The amphitheatres in Reims on 4 September and Rouen on 5 September were filled with frenetic energy. For the start of the academic year in the 2023 Master in Management Programme, NEOMA organised a collective djembe drumming session. On the stage, four musicians led the audience in playing the instrument. It was the perfect occasion to focus on team work, the role and complementarity that each person has in a group or company,  listening skills, inclusion, each person’s purpose and more.

The leader of this lesson, Doug Manuel, is an Englishman who lived in Africa for several years and learned to play the djembe there. The purpose of his exercise was to create connections between students who didn’t know each other, an objective that was achieved when the new MiM class immediately began building a mutual rapport.

Imen Mejri, director of the MiM Programme, introduced the team building activity with a brief talk. She reminded the students that in the first year at NEOMA, “The voyage starts now. It will be made up of many different learning opportunities, discoveries of pedagogic methods, disciplines, international experiences…”

The galvanised students embraced this joyful moment of connection along with the NEOMA marching band.