Team:Groningen/Team Building

iGem Groningen 2018

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This summer was a rollercoaster. High ups, deep downs, tons of adrenaline, ending in a lot of love. We started as complete strangers, and yet we feel like family after these 5 months. iGEM was our life this summer, and we saw each other every day. Of course it was important not only to sit behind a laptop, or be in the lab and therefore we did lots of other things you can find on the Public Engagement & Education page for example, or the Collaborations page. Whereas these were amazing experiences, the memories we treasure most are the ones on this page. The first time we met, the crazy night at the farm or the emotional DISC workshop. The project ends, but the group activities will not, and we will remember the first bucket night when we will join each others weddings in the future!

First date!

When the team was announced, nobody knew each other except by name and phone number. To tackle this the team met to have for dinner at a mexican restaurant. Here, over a few drinks and side-dishes, the team got to know each other and make their first impressions. Apart from the drinks, someone ordered a bucket-sized cocktail that would become a running joke throughout the project.

DISC Workshop!

On the 13th of May, we organized a DISC workshop to find out the personalities of everyone in the team. Next to that, everyone had to fill in a questionnaire about themselves. This way we learned that Jens sports the most, Ingeborg wakes most early and Noa eats Chinese for breakfast. The DISC workshop was a way to see who was more introverted and who more extroverted, and we found there were not a lot of extroverted people in the group. Next to that we found that the people in the group were more rationally oriented than emotionally oriented.

TRIZ Workshop (27th July 2018)

During the TRIZ workshop, Troyka Innovations, one of our sponsors helped us to work on a TRIZ action lab. In this workshop we used several methods to identify the problems in our project, and searched for ways to solve them. Next to Edwin Poorte, who guided the workshop, we invited our partners from EV Biotech, Linda Dijkshoorn and Sergey Lunev so we could come up with new solutions together. Combining all these expertises we came to great new ideas for our project!

Campnight at the Farm!

To further improve the group’s cohesion, the team decided to spend a weekend at an authentic Dutch farmhouse. Throughout the weekend, the team engaged in amusing yet team-building exercises. One exercise include the making of a square of rope together with the whole team, while blindfolded. This exercise was learned from our friends in Utrecht. A visit to the local dairy farm was also part of the program, followed by a breakfast of its fresh produce. This, together with a midnight hunt for a Geo-cash made that we felt like family instead of friends after this weekend.