Why not? Mostly we head to work early to dodge the traffic and crowds whatever your form of commuting is. It can be hard at times to muster up enthusiasm at five in the morning to get yourself a bowl of Oates, WeetBix, or whatever you normally have to kick start your day. The team at Inscape Projects found an awesome solution. A very simple solution I would add to a possibly complex and controversial problem.
Have breakfast at the office!
The question then is, what do I have? Do I buy take away on my way in or what? Our solution was, we appointed a ‘chef’ from within the Inscape team and get the chef to make and serve breaky, every morning. That said, lunch is served too (you might prefer to appoint different team members to prepare and serve breakfast and lunch), all on the house. There is an argument for this approach (spacing your meals better) and an argument against (blurring the lines between work and home life). It also obviously varies depending on whether your employer is happy with the practice, and it generally presupposes that you’re doing some kind of office work.
This one small change has made massive positive changes to our overall team. Because breakfast is served to all at the same time, everyone is there on time. Getting to work on time is very important and has a few subtle layers, negatively affecting the individual just as much as it does the organisation.
Free food is always appreciated, and is popular. Smaller companies offer special weekly treats like the Doughnut Thursdays or Pizza Friday is a great way to retain good solid talent. This is the most cost effective way to keeping your team engaged and focused and protecting your investment in your staff.
Although this may sound like a simple idea, compared with start-ups who offer retreats to faraway places, this treat is not just about food. It gives us a chance for all of the different departments to come together, socialize and celebrate the end of the week. At a small company with lots of work to do, we spend most of our lunches at our desks. Pizza Fridays allow everyone to take a break away from the screens, and connect over something good to eat.”
We have found that it stimulates creativity and strengthens positive colleague engagement with management. Obviously every business is different and would need serious consideration if you were to launch into this way of thinking.
I say try it. It works!
