Outbound Training (OBT)

 


Introduction

In the recent past, the nature of the jobs has changed significantly due to the rapid change in the business environment and competitive international market. Therefore, the survival of the job depends not only because of the technical knowledge but also to have a few soft skills to understand business objectives and adapt to existing resources (Satpathy and Patnaik, 2014). Organizations require to have more soft skills in employees like interpersonal skills, project management skills, time management skills, leadership skills, and many more.

Employees are the key success factor in any organization. They are mainly responsible for customer feedback, customer satisfaction, quality of products and services and thus maintaining the brand image of the company, utilizing other resources efficiently and effectively, etc. Training and development play a significant role in improving the technical and soft skills of the employees.

Outbound training (OBT) is one method of off-the-job training and mainly focuses on the soft skills of the employees. OBT is one of the most effective methods of training which improve the behaviour of the individuals and team through a process of experiential learning (Arachchige and Sathsara, 2020). This programme is normally conducted in a natural environment that is away from civilization.

Objectives

The basic objectives of the outbound training can be identified below (Arachchige and Sathsara, 2020);

·       Building common vision, values, and team spirit among the participants.

·       Accelerate mutual communication, develop team strategies for getting results and achieving targets, building trust.

·       Increasing collaboration & commitment to make a successful ending.

·       Personal development dedicated to modesty, effectiveness, innovation, adapting, and managing change.

·       Enhancing creativity, problem-solving skills, and performing in complex situations.

·       Maintaining work-life balance with a quality outcome.

Activities


OBT activities may differ based on a few criteria like objectives of the training, participant age limits, health conditions, and others, training organization’s capabilities. One example of  activities and key aspects of a programme is shown in Table 01 below;

Table 01: Outbound training activities and key aspects (Arachchige and Sathsara, 2020)


Apart from the above water rafting, kayaking, canyoning, rock climbing, aerial rope, ATV riding, hiking, target shooting, high rope, low rope, Burma bridge and other team building and entertainment activities are carried out in outbound training (Outlife India, 2022)

Pros and cons 

Figure 01: Most influencing factors of OBT programme (Arachchige and Sathsara, 2020)


As mentioned under the objectives, OBT will help individuals, teams and organizations to achieve goals and it will help to full fill the requirement of soft skills of the employees shown in Figure 01.

OBT has many drawbacks too. This is one of the highly expensive training programs and organizations should carefully select the team from the organization and the training institute. Since this is an off the job training, organizations lose manpower hours during the training period and also affect daily operations. 

Conclusion

Though OBT has a few drawbacks, the requirement and importance of OBT are increasing day by day. OBT can improve the soft skills of employees towards shaping and improving personality, team building, time management, achieving targets with high quality and many more. I have also participated in two OBTs and it helped me a lot in working in the organization and within the team. The successful OBT programme gives a memorable experience and significant long-lasting benefits.


References

Arachchige, U.S.P.R. and Sathsara, K.T., (2020) The impact of outbound training (OBT). International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 9(4), pp.377-380.

Outlife India (2022). Available at:https://www.outlife.in/outbound-training.html.( Accessed: 30 April 2022)

Satpathy, I. and Patnaik, B., (2014) Outbound training and its effect on employee performance-a review of literature. International Journal in Management & Social Science, 2(11), pp.8-15.





Comments

  1. sampathJ4 May 2022 at 00:31

    Outbound training is one of the most effective methods of enhancing individual and team behavior and performance through experiential learning. This is an off the job program which is usually conducted in the natural environment away from civilization. Outbound training relies on practical learning experiences that consisting of multiple outcomes. It has been identified as real-time experience about the constraints and targets to improve the efficiency of the participants with team-building capabilities. Leadership skills, time management skills, team working and following right instructions on time are achieved factors of the outcomes with a successful training program.

    ReplyDelete
  2. maduwanthisilva.blogspot.com5 May 2022 at 04:14

    To build up team work and self confidence out bound training has become popular in most of organizations. It is a technique which is used to enhance employee's efficiency through experimental learning. Assigning some challenging task to be completed within given time frame is one of basic concept in OBT. Usually it is conducted in a place where away from work place. Interpersonal, communication and leadership skills can be easily developed through this kind of training programme. (Business Jargons)

    ReplyDelete

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