Knowing how people in your company take their coffee can be a mammoth task to manage. But, with a little care and attention, you can harness the power of your office coffee service to make sure that wherever people are on site, they are getting the best office coffee experience. Today, the Corporate Essentials coffee crew has a five-step plan to help you master your office coffee service.
1. Know your requirements
Even the best office coffee service cannot deliver at a high standard without some guidance and clear instruction. For example, if the tea drinkers consume more than the coffee drinkers in your building, people may have to settle for a drink they do not prefer.
But your office coffee provider is only able to solve that problem by providing a super tea station for people if you let them know tea is king in your break room.
Otherwise, the tea stash will be depleted shortly after every delivery, people will be forced to go out and get tea from the shops nearby and your company will never reap the reward of having a well-stocked break room.
If you focus on knowing what people in your business enjoy from the start, you will be able to create a balanced menu of beverages and snack options that feeds the needs in your building.
2. Understand the equipment
On a similar note, a great office coffee service menu is worthless if you lack appropriate, functional equipment with which to brew your delicious beverages.
Sticking with the example where people drink more tea than coffee, consider whether a bulk brewer that churns out pot after pot of coffee is the best option in a break room where the majority of people are seeking hot water to brew tea.
Sure, there’s that spigot on the side you can get hot water from, but it might not be the best option when dozens of people queue up to take cup after cup from it. A great office coffee rep will be able to advise you on the equipment that suits the needs of your break room.
3. Plan ahead
A well-stocked break room can be a huge time saver for your company – no more sending someone out to get coffees before a meeting, no more long breaks because people were queuing out the door of the café for drinks or snacks and shaving minutes off those pesky morning commutes.
The fact that you have an office coffee service available gives you a huge advantage when it comes to planning events in your building. You can order special coffees, extra coffees, additional products that are not part of your typical order and all sorts of additional options may be available for you on a short-term basis.
With a little planning, you can even get one of those fancy espresso makers to put in the back of the reception area – and a great office coffee service will even give you a crash course on how to use it.
4. Set a schedule
While we are talking about planning, you should consider the opportunity that rolling changes in your office coffee menu can present.
By providing a variety of high-quality office coffee products in your break room, you are giving people the ability to choose what they like, how they like it, when they want it – who are we to judge if someone wants hot coffee at three o’clock when it is 104 degrees outside.
The important thing about building menus, is that even with a wide variety of great products, injecting something different now and then is a great force for promoting creativity, and keeping people engaged in your break room.
So work with your office coffee supplier to get the inside line on upcoming product releases, know that you will put a “new” beverage or three on once each quarter.
5. Engage your teams
An easily overlooked component to a great office coffee service is the people who use the coffee service. Give your staff plenty of opportunities to provide feedback on the coffee service. Let them make suggestions, let them review products, encourage them to come together and try new things – anything that fosters a collaborative atmosphere will improve the office coffee experience for all.
And with that, we hope that you are prepared to run your well-caffeinated empire. Should you find your office coffee service lacking in any particular area or unable to respond to your company’s unique needs, feel free to contact our team of break room specialists. Going on 20 years in the office coffee industry, we have the skills to rise to any challenge.
