Sylvia's Journal

I went through whole sagas during my dreams last night – full stories with beginnings and endings, good people, bad people, much movement, laughter, anxiety and tropical fruit. That’s all I remember, and the fact that I was in places far from home. You’d think there was travel afoot. There is. We are off to Charleston tomorrow.

But yesterday was still a workday. My project for the day travelled to me. It was one of Alison’s teams that needed some help in its formative years to create an atmosphere in which everyone could contribute their best. It was called a retreat but turned out to be more of an advance.

I am not sure they had not realized that the teambuilding started the moment they got into a taxi to North Station. Travelling together is a great ice breaker if there is any ice to break. You discover things about each other that office life does not reveal or that has been obscured by irritation and mutual frustration.

Travelling together also presents a very clear and unambiguous common task: how to get from A to B. You have to do the same things that are required in the office, but seem less urgent there, such a being in constant communication. Moreover, the landscape changes all the time so that even old-timers and more senior folks find themselves in new situations that require some level of humility. And finally, not acting or complacency can make you miss your train and thus not end up where you wanted to get to.

I had a feeling that the tiny, three-member team had already bonded more on this trip north than during their last four month together by the time I greeted them on the platform of North Beverly.

We worked loosely through an agenda I had prepared after individual interviews. It included learning about styles, getting focused, digging below symptoms, addressing sticky issues and making commitments to each other.

Joyful collaborative effort was the magic word. When I dropped them off at the train they were off on two journeys at the same time: back to Cambridge and onwards to their newly articulated vision about superb work, great impact and communication at full throttle. I knew that the final part of the team building retreat/advance would take place during the train ride back. Alison, over to you!

All through the day I wore multiple hats as I picked them up at the train station, gave them a tour of our ‘estate,’ made them lunch, coffee, tea, cut up fruit, and finally opened the bottle of wine so we could toast to a bright future. I dropped them off at the train station after office hours, when the weekend had started. I was caterer, taxi driver designer, facilitator, psychologist, leadership developer, waitress and tour guide. I loved it!

We ended the day at Axel’s cousins Nancy and Ed with a fabulous dinner in great company. We played cards until I was the only one left in the game. We ended the evening watching the hysterically funny John Pinette talk about food and dieting (I say, nay, nay). Snippets from his show can be seen in various YouTube videos. Axel had tears streaming down his face – I haven’t laughed that much and that loud with others in ages.

Now back to earth – it’s a cold and grey day. I am drinking tea while waiting for the phone to ring. It will be a call from Kabul. On the phone will be two members of the project’s senior management team. One of them is an Afghan doctor who is the boss. He holds our immediate future in his hands.