Team-Building
Team Building on an Outdoor Ropes Course
The Working Together ropes course is located in a mature growth forest on 120 beautifully wooded acres outside Pottstown, PA – just 20 minutes from King of Prussia. It offers a state-of-the-art ropes course with 10 low elements, and 14 high elements, including a climbing tower and a 500 foot zip-line.
Our ropes challenge course provides team members with a memorable way to practice solving problems together and taking the risks necessary to grow.
Low Ropes
Low ropes and experiential initiatives mirror the problem-solving process team members engage in every day by asking three questions:
What? (What happened?)
So What? (Why is this important?)
Now What? (What are we going to do about it going forward?)
High Ropes
High ropes challenge our perceived limitations and create a ‘sort of muscle memory’ for taking the risks necessary to push past our comfort zones. When your team enters the challenge zone on a ropes course, they will have a powerful shared experience and the pictures to prove it!
The key is to get past your comfort zone without getting into the panic zone where no learning or fun happens. One steadfast ground-rule on the high ropes is Challenging by Choice. This means that all participants are supported to choose their own level of challenge, every time, without pressure or judgment whatsoever.
Who We Work With
Sometimes you simply want a team bonding experience and sometimes you have to go deeper. We do both. Combining ‘the work’ with intentional play deepens your team’s experience, builds good-will, and creates longer lasting results.
Our Process
ONE OF A KIND EXPERIENCE
Organizations
Schools
Why a Ropes Course is the Best Outdoor Classroom for Youth
A ropes course utilizes an experiential learning philosophy best characterized by Ben Franklin:
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”
Experiential learning, sometimes called action-learning, is ideal for teaching and practicing the five-core social and emotional learning skills (SEL) needed to achieve individual and group goals.
Social and emotional skills are not often taught effectively, if at all, to youth; all too often they enter adulthood with deficits in crucial social and emotional skills.
Experiential activities build relationships between students and increase social awareness of the larger school community via a process designed to increase trust, belonging, and good will.
The five core SEL skills built into our program design and debrief process are:
- Self-Awareness – knowing our thoughts and feelings
- Self-Management – ability to regulate our behaviors, thoughts and emotions
- Social-Awareness – ability to empathize and take the perspective of others
- Relationship Skills – giving and receiving support, resolving conflict, listening
- Responsible Decision-Making – ability to make caring and constructive choices
For example, individuals learn to identify and manage their emotions and gain insight into how their behavior contributes to the success or failure of a team.
Individuals and groups learn to make informed decisions by identifying problems, brainstorming and implementing solutions, executing solutions and checking for effectiveness.
We do this by asking three questions:
- What? What’s the Problem or What happened?
- So What? Why is this important?
- Now What? What are we going to do about it going forward?
Program Design
Depending on your goals we can do low ropes only, high ropes only or a combination of both.
Our Recommendation
Many schools come out for two days in a row and do low ropes day one and high ropes day two. This deepens the experience significantly.
We’ve heard from students over and over that their ropes course experience is one of the highlights of their school year; we suspect it’s a memory that will last a lifetime.
Sports Teams
Building high-performing sports teams from the ground up!
A ropes course combines a unique blend of mental and physical challenges designed to help athletes and teams exceed perceived limitations.
On the ropes, athletes learn to build trust and confidence in themselves and their teammates while exploring the mental vs. physical aspects of sports performance.
Key Topics and Outcomes Include:
- Syncing mental and physical skills for success
- Overcoming anxiety and self-doubt by exceeding perceived limitations
- Developing success habits on and off the field
- Focusing on the process, not just the outcome, for improved performance
- Motivational strategies for peak performance
Join us for an exciting opportunity to enhance your sports performance and take your team’s game to the next level!
Families
Family Team Building
Neill Edwards, a trained family therapist, offers a unique family team building experience on a ropes challenge course.
Families engage in both low and high ropes challenges together, focused on social and emotional learning (SEL) skills development in a fun action-oriented environment.
You may simply want a memorable family bonding experience or you may want to go deeper.
Given Neill’s background as a family therapist, specific family issues can be discussed and problem-solved together.
Our adventure-based methodology is way more engaging and less threatening than traditional family therapy.
Key Topics and Outcomes Include:
- Improved interpersonal communication and conflict management skills
- Method for problem solving issues that arise in the future
- Greater atmosphere of kindness and good will in family system
- Memorable family experience that will last a lifetime
Are you looking for unique family counseling? A beautiful reunion experience? An unforgettable family bonding memory?
