team building
What are Team Building Wildlife Photo Experiences
29/10/13 12:26 Filed in: Team Building
Team buildings can vary from a lunch outing over one-day adventure or game experiences to several day travel outings. The purpose is to connect and realign the team members for future goals, but also to reward the team for it’s hard and successful work.
Very pleasant, exciting and adventurous team building experiences are the wildlife photography team buildings on African safari. The delegates visit top-rated African safari destinations and enjoy besides great game drives and fantastic wildlife sightings also guidance in wildlife photography, to make sure they go home with great images of their adventure. Everything is arranged and the delegates only need to focus on fun and leisure.
For teams that want to add extra value to their team building experience, the so called value added team buildings while being on safari are available.
On these team buildings outside-in perspectives for each team member and for the team as a whole are achieved. The viewfinder of the camera simulates an outside-in perspective of an external mentor, yet the mentor are the team members themselves, but with a different perspective looking at their own team. This speeds up the learning process like a Silicon Valley incubator. Insular thinking and mindsets are busted; potentials are unearthed and tapped into and focus and goals are realigned. Once learned how to utilize photography for the team, it is a reliable, powerful and efficient tool, applicable in various work situations to continue the team building process also after the session is finished. The role of the team-building presenter is to guide the team members throughout the learning process and to enable them to maintain their achievements for long lasting benefits. And all that is placed in the setting of an African safari. The results are astonishing.
Photography is such an amazing tool, for fun and for learning and the African bush makes it even stronger.
Inspired? Happy team photography snapping!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How Photo Safari Team Building Bonds
13/09/13 19:04 Filed in: Team Building
Most of our time we spend at work and being part of a great team is very important for our happiness. So, we need to pay attention to the wellbeing of our team and give it every now and then a nourishing treatment. Photo safari team buildings do exactly that.
First of all they take team members out of their comfort zone and into the heart of nature, the perfect caring environment to explore, play and grow as a team. The delegates share special safari moments, learn and grow through wildlife photography and take the special captured memories home, back to the office.
The photographs the members took turn into collages or permanent exhibitions at the work place and one only needs to look at them to feel that spirit again, when the team was creating this special bond. It will remind one of the close bond, at times that stress disturbs the great energy and one feels irritated by colleagues easily. The images carry the team spirit and reset it at any given moment the team needs it.
Happy team bonding with photography!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
5 Reasons to do a Team Building Photo Safari
03/09/13 18:51 Filed in: Team Building
Be inspired by feedback from team building photo safari delegates and collect some ideas for your own team. The 5 main reasons why people loved the incentive are listed in this post, although everybody has probably his/her own reason for loving safaris.
- 1. It is easy. Everyone can press a shutter and sit on a game vehicle.
- 2. It is fun. Being chauffeured comfortably through the most beautiful wildlife areas and just doing nice things brings a smile on everyone’s face. Game drives are fun. It feels great to go off road, conquer deserts and savannas and not to forget the coffee breaks and sundowners.
- 3. It is relaxing. Stress levels drop, creativity levels increase and one feels in balance with nature and the world.
- 4. It is for all. All age groups can join and no physical exercises or even sportive activities are required.
- 5. It is inspiring. Playing with wildlife photography inspires not only in the artistic way. It also creates space and energy that induce new ideas on all sorts of subjects, from creative problem solving to creating new work environments.
In other words, it is refreshing, cleansing, and stimulating. The combination of nature and photography makes this beneficial experience possible. And isn’t there anything nicer than working in a happy team?
Be happy and enjoy photography!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How to use Team Building and Photography
15/08/13 07:55 Filed in: Team Building
If you are not a fan of team buildings that make you do things you feel uncomfortable with, incentives with photography are probably the solutions.
Photography is gentle, playful and uniting. It inspires and opens minds, it makes friends and good colleagues and it doesn’t hurt or makes you do bungee jumping. Photography can be done anywhere without big costs and the benefits for the team are great. Well, if you want to push it a bit you can do team building safaris, but still they are comfortable and inspiring, aligning teams in an innovative way. Team buildings with wildlife photography are even calling in the support of the animals and learning is becomes only a joy. The benefits are long lasting through the strength of photography, which allows connecting on a deeper level.
Inspired? Ever thought of doing an unusual team building, an incentive with friends and family? It might be a great success.
Happy snapping and connecting!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Can You Leave Office Behind?
