Food For Thought: Catering Usually Makes For Better Meetings

Where there’s enough of a reason or mandate to have a physical meeting, even the weekly routine meetings, there’s also a compelling reason to consider catering. – If not catering, it’s not a bad idea to at least bring in some beverages or food to munch on. Here’s why: people simply produce better results at work, and especially at meetings, when they feel appreciated; and nothing says management cares more about its staff than the extra detailing of providing something to eat and drink at a meeting session.

Problem-solving, brainstorming, creativeness, initiative and team spirit are the some of the preferred outcomes and purposes of a meeting. The provision of food and beverage is a wonderful way for a company or manager to subliminally communicate: ‘we are thinking of you,’ ‘we care about you being happy and comfortable during the meeting’, and ‘we know you have a busy schedule and workload, so here’s something to keep you running at peak performance while we meet’.

Of course it depends on the length of the meeting. A quick 10-15 minutes may not command much more than maybe the availability or offering of coffee or water to maintain the sense of cordiality, professionalism and team spirit that makes winning organizations so successful. But once you get in the half-hour or longer range, something to snack on adds zip to the meeting – and if you’re talking more than an hour, even more elaborate provisions become reasonable to consider. It’s simple…people respond well, are more eager to attend, and are more motivated to contribute to a meeting when there’s something to eat or drink.

The inclusion of food and drink at a meeting signals that something special is happening – and correspondingly, something special is expected. Dynamic treatment has a better chance of yielding dynamic results. Catering a meeting is an investment, as well an indication of management’s values, culture and the team spirit that it is trying to engender.

Providing the right catering touch doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. Depending on the time of day -- or day of the week or year -- simply providing coffee and rolls, to a nice spread of healthy salads, or maybe assorted pizza pies will do the trick. Want to be more dynamic (and kick-start even greater employee motivation)? Consider an occasional cupcake or ice cream/gelato surprise for the meeting, or perhaps cater in some rotating international cuisine platters. Maybe have the team meeting members pick way in advance to spark a little pre-meeting buzz for once-a-week, once-a-month or quarterly meetings.

Make meetings fun and interesting, starting with the way you cater some of them. That’ll make for not only a more productive meeting – but also for a more unified and motivated team of coworkers who take pride in working for an organization that goes the extra mile and treats them cordially and considerately during meetings.

Davinci Meeting Room planners are well versed in catering meetings.  Give us a call when you are planning your next event and they will make the process as easy as pie.

Call us at 1.877.424.9767 or email us at support@davincimeetingrooms.com

About Ray Lindenberg

Ray Lindenberg is President of WANY - The Workspace Association of New York, and IN-Cert - The International Cooperative of A+ Certified Workspaces; and is the Chief Consultant & Innovation Officer at the Winning Workspaces Hospitality Group.