A while back I read a blogger’s suggestion on bootstrapping ways to boost morale in your company. He said that since he did not have much money at the start he motivated his team by bringing food in.
On the weekend I decided I would try out the experiment and bake some chocolate chip cookies for the 4 people who work from my office. I found a recipe for double chocolate chip cookies (melted chocolate in the cookie along with chocolate chips), bought the ingredients on my usual trip to the supermarket and prepared the cookies on Sunday night.
Despite leaving them in the oven for a little too long the staff here loves them. I brought two containers full and offered them around on Monday. It certainly got everyone’s attention – who can say no to a double chocolate chip cookie? I have since left the containers by the front entrance so they see it when they come in to work.
Needless to say the cookies are quickly disappearing and today I had to refill one of the containers.
It has worked out well, the staff is happier and gets to poke a little fun at my baking abilities. The happier they are at work the more productive they are and it has been a wonderfully successful experiment thus far. It looks like I will have to make another batch this coming Sunday. If anyone has a winning recipe, let me know!
Evan Carmichael
