BREAK OUT THE

BREAK ROOM Keep Your Break Room Equipped for Enthusiastic Employees

SOME BACKGROUND ON BREAK ROOMS • A break room is where employees keep their lunch, eating utensils, cleaning supplies, etc.

• A fully supplied break room is essential to the office; after all, employees need to eat!

• A break room can be starkly functional, containing only the essential list of cleaning and break

room supplies, or it can be a nice, brief getaway for employees from their desks.

EVERY BREAKROOM STARTS AS A ROOM Before a break room becomes a break room, it must first contain…

• Cabinet spacE

• Countertop space

• Appliances

– Refrigerator & Freezer

– Microwave

– Coffee maker

• Keurig or Drip Coffee Maker

– Toaster (Not necessary, but a nice perk!)

NOSHING SUPPLIES You never know when your office is going to throw a party, or when you might forget a fork!

• Keep break room supplies fully stocked

• Paper plates and bowls

• Plastic forks, knives, and spoons

• Napkins

• Serving trays (for goodies!)

CLEANING SUPPLIES To clean up after your office party…or to clean up after an accidental coffee spill! Keep

cleaning supplies in

• Sponges

• Rubber gloves

• Disinfectants

• Trash liners – for general garbage and recycling purposes

• Dish and hand soap

COFFEE/TEA SUPPLIES

• Tea

– English Breakfast, Caffeinated and Decaffeinated

– Green or Lemon Tea

• Coffee suplies

– Keurig K-Cups

– Ground coffee for drip coffee makers

• Milk

– Whole, Skim, or 2%

– Soy and/or Lactose Intolerant Milk

• Sugar, Artificial Sweetners, and honey

• Stirrer (not necessary, but a perk!)

A break room can be more than just a break room…

BREAK ROOMS CAN BOOST OFFICE MORALE

BREAK ROOMS & OFFICE MORALE

• A good break room gets people out of their chairs, which is extremely important for employees’

health

– Studies show that remaining seated throughout the day is detrimental to

employee health, morale, and overall perception of their career

• A break room can be one of the contributing reasons that compel employees to stay at

their job. It is important that employees want to stay at their job-- literally.

– Employees who are itching to end their work day will most likely quit, thereby

decreasing a company’s employee retention rate

• Studies show that accommodating a social break rooms can increase employee

productivity by 25%

– Breaks enable people to vent and chat with their coworkers

– Develop a personal relationship with their work space

– Recharge their mental energy to pursue new tasks more vigorously

TIPS FOR CREATING AN Engaging

Employee

BREAK ROOM

ADD GAMES +Adding games to employee break rooms increases productivity.

+Employees that spend too much time gaming ALREADY struggle with time management both away and

at their desk.

• Ping pong

• Foosball

• Air hokey

• Dry Erase Boards (For playing hang man, pictionary…or brainstorming ideas for the break

room!)

ADD A TELEVISION

• We know that adding a TV sounds like the worst idea possible, but it’s actually not so bad!

Television grants employees a window to the outside world and takes their mind off the monotony

of working in the office.

– Remember, control of the television should be handled on a first come first

serve basis!

PROVIDE COMFORTABLE SEATING

• Again, the break room is about taking a “break” from the office.

– Allowing employees to relax in comfortable office furniture gives them the

ability to regain their strength to work harder when they reenter the office

– Without comfy chairs, employees will most likely exit the office premises for

their lunch break, but with comfy seating, employees will feel encouraged to

stick around during their lunch break to socialize with the coworkers.

ADD DÉCOR

+Adding décor to the break room distinguishes it from the rest of the office

– Employees view it as a real “break” room – a break from the office space

– Adding décor can help boost employees’ moods, relaxing them from the stress of the

office

• Bring in some potted plants

• Hang pictures

• Paint the walls with a pop of color

• Tip: For seasonal holidays, use scissors and office paper to cut out snowflakes, flowers, hearts, suns,

etc. to hang on the walls

• PS: The background image is from Free People’s home office!

ORGANIZE A BREAK ROOM POTLUCK Potlucks can bring employees together because, as we all already know, food brings people together.

Hosting seasonal potlucks will help inspire a close-knit office culture and keep people loving their

work!

PROVIDE HEALTHY SNACKS AND FREE LUNCH ITEMS

• Healthy Snacks

– Keeping employees healthy is important! (This means less sick days )

• Free Lunch

– At least once a week!

– Free lunch can achieve a mild office culture (Potlucks are more successful!)

• Free lunch does not necessarily entitle workers to stay in the

break room, but it certainly does give employees something

to look forward to

MOST IMPORTANTLY: FREE COFFEE• Although coffee was listed as a basic essential to every break room in slide 6, we cannot

emphasize enough how important it is that employees not feel burdened to bring in their

own coffee

– Many employees rely on caffeine to get through their day – providing free

and readily available coffee is a must, must, must, must, must!!

not REMEMBER…THE BREAK ROOM IS THE OFFICE Haven’t we emphasized that enough? The break room is not a room filled with office supplies and file

cabinets. It’s there to help fortify office culture. Don’t bring work into the break room!

AND ask EMPLOYEES ABOUT WHAT CHANGES OR ADDITIONS THEY WANT TO SEE IN THEIR BREAK ROOM Take out notebooks and list the things that your employees care about. Guaranteed, your employee

retention rate will soar!

EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL OFFICES WITH THE BEST

BREAK ROOMS (to name just a few!)

+Google

+Yelp (the background image of this slide!

+Free People

+Discovery Communications

+Hearst

+Principle Financial Group (PFG)

+American Society of Association Executives

+Wieden + Kennedy

+Microsoft

+PopCap Games