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ResRequest and Horseplay

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ResRequest team build

As 2016 draws to a close, the ResRequest team embarked on their annual team build. The location was kept a secret and anticipation was noticeable.

Horseplay in the Dargle Valley was the location of the 2016 team build. This innovative programme uses horses to demonstrate the need for effective communication as the horses will not respond unless they understand the task and trust the leader.

To demonstrate the importance of clear communication, Carlene Bronner of Horseplay, had the team direct Nicol (ResRequest developer) through an obstacle course using only the words, “Yes” and “No”, and in fact, Carlene said that ResRequest was one of the fastest teams to complete the challenges, proving we are not so bad when it comes to communication!

The team was then divided into pairs and given a horse. Over the course of the day, we learnt increasingly challenging activities with our horses, and how to communicate these activities to our horses so that everyone understood and the activity could be completed.

Great fun was had, and even those who were nervous of horses, overcame their fear.

Carlene summed up the key points from the day as follows:

Have a plan: If you don’t have a plan, then your horse/colleague will sense a void in your leadership and will fill in that void. The results will seldom be productive.

 

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Be consistent: If you are consistent in your emotions, your execution of ideas/work/dealing with situations as they arise, you will be found to be dependable. If you are dependable, you will be seen as trustworthy. If you are trustworthy, then it becomes easy for someone to hand over responsibilities to you.

Be patient: If you are impatient, you will lose the connection between you and your horse/colleague. Sometimes it takes time, but next time it will take less time, although some situations/people/horses may require going over the basics more than once.

 

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Be persistent: Some situations/people/horses need more reassurance more often because of their doubts about their own abilities, and some require affirmation that you are in control because they are in doubt about your abilities! Don’t see that as a criticism but as a motivation to be better.

 

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Be non-confrontational: If you lose your cool and lash out under pressure, the damage could set you back in the eyes of your colleague. Take a deep breath and think about how you are going to respond, rather than just reacting. Remember the 8 + 2 = 10 = point of balance. Don’t buy into the emotion of your colleague, rather control yourself and get that point of balance back into the equation.

 

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If you mess up (and you will), fix up and move on: We are human and we do sometimes find our ability to stay calm being challenged, when you do mess up; fix up and move on. Don’t be tempted to put your colleague in the proverbial box and limit any future growth in the relationship. Horses never forget but they always forgive, unless they see a pattern developing into a bad habit because then they will develop undesirable behaviour to deal with your bad habits!

 

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And the biggest lesson of the day: Be in the moment, be present!

See, Sample, Sow – How you can benefit from ResRequest on-site

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We turned off the tar road from Karen and went through a security gate which allowed us passage into the Nairobi National Park. Our bumpy progress was soon brought to a halt as a uniformed orphan keeper crossed the road with a four month old giraffe in tow. A short distance further we passed Max, a blind but content Black rhino and after parking we were introduced to two tiny orphan elephants – newcomers from the previous day. Welcome to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust! It set the tone for our time at the David Sheldrick offices and interaction with the team – a small group of wonderful people passionate about their work with wildlife and striving to keep the organisation running smoothly. Every organisation, although essentially the same, has it’s quirks making it unique and this is when onsite training makes customising the fit for both the property / res office and ResRequest easier.

Basic training like How to make a reservation or How to add an extra is just the start, but integrating that knowledge with your business processes is the real challenge. Jill headed up the three full days of training which is standard for our onsite training programme. It was intense but certainly worthwhile as we had ascertained a number of suitable reports that were relevant to the organisation and smoothed out a number of business processes that could now be handled by ResRequest.

“Basically I am absolutely loving ResRequest and how much easier it has made my life and streamlined all the bookings. The training was great and it was so nice to meet Jill and Jen and put names to the people who helped set it all up as well as faces and so far have so enjoyed working with you all. Having Jill and Jen come here for the training was the best option as it is so much more personalised that way.” Lina – Reservations Management, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Sine we were already in Kenya, we had the opportunity to visit Angama in the Mara. Apart from the thrill of soaring over the expansive Mara in a light aircraft and enjoying the breathtaking view from Angama’s deck, the two days we spent with the team was extremely valuable. Having already worked with the system for several months, the res team wanted to hone certain processes to ensure clean data and effective reporting.

“Their visit was a huge success – Thanks to the ResRequest team for taking the time to travel to the Maasai Mara – always more fruitful for discussions to take place at the source as new issues are unearthed no matter how much advanced planning has happened, and face-to-face communication offers a much more efficient way to solve complex issues.” Steve – Director, Angama.

“I agree with Steve – it is beyond beneficial – sitting with Jill and Jen was fantastic, I learnt so much and great tips on how to do things smarter and faster. I recommend this to any client. No matter how good you think you are in the system… you will learn sooo much from having a ResRequest team member sit with you for a full day.” Kristen – Reservations, Angama.

We visited a number of clients during our Kenya trip – both new and advanced users – and were encouraged by the system-strong and enthusiastic people using ResRequest. Our primary goal with initial and ongoing training is not just to teach the ‘how to’ but to empower our users to utilise ResRequest to it’s fullest, because even with software the clichéd adage holds true: “You get out what you put in.”