Food brings people together and how (or whether) a team eats together says a lot about their relationship. As we speak, companies are constantly deciding between whether an employee cafe is an expensive, optional overhead that should be cut, or that good food and environment for teams to enjoy together as a great investment.
Your last team Potluck
Have you been to some quarterly scheduled team potluck, tracked with an Excel checklist on the Shared drive that looks like this: 2x salads, 2x fruits, 3x protein, 2x drinks, 2x desserts, Plates, Cups? (after a few back and forth emails on the 3x meat) We put our names down on the Name 1 / Name 2 columns – and the race is on. Not necessarily to plan the best or most interesting dish, but the item that is the most convenient.
On the day of the potluck, B bought a box from the supermarket because he had no time to prepare, Y showed up late unannounced and missed a meeting to prepare for the potluck. Final results: 2x caesar salads (safe bets), 3x fruits (2 precut from stores), 2 of the meat got too much heat (and some team members couldn’t eat the 3rd), the desserts were the highlight but there was not enough of it. By the way, the napkins and utensils were missed so the interns rush down to the cafe to “borrow some”…
Does that feel like Diversity as a Numbers game? The “right” mix has somehow been decided with or without context and the task is to check the boxes. Items off the menu become a blind spot until someone speaks up, or when we need it fixed we will figure it out.
Onto the Next One
Let’s start with a theme – let’s welcome our new members with some activities. It will take place in the summer and as we work on product category x, why not make it a theme about our own story with x as a conversation starter. We list everyone’s name and will each recommend 2 dishs based on the theme. At the next team meeting we review the list together – decide the dishes, planning tasks and who can help.
As the excitement and anticipation build, the team works on the experience they want as attendees and the people who will make it happen. The food flavours and portions worked with everyone on the team, the activities were fun, everyone helped out in their ways and all left with good memories. The newbies were impressed and couldn’t stop talking about the cool team they are on.
The stage is set based on the ultimate goal. Everything is on the table – no sparing of food choices, flavours, cooking styles, serving styles, theme, decoration. The experience before, during, after. The what and the how. A team that operates that way naturally covers all angles and make the delivery coherent.
Which Potluck party would you rather be at?
After Party – Back to Work
Take a look at your team.
Can you see all the rich, magical ingredients that are available?
The secret superpowers that may not be exercised every day?
How can we bring out all the flavours for our customers?
How can our team enjoy the journey as much as our customer enjoy the results?
How do we create and norms to do that every day?
