1. YO U N G P R O F E S S I O N A L S & S T U D E N T S C O R N E R
he WEAO Young
Professionals
Committee held its
2nd annual mid-
year internal team-
building workshop
on October 12,
2013 at the Yellow
Griffin Pub in
Toronto. This workshop serves as a mid-
point check-in for the committee, and
gives us an opportunity to reflect on the
past six months since the kick-off team-
building workshop in May. As vice-chair
for the committee for the 2013-2014
term, I was given the opportunity to lead
and design the workshop. It was in this
moment that I wondered what I have
gotten myself into – and I am only vice
chair! What will I do when I am chair?
After the initial shock of responsibility, I
realized that this was a perfect oppor-
tunity for me to step further into the
leadership role and engage and motivate
my peers as we move forward towards
our common goals.
What I definitely knew that I did
not want was yet another ‘what is your
spirit animal?’-esque session. If we
were going to request 30+ YP com-
mittee members to volunteer time on
their Saturdays – on Thanksgiving long
weekend no less – I wanted to make
sure it was not only fun, but useful. I
sent out the invite and there was a flood
of interest. A total of 20 YPs showed up
for the event.
WEAO YP COMMITTEE –
INTERNAL TEAM BUILDING WORKSHOP
Alison Chan, WEAO Young Professional Committee Vice Chair
There were three main goals I
wanted to achieve that day:
1. Building relationships.
2. Celebrating our successes. Under-
standing our challenges.
3. Looking forward: how do we fill in
our gaps?
Most importantly, I wanted everyone to
walk away with a sense of accomplish-
ment, appreciativeness, and inspiration.
How did we do?
Building Relationships
With all our daily commitments, it is
often hard with an association spanning
the entire province of Ontario to meet
in person with other committee mem-
bers. The biannual workshops provide a
perfect platform not only to meet peers,
but also to build long lasting relation-
ships. Instead of a typical icebreaker, we
engaged in a low-tech social network. As
you walked in, you were asked to draw
a photo of yourself with your name,
sub-committee and one thing you would
like others to know about you. After
you placed yourself on the wall, you had
to identify 1) How (or through whom)
you got involved with WEAO? 2) Who,
on the YP Committee, you admire and
why? and 3) Who you want to get to
know better?
YP Committee members: Alert and ready for action, even on a Saturday.
YPs engaging in the World Café Method
22 Spring 2014INFLUENTS

2. In this activity, everyone had a good
laugh at our communal lack of drawing
skills, reminisced about their begin-
nings with WEAO, and learned more
about each other more quickly than
they would have otherwise. I think
this activity sent waves throughout the
committee as we sat down for lunch
before the next activity.
Celebrating Our Success.
Understanding Our Challenges.
The next portion of the workshop was
the meat of the burger. The icebreaker
was just the top of the bun. The style of
the second exercise is known as a World
Café. You may recognize this technique
if you attended the Sustainable Energy
in Perspective – Capitalizing on Waste-
water Workshop, jointly hosted by the
YP Committee & Wastewater Treat-
ment and Technologies Committee, in
June 2013.
The World Café method is a format
for hosting large group dialogue. It
begins with setting the context and the
topic of discussion. In small groups (four
to five people) we discussed three ques-
tions for 15 – 20 minutes each. Before
transitioning to the next topic, group
members were able to get up and move to
another group, but one designated ‘table
host’ was left at each table throughout
the sessions. The purpose of the table
host was to fill in newcomers with a
brief summary of what was discussed in
the previous round. At the end of the dia-
logue, individuals were invited to share
their insights with the larger group, and
the knowledge was harvested.
The three questions were as follows:
1. What are some successes of the YP
Committee in the last year?
2. What are some challenges you have
encountered on the YP Committee?
3. What are some gaps you can identify
Our Low-Tech Social Network
Our successes, challenges, and how we will bridge
the gap.
that when filled, can turn our
challenges into success? (I bet you
did not see this one coming.)
Groups were given chart paper, mark-
ers, and post-it notes to be as creative
as they wanted to be. When the
dialogue started, the ideas just rained
down. I was thoroughly impressed
with the creativity, presentations, and
of course the content. I simply could
not keep up during the harvesting
trying to capture everything; I was
drowning* in all the fantastic insights.
Looking Forward:
How Do We Fill in Our Gaps?
It was interesting to note that there
were several common themes that
were captured among all the groups.
These commonalities were given some
extra time to discuss. Why were they
common among groups? What can
we do to mitigate those challenges?
How do we accept these occurrences,
move forward, and land with better
footing? How can we fill in the gaps
– together? These are questions that
we have been working on and will
continue to address.
I wanted participants to walk
away with tangible action items that
will help shape the committee for the
rest of 2013-2014 and offer a good
building block for the 2014-2015
year as I transition to the position of
chair. Thank you to the volunteers
on the YP Committee – your
dedication and hard work inspires
me to believe there is a bright future
for the water environment. I would
like to extend my gratitude to Julie
and Anne on behalf of the entire YP
Committee, as we would not be who
we are without either of you. Lastly,
thanks to Alvin for passing the torch
to me. I have some big shoes to fill. I
look forward to seeing what we can
come up with together.
*Sorry for all the water puns. I just
did not want you to think I was
washed up.
23Spring 2014INFLUENTS