Learning the Ropes UMaine graduate students bond at obstacle course before tackling real-life business situations

A Master of Arts in Business degree usually doesn’t include a trip into the woods and a jaunt through an obstacle course as a requirement.

But this year’s incoming crop of business graduate students at the University of Maine in Orono is taking just such a trip. The residency week program, a new requirement for MBA students, is a five-day intensive program with an emphasis on ethics, leadership, teamwork, communication and casework. Students in the program will tackle UMaine’s MaineBound challenge course located on campus.

The challenge course is a set of physical and logistical challenges beneath and among cables, ropes, tires and high walls set in the woods that surround UMaine.

Daniel Innis, dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health, says this is a welcome addition to the MBA program at UMaine.

“We wanted to create a sense of community among the students,” said Innis during the activities on a recent afternoon. “In the corporate world, one of the most important skills you can learn is teamwork. By working together to complete these activities, the students can learn these skills and apply them to their studies here at UMaine and beyond.”

One of the challenges on the course is a web of thin rope that starts at ground level and rises to about five feet off the ground. The students help guide each other through the different holes in the web, but if the person being passed through touches the ropes they have to start over. The challenge isn’t completed until someone has been passed through each of the holes.

Judging from the laughs and the jokes that come out of groups working on different challenges, the students seem to be having a good time. Dylan Mooney and Jim Holleran, both 23, say they think the challenge course is a worthwhile experience.

“Not only are we getting to know each other better,” said Holleran, “but a lot of the stuff we’re doing is applicable to the real world. It may seem somewhat unorthodox to combine something like this with business, but it really works.”

“You’d be surprised how much something as seemingly simple as a lot of these activities really makes you learn how to trust and work with different people,” agreed Mooney. “It makes you unafraid to ask questions and identify what your strengths and weaknesses are.”

The residency week, held in late August, was a kind of “business boot camp” for the students. The group has participated in a business simulation, several business dilemmas to solve in teams and congregate dinners. The group visited MBNA in Belfast to experience firsthand a corporate workplace environment.

Trust-building activities have become popular lately for groups in all areas of academic and professional life. Many area public schools have used similar challenge courses, and businesses both large and small find trust-building activities to be beneficial to creating a positive work environment and maintaining healthy, trusting relationships between co-workers.

Leslie Taglialavore, a 2004 graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington, said she was skeptical of the worth of the activities but changed her mind after actually doing it.

“It’s been a nice break from what we’ve done all week,” she said. “Most of the people entering into the MBA program this year were UMaine undergraduates before, so I didn’t know anyone. This week has helped to build relationships between us all, so we can work as a team.”

Dan Charleston, a 33-year-old returning student, said the day’s activities have been really fun.

“It’s been really great to get to know everyone, especially as a student returning to school after such a long break,” said Charleston. “Being able to get along and cooperate is integral to succeeding in the business world, and these activities have really helped us to do that.”

One of the last activities of the day was a tightrope walk of sorts. Wires were strung between four trees, and a hula-hoop was placed on the ground. Each student had to walk the tightrope, while two other students held a rope for them to hold onto to keep their balance. The students holding the rope had to keep one foot inside the hula-hoop, and the student walking the tightrope had to land inside the hula-hoop at the end of the rope.

Minus a few wobbles, the group performed very well. Some of them displayed a remarkable dexterity, crossing the tightrope without any hesitation or imbalance. When asked to elaborate on some of the skills learned during the activities, the students offered up communication, creative thinking, thinking before acting and strategic planning.

“Dexterity was important too,” said Mooney. “Hopefully the physical dexterity we’re showing today can translate into mental dexterity when we’re confronted with a business problem.”

Paul Collins of Winthrop listens as a fellow student explains her experience on the ropes course at the University of Maine.