My participation in the year 9 2021 hiking camp, specifically the group hiking task, greatly improved my ability to work in teams. In this hiking task, I was assigned to a random team to spend an entire morning’s time making our way from one campsite to another. In completing this task, my group faced various interruptions and challenges, from troubles in walking at different paces to having disagreements about which way we should go.

Consequently, these challenges caused progress to be quite slow as we tried to work out the suitable pace we should be hiking at, who should be guiding the team with the map and when we should take breaks. Although the start was challenging as we had some disagreements, we developed certain strategies that developed our communication and teamwork. Namely, we had decided to give the role of the map keeper to only two capable members, having them lead the way and make choices. This resulted in a decrease in disagreements about which path we should take, resulting in more consensus within the group. Personally, as one of the two members who were tasked with the role of the map keeper, I was required not only to read the map and foresee the route we needed to take but also to coordinate my team through patient yet firm instructions. 

This separation of activities where each member was in charge of a certain responsibility like map watching and aiding injuries, ensured the group was productive and stayed on task; permitting us to have our own responsibility and be more attentive to each important aspect of the hike. Our teamwork, when having segregated activities, allowed us to know exactly what we needed to do and where we needed to go, spending less time deciding and more time doing.