Outward Bound with the Lancaster MBA
Published 14 November 2008
The new academic year got off to a flying start in October 2008, when over 100 students from Lancaster’s Full-time MBA and Executive MBA programmes took part in a day of intensive team-building activities with Outward Bound, in the English Lake District.
For the new class of Full-time MBA students, the day with Outward Bound was a chance to put into practice many of the team-building and project-planning ideas they had worked on earlier in the week with Coverdale, one of the UK’s leading executive training companies. Coverdale’s approach is, in essence, a system for getting things done efficiently. After three gruelling days in the classroom, Outward Bound was an opportunity to see whether the students could translate classroom learning to new and untried situations: climbing, rafting, potholing and other team-building activities.
The part-time Executive MBA students had only met each other for the first time the previous day, yet they had few problems working together on some of the most challenging exercises.
During the day students from both the Full-time and Executive MBAs worked in groups that tested resourcefulness, time-management, problem-solving and co-operation – but overall success on the day was achieved through efficient team planning and communication.
An added attraction for both groups was the beautiful location. Lancaster is fortunate to be close to the English Lake District, and Eskdale – home to Outward Bound – is one of the Lake District’s most spectacular valleys.
