Forget about ropes courses and trust falls—these days, companies are sending employees into the kitchen to chop and sauté their way to team unity.
“Cooking is the new wave in corporate team-building exercises,” claims an article in The New York Times titled “Wielding Kitchen Knives and Honing Office Skills” (registration required). The success of Food Network shows such as Iron Chef have brought new focus on cooking as a team or competitive activity.
According to the article, “Cooking schools across the country are expanding to meet demand. Last year, Hands On Gourmet, a company in San Francisco, tripled the number of chefs it has on call, to 32. Cooking by the Book, a company based in New York, did 178 team-building events, a 24 percent increase over 2005.”
As the article explains, participants “might spend a leisurely hour assembling a meal together or split up and go cleaver to cleaver in a race against the clock.” Just better hope your boss is a graceful loser when your amuse-bouche beats his.
Bibby Gignilliat, the owner of Parties That Cook … said the change of scenery makes people see their colleagues in a different light. ‘It breaks down your stereotype of people in the office,’ Ms. Gignilliat said. ‘You might not especially like someone you work with, but suddenly you’re working on a recipe with them and you see they’re a really good cook.”
In the words of another organizer of these team-building cooking challenges, “Food is a universal language and nothing brings people together better than creating a meal.”
Hey now, that’s not the spirit of being good humans. How about we find a way to combine cooking and the ropes course? While admittedly trust falls are way old school and to be avoided, I’m sure there are ways to combine the lessons and learning that comes from the challenge course with the fun and socialization that can be found in the kitchen.
Belay On!
Our company recently had a team-building event organized by the fantastic staff at Hands On Gourmet. The chefs were professional and fun. The food was fantastic! Everyone said it was the best event they have participated in. There is nothing better than great food to bond people. Thanks again Hands On Gourmet!
Hands on Gourmet has a great operation. I spoke with Molly at length about her business last year, and she was really nice and helpful in giving us some insight on our set up.
We now have a 2 year old new team building company in Minneapolis, MN.
What differentiates us from the others is three factors:
1.) team building is our sole focus, nothing else. It’s our only revenue source.
2.) We customize each event, it’s not a cookie cutter product.
3.) We are mobile, so we can go all over the state.
Check us out – http://www.c3teambuilding.com
Marshall O’Brien
what’s been the take away you get when working with clients that seem apprehensive at first glance?
Marshall O’Brien
http://c3teambuilding.blogspot.com/
http://www.c3teambuilding.com