21/05/13 08:44 Filed in: Team Building
It is a common sight in our cities to see people walking with their heads down, scrolling through emails, social media or having a phone call and doing all together. But how is it on holiday and especially on photographic safaris or during wildlife photography courses? Well, it depends.
A few years ago, going on a photographic safari was a great excuse for not answering phone calls and not accessing emails, because there was no Internet in the bush. But the pressure of the offices made its way also into the bush. Guests could only travel to places where they have email access and cell phone signal, so the lodges nowadays are equipped with satellite Internet connections and cell phone signal. But at least on the game drives there is mostly still an oasis of Internet free space, what keeps the office out.
But in essence its us, having the feeling that we cannot be without the emails and phone calls, like something terrible would happen, if we would not respond immediately. Especially during team building photographic safaris it is hard for the delegates to switch off. They are there with their colleagues and of course conversations are going about work, but at least the photography and the wildlife distract for several hours a day and create a real break from the office, also if there is Internet. Nature and photography are stronger than emails and probably more inspiring.
Enjoy your photography office breaks.
Happy snapping!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Surprises on Team Buildings with Photography
13/05/13 10:48 Filed in: Team Building
When teams do a team building photographic safari with wildlife photography course they often don’t have time to prepare in any way for it. Some buy quickly a new camera and come with the equipment stilled boxed and often the first conversations around the lunch table are still the same as in the office.
It starts during the first photography sessions that the delegates get drawn into their camera and questions evolve about settings and buttons on it. They discover the ability of their equipment and are surprised what it can do for them. The next surprises are on their way during the first photographic safari game drive when they are guided to use their cameras to capture what they see and to learn about the specifics of wildlife photography. Often the evening of the first day shows images of trying and experimenting and delegates are determined to learn more the next day. The next morning the delegates are already confident in using their camera, curious to explore more and snapping away with joy and fun. And the next big surprise is happening when they eventually see the images of the morning on the laptop and everybody is enthusiast about what the colleagues photographed, ending up making a calendar of each delegate’s favorite image to remember the experience every day in the office.
Happy snapping!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How to Prepare for a Team Building Photographic Safari
09/05/13 06:49 Filed in: Team Building | Photographic Safari
You made the choice of a team building photographic safari and the entire team is looking forward to it in excitement of being out on a fantastic safari destination with great wildlife sightings. To make sure your experience becomes what you wish it to be, talk to the presenter of the team building about your expectations. What is the purpose of the team building? Do you want to have a fun event with wildlife photography course or are there specific things you want to achieve with the team building or is the purpose a relaxed safari to recharge and recalibrate or is it a bit of all? Reflecting about that in advance will make your team building an even greater success than just going and seeing what happens. Your assigned presenter will help you with that to make sure you get the most benefit out of the event.
Besides that, also talk about practical things like expected weather, what to wear and what to bring and your team building will be only fantastic.
Ready to go? Have fun!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How Businesses Benefit from Team Building Photo Safaris
25/04/13 09:58 Filed in: Team Building
What was your last team building? Most likely some kind of activity that provides fun and lets the team do something together like bowling or other sports activities. What were the benefits of the team building? Most likely you learned something about your colleague, learned to do things together with people you thought you don’t like that much, but they turned out to be nice. Did anything-significant change after the team building when you all were back in the office? Hopefully it did, that’s the purpose, but for how long did the benefits last?
Well, team building photo safaris are not the first thing your boss thinks of when you work in lets say New York and the bush is a very long flight and big travel costs away. Yet, it’s worth to consider doing one. Not only will the team members love the idea of going on safari, they will feel much rewarded and stimulated for greater goals. And there are more benefits.
A photographic safari environment in combination with wildlife photography works like a Silicon Valley incubator with regards to anything you want to achieve with the team. A few days on team building in the bush do more than weekly training sessions at the office for 6 months. Any process is accelerated by the environment and visualized through photography, ready to take home and to benefit from it forever.
And there need to be no worries about the photography part. Neither technical knowledge nor big camera equipment are needed. The team building has the structure of a wildlife photography course and photography tuition is provided when needed.
Interested? Think about it.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Intuitive, Inspiring Leaders
11/04/13 09:15 Filed in: B2B
Last week Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital and relieve seemed to go around the world that he had recovered from pneumonia. Mandela is one of the most inspiring leaders, still at the age of 94 being an example of greatness.
There are not many people as exceptional as he is, yet there are many people with great potential to become and be intuitive and inspiring leaders and there are many people who are already innovative, inspiring and intuitive in their daily life. What do all these people have in common?
