Outdoor Action Team Building Course

The Program

The Outdoor Action Team Building course is a low ropes course designed to incorporate the challenges of initiative problems, games and group discussion to catalyze personal and group development. The course combines individual, group, physical, and mental challenges in an energetic and fun atmosphere in which participants often surpass their own expectations and self-imposed limitations.

Philosophy

The essential element is the small group. Groups are presented with specific challenges that require communication and cooperation to solve. This is an excellent way to build teamwork, and to build bonds among group members that will be working together in the future. These shared adventures and challenges help people realize that they are more capable and resourceful than they imagine.

Groups

Outdoor Action offers these programs for a number of groups on campus. Each summer 60+ students in participating in the Freshmen Scholars Institute (FSI) do an afternoon team building event on campus. OA also does a special training each fall for incoming Resident Advisors and Minority Affairs Advisors.

Goals

Each group that uses the course has its own unique goals. Here are some of the goals that groups have used the course for.

• To develop abilities that contribute to group decision-making and leadership.
• To improve communication abilities and problem-solving techniques.
• To foster compassion for others and an appreciation and respect
• for differences existing within a group and across groups.
• To encourage openness, friendship, and mutual respect.
• To develop commitment and to dare to take risks for worthwhile goals.
• To encourage bonding and cooperation among the group members.
• To build trust among group members.
• To help the group focus on specific issues.
• To have fun, relax, and be creative.

Offerings

There are a number of different elements at the course that offer both group challenges and individual challenges. You might find yourself assisting your group over the Great Wall, sneaking through a life-size spider web, climbing across the cargo net, or maneuvering along the Tension Traverse. All these adventures are designed to help groups learn to communicate and support each other. The program has been immensely successful and many groups return each year. Previous groups have included sports teams, administrative groups, R.A. and M.A.A. groups, Peer Educator groups, student organizations, Departments, and others.

Outdoor Action provides professionally trained facilitators to guide your group through the course and to facilitate discussions about the experience. The optimal group size is 10-15. Larger groups can be broken into smaller units. A typical session is 3 hours, but shorter or longer programs can be arranged. If you have special needs for your group or topic areas that you would like to focus on, we can design a program that meets your needs.

There is a small fee per participant for using the course. For more information about the course and to schedule a date, please contact the Outdoor Action Office.

All online information at the Outdoor Action Web Site is protected by copyright laws. You may set up links to material found at the Outdoor Action Web Site. Printed versions of the material may be distributed for nonprofit educational use as long as no fees are charged for the material, attributions are made to the author, and no content changes are made. Commercial use of this material either in electronic or printed form is prohibited without express written permission from the author. Copyright © 1995 - 2004, all rights reserved, Rick Curtis, Outdoor Action Program, Princeton University. Send your comments and suggestions on the OA Web Site to Outdoor Action