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The Facilitation Impact Awards (FIA) honours organisations that have used facilitation to achieve a measurable and positive impact as well as the facilitator(s) who worked with them. More about FIA. 

Silver award
Fudan University, Men in Black under School of Management
Shanghai, China
Client: 
Facilitators: 

Pioneers in Black—Camp for Fudan MBA Orientation

Impact

Attrition rate of core organising team members decreased by 15%.

Number of applicants to join core organising team increased by 15% year on year.

Time required to plan orientation events reduced by 30 days.

Personal capabilities of core team members in program management, leadership, self-awareness and communication improved.

The teamwork spirit among core team members was greatly enhanced.

The enforcement, effectiveness, quality and influence of the grand orientation event was greatly improved.

Context and challenges

Men in Black has around 200 members and is an organisational unit under the School of Management at Fudan University in Shanghai. Its purpose is to serve new MBA students every year and prepare them for their upcoming MBA life.

In the past, the planning process for orientation camps involved lectures and training and the whole process normally last many months. The attrition rate for team members was always quite high. In 2016, the school administration wanted to take a different approach—use facilitated workshops to improve team motivation, mutual understanding and cooperation while developing a master action plan for a grand orientation event to be held in September 2016.

Project objectives

  1. Discuss and develop action plans for the orientation event including actions, responsible persons, dates and measurable criteria.
  2. Enhance mutual understanding among core team members and cultivate teamwork spirit.

Approach

The Pioneers in Black—Camp for Fudan MBA Orientation project involved a series of facilitated workshops over three days in May and June and a systematic approach consisting of eight steps.

Session 1: 8 x 3-hour facilitated workshops held in parallel for 96 participants covering:

  • Step 1 Identify task
  • Step 2 Visualise success
  • Step 3 Analyse current status.

Session 2: 8 x 3-hour facilitated workshops held in parallel for 96 participants covering:

  • Step 4 Common commitment
  • Step 5 Key actions
  • Step 6 Improve action plans.

Session 3: a single facilitated workshop for 96 participants covering:

  • Step 7 Report and refine—gallery walking
  • Step 8 Pre-Congrats—team sculpture.