Team Consulting is getting bigger; we’ve more than doubled in size since 2010! This growth has allowed us to take on bigger projects and develop more individuals as specialists, but, as we pass the 100 mark and approach 150, it’s a challenge to retain the community feel that makes Team such a special place to work.
We work hard to keep a collaborative, friendly feel within the business and, apart from social groups and events – and the 200 odd pastries that we enjoy together after our staff meetings – one of the ways we promote relationship building is the ‘Coffee Lottery’.
Born during my time at Unipath in the 1990s, the Coffee Lottery sees everyone in the business paired up with another colleague at random, who we then have to meet up with for a coffee and a chat. At Team we draw the Coffee Lottery roughly once a quarter and, at Christmas and Easter, half of our employees will find two mince pies or creme eggs in their pigeon hole to share with their assigned colleague. There is no real substitute for sitting down and having a 1 to 1 chat with somebody, and it’s a great way of encouraging relationships with people in the business that we might not usually come across.
The Coffee Lottery creates relational links in the workplace and, apart from building friendships and creating a sociable and positive work environment, these efforts are important in helping us get to know one another as team-mates. Good working relationships make our working time more effective; we are not only happier and healthier as individuals, but we work better within teams to meet the needs of our clients.
Why not start up a Coffee Lottery in your own workplace? Engagement at Team is great, and the idea has been taken up by GSK, who are now running it at two sites. All you need is an Excel spreadsheet and a willing bunch of people – if you need any help or ideas, drop me a line at barry.brewster@team-consulting.com
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