Year-end staff meetings are one of the most critical aspects of an organisation, a great way to build team spirit, resolve conflicts and strengthen relationships. We had a productive year-end staff meeting where everyone enjoyed sharing their personal and professional life stories, receiving feedback, and motivating each other to reach weekly/monthly goals.
The first training day began with a simple message from Mr Philip Sargunam: “Have faith in yourselves and your colleagues. We all can achieve success through hard work and cooperation.” Later Mr Philip Mathew, CEO of the Helping Hand Welfare Society, introduced the organisation’s history. He said: ‘HHWS consists of a group of people who have worked tirelessly for the welfare sector for children in need for many years.’ He gave an insightful narrative about the history of Sunshine Home and the Helping Hand Welfare Society. It was an enlightening session.
Soon after, field officers discussed their experiences, which gave them a unique perspective and helped them become more effective problem solvers. The CFSD project team briefed their roles and discussed their responsibilities in the Child Group Sessions and Community Learning Centers. The volunteers spent much time with the children. They experienced mixed emotions because they wished to help these children but simultaneously realised the immense responsibility of being good role models to the students. The CFSD project team highlighted initiatives in various fields, including education, gender equality, and children’s rights. Learning development specialist Mrs Diamond outlined program interventions, including Teacher Development Training, programs to launch the SDRS (school development review system), setting up quality indicators, building a curriculum, and developing teaching pedagogies. Our understanding of team bonding has generally improved due to cross-learning between developments. Overall, it was a fruitful discussion that enhanced our knowledge of the achievements in the area, and we concluded that we should continue our active participation and support at the ground level.
We had a great team-building experience on the second day at the finest restaurant on Mysore Road. Mr Andrew Paul from TRP helped us to create better working habits and team-building activities, split into two teams, Lions and Legends. The exercise tested our ability to work as a group by having us compete in games and activities that pushed us to our limits. It was not about who came out best; it was about all of us succeeding together. We improved as a team thanks to all of us putting effort into the activity.
It was a blast! The whole group had a wonderful time at Wonderla, and we enjoyed soaking up the sun while riding on dry and wet rides. We’re looking forward to our next adventure!
