Published: 09th November 2022
The first hour of the day is often the “power hour” for meetings. Meetings later in the day can be vulnerable to distractions and no-shows, energy dips and thoughts of home time.
If you want to make the most of these early meetings, then it helps to sweeten the invitation by offering breakfast. With that in mind, here are five top tips on how to host the perfect breakfast meeting.
In the real world, many people arrive at work and head straight to the coffee machine. Offer them an alternative in the form of a tabletop coffee machine. For the tea- (and hot-chocolate) drinkers, make sure there’s a commercial water boiler.
It can be nice to offer some fruit juice and cold water as well. Breakfast is possibly the only time of the day when people regularly alternate between hot and cold drinks.
Your colleagues probably won’t be moving around (or at least not much). They will, however, almost certainly have personal and/or work items with them. Some of these will end up on tables.
That means a lot of table space can quickly get taken up before people sit down with their food. It, therefore, makes sense to choose food items that can be eaten with minimal fuss and, preferably, without cutlery.
Also, if food can be eaten on the go, then your colleagues will be encouraged to take any leftovers with them. This will help to minimise food waste.
Unless you’re really sure of your colleagues’ tastes, cover your bases with a mixture of food options. Ideally have savoury and sweet options. If you offer dried and/or pre-packaged food (e.g., cereal bars), then try to offer some fresh food as well (e.g., fruit and vegetables).
Remember to think about employees with special dietary needs and preferences e.g., diabetics, people with allergies, vegetarians, and vegans. Having meat-free options will also ensure that people who follow halal/kosher diets can be fed. It’s great if you can offer some hot food but this isn’t always practical.
The main reason for ensuring that foods are clearly labelled is that it allows people to see quickly what they can and cannot eat. The secondary benefit of this is that it helps to keep the breakfast more orderly. People are not going to be hanging around the service area trying to figure out what is and isn’t safe for them. They’ll just pick up their choice of items and move on.
Even if your colleagues are using cutlery, there is a good chance they’ll appreciate napkins as well. If they’re eating with their hands, then napkins will be a must. You’ll also need somewhere to put food waste. A regular bin is fine as long as it has enough space.
If you’re giving people time to eat before the meeting starts properly, it’s nice if someone can come in and clear away any debris. They can, of course, leave food that hasn’t been eaten for people to snack on or take with them. If that’s not possible, then the next best option is to give the room a bit of a tidy-up before the meeting starts properly.
Here at Cema Vending, we can meet all your needs when looking to cater for your guests at your workplace. We offer a wide range of coffee machines, water machines, and even vending machine hire for your cold drinks or food. If you’re interested, then get in touch with us today on 01157 845 845, or drop us an email on sales@cemavending.co.uk and we’ll do everything we can to help!
