Case Study

Staff volunteering at Collingham Garden Nursery, London

Overview

In 2005 we set ourselves a target to achieve a 15% volunteering rate for PRUPIM Head Office staff (by the end of 2008). In order to reach the target, PRUPIM staff were encouraged to undertake volunteering as part of their annual team building activities. PRUPIM’s Property Research team chose to work at Collingham Garden Nursery in Camden, helping to build a 30 metre stretch of decking to become the new entrance to an expanding nursery for local children.

What we did

Paul McNamara explains in his own words the experience:

“The community architect, Robert Bishop, arrived and briefed us on what the form was going to be for the day. In this, it quickly became clear that he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve - both for the day and for his project as a whole. It also became readily apparent that he was well versed in working with volunteers. This put everyone at their ease and we proceeded to the first activity of the day – getting kitted out in overalls and steel toe-capped wellies. And, as the pictures show – very stylish they were too!

The team was divided into two groups. Group A were set to measuring and cutting “noggins” to fix between, and strengthen, the cross-struts which would eventually carry the decking. Group B were given the task of using a hi-tech spirit level to ensure that, along the 30 metre length, so the cross-struts were perfectly even before the actual decking began.

So, there was lots of bending, pointing, head scratching, discussing - and a lot of sawing. Being together, out in the open-air with a different type of problem to face, gave a real buzz to the atmosphere – and there was plenty of humour and wisecracks.

At the barbecue lunch, we asked Robert Bishop lots of questions about the origins of the nursery, about other projects he is involved with locally, about where he gets his motivation from and how he organises his activities (like getting volunteers like us to help) to obtain maximum effect and progress.  As you might expect, much of what he said had resonance for any team trying to move forward to achieve its objectives – and, certainly, for myself and others in the team there was much in what he said for us to reflect on in how we keep ourselves motivated and how we might best enlist the help of others to achieve our objectives.

After lunch, we returned to our labours and pressed on until ‘rain stopped play’ late in the afternoon. Muddied, tired but still stylishly clad, we wheeled our tools back to the nearby depot and returned to our normal clothes. By now the rain was lashing down, but it didn’t dampen the mood. We thanked Robert Bishop for looking after us so well and he thanked us for all our efforts in helping push his vision one small step further towards realisation.

Everyone enjoyed the day – the fresh air, the growing camaraderie, the different sort of task and, to be sure, the ‘feel-good’ factor of having made a contribution to a worthwhile venture. As a team-building day, in my view it achieved, if not surpassed, anything one could hope for from such a day. And, from a manager’s perspective, it certainly allowed me to see team members operating in a new environment; how they liked to work, and how they made decisions.”

The benefit

The Property Research team had a day they described as tiring but enjoyable, which provided their team manager with a different insight into the way his team work together, and moved Collingham Gardens a day closer to having their decking and nursery entrance.