Doughnuts in meetings

So do doughnuts lead to better Skype calls ? I know Homer Simpson would say yes.

Above is my team- each of them holding a kind of doughnut they like, from strawberry gloss to original icing to cookie cream- they have it all. On the screen of the laptop is seen one of our team members in another location -starving while we cherished our Krispy Kreme memberships !

We do this often- we serve food in our meetings and brainstorming sessions. It is a small overhead to pay for the change in outcome, more people attend ( plus 1) and people seem more enthusiastic ( plus 50 ) and no matter what the outcome of the discussion- all parties leave slightly happier than when they were before the meeting ( plus 1000 ). It works ! We use it as a conversation starter, as a joke baseline, as a reason to hide our face when the slides are too hilariously stupid etc.

It appears that it is indeed a technic many HRs and event managers have used over the years- advertise free food and get more attendance. Its worth mentioning here that I do not ascribe to the soda drinking, pizza devouring pop techie culture that says “ thou shalt have belly fat if thou wants to succeed as a techie “.

I offer both options healthy and non-healthy but always ask people to consider their choices carefully- well you ask who am I or anyone to question their health choices- well who am I not ? A caring friend/boss/team member- why not ?

Offer food at your meetings. Going a step further is probably even better. I often spend 5mins talking bout healthy foods, food as a culture and lifestyle and encourage employees to eat healthy. We introduce them to international cuisines ( pot luck days ) as a means of inclusion and diversity- this serves as a great spring board for international culture and norms conversations. We use it as a tool to introduce ideas on fitness — talking about healthier new concept foods automatically leads to talks on fitness and metabolism. We often use food as a means to introduce topics on global diversity and campaigns on eradicating hunger. When different people are given the responsibility of organising food for others — they understand diverse dietary needs because of health, religion or choices that others have made. I personally believe it is one of those non-obvious subtle multipurpose tools that you can use any way you like.

The above doughnuts were only a reward — we all have “GYANA health points” which are rewarded when we do our weekly quota of exercises, rest assured it is a very small amount as a baseline. The idea is to kickstart, that is all.One need not pursue if one does not want to. One may refrain due to personal choices or health conditions and that is fine. I am myself not a very lean person but I do the minimum I ask my employees to do.

SO,I was at a 15 member conference hosted by a certain Space Company I-will-not-name. The CEO was a very accomplished famous man.He came to me at lunch time and asked “ I heard you are a vegan, I hope my team could make appropriate arrangements for you ? “. He then walked me to my section and personally offered advise on what to eat, he even put vegan salad on my plate knowing fully well I had very limited choices-1.5 years have passed but I am still loyal to the commitment I made to that company even when they went through tough times. Food, as a means to show a guest inclusion and hospitality and as a mark of respect to his/her personal culture- can go a really long way….

Offer food at your company meetings, in appropriate measures carefully avoiding waste; it can truly transform the conversation if used appropriately and consciously.Give away the extras- organise it beforehand. A good way to kickstart CSR perhaps. It is important that one does not overdo it as we tend to do in Asian cultures- do not force a person to eat! If they are strongly refusing for whatever reasons best known to them, let it go. Leave the food gently in the corner of the meeting room, make people aware of it and let it do its job. No one needs to be a Mum.

While you are munching away-introduce one of these below conversation starters maybe?

“About 795 million people in this planet are dying of starvation- that is out of nine people going to bed hungry.

1 in 4 persons in sub Saharan Africa is undernourished.

66million primary school children are hungry when they go to school.

Bruce Lee was a vegetarian.

A vegetarian saves upto 100 animals a year and a vegan upto 198.

Did you know 32% people in US are obese- that is one in 3 nearly!

“Okinawa” ( Japan ) have worlds’ longest living people — more than 600 centenarians exist even today- they eat simple non-complex carbs and fibre rich fruits, vegetables and soy.

Monsanto — actually spends only one third of the amount Google does on Federal lobbying.

Organic food need not be crazy expensive if you grow a little yourself in your balcony spots.”

Do the math — the expense of getting food now and then far outweighs the benefits.

Happy eating ( right ).