HOTELS

Bart Berkey

Morning Meetings & Egg McMuffins
September 4, 2008

This morning I arrived into a meeting and was warmly welcomed by a fresh plate of happiness in the form of McDonald's Egg McMuffins.

 

Most people would be surprised at the sheer delight expressed by a group of luxury hoteliers as they arrived into the board room at 8 a.m.  Let's consider this: A very thoughtful team member (JP) understood that the team would be discussing some serious business topics that could benefit by a slice of surprise. When I asked her specifically for her motive behind the gesture, she stated, "I wanted to treat the group to something fun to help them wake up for the early meeting and thought this would make them happy."

What does your team need today? Do they need encouragement or discipline? Do they need gracious appreciation or a day to strategize? Be aware of what your team members need and deliver it.  It doesn't need to be expensive. Today's exemplary experience cost under US$50 and was enough to stuff the bellies of all that attended.

At my former hotel, we would often need to enlist the assistance of various departments to help park cars during large banquet events. The most miraculous thing would happen. Guests would never wait for more than 1 minute while arriving to the front drive to drop off their car and would always be greeted by a cheerful, unformed employee. Once the valet parker entered 5 feet into the parking structure, a chain of non-uniformed engineers, sales people, kitchen staff, human resource professionals and other volunteers would then relay the vehicle from point A to point B in a matter of moments allowing the "official valet parker" to greet the next arriving car. On stage, the customers saw five people calmly greeting them with sincere smiles. Behind the curtain, 53 people in tennis shoes and jeans helped to park the cars safely and efficiently. Can you guess the motivation behind these extra hours put in by the staff? A few hot slices of pizza and some camaraderie were the internal rewards of helping. 

See how your results and motivation can be affected by a dozen donuts next time you have a meeting before dawn. 

What have you done (inexpensively) that has been able to motivate your team?

Posted by Bart Berkey on September 4, 2008 | Comments (0)