Avipro: 60 years of team spirit and counting

On the morning of 22 July, on the lawn at Head Office in Moka, no one could win alone.

Sixty-four Avipro colleagues from different departments took part in a collaborative session organised to mark the company’s 60th anniversary. There were no lengthy presentations or grand speeches. Four challenges awaited the four teams. And one rule quickly became clear: to move forward, they first had to pay attention to what the others were doing.

The Chiquita, Hakuna Matata, Wakanda and Crazy Chicken teams began by choosing their battle cries. A few minutes later, they were already immersed in exercises devised by Masy Events, a company specialising in team activities. On paper, the activities had playful names: Human Caterpillar, Shaping Rope, Labyrinth and Circle Pass. In practice, they quickly revealed how each person approached a challenge: some wanted to move fast, others observed, some offered reassurance, and others found the right way to get the group moving again.

In Human Caterpillar, each participant had to look out for the person ahead while keeping the one behind in mind. “It takes cohesion and coordination,” said one colleague. Obvious, perhaps, but much harder when the whole group has to move at the same pace.

Shaping Rope required the teams to agree on an approach before acting. “It takes patience to achieve your goal,” reflected one participant. The same lesson emerged in Labyrinth, where movements had to be perfectly synchronised.