COVID-19 has altered how some businesses function, but what will never change is the importance of building connection among teams. Building strong teams is a core strategy of the Caribbean Cement Company Limited, as well as its parent CEMEX, a global cement manufacturer based in 50 countries.

Before the pandemic, quarterly team-building activities such as workshops, dinners, lunches and lymes at the company’s sports club were the norm. While the months have been rolling by since the last meet-up in early February, the human resources team had been thinking about creative engagement approaches for various teams and departments. They opted to delight the leadership team with a wine-tasting exercise via Microsoft Teams.

A trained engineer and MBA who has worked with CEMEX for 12 years in several countries, Jorge Camelo is the HR manager at Carib Cement. He does not believe that the pandemic is an excuse for abandoning team development programmes. Instead, he recommends that organisations be methodical in their approach while incorporating technology; including use of apps such as House Party, Bunch, MS Teams or Zoom; to continue building and strengthening bonds among teams.

“Human resources must pay attention to what is happening with their teams and implement programmes to close gaps. Remote work has reduced our opportunities for social team building, even at a time when it is perhaps needed the most, given the stressors associated with the pandemic. This is why we hosted a virtual wine-tasting activity as a way of keeping the social links alive and engaging our colleagues and families in a common experience,” Camelo said.

The diverse 18-member leadership team consists of three women and 15 men from seven countries, including 10 persons from Jamaica. Spouses, as well as other colleagues from Trinidad and the Bahamas, also logged on.

Although his sessions are usually held in-person and involve tasting up to six different wines, sommelier Christopher Reckord found Carib Cement’s initiative commendable. He worked with the team to tailor a practical approach to the hour-and-a-half session. The HR team selected and elegantly packaged one red, notably CK Mondavi, California Red Blend, and one white, Riunite Trebbiano Moscato Italian, accompanied by two wine glasses and a score card.

The session saw Reckord delivering a high-level introduction to the world of wines, including theory, geography, colour, taste and types of grapes before dovetailing into opening, tasting, grading and storing wines.

“This was a very innovative approach to team building and a harbinger of things to come. There were a good mix of persons including experienced wine drinkers, so I selected a few areas which I thought would be most practical to cover during that time, while also being flexible to respond to some pretty good questions. The team was quite engaged, and it was good to see the shift in perceptions and reception to some wines within that window of time,” Reckord said.

A surprise element was HR’s prearranged pizzas via internal couriers who, within minutes, turned up at the homes of winners who answered the sommelier’s pop quizzes correctly. For the effort, the HR team was heaped with praise by the participants.

“I enjoyed this a lot; it was a totally different experience and we had such great participation from the team. The sommelier was super-authentic and guided us well,” said Jorge Herrera, supply chain manager.

“This was an effective social integration exercise which provided comforting wine options for sipping indoors, even while broadening horizons for us to better enjoy wines and good company outdoors when COVID restrictions ease over time,” said Garen Williams, sales manager.