Since last summer OCI has almost doubled in size. After adding seven new employees, we figured it would be a great time to do some team building.
Off we went on a Friday afternoon to the challenge course at the South Bellevue Community Center. After some fun exercises developing our communication skills by trying to see which team could get their entire group through a hula hoop the fastest, we moved on to some more physical activities.
Both teams learned quickly the fastest method involved a lot of group hugs! Here’s Deepa, Ann, Marie and Allison practicing.
This next challenge was a giant see-saw called the “Whale Watch” – and as some folks found out it caused some minor sea-sick feelings. The goal of the first activity was to get the entire group on the see-saw all while keeping it balanced.
It didn’t take our engineers long to figure out the easiest way to accomplish this.
Here’s Robert helping the final team member, Laurie, on to the see-saw.
After the group breezed through that challenge, our facilitators upped the difficulty level by asking us to reposition ourselves on the see-saw to the outer edges – all without speaking to each other.
It took some time but, here’s the group giving the thumbs up that the challenge was completed successfully!
After everyone got their land legs back, it was time for the main event – the challenge course’s “Vertical Play Pen.”
Everyone was given the opportunity to climb as far on the obstacle as they felt comfortable. For some people this meant staying on the ground, others made it part way up and some made it all the way to the top.
The rest of the team was on the ground cheering each participant on and belaying the participants.
The first group to go up was OCI’s founder, Tarelle, and one of our most recent hires, Allison!
By the end of the day I think it’s safe to say we we’re more cohesive as a team and pretty worn out!
