On 3rd and 4th of November, we held our first local training weekend at Paekalda Puhkekeskus named “Leader’s Factory”. Ever since the restructuring of the organization, we had been planning different local activities where all new members of the organization and young people from Tallinn could gather to get to know one another, learn about the organization and develop different skills. With the support of Tallinna Spordi- ja Noorsooamet, we implemented the first activity. We had a very interesting mixture of people attending the event, from veteran coordinators who have been involved in Shokkin Group since the beginning, all the way to very new members who joined the organization just a couple of weeks ago and young people from Tallinn who were interested in the topic of Leadership.
Pavel, the chief of board of the organization, welcomed us to the training weekend with an opening session dedicated to explaining a bit the structure of the next hours, presenting the objectives for the training and informing us about all necessary practicalities. After this introduction, we played several icebreakers and name games to make sure everyone knew one another. Then, we were invited to enjoy the last minutes of daylight to go for a walk in teams and get to know one another better by having a small walkie-talkie exercise. After the refreshing walk, we came back to the main cabin, where we were reminded to basic aspects in relation with the organization: its story, values, target group, objectives, working directions, active squads and the context of youth work and youth related issues in Estonia. After talking about leadership and teamwork, we practically saw how synergy works with a practical exercise. Then we also shared Shokkin’s project portfolio and examples of how young people can take an active part in the society.
After a bit of discussion, we were invited to welcome the evening by preparing the sauna, playing board games and getting ready for the BBQ dinner. The evening was lovely, with people walking around the lake, playing different board games, enjoying the sauna, being BBQ masters or simply enjoying the coziness and good company in a very relaxed, respectful, fun and open environment.
The next morning we prepared breakfast for everyone, and the first working session started at 10 am, there was no time to loose! The day started with a short input on time management and leadership skills and continued with more inputs and practice of planning and setting personal aims and objectives. We had time to reflect and to share in couples our diverse goals: facilitate sessions, coordinate local events, engage high school students in local activities, etc.
After this morning session and a break, came the time to sit down in our working groups and boost our productivity to the maximum! We came together in groups and we worked, worked, worked: we revised pending tasks, created new objectives, established action plans with deadlines and overall we arrived to lunch time feeling satisfied and full of motivation to keep growing together.
After working in groups and sharing our results we had the final closing of the weekend where we could see a smile on every face and a general feeling of understanding and teamwork. Quoting one of our newest (and youngest) members: “it is so nice to be in an environment where you feel comfortable and where it is not scary to be yourself and make mistakes”.
Indeed! #StayShokkin
Check out some of the amazing pictures taken by Jegor Mljavov: