Home | Business | Communication | Team Building

The Role of Food and Refreshments in Team Building exercises

By: Brian Middle Click author's name for more of his/her articles

What's on the Menu?
What are some ideal snacks to prepare? A balance is required between a five course dinner and pathetic food pellets, which might as well be edible cardboard. Obviously, your snack tray should not distract from the importance of the meeting, so very little too fancy should be prepared. An additional note is that preparing heavy meals may eventually cause a distraction. The more people enjoy the food, the more they eat, and the fuller they get. When a person is full they tend to be sleepy and even to lack focus. However, your group may prefer something more filling than just nuts and crackers.

What you might do is survey your team and ask them what type of snacks and drinks they would prefer. Mention all considerations that would influence their decision such as distraction as well as price. Some colleagues may be willing to chip in on the expense while others would feel uncomfortable spending too much. Maybe assign members to bring the refreshments and assign them what to bring based on their enthusiasm for contributing to the refreshments.

What type of drinks to buy should be left up to the team and trainer. Caffeine may aid your staff focus, but it may possibly also get your rowdy colleagues all the more riled so use at your own risk. On the other hand, alcoholic drinks are not suggested throughout company hours. Even if you are having an after hours party, there's still an issue of a designated driver; possibly some colleagues drive alone and would need to risk driving after several drinks. The best choice is to leave alcohol out of your team building experience entirely.

Using Refreshments as a Reward
There may not be any refreshments at all, as some teams or trainers prefer a more formal atmosphere. Even in these instances, offering food rewards to staff for a project well done may go a long way in motivation and expressing appreciation. Contemplate buying patisseries. You can offer them as a reward package or even put them in a basket for everyone to enjoy. Buying patisseries is a fun and cheap way to liven up the workplace without having to worry about the trouble of a full scale office party.

True, you do not need to offer drinks and refreshments to your staff, but remember that every little kindness you do for your team won't go unappreciated. If you think letting your staff eat cake on special occasions will engage the team to work harder and unite, then by all means let them eat cake!

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Chillisauce.co.uk is a business specialising in organising unique team buildingexercises.All our team building exercises include an extensive selection of venues appropriate for your team away day and meeting requirements and an extensive selection of of actvities for example Krypton factor challenge, school sports day, challenge 100,murder mysteries.