They have a vision, they see and they have aspirations. These leaders go unusual ways, they are open to new ideas, they give their teams the freedom to make mistakes and they are learning every day.
When one stops learning, one comes to stand still and stand still means going backwards. But those who want to learn and go forward are the ones that inspire. And this does not only apply to political and business leaders, learning is essential also in photography and not only during photography courses or during the ones booked photo safari. Learning in photography happens every day with seeing what’s around you and capturing moments.
Inspire and be inspired.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Hands of Tips when Planning a Team Building with Photography
05/04/13 09:58 Filed in: B2B
A team building with photography can take place anywhere, in the office building where you work, in the city where you live or at nature destinations close and far to and from home. Yet there are some things to consider and in order to get the best benefits for your team you should keep in mind the following tips to make the right decisions.
1. Choose a location that allows the team to feel away from work.
2. Make sure the team understands that no photographic skills are needed; only a digital camera or cell phone with camera. No stress!
3. Make sure your team leader understands that it is fun, yet with great team connecting features. Photography is the playful tool to align the team members for the company’s goals.
4. Try not to put too much talking or presentations in the team building. Let the team members enjoy the experience and trust the team building presenter that the goal of the team building will be achieved.
5. Surrender to the process. Photography will do its job and provide what the team needs.
Some of these pointers might be hard to do, especially the surrender point can be tough, the letting go and trusting the process, yet by doing it the benefits will be huge. The choice of location can also be challenging depending on where you are. Not everywhere is easy access to wildlife photo safaris or beautiful nature just on the doorstep. If you can choose nature and if it is a garden or park in your city do it. Nature is always supporting, inspiring and comforting. Make sure no one panics and thinks now has to follow a photography course before joining the event. There is no need to do that. Everybody can press a shutter.
Encouraged? Now explain it to your boss
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Innovative Brainstorming with Photography
14/03/13 12:34 Filed in: B2B
Brainstorming is often the way we try to find ideas regarding a certain project, a new product or for problem solving. We use it in business, in personal life and for creative processes. And we usually talk a lot while brainstorming, using several techniques to tap into our creativity to come up with innovative ideas. Also images are involved, but the semantic plays a major role.
How about using only images to brainstorm? A team is brainstorming about lets say a business issue and using entirely photography to unearth problem solving ideas and concepts. Each member of the team visualizes an idea through photography and shows the image to the colleagues. All team members look at all images, “digest” what they see and take the ideas further; visualizing what potential they see in them. At the end of the brainstorming session the essence of all ideas is left on the screen in form of one or more images for further use to solve the business issue.
These sessions are very efficient and allow leaders to guide their teams to innovation in an intuitive way. They work also for issues within teams and can be used in team buildings e.g. in combination with photographic safari excursions for one or more days. The environment will contribute to the success. But in essence they work anywhere, in meeting rooms in offices, on planes, at conferences and anywhere else.
Try it and by the way they are fun too.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How Photography Inspires
07/03/13 14:44 Filed in: Photography & Art | B2B
Photography has become a part of our daily life, to capture snap shots of the children and pets, to communicate, archive, explain and inspire.
It inspires not only our private life, but also our work life and it will do even more in the future. Leaders will visualize the future of their company, finding solutions by utilizing photography; teams will become more aligned by joining team buildings with photography; communication will be visual and misunderstandings will be minimized and even success will be visualized with the help of photography.
But there is more. Photography is and will be not only our everyday tool, it also inspires us to learn, grow and invent. It is at the root of innovation and images carry innovative ideas. Photography is fun and adventure and photographic safaris might be the only shooting left in the bush and conservation blooming. It is technology curiosity with constantly new evolving photographic gear and photography courses igniting art and joy.
Photography is inspiration. Let it inspire you!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How Photogrpahy fixes Things
01/03/13 09:39 Filed in: B2B | Insights & Opinion
Sometimes we enter a room full with people and we feel that there is somehow an undercurrent, something is going on, although everybody seems to enjoy him(her)selve and having fun. This situation occurs also in meetings and work teams, but it is not clear what it is. Something is not right, but one cannot say what it is.
One-on-one conversations are planned to find out what is going on, but they don’t unearth the real reason of the disturbance in the team. The undercurrent develops to be a surface current and irritations pile up. Still words cannot fix it, there is something nobody is talking about or nobody is conscious that it is there. The situation has become very unpleasant. The team can hardly function.
