In a smooth and trustful tone of voice someone says: “So, how do you feel about this?” We’ve listened and repeated this question quite a few times during the past several days. Why? Because when we learn something, we want to apply it quickly… and asking someone how he/she feels fits perfectly with the coaching model we discussed during our annual ZeN session.

For two days, the ZN team spent time together in Atelier des Tanneurs (Brussels) to learn and have fun through team building activities and workshops. Although we do ZeN sessions every year, this one was different for many reasons.

It was the first ZeN session for many of us. That made us realize once more how fast the company’s growing and how nice it was to be together in one room – it’s not everyday that we get to interact with one another in this way. And as someone pointed out: “Imagine if we were a 400 employee company!”

It was the most productive session. We all have fun at ZN but we also love to learn. We were given a lot of tools and we had several practical exercises on coaching and leadership. Some of our team members might have even discovered a hidden passion: being a coach!

Better process and better practices. We are lucky to have a Catalyst team (represented by people from different departments of ZN) that makes sure that as we grow, we do it in a smart and healthy way. The team unveiled what they have put together in terms of best practices and processes, and everyone at ZN got to take a look at it, dissect it and add to it. For those who love processes, that session felt like heaven.

We had an introduction to mindfulness. When you are dominated by stress and the rush of daily life, you tend to forget to be aware of the “moment-by-moment.” Mindfulness is "the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment," and can help you focus better and succeed in your busy work life.

There was no swimming pool and no Belgian fries. Last year’s session set the bar quite high for ZeN sessions… but despite not having a pool or Belgian fries, we were loyal to our Karaoke and Belgian beers, and we had a whole lot of fun!