Encouraged by the feedback from Principals who had attended the Leadership training at High Places, Garudmachi (Pune) organised by MSFDA, we decided to choose that as a place for ‘retreat-cum-team-building’ exercise for MSFDA officials. MSFDA ( Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy) is a Section 8 company established by the Government of Maharashtra to build capacities of college teachers and other stakeholders. High Places is a company established by Vasant Vasant Limaye, a distinguished IIT-Bombay alumnus and mountaineer at heart and Mrunal Paranjape with her passion for art and specialisation in alternative methodologies in learning and education. In 1989 both started High Places that pioneered Outdoor based Experiential Learning in India. In 2004 they built an expansive purpose built training centre ‘Garudmaachi’ in a beautiful place in Tamhini Ghat, overlooked by the Sahyadris. The rigorous techniques used abroad were iterated to suit Indian conditions. Professionalism of the highest order was brought in. Bharat Petroleum first requested them for a training programme. High Places which started with around three training programmes a year, runs more than 700 programmes a year currently!
A team of around 25 people reached Garudmachi on 17th June morning. These included administrative officials, centre coordinators, assistants and multitasking staff. They were stationed in ‘tents’ – each tent accomodating 5-6 people !The tents were allotted randomly ! “Staying together in a tent as a mixed group – across hierarchy – was by itself a high point …. staying together increased homogeneity, broke barriers and instilled a family feeling amongst us” – said Santosh Kavde. Rahul Kadam echoed this by saying “We actually know each other only when we stay together for few days …..the self-discipline of Rawal Sir, promptness of Santosh Kavde and caring attitude of Vijay Joshi – these were small things we observed; small things which made them big !” Many of the team members had newly joined – and after a brief stint of orientation in the office – this was a perfect opportunity for them to open up and know each other well in an informal space. Sujatha Varadrajan, who has newly joined as Centre coordinator, multidisciplinarity, highlighted this – ” everyone being given opportunity to share, being with everyone – it was socially, so good ! ” Saurabh Bhurke, a multi-tasking staff felt happy that everyone mixed up … “I could share much about myself – things that i do – social work etc – things beyond office …” he said happily and proudly. Being agile, he and his friend Mitesh were termed ‘superheroes’ ! Saurabh and Mitesh belonged to RUSA ( Rashtriya UchchatarShiksha Abhiyaan) office – and employees of this office have also been supporting MSFDA work. The training thus brought these two offices closer together. In that picturesque location, sone pe suhagawere the rains that made learning more pleasant. A bonfire before departure provided further opportunity to everyone to share up freely. As Vijay Joshi put it – a big takeaway was “amhi sarv don divas khoop haslo ( we all laughed a lot during these two days)” – something not very common these days – especially in office settings!
The outcome was however, beyond this. The trainings in Garudmachi are not mere fun outdoor ‘clubbing’ activities. They are designed in an extremely professional manner, wherein each activity – which may be of 10-15 minutes – is followed by a discussion centred around self-reflection and analysis. As Rahul Kadam put it – “It was a training with no pen, no notebook, no powerpoint presentation. The uniqueness of training was its experiential nature. Those were not mere nature-walks, but well thought-out theme based activities …” Rawal Sir explained it further – “Although I have attended n number of trainings in my 35 year plus long career, this was a unique one. Each activity made us go through the cycle of ‘understand – communicate – implement – evaluate’. The activities led each one of us to do our own SWOT analysis – both regarding our mental as well as physical faculties. The best part was that it was all ‘applied’ – not theory. The activities imitated real life situations – for example – at one point we were asked to select our team – and when we had done that – we were asked to lead another team that we did not select :)! “
The structured design of the training led to multiple possible learnings, some common, some discrete. Ganesh Nanavare mentioned that while rappelling down, initially he felt it was difficult, later he got the hold of it – and realised that the same could be true of many tasks we undertake. Manoj Yadav said that in a game, while there were different opinions and views on how it could be done, what was critical was to start. SurajkumarSampatrao Babar highlighted value addition and better results through planning as a learning. Neha Kurhaderealised that she should not underestimate herself, or have unnecessary self-doubts. Monica, after a game in which she was blindfolded, felt sensitivity towards those who are visually impaired. Premlata wants to reduce mistakes, and to be more communicative and positive. Swati, unsure of completing a task, felt much confident on having done so, and introspected her strengths and weaknesses. Kanchan, jittery on the height before rappelling, came down much confident telling herself on the way “utraycha tar aahe khali ( i have to get down)”. Kabir said – “I realised that if one is focussing on the process, concentrating, and iterating and improving, results are bound to come”. Sandhya had earlier observed the training from a distance – however, now being part of it, she experienced the stakes and learnt that “asking questions can bring about much clarity – i should be asking more questions :)!” The reflective discussions led to learning at multiple levels, said Sujatha. A helping hand during trek touched her and she felt she could also hand hold others in the team. She found her confidence boosted after the training.
As an organisation, we are part of the whole – this was one common experience brought out by many. Looking at oneself to contribute positively; looking at mistakes positively – ” what could have been done rightly, rather than what went wrong” – were other experiences.
In the words of Anju Uppal, “The two-day process with a series of structured exercises and discussions, seemed like ‘aaina dikhana’ to the belief and vision of MSFDA. It was an opportunity to reflect and realise that while the outcome may be important, can it be achieved without cooperation and collaboration! The post exercise discussions hinted at the need to understand the task, define clear strategy, shared responsibilities and importantly, trusting one another as a collective, a team, an organisation. The two-day process highlighted that the senior members of the team had a great role to play in building an open and respectful environment for each new member to express their views, opinions and realise the importance of shared leadership”
Besides direct learning from training activities and bonding due to outdoor stay, participants brought back few other learnings as well. One of these was how High Places manages to be so effective with minimum boots on ground. Rahul Kadam captured key observations behind this : ” the programme was prepared in minute detail.. there was a minute-to-minute clarity on what was to be done. Also, after the training was over each day, the High Places team sat internally, discussing in detail the events of the day and preparing for the next day. Even after all of us retired, they were there working, planning. That even after thirty years of experience, they do not take any training casually, but put their entire effort and commitment into it was an inspiring mantra…” Rohit Londhe too seconded the professionalism, punctuality, coordination of High Places team and called the training a lifelong learning experience.
Ruhi Rizvi mentioned she discovered ‘the power of saying no’ during the training. Vijay Joshi said, the training rekindled within him the ‘hunt for superpowers’ within him.
Be that as it may, the learnings from the ‘retreat’ are now to be put into practice. Hard work and long journey lies ahead. The travellers, just seem, more ready !
