Group Management

Keeping the group together

The other week, whilst leading for HF Holidays in the Cairngorms I gave my usual speech on the first night about sticking together as a group on the walks. After all, that is one of the reasons for booking a guided walking, group holiday. Nevertheless, on the first day, a couple walked off ahead of the group into the mist. I had to shout as loudly as I could to get them to wait. Later, one of them asked why I’d done this and I explained that if there was a problem like a twisted ankle, I needed to be able to communicate with everyone.

I could also have mentioned the effect they are having on the rest of the group but when people are on holiday it’s wrong to spread it on too thickly. The fact is however, that people getting too far ahead is demoralising for the people at the back of the group and it encourages others to go speeding on ahead as well. As the leader, I try to walk at the pace of the slower walkers or to stop frequently to bring the group back together. Having someone walking at a quicker pace in front of you, means that you have to concentrate hard on not speeding up, yourself.

People who like to go ahead of the group often tell me that they have their own pace and they find it difficult to walk more slowly. I have occasionally suggested that they could just wait for a while when we stop and then catch up, rather than going ahead and waiting for us. This would be much better for group morale but no-one has ever tried it. I think it’s because they just like being at the front. You often see couples out for a walk ‘together’ but the bloke is about 50 metres ahead of the woman. What’s that about?

I am happy for people to go ahead so long as they stay in touch with the group and wait if there is a choice of routes but some people struggle with this.

When bringing the group back together it is nice to stop at a place where you have something to say. This might be to talk about a plant or point out something in the distance. This is a good thing in its own right but it also makes it less obvious that you are having to wait for people. It is a lot easier to do this if you are near the front. By waiting until everyone is there before you start talking, not only does no-one miss out but it also stops people from setting off as soon as the back of the group catches up. This is a pet hate of slower walkers – arriving at the end of a talk and the group setting off again immediately - especially if we are going uphill and they are a bit out of breath.

Finishing on time

When you lead a walk for HF Holidays you are given a route card with estimated times for each leg of the route. This is a good idea anyway and is worth thinking about before you set out. You can use a simple formula to generate the estimate. e.g. 4km per hour plus one minute for every 10m of ascent. Obviously this can be adjusted for different groups. It’s worth explaining to the group that you are aiming to avoid a lot of waiting around at the end but that you also do not want to be late back. With practice you can try to set a pace that corresponds with your estimate.

From this formula you can work out how long the walk would take if you walked continuously without stopping. If there is a bus picking you up at a certain time then you can work out how long you have for breaks. I generally subtract 15 minutes from this for contingency and then think about roughly where and when we might take these breaks. I quite like to have a morning break (elevenses), a lunch break and a break in the afternoon where the whole group can sit down together. It’s worth reminding people beforehand to bring something waterproof that they can sit on. It doesn’t have to be a mat. A plastic bag will do.

Sometimes this just works out nicely - say 15 minutes in the morning, 20 mins for lunch and 10 minutes in the afternoon but frequently there is still some spare time left over. There are various tactics that you can use to fill this time. You really don’t want to be hanging about waiting at the end and possibly all getting cold. Of course if there is a café …

The ideal is to stop frequently to talk about the environment: plants, animals, interesting landscape features, geology, history etc. It’s quite nice if the group are chatting well together, to pause before setting off again - maybe after you’ve collected the group together or the group has stopped at a point where the path divides. Just standing there and letting people chat for a while is very pleasant.

Sometimes there are optional extensions. Maybe you can divert from the route slightly to take in a viewpoint or a bird hide?

Things are more difficult in wet or cold weather. People don’t really want to hang about but you need to persist because you know that they’ll just be waiting around at the end if you don’t use up some time now.

There are more underhand tactics of course. For example: if there are lots of gates and stiles, you can speed the group up by letting them get a bit more strung out. This way queues do not build up at each stile. Alternatively you can keep everyone together and create these queues!

If you need to speed the group up, it is worth doing things together e.g. getting everyone to stop for a drink at the same time, suggesting that we all put our waterproofs on together when it starts raining, or all taking them off at the same time. Of course you can fail to do this. Everyone will stop at different points and have to be waited for.

Going to the toilet

HF did a survey a few years ago to see what people’s top two pet hates were. One was leaders not knowing group members’ names. Because guests on HF Holidays usually sign up for which walk they will be doing the night before or in the morning, you can have a list of everyone’s names before you set out. If you run through these with the group at the start of the walk it helps you (and the rest of the group) put names to faces. Because you have the list in your pocket you can take it out and remind yourself who is who, as you go along and ask individuals for a reminder if necessary. This is harder for the rest of the group because they don’t have a list.

Half the fun of leading a hike is getting to know people. Especially older people. They usually have a fascinating history of walking or have had a really interesting career. I’m not the greatest conversationalist but it’s worth the effort. It also makes it easier to manage the group.

The other pet hate was leaders not facilitating people going to the toilet. Sometimes this might involve explaining that we will get to a café or a public toilet in half an hour. More often though it’s a case of ‘going’ outdoors. In HF parlance this is known as a Comfort Stop.

Traditionally this was always managed after lunch by a Gentleman Forward Stop. The ‘gentlemen’ would walk on ahead until they were out of sight and the ‘ladies’ would catch up when they were ready. This can still work well under certain conditions. You need to make sure no-one else is going to wander by. You sometimes have to spell out the fact that the split needs to include everyone whether they want to ‘go’ or not. Of course we are not dictating when you go to the toilet. It’s just an option.

If the conditions aren’t right it is worth looking out for a spot where the women could go. It’s easier for the men. If you don’t do this not only are you creating a ‘pet hate’ but everyone will pick their own spot and then you’ll have to wait for them to catch up. Sometimes people really do not want to have a comfort stop outdoors and consequently don’t drink enough liquid and become dehydrated. This can be dangerous in hot weather.