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A team of central London fire-fighters have told reporters how their team-building day spent reviewing the fire service’s annual accounts has led to them becoming an even closer unit.
Following the well-trodden path of taking a group of colleagues and putting them in an unfamiliar and potentially stressful problem solving situation, appears to have had the desired effect.
Station chief Simon Williams told us, “It was nice to get away from the humdrum everyday excitement of fires, danger, and saving lives, and take ourselves out of our comfort zone by facing the challenge of reviewing a 147 page tax return.
“There were a few sharp words spoken during the exercises, definitely, but that’s to be expected when people are put under the sort of stress they don’t usually experience.
“The guys responded particularly well the to trust exercises, where their partner provided figures which they did not check themselves before entering them into the database – it was uncomfortable for some of them, but they got there in the end.
“Everyone came out of the day a stronger individual, and as a result we’re a much stronger team. This experience will help each of them in their day jobs, of that I have no doubt.”
The fireman themselves have said they discovered new skills, and uncovered new levels of resilience they never even knew they had.
As one fireman put it, “When you spend all day simply running in and out of burning buildings, a file-box full of VAT receipts can seem quite daunting.
“But I thought, what the hell, and with the lads cheering me on I got them all sub-totalled and filed chronologically within an hour. The sense of achievement was amazing, and I’m not too proud to say I nearly cried.
“Sure, it’s a bit of a come down to return to saving lives again, but whenever I’m feeling low at work, I remember the way that filing system looked by the end of the day and I feel like the king of the world.”
