break room

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BREAK OUT THE BREAK ROOM Keep Your Break Room Equipped for Enthusiastic Employees

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Page 1: Break room

BREAK OUT THEBREAK ROOM

Keep Your Break Room Equipped for Enthusiastic

Employees

Page 2: Break room

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. – For more information about Break

Rooms and Morale, check out Slides 8-17!

Page 3: Break room

EVERY BREAKROOM STARTS AS A ROOM

• Cabinet space• Countertop space• Appliances– Refrigerator & Freezer– Microwave– Coffee maker

• Keurig or Drip Coffee Maker

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

Before a break room becomes a break room, it must first contain…

Page 4: Break room

NOSHING SUPPLIESYou 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!)

Page 5: Break room

CLEANING SUPPLIES

• Sponges• Rubber gloves• Disinfectants• Trash liners – for general garbage and

recycling purposes• Dish and hand soap

To clean up after your office party…or to clean up after an accidental coffee spill! Keep cleaning supplies in

Page 6: Break room

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!)

Page 7: Break room

A break room can be more than just a break

room…

BREAK ROOMS CAN BOOST OFFICE

MORALE

Page 8: Break room

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

Page 9: Break room

TIPS FOR CREATING

AN EngagingEmployee

BREAK ROOM

Page 10: 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!)

Page 11: 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!

Page 12: Break room

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.

Page 13: Break room

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!

Page 14: Break room

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!

Page 15: Break room

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

Page 16: Break room

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!!

Page 17: Break room

REMEMBER…THE BREAK ROOM IS not 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 ROOMTake out notebooks and list the things that your employees care about. Guaranteed, your employee retention rate will soar!

Page 18: Break room

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

Page 19: Break room

SOURCES• http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/education/top-10-

ways-to-boost-morale-in-the-break-room/c27761.aspx• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/jobs/group-breaks-c

an-raise-workplace-productivity.html?_r=0

• http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/10/1014_office_collaborative/index_01.htm

• http://mashable.com/2012/02/14/yelp-nyc-office/• http://

smallbusiness.chron.com/improve-employee-break-room-21314.html

• http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/86763.aspx

• http://www.lorensworld.com/business/5-ways-to-boost-morale-in-the-office/