A highly driven and enthusiastic group from Galen enjoyed an energizing and motivating Team Development experience with Team Challenge Company on a beautiful (though often chilly) winter's day at the magnificent Slieve Donard Resort and Spa.

The Team Development event was to be the culmination of a 2-day conference for the Galen team, a conference that was built upon the Galen vision of continuing to strive towards becoming a truly global competitor within their industry. Following a highly productive introduction to the day of Team Development, in which the group discussed their objectives and expectations of their time with Team Challenge Company, things soon got underway. The format of the day was an exciting one, in which two teams would compete head-to-head across a number of Team Building challenges in a bid to score the most points and walk away with the Team Challenge Company Winners Trophy, all whilst remaining focused on the learning outcomes of each challenge and how these can be incorporated successfully back into the workplace.

There were a number of fun-filled and hilarious highlights from the Team Development day, many of which are too embarrassing and too cheeky (Don, you rascal you...!) to be included within this blog. We have, therefore, chosen just some of our most memorable moments to be mentioned in this post, however, we would be delighted if you were to include some of your top highlights from the Team Development event in the comment section at the bottom of this page. There seems no better place to start than Big Andy and Team 1's sensational Giraffe! I reckon that thing will still be standing there this time next year! Then there was Sharon and her clogged up tent poles, tent poles that formed part of almost the worst Blind Intent effort I have ever witnessed...almost! And how about Kawasaki riding Selina and her love of Ice-Skating...but her fear of the cold - an absolute classic!

Then there was the hilarious moment during the afternoon of Team Development when both Orla and Linda were, for want of a better word, LAUNCHED through the Spiders Web challenge...you should have just waited for King Ken, Big Bad Mark and Jumping Jim to destroy the obstacle by just walking straight through it! Not to be forgotten was Carolyn's 'Safety-Mat Slide' technique, something which I have never seen before and doubt I will ever see again, incredible! More learnings from the Team Development day came over at Drum Bridge and Rollerball, where Lorraine and Team 1 could have spent all day (and a lot of bribery money) and still not found that extra couple of seconds needed to pip Team 1 at the post! Perhaps the most practical learning from the day came in the NASA Challenge...to cut a long story short, if you ever want to go into space, just make sure Roy isn't part of the Space Crew!

With the day of Team Development coming to a close, there was time for one more fun-filled, Galen-focused challenge...Design an Ad. Don's somber monologue was a stark contrast to Team 1's all action parade, a parade which Saw Martin perhaps get a little too comfortable in his Austrian get-up...I'm just glad there were no Lederhosen in the dress up box, otherwise we really would have been in for a treat. With the final scores checked and verified, the Joker Card bonuses accounted for and all bribes from Carolyn collected in, it was time to announce the Team Challenge Company Team Development champions! Unfortunately, it was not to be Team 2's day, who stepped up with cheery grins and to a rousing applause to collect their 2^nd place prize! And so, the champions of the day by a mere 1000 points, jumping up to lift their prize high above their heads, the mighty, the unstoppable, the at times mental, Team 1!

The Team Development session with the Galen gang had been a great success, with all in attendance thoroughly enjoying experience and walking away with fabulous memories of their time at Slieve Donard Resort and Spa. It seems that the overarching objectives of the day, both personal and team-based, were achieved during the Team Development event, and we thoroughly hope that you all succeed in taking what you have learned back into the workplace, and continue to make progress in realising your global ambition and potential as a company. A big thank-you goes out to Carolyn, Lorraine and Mark for all your hard work and effort in organising such a successful Team Development event. The entire team from Galen was an absolute pleasure to work with, and we at Team Challenge Company certainly look forward to working with you all again in the near future. And remember, no matter how much you want to make something happen, you are always going to have to step up and put the candle out...!