TFN#47: 🪜 Adventure Wave: Facilitate unforgettable workshops

“Let’s begin with an icebreaker activity!”

If you’ve been to work-related “team building” meetings, you’d have heard this a zillion times.

I’m that guy who makes the gloomiest face possible upon hearing those words. (OR I used to be. Now, I run away at the first indication of such activity.)

And there’s a reason why no regular ice-breaker activity breaks the ice. That’s what I want to talk about today. If you’re going to conduct a workshop, you will be able to deliver effective ones.

So, very briefly, let me share the idea of The Adventure Wave.

The Adventure Wave

The idea of adventure wave was described in the Adventure-based Counselling Book named Islands of Healing. The idea is simple. Every memorable experience is like an adventure wave. Taking you through highs and lows until the end of the experience.

Most memorable adventure waves have the following phases in this order:

1. Beginning of an experience

This is when the group of people arrive at the place where the workshop is going to take place. People might be a little disoriented, excited, frustrated and whatnot. This is the beginning of the experience. Even before you have introduced them, conducted some activities, or shown them some presentations.

2. Introductions

This phase allows people to know one another. Letting them take time. Letting them stay silent. That’s the part of this phase. It is supposed to be the lower part of the wave. Nothing exciting is required.

3. Icebreakers, energizers

The lows of introductions are followed by icebreakers/energizers. The aim is fun and laughter. When people have fun, they open up. They bond with one another. There are no risks involved. These activities can’t be competitive for obvious reasons. Icebreakers make path easy to reach the peak of the wave through de-inhibitizers.

4. De-inhibitizers

Charged up by icebreakers/energizers, we invite people to take some risk. Some emotional/physical risk. The idea is to allow people to shed their inhibitions. Through slightly risky activities. The activities are the right amount of risk. Not too low, not too high.

5. Behavioural contracts

You might have witnessed this. Seasoned facilitators help the group form a behavioural contract with one another. It is usually DOs and DONTs. For example, “If we want to ask a question, we will raise our hands.” That’s the behavioural contract that most of us had bound ourselves with.

Something similar, but not exactly the same. The behavioural contracts we are talking about are called Full Value Contracts.

6. Trust-building

By this time, the group would be ready to take up trust-building activities. These activities typically involve needing someone else to finish a task. Depending upon your objectives, the combination of fun and your message may vary.

7. Reflection

Activity without reflection is like eating without digesting. Trust-building activity is no different. It would follow reflection on the activity, focused on the trust-building theme.

8. Activity brief

This is where the main activity or the first of the series of your activities begins. The facilitator briefs the group about the upcoming activity. In your case, it might be a rundown of what people are going to present for subsequent brainstorming.

9. Activity

This is a high phase of the adventure wave. Things take place, people are supposed to be challenged and enjoy the stress.

10. Reflection/End of experience

Depending on the number of activities and your goals, this would be a conclusion of the experience with reflection. Or a reflection before going to the second Activity Brief.

In any case, the end of an experience is an important event. People feel reflective and grateful at the end of a well-organized experience. The end can be marked by some fun activity that leaves the reflecting mode off and everyone is filled with laughter.

And that’s it

You don’t have to be an experiential educator to make a 10x difference in your workshops or team meetings. Using and contextualizing mental tools such as Adventure Wave is more than enough.

Have you participated in or conducted any experiences that you still remember fondly? Did it have any of these elements? Hit Reply and share with me.

Reads of the week:

Not only America but also India.

Balaji makes a compelling argument that the next evolution of America is not a physical territory, but the internet itself. It is a fascinating read and it is a matter of time before people begin forming online nations. What Balaji terms as The Network State.

Before its current DEI-filth avatar, Disney produced some of the best marvels of our times. Take, for example, the movie UP. In this 3-minute clip Director Pete takes up how they decided what the elements should look and feel like.