Have you ever been singled out for a business meeting at a local café?
What is it about meeting externally to your place of work that makes it remarkable? Needless to say, I crave to be invited to coffee meetings because to me it says “I am someone special”.
I learned a truly valuable lesson from an old and very much admired director, who was a master at giving praise and sharing wins and I can definitely say he was one of the most inspirational people I have ever worked for.
Regularly he met with key staff individually and took them out to the local coffee shop for a chat about their issues, the development of their team, their systems, their performance or their projects.
Why did he do this when he had a perfectly lovely office, a building full of meeting rooms and time was of the essence?
He was rewarding them for a job well done. Keeping his staff happy and healthy was a priority. We see this now with lots of the dot.com businesses giving their employees a workspace that is conducive to creativity and fun with bikes supplied, video games installed and other recreational activities included within their work day. Why, because happy, healthy people are more likely to have great ideas and give you their best all the time.
I always wanted to be invited to one of his meetings.
By making this a real treat for those who were high enough up the ladder and doing a great job, it meant everyone in the office strived to get into his inner circle. Everyone worked hard and tried their best to achieve for this man and maybe get the prize.
How can I achieve this greatness?
Well, if you have a great boss like me – you strive to be your best and do an amazing job and hope they have read this article. Send them a link so they can get on the “Cafe Train”.
I have taken this practise through my many roles since and where I was in a position of respect. I too made sure to take my senior team members, who were doing remarkable work, out of the office for their own bonus.
Benefits of this are more than just a pat on the back from the boss. You also get a great cup of coffee if you pick the right spot, definitely much better than in the break room and if you time it right you might even get a breakfast, morning tea or a lunch out of the deal and exciting new thoughts from all those who were in attendance.
A neutral location ensures people are relaxed and free to talk without interruption. With an independent location, it is no ones home base. You can always break the ice if someone is not sure – discuss the food, the menu or the view before you get down to business.
Truly remarkable bosses understand this.
When I started my current location independent business – Barefoot Mentor, I thought long and hard about how to ensure I didn’t lose this valuable piece of my management style from my day-to-day operations.
Why do I love meeting in cafes?
It is a perfect place to hold mentoring sessions as they need to be in a relaxed environment and as I don’t have a meeting room in my house it is the obvious option.
Local businesses are getting with the times and more and more restaurants and cafes have free WiFi to provide an incentive to visit for your meetings. They are essentially perpetuating the “No-desk” lifestyle that I am striving to achieve.
I love being able to give back to my local community and why not support the businesses that provide you with exactly what you need.
Bosses, I dare you to include meetings in external locations and help sustain the café culture. For employees – aspire to be included in this revolution. For my fellow “no-deskers”, how lucky are we. The universe has conspired to make our life even better, we can now do business anywhere in the world.
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