BP Charity Challenge Team Building Programme
Last Updated (Thursday, 09 December 2010 19:02)
BP PSCM Graduate Immersion Procurement Programme
Following the success of the team building programme delivered for the BP PSCM Graduate Immersion Programme in 2008, Quest were commissioned once again in 2009. However, this time the requirement was to devise and deliver a longer event over a full week for both the UK graduates and those in the US.
The programmes needed to be identical for both sides of the Atlantic, to run over two weeks in October and Quest had to ensure that as well as being highly developmental they were also great team building events and successful in raising a substantial amount for charity.
Charity Ball & Auction Of Promises
Following a great deal of preparation Quest delivered team building events that as their core activity set the delegates the task of managing all of the preparation, menu planning, cooking, ticket selling and venue preparation for a Charity Auction Ball for at least 60 invited guests.
This considerable challenge was revealed to the delegate teams with no prior warning at lunchtime on the Sunday of the programme, with the date for the ball set for the following Thursday, just 5 days away!
The work for the teams that Quest had completed in advance was to secure the venue for the balls at the programme locations. Those being the outstanding JW Marriott Hotel in Houston Texas for the US graduates; and Twickenham International Rugby Stadium for the UK graduates. That and the provision of a multi-talented facilitation team including a highly experienced and qualified chef, was the help the 28 delegate teams received.
A Challenging Timetable
Whilst that challenge was tough enough, the delegates had to schedule and time manage their activities to ensure they attended a number of developmental classroom sessions and performance reviews as well as an early morning physical challenge mid week, and a “Bigger Breakfast” challenge as a dry run for food preparation and service. There wasn’t a great deal of time for resting!
The delegates on both sides of the water set a cracking pace with their approach to the Challenge and quickly focused on the crucial elements of role allocation, the forming of sub-teams, and the appointment of dynamic leadership teams.
By mid week, ticket sales were starting to gather pace, whilst the kitchen brigades were honing their culinary skills and front of house were making great progress with room decoration, the securing of auction items and musical entertainment.
Outstanding Development Experiences
By Thursday evening activity was at fever pitch, and as the candles were lit on the 80 plus guests tables, both the US teams and the competing UK team two weeks later, were able to reflect on a great job almost completed.
With the admiration of the Head Chefs at JW Marriott and Twickenham, gourmet food was professionally served by the graduate waiting teams, and by the end of the evening, some spectacular auction items had been successfully sold.
The programmes had been outstanding development experiences for the graduates and raised in excess of $90,000 for Houston Childrens Charity and Help for Heroes.
 BP magazine article about the 2009 Immersion programme | 784 Kb |
