09.00, Meeting Point Spicheren. Yesterday i packed my things in anticipation on another day of hiking. After a short introduction we started walking and ended up at the fire place between Spicheren and the university. Today we are not going to hike, today is about teambuilding and we are faced with some challenges. The first challenge is to build up a basis camp which should be water- and windproof. We have rope and tarpaulins available.

We have rope and tarpaulins available. The groups are divided in such a way that exchange and Norwegian students were as uniform as possible. We started looking for a suitable place in the forest. I noticed a small rock formation that we could use for this. We discussed the idea and decided to get to work on this rock formation.

We stretched the tarpaulin back over the rocks. This is because the rock gives us a windproof back wall. We placed a large branch in the middle of the structure to raise the roof. However, we were careful not to cause subsidence in which water could accumulate. Because none of us wanted to get wet at night if the tarp gave way.

New ideas kept coming up. We even made use of the old Roman technology regarding floor heating. Because our Campfire should contain an underground passage that should heat our shelter. After the given period, we were very satisfied with our product.

Feedback and Discussions

Now it was time to evaluate the different groups. However, it quickly became apparent that no precise criteria points had been defined. There were more and more jokes made during the discussions. Over time it became difficult for many to give serious feedback. This situation made two things clear to me.

First, criteria points should be discussed in advance. There is a very good method. All criteria points that come to mind are listed. Then we discuss with each other how many points from 1 – 10 this criterion is worth to us. The day I use the list, I can go through it point by point and add up the points at the end.
As a second point from the group dynamics perspective, the norming phase could be very well read out. The students were still unsure of their position in the group. Either they wanted to relax the mood with jokes and make themselves more comfortable, or they wanted to find out what role they played within the group. As the person in charge of the day, however, I should make sure that the interruptions do not become too large and the rating drifts into the ridiculous. For me, this means observing and intervening before it starts to tip.