Teambuilding - Latin Style

Today was quite an experience.
With the rapid growth of the organization, a formal effort at teambuilding was necessary. The plan was in place before I got here but today we held the first meeting, an offsite with 35 staff. Managers, supervisors & professionals with a number of the field guys coming in as well.
What I witnessed here in the first hour, in Canada, would have taken 3 days of meetings, sharing & bonding and plenty of alcohol. In groups of 8, we were up singing and dancing together. It was quite the 'icebreaker' exercise and a refreshing sight for me. We hadnt even had our morning coffee break yet.
We talked about staff/team issues and worked through the results of the Myers Briggs surveys completed by everyone. MBTI looks at styles and how people interact.

It was the first session of a number planned through the year. It was a very good start for the program and admittedly accelerated my getting to know the staff.

My first impression of the day was 'why is such a big PA system set up in here?' The room wasn't so big that you couldn't hear if someone was speaking in a normal voice. What I wasn't prepared for, was the energy of the coaches, the animated interaction amongst those in the room, the singing, laughing and the need just to be able to be heard. Hence the PA. The session was done in Spanish (with English subtitles). One of the coaches sat near the three Canadians and quietly translated for us.
For the most part, you easily got the gist of what was being said and the ideas being expressed. The energy contained in the presentations needed no translation and everyone walked away from the day very upbeat.
I took a couple of the field guys out for dinner and talked shop for a couple of hours. Oil production is up, unions are threatening, oil prices suck (we don't get the world oil price here), lots of projects going on - a fun time in the Argentine oilpatch!


And......I finally ran into someone I knew from Canada. I was wondering how long that would take. This guy & I used to work together. He was originally from Buenos Aires and he has now retired back here. He came into the restaurant and sat one table away from us. I went over and said hello. He introduced me to his family and we exchanged cards.

Today in BA - I met an old business acquaintance & I work for a company that is full of energy. It was a good day.

B.