What better way is there to start a Monday morning after the weekend than with coffee that’s superior to the standard office fare? If you make the effort to learn your team’s favorite game time beverages, you’ll score big points with this morning necessity. Whether it’s Gatorade, energy drink, flavored hot tea or Starbucks, when the staff shows up to find their favorite mocha latte double pump with extra whip, productivity will soar!
Did you know that a study by Marmite found that half of employees will be late to work on Monday and they will only log about three-and-a-half hours of productive work time? Oh and that on average, workers don't crack their first smile until around 11:16 a.m on Mondays?
Research makes it very clear that most people don’t like Monday mornings. It’s even made its way into our pop culture lexicon. Almost anyone who has seen the movie Office Space has, at least once in their career, referenced “having a case of the Mondays,” the fictitious disorder associated with the tiredness, irritability, or distractedness that comes from returning to work after the weekend.
As a leader, there are a number of things you can do to help make things a little more enjoyable for your team, whether it’s Monday, the middle of the week, or the glorious pre-weekend bliss of Friday. One of the simplest and tastiest ways is to surprise your team with their favorite early morning pick-me-up! From various coffee variations to effervescent energy drinks, a few sips are sure to put some pep in your employees’ steps and set the course for a productive, positive day in the office!
This week, I challenge you to do some recon to see what type of morning beverages your team enjoys. You can do this stealthily by simply keeping an eye out for what they sip on each morning or you can conduct a survey about your team’s “favorite things” and include a question about their preferred morning boost. Or you could be super direct and just ask each person and keep a running list. Then next time you go to the store, stock up on a few options of each to dole out when productivity is dwindling. Bulk stores like Costco or Sam’s are great options for building a true arsenal of energy-infusing beverages!
FUN FACT: In early summer of 1965, a University of Florida assistant coach sat down with a team of university physicians and asked them to determine why so many of his players were being affected by heat and heat related illnesses. The researchers — Dr. Robert Cade, Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada — soon discovered two key factors that were causing the Gator players to 'wilt': the fluids and electrolytes the players lost through sweat were not being replaced, and the large amounts of carbohydrates the players' bodies used for energy were not being replenished. The researchers then took their findings into the lab, and scientifically formulated a new, precisely balanced carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage that would adequately replace the key components lost by Gator players through sweating and exercise. They called their concoction ‘Gatorade'.