II.

One among the participant, Puskal Khatiwada immediately contributed Rs. one thousand for the campaign.

Day's program concluded with good vibe of music and dance synchronized beautifully by creative DJ Ashesh.

On the 14th Magh 2063, The next day, 14th of Magh, was the day when the team returned back to Kathmandu. The Nodan Team was pleasantly surprised to get a departing gift from the CUG. Finally after breakfast, the team was allowed a brief visit to the factory buildings and most of us were very glad to see how our favorite snack “Wai Wai” was made.

We arrived at the CG Headquarters, Sanepa at around 5 o’ clock and by ending our journey there we had come a full circle.