Team-Building in Beautiful Belgium!

A strong team of employees is not something that happens overnight. It takes time for a group of individuals to connect and form the type of bonds that will enable them to work together cohesively. In light of this, Innovastore International recently had another team-building event – this time in Belgium!

It was a 4-day event in the beautiful countryside of Limburg, Belgium where colleagues from across the world – Bulgaria, Romania, Pakistan, Morocco… – came together to connect, have fun, and reaffirm collegial bonds.

It is a known fact that sharing a meal together is a good way to bond – it reinforces social networks and creates a sense of trust. And meals were definitely a highlight at our team-building event. 

We started with a BBQ on our first evening together – one where we prepared and grilled the meats together as well as laid out the tables and decorated the space… all contributing to a sense of camaraderie and light-hearted banter. Other meals that we shared on the other days included Danish pastries for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and Italian food like pizza for dinner.

It is also the team that plays together that stays together. To this effect, we certainly had a lot of play (both serious and light-hearted) during our team-building. From simple quizzes about the history of Innovastore to laidback board game sessions, we found ways to fill our free time together. 

There were also organised activities that added a spark of energy and a healthy sense of competition. One of the activities was to build a soapbox car from scratch, followed by a race in these cars. We were divided into 3 teams and the competition was heating up. The designs for the soapbox cars were all creative and reflected issues that were important to us – in fact, one of the cars was in the colours of Innovastore and represented our InnovaHealth programme.

Proudly showcasing
our creativity and hard work

Speaking of which, our InnovaHealth programme was also a part of our team-building event. Over the last 3 months prior to the team-building event, several colleagues had received Fitbits from the company as part of a healthy lifestyle programme: InnovaHealth. We recorded our health status (heart rate, number of steps, calories burned, etc) at the beginning of the 3 months, recorded our daily exercise efforts following that, and at the team-building event, our health status was measured again.

Powering up before
embarking on sweaty stunts!

We also had moments of pure adrenaline: quad biking at a vineyard and a visit to an Escape Room. Some of us had never ridden a quad bike before – but that did not stop us! Even if it meant falling off the bike and picking ourselves up again, no matter how dusty we became. And, as at our team-building event last year, this year too, some of us had the opportunity to share some of our skills with colleagues. This year, some of us finally learnt how to cycle!

S-Quad Team

The team-building event was a 360° experience which not only ensured that we bonded physically and mentally, but also culturally. We visited the Labiomista – “an evolving work of art about the mix of life” – an evolving open-air exhibition on a 24-hectare park about the potential of identity and diversity, which gave us plenty to think about and discuss.

Heartfelt connections

All too soon, our time together was over and it was time to fly back to our homes. But we will cherish the time we had together, and remember how we had worked together to achieve our goals – be it ensuring that everyone had food to eat, building soapbox cars, or wiping the dust off one another when we fell. 

We left the team-building event sad to part, but happy that we knew we could rely on one another – no matter where in the world we were – to each play our part so that we could continue to be a winning team who would always put the team and its goals – keeping our customers happy – first.