A team from Clarion Housing Group gained knowledge, achieved personal and team success and raised £12,000 for their charity partnership during a short break in the woods with the 4i Solutions’ People Development experts.

The Strategic Core Group (SCG) for Clarion’s Planned Investment Programme oversees the programme of over £100m for 2017 – 18. Formed from the merger of Affinity Sutton and Circle in November 2016, the new team recognised a need to develop as an effective team with new contractors and new staff joining following the merger.

4i Solutions are providing a range of services to Clarion, including Partnering Advisor, Cost Management and People Development. To kick off the process 4i Solutions facilitated a series of regional workshops bringing together Clarion and their partners to help them understand each other’s perspective and develop personal relationships and improve partnering.

Following the workshops, 4i Solutions invited the SCG and key partners from ENGIE (formerly Keepmoat Regeneration), Mears plc, United Living, Kier Services and Breyer Group to a two-day teambuilding event at the Bowles Rocks Centre outside Tunbridge Wells.

The event was packed full of exercises, both indoors and outdoors, especially designed to improve teamwork. The physical challenges included crossing a ‘minefield’ with only tree stumps and planks, and back indoors the team discussed strategy, delivery and behaviours. These exercises help to develop personal confidence and a can-do approach, and the support and encouragement of the team proved essential for success.

The team also used the time to consider their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). Together they worked on a Visioning session and undertook some behavioural analysis to help them understand each other better.

Finally, everyone took part in the ‘100 Minute Challenge’ of both physical

and cerebral tasks. The Challenge was designed by 4i Solutions to raise money for Clarion’s charity partner, the Darel Bryan Foundation, in memory of a former colleague. Partner organisations and 4i Solutions pledged £6,000, which was matched by a further £6,000 by Clarion, raising an impressive £12,000 in total.

Some of the key lessons learnt were:

• The importance of building relationships
• The need for clear and effective communication
• Building trust
• Developing and strengthening the Partnership

Feedback from the event was very positive

“Constructive, Positive, Fun, Eye-Opening, Enjoyable”

“Really enjoyed the workshop”

“Useful, Interesting, Facilitated Improvement in Partnership, Challenging, Interesting, Necessary”

“Good Fun, Useful Outputs, Thought Provoking, Improved Relationships”

“The event has been a fantastic success and will support our Partnership over the coming months”

For the next steps Clarion is working with 4i Solutions to look at further ways to develop the partnership.

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