It Started With a Gap No One Could See

During the pandemic, work didn’t stop. Teams adapted. Deliverables moved. But something else quietly slipped through the cracks – connection.

At Inspire-Tech, the shift to remote and hybrid work revealed a gap that wasn’t immediately visible in performance metrics. People were collaborating but not necessarily connecting.

And over time, that difference began to matter.

Many organisations invest in team bonding. But often, it looks like this:

• A yearly offsite
• A quarterly activity
• A wellness initiative here and there

These efforts are valuable but they are moment-based. And moments, by nature, fade.

What Inspire-Tech recognised was this: Team bonding isn’t something you schedule occasionally. It’s something you build continuously.

A Different Starting Point

For Sharon Teo , Inspire-Tech’s CEO, the question wasn’t how to organise better team-bonding activities.

It was something more fundamental:

“How do you help teams feel supported, understood, and connected, especially when they’re no longer physically together?”

Traditional approaches didn’t quite address this.

• Annual team bonding events felt too far apart
• Ad-hoc activities lacked continuity
• Physical or recreational activities created moments, but not always meaningful interaction

For international colleagues, the challenge was even greater. Time differences, travel constraints, and distance often made it difficult to participate consistently. There was also a practical reality to consider. As a small to medium enterprise, sustaining this internally would require time, planning, and dedicated resources.

Why Inspire-Tech Engaged Growthbeans

This was where Growthbeans came into the picture. Inspire-Tech didn’t engage Growthbeans to run events.

What mattered more was focusing on areas such as building stronger friendships within teams, creating a sense of support and belonging, sustainably prioritising mental well-being.

More importantly, it wasn’t designed as a one-off initiative. It was meant to be ongoing.

What started during COVID as a way to lift morale in a disconnected environment evolved into something more structured, a consistent space for people to engage, reflect, and get together as individuals.

How Openness Takes Root

Through Growthbeans’ Growth Circles facilitated sessions, teams were given something different:

Not activities to participate in but space to show up as themselves.

Conversations became more open, people felt more comfortable sharing challenges, and support became more visible across teams. It was built gradually through consistency and trust.

A Sustainable Approach to Team Bonding

One of the key differences in this approach is sustainability.

Inspire-Tech partnered with Growthbeans to provide structure, maintain consistency and facilitate meaningful interactions.

This allowed the organisation to move from:

• Planning activities → to enabling honest dialogue
• Short-term engagement → to long-term culture building

And over time, team bonding became less of an initiative and more of a natural part of how people worked together.

What This Has Built So Far

The outcome wasn’t immediate. But it was noticeable. Inspire-Tech has been running weekly Growth Circles for all employees a period of 2 years. For some, the change was deeply personal.

“During Covid times, I didn’t have close connections at first, but through these sessions, I was able to build relationships. I’m grateful for the experience.”- Ferdinand, an offshore team member of Inspire-Tech.

Teams became:

• More connected, even in hybrid settings
• More supportive of one another
• More open in how they communicate

What started as an effort to improve morale has become a foundation for stronger working relationships.

Where This Leads Next

When people feel supported and understood, it naturally grows into something deeper, not just team bonding, but social well-being and a stronger culture of psychological safety that impacts productivity.

This shift doesn’t happen overnight, but it shows what’s possible when connection is built intentionally and sustained over time.

In today’s environment, the strongest teams are not just the most skilled, they are the ones that communicate, adapt, and support each other effectively.

Inspire-Tech has seen this impact and remains committed to continuously developing this culture of openness and psychological safety for the growth of every individual, and for the organisation. Special shout-out to Marc Lansu – CPCC – PCC( ICF) and Shane Yan (IHRP-CP) for making this happen.

The question to organisations out there is, “What else might you need to do to help deepen connections within your organisation?”

Note: We are not paid or sponsored to run this article. Inspire-Tech has benefited tremendously from the Growth Circles and want to be able to spread the word. DM us for more information or to hear our experience.  Alternatively, you can connect with Growthbeans.

Stay tuned for the next article, where we’ll explore how these evolve into a culture where people don’t just work together, but actively support one another, and why that matters for long-term growth.

We will also share how sending our employees to Growthbeans to be trained to run and lead Growth Circles as part of our leadership development plans and providing the practice sessions in house has enabled other benefits.

👉 Learn more about Growthbeans and how organisations are building psychologically safe workplaces: https://growthbeans.com