Folding Challenges Into Paper Planes and Catching flights at the Accelerator Lab's Brown Bag!

August 18, 2022

Let's get real, there are times in life when we are going to feel overwhelmed. We all experience overwhelming, worrisome, or stressful feelings occasionally, whether they be caused by challenges in our jobs or personal lives. When we experience these emotions, it's critical to give ourselves time, space, or even seek advice.

Us, the Accelerator Lab team, also face a challenge explaining to others what we do and debunking assumptions other departments have about the Accelerator Lab. The unanswered question of what makes the Accelerator Lab different seems to be like a mystery for our colleagues sometimes!

To help bring more clarity to our colleagues at UNDP Jordan about our work at the Lab and to get to know each other on a personal level to break the ice, we decided to do the first brown bag of 2022! We enjoyed some refreshments and Manakeesh -an Arabic pastry topped with cheese, herbs, or meat - and wrote a challenge that we have been recently facing at work or in our personal lives on a paper. 

 

After writing the challenges and folding them into paper planes and flying them around the room, each person picked a plane and was asked to suggest a solution to the challenge written on the paper. Challenges ranged from having a creativity block to asking for tips on how to lose weight.

Everyone was enthusiastic and eager to suggestions and we were very happy to see them engaging with each other and enjoying the activity - they even expressed their excitement to attend the upcoming brown bags! This excites us and allow us more opportunities to bring us closer to the other departments.

 

Personal interaction is the cornerstone of contentment and success, therefore taking the time to get to know one another through games or ice breakers can be quite rewarding for any team or organization.