The team responded. They pulled together as one, working like a well-oiled machine to slip past the danger and into the main current. They finished the run with a flourish, shouting, laughing and congratulating each other on their reaction to the crisis.

An outside observer would believe the team had been paddling together for years. In fact, none of them, including the leader, had ever been white-water rafting before. They are a group of executives participating in an innovative approach to leadership and team development - outdoor experiential training - (OET). "There's plenty of white water back home in the competitive business environment we find ourselves in today", says one raft team member. "The skills we're learning here as a team will help us anticipate and overcome obstacles to our success as a business."

Outdoor experiential training is rapidly gaining widespread credibility as a powerful learning approach. We tend to learn best by doing. Fully 75 percent of what we are taught is retained when we actively participate in the learning. A mere 25 percent is retained from a traditional classroom lecture and note-taking approach. OET capitalizes on this fact by allowing people to participate in realistic outdoor activities that bring to life such concepts as leadership, teamwork, communication, problem solving, risk-taking, creativity and decision-making.

What is OET? Programs grouped under the general category of outdoor experiential training run the gamut from the silly to the sublime. They range from an adult version of kids' lawn games for a company needing an afternoon break from the annual conference to a highly structured, week long leadership development course for a CEO and senior management team.

Outdoor training programs can be grouped into two main categories - wilderness and outdoor-centered programs. Wilderness programs are usually conducted in remote locations with comfortable but rustic accommodations. These programs tend to use more adventurous activities such as rafting, backpacking or sailing as the basis for learning. They are typically attended by top and middle management groups and often focus on organizational leadership and teamwork.

Participants in outdoor-centered programs normally eat and sleep indoors and venture outside to participate in structured exercises. Middle to lower-level management groups and even hourly employees often attend these courses. Outdoor-centered programs typically use permanent high and/or low ropes courses as a basis for learning. High ropes course activities take place well above ground and focus primarily on individual development in the areas of self-esteem, risk taking and fear reduction. Low ropes courses take place on or near the ground and focus primarily on trust and team skills.

There are a number of factors to consider to ensure participants and their company gain the most value from outdoor experiential training:

Custom Design

The program should be tailored to concentrate on the skills needed by the organization to meet its strategic business objectives. Beware of any program that says "one size fits all."

Top Management Support

Top management support and involvement are essential to the success of this type of training. Executives should play a key role in setting objectives for the program, identifying skills needed by the business and designing the program. The top management team often attends the program first to learn and therefore model the behaviors they want others to exhibit.

Physical Safety

Safety obviously is a major concern both to participants and program providers. The design of any outdoor program must ensure both the physical and emotional well-being of all participants. Learning is enhanced when the perceived risk of the activities takes participants out of their comfort zones - but not all the way into the "fear zone" where learning and growth shuts down. This presents a serious dilemma in that the perceived risk that can enhance the learning experience can also foster the impression that the outdoor program is unsafe. In any case, the perceived risk of any outdoor program must always outweigh the actual physical risk. While being physical in nature outdoor programs should not be overly taxing physically. The best programs are designed to ensure full participation by everyone regardless of gender, age, physical limitation or ability.

Emotional Safety

Emotional safety can be enhanced by creating a supportive, non-judgmental environment where participants feel comfortable in taking risk, making mistakes, and giving and receiving helpful feedback to each other. Emotional safety is also enhanced when participants know that all activities are totally optional; no one should ever feel forced to participate in any activity.

Facilitation

Outdoor experiential training is only helpful a s a learning approach if participants can readily see the connection and translate key lessons to the business issues they face back on the job. The skills of an experienced facilitator are critical to turn a fun exercise into a powerful learning experience that can improve the bottom line. Facilitators must have strong outdoor skills and a solid business background in order to effectively help participants transfer skill to on-the-job application.

ROI

Companies should expect a reasonable return on an investment in outdoor training. ROI comes in the form of changed behavior and improved organizational performance. Participants should leave an outdoor program with a few specific improvement goals complete with a detailed action plan. Follow-up after the program is a powerful way to ensure successful application and adoption of the skills learned out in the woods.

Outdoor experiential training, when properly designed and implemented, is an effective method to improve the management skills needed by an organization to remain competitive in today's fast-paced environment.