Page 14 - QARANC Vol 19 No 2 2021

12 The Gazette QARANC Association
Front row left to right Cpl Kreczmer-Martin, Cpl Nalwago, LNN Shepherd. Second Row Left to right Flt Lt Biffin, Sgt Richardson, Sgt Chirambo. Third row left to right Cpl Darwin, Cpl Rai, Pte Whatley. Forth row left to right Cpl Main, Pte Sharp, Cpl Cockayne
RCDM Development and Command Day
In June 2021, a small team of RCDM personnel from the clinical division attended a team day at DMS Whittington. The day’s objective was to develop our communication and leadership skills across all ranks, whilst building upon our team cohesion outside of the clinical environment.
The morning started with COVID-19 compliant sized groups debating contentious current issues, which aimed to develop our confidence, public speaking and communication skills, from the most junior Private soldier up to and including officer representatives. These subjects included the current and future use of facemasks, hybrid remote working, diversity and inclusion in social media and its social influence and remote learning in education.
Each subject was allotted fifteen minutes, throughout which active debate amongst the groups was apparent. This healthy debate amongst all ranks enabled everyone to voice their opinions and provide rationale behind their thoughts, which in turn, built confidence and trust in an open forum. This laid the foundations for events later in the day, where confidence, trust and good communication skills were a must for success.
The next phase, capitalised on the previous activity and built upon those skills, requiring each member of the group to pitch an inanimate object in a ‘Dragons Den’ style format. Individuals were given ten minutes to prepare prior to presenting their pitch. This encouraged individuals to think on their feet and utilise their powers of
persuasion, in order to convince the group that their item was the must have item of the day. The winning pitch was that of Corporals Rai and Cockayne, who have clearly missed their calling for a life in sales, managing to convince the group that the must have item of the day, was in fact a candle!
Consolidating the morning activities, the afternoon was dedicated to command tasks.
This allowed individuals to build on the skills learnt earlier and transfer the leadership skills they execute daily in their clinical area within a different environment. Tasks were aimed at empowering individuals to exercise command and control of a small group in completing various exercises and bring the team together in achieving a common goal. Individuals had to utilise their vocal instructional techniques, task planning, coordination and leadership skills to execute the tasks.
To increase the sense of urgency and create a competitive nature the group was broken down into small teams racing competitively against each other. Command task leaders were also rotated allowing all members to carry out the leadership role as well as being a team player and following instruction.
The day was a real success, and everyone got something out of it. It truly was a welcomed change from delivering exceptional patient care within RCDM, through what has been an exceptionally difficult and challenging last eighteen months, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating in the team day was not only great fun, it brought us together as a team and enabled us to develop those key skills that benefit our staff both clinically and militarily. After all, “A change can be as good as a rest”.
Corporal Kreczmer-Martin