To receive information and reflect upon it is certainly an important part of the learning process. But deeper and lasting changes are fed by hands-on experiences, with high personal involvement.

We use metaphors that mirror working and life conditions. These metaphors enhance a team's potential by triggering the personal awareness of its members. Timely sharing of the experiences and a skilful feedback process provides integration of the learnings. Participants are then challenged to apply their new paradigms or practice their new behaviour with real life people and issues.

Um hábil processo de debriefing, que consiste na oportuna verbalização das experiências, permite fixar as aprendizagens. De seguida, desafia-se os participantes a praticar os seus novos comportamentos / paradigmas com pessoas, situações e temas reais da sua vida quotidiana.

The tools

There’s an endless supply of tools for experiential training: group dynamics, indoor games, business games, outdoor events, expeditions, physical activities, adventures, expeditions,...

The most powerful tools trigger various levels of awareness simultaneously (thinking, feeling, being, doing,...) and really lures participants out of their comfort zone.

The most effective way to produce a lot in a short time, is to combine outdoor events with indoor introduction, feedback and follow-up processes. Outdoor training  is a powerful tool when properly handled so as to transcend the anecdotic aspect of physical activity.

The choice of setting is important. The initial phase of a program should take place in a pleasant retreat environment, offering a broader perspective of daily work.

What really makes experiential training valuable are not the activities as such, but the facilitator’s ability to combine them and extract the gist of the learnings in a timely manner.

Facilitation is the key

The world is full of good-willed people eager to tell others how to improve. But as the saying goes: “Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime”, true learning comes from self-discovery. This way of teaching we call facilitation.

A facilitator creates the framework and induces the learning. He is good at asking the right questions, interferes little, catalyses and leaves things go their own way, flows with the individual’s and group’s process and is a master at stimulating constructive feedback.

Learning only takes place in areas where we are not yet in control (outside the comfort zone). The courage and commitment required to leave the comfort zone needs the skilful support of the process facilitator.

Don’t let yourself be seduced by the tools! What matters is the quality of the facilitator who runs the process.