What now? Photography can fix it. What the mind is not able to tell, the unconscious is more than capable to show, because it knows where the problem is and how it can be fixed. Photography becomes the voice of the unconscious. It helps teams to find out what they are struggling with, helps leaders to find the right way in guiding their teams and it is at the end also fun and makes it a very pleasant experience. Team buildings with photography and leadership training with photography are only two ways in helping teams through photography. There are many more.
And what works for work teams works also at home for families, friend groups, dance groups, football teams and wherever people would like to fix unpleasant situations.
Try it. It feels so good when its solved.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How Photography can Help Teams
01/02/13 08:51 Filed in: B2B
Working in teams is a great thing, yet it comes with challenges too. Different personalities, different backgrounds, different ideas, different ways to work and all working for the same goal, friction must be unavoidable.
Friction has a stimulating aspect, but mostly it means loss of energy resulting in inefficiency and unhappiness of the team members. Such a process can develop unnoticed for quite a while and when it actually comes to surface it can be a difficult task to identify the core of the problem and to solve it, because emotions might be high up already and blur the view.
In these situations photography can be a very useful and insightful tool. It can be part of team building sessions, business coaching or leadership training. Using photography brings play into the situation, fun and joy. And it visualizes the issues the team wants to address. What no one can say an image can show. The intuition (or the unconscious) speaks and what emotions blurred, the eye now can see.
If the team chooses to do sessions in a nature environment like e.g. as part of a photographic safari or embedded in a wildlife photography course, nature will be a stimulating environment to open up and enjoy the process, away from the usual environment with all the good nature has to offer. Yet, the key to seeing is the photography, no matter in what environment. Photography is the pleasant that allows easy access to instant insights.
Try it.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
On Team Building: The Cheetah Lesson
13/10/12 11:58 Filed in: Photo Safari | B2B
We were on a team building session on Phinda Private Game Reserve in KZN, South Africa, when two cheetah brothers decided to teach us all about teamwork.
It often happens that guests have their designated animals for their stay at a certain game reserve. They will see the same leopard or pride of lion during their entire stay in different situations, witnessing the most beautiful wildlife interactions and bonding with these amazing animals. It is, as if nature assigned them for the best experience.
The two cheetah brothers seemed to be assigned to us and they spoilt us. During the four game drives we had on Phinda, they showed us how a perfect team works. When one brother was resting, the other one was scanning the area. When they were scanning the area together, each of them had his own section he was responsible for. During all their activities they gave each other reassurance and backup. One could see that each of them felt safe in their relationship and the roles were clear. They understood each other even without a look or a sign; they were just connected.
The highlight of the cheetah teamwork was the hunt and if we had not realized until then, now it was very clear they were our designated animals. We were the only vehicles around and following the brothers. They were mobile and intensively scanning the area for potential food. The grass was very high, but the brothers could still see very well. Suddenly they moved faster, the hunt had begun, each of them in a split of a second doing what he was supposed to do. There was a buck in front of us. One brother approached it from the right and chased it towards the other brother waiting on the left. Then the brother on the left took over, made the final sprint and killed the buck. They took a couple of deep breaths and one brother started feeding while the other brother scanned the area for possible other predators and therefore potential danger to their prey. After a while they changed. Now the other brother was feeding on the kill and his brother was on the watch.
We were sitting there speechless, astonished how the two cheetahs showed us exactly what we wanted to accomplish with the team building session in the bush. Teamwork at it’s best.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How to Utilize Photogrpahy in Team Building
Many companies organize team buildings to create opportunities for their teams of employees to bond in an informal environment away from their usual workspace. To enhance the informal character mostly some kind of activity is chosen that allows interaction like carting, rafting, other sport activities or special experiences like a balloon ride. People usually love it. It gives the opportunity to interact in a different way with your colleagues and to get to understand each other better.
How would it be to add photography to team buildings and what would be the benefits? Nowadays with the smart phones and tablets, photos are taken all the time and also during team buildings, but mostly like on a holiday as memories. But photography can offer more and add extra benefits to the team building.
Photography can become the bonding tool of the team building and the anchor of the achieved result at the end. By making photography part of the activity through assignments involving the sport, the experience or even wildlife it adds extra stimulation, motivation, fun and understanding of each other. And at the end it can be utilized to anchor the groups experience through images that reflect the purpose of the team building.
Photography can be a vital source of fun, insight, stimulation and motivation for something important as a team building. With the side effect that its results last forever. … and its easy too!
Tell your boss!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com