Making it real
"Experiential learning is about what works in the real world - and community projects are very real."
Piers Carter, Director
Exel
18 Month Leadership Training Programmes.
Exel’s GBE programme was a senior executive development programme for rising global business leaders. An 18-month programme, it included a module on Global Teamworking delivered via the mechanism of a major community intervention in two rural communities in the northern part of South Africa. The first cohort delivered a ground breaking business development project (a market garden) in The Oaks community near Hoedspruit, followed 18 months later by a second cohort who extended the reach of the original project, partnered it with a new one in the neighbouring Willows community and ran a parallel IT project in the local primary & secondary schools.
Working as global virtual teams, the participant groups planned their work over 3-4 months, also accessing an online learning package, and then travelled to SA for an intensive week to implement their plans. Supported through both stages by a consultant team which provided technical advice, facilitated the learning and oversaw the community interface, the group returned with glowing reports of a life changing and hugely challenging programme.
Not only did their planning stage cross many cultural and business boundaries, it required a huge step forward in virtual teamworking. On arrival in SA the groups were faced with cultural, geographical and business realities which exceeded the limits of their planning. Rising to the challenge, they achieved results far in excess of any expectations. This was measured in terms of land physically prepared for the market garden, relationships established and training inputs & resources delivered to the local community. In addition, the participants were tasked with providing an education project via the local schools to further support the development of an entrepreneurial culture amongst school leavers in the community. In fact, this developed into an IT project supported at corporate level by Exel in SA.
Part of the brief was to achieve sustainable results: since 2004, the Market Gardens at the two communities – which sell their produce collectively - have expanded significantly under the management of the locally run ‘Morathong Care Group’, and are now providing income to as many as 20 families in each community. Two years on, there is a thriving small business in the hands of the local people, community relationships & interdependencies have been developed and both schools have successful IT training programmes.
Learning Management & Outcomes
Extensive reviewing of the entire process took place during the programme weeks in SA, giving rise to profound learning about both the virtual team stage and the implementation. This learning was managed in the following areas:
- Virtual teams - management & participation, overall performance
- Creating, Leading and Sustaining Teams in a Global Business
- Cross Cultural Issues in Global Business
- Individual participant learning objectives
- Taking the learning back into new and existing teams
- Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability in a Global Business
Participants spoke of new understandings of virtual & local team leadership & participation, of a hugely motivating sense of purpose and a new engagement in their approach to CSR. Issues such as across cultural boundaries, customer engagement in the virtual environment and the impact of globalisation became very live. At a personal level, a new focus on attitudes to community, to self and challenge, and to the role of the individual in global business were the norm rather than the exception.
Conclusion
The GBE programme represents a sophisticated and complex integration of community projects with management learning. We are proud of our involvement as Project Managers of the Global Teamworking module.
We continue to look for businesses with the drive and vision to undertake
such projects.