Fri, Aug 8 02:23 AM
Watch out before you lunge for that biscuit in your daily meeting. Apparently it says a lot about you. In what is being termed the first ever Business Biscuit Study, a survey in the United Kingdom last month suggests that serving the correct biscuit can improve the outcome of a meeting. An international hotel chain that financed this study has thrown up some interesting facts about meetings and biscuits.
In times when high protein diets are the norm for weight watchers, which includes just about everyone, the humble biscuit has valiantly survived, especially in offices. How often has it happened that you're stuck in a tedious meeting and you perk up a little, when coffee and biscuits are brought into the room? In most cases, consuming the biscuit has less to do with hunger and more to do with a welcome diversion. According to the UK study that surveyed more than a thousand business professionals, biscuits were second only to tables and chairs on the priority list, and rated higher than lighting, technology and artwork.
While evaluating personality types in meetings based on consumption, the survey suggests that people who have just one biscuit are conformist and more than three, competitive or aggressive. Biscuit etiquette prevents us from constantly eating since the idea of a meeting is to focus on important issues. Some HR managers say they wouldn't serve biscuits if they were about to fire an employee. As for favourite biscuits in the boardroom, chocolate digestives top the list and I'm guessing that the bland Marie, while the healthiest, is not that sought after.
Companies constantly looking to innovate and improve productivity among staff have questioned the validity of meetings itself, in the era of the internet and e-mail. British Airways experimented with round table meetings without chairs. After all, you're unlikely to waste time, if you're standing. Another company, with a health crazy CEO, replaced the biscuit with fruit in his meeting, despite protests from the staff. If you work at Google, where they place a god-like devotion to food, you'll be served gourmet meals made by the ex-chef of The Grateful Dead. For the rest of us, an occasional oatmeal or jam cookie is enough reason for cheer.
If you are young, have a hectic social life where you drink and party, and have applied for a job, chances are you will lose out to someone who is a teetotaler.
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