“Sheep Herding Team Building: Strengthening Team Spirit with a Flock”

At the same time, it is fun, relaxation in the fresh air, an opportunity to get to know your teammates better in a non-standard situation, and at the same time a useful experience. Although it is not easy, the sheep are always herded and everyone is happy.

It is not easy with sheep

Sheep are taken each time from a flock of 70 head. These animals, like humans, also have their leaders. Each game unfolds differently, it consists of both four-legged and two-legged participants. Even if at the beginning there are skeptics who don’t want to herd the sheep, however, after 15 minutes at the latest, everyone is happy to get involved. If members don’t find ways to cooperate, the sheep won’t even be herded.

For example, in the first task you have to drive the sheep to a certain place, which can be chased by a different one each time. “The first and foremost rule – shepherds of sheep! This means don’t chase it, don’t catch it and don’t run after it,” explains Inga Erdmane, owner and team building specialist. “The first time, 90% of the time, sheep fail to graze. After completing each task, the participants stand in a circle and say how they each felt, whether they felt involved or heard. Have there been any expectations from the others? What strategy worked, what cooperation there was. Everyone has to get involved, because that’s the only way to beat the sheep.”

Engage silent leaders

In the formal work environment, initially the loudest tend to become leaders, and people with actually better talents tend to remain uninvolved. When completing tasks, it is very important to use these silent leaders as well, to feel how best to cooperate. These skills will also come in handy later when you return to work. Sometimes teams come, where everyone works in their place every day and communicates by e-mail or by phone.

Then such an event allows you to discover something new about yourself, get to know your teammates in non-standard situations and gain a sense of community in the open air. It is also beneficial for management to see how who performs in non-standard situations.

Professional team builder

Inga Erdmane is not only a sheep owner, but also a project manager at SIA “Labie koki”, where she professionally deals with team building: “The important thing is to make friends with employees, to help each other get to know each other. We don’t necessarily have to be best friends at work, but when we develop respect and support, it’s easier to work together.”

In “Rantiņi”, where a flock of sheep is kept to graze the banks of Salaca and protect the meadows from being overgrown with bushes, sheep farming has been successfully combined with the knowledge of team building.

Similarly, sheep are used in team building in Scotland. The first season of Skańkalne’s “GaniAitu” project is underway, and these games were tried for the first time last fall. Not only private companies participate in them, but also municipal employees, students, sometimes families.

Faster to stable performance

There are classically four stages in team building – “forming”, “storming”, “norming” and “performing”. In the first stage, “forming”, a team is created, the direction to the goal in the best way has not yet been agreed upon. In the second stage, storms are going on in the “storming” team, battles for the places of informal leaders begin, sometimes they go on for years, and, of course, these teams are not as strong against competitors as those that use the full potential of employees.

If you successfully overcome the period of storms, “norming” begins, during which norms are already being developed on how to cooperate in the best way. Then you only need to polish for a while so that the team can enter the period of “performing” or the best success.