There’s a whole lot more to food than just grabbing a sandwich or a bagel on the run.
It can be one of the most important parts of a business meeting or training session. As the old adage goes, “Food is fuel for the mind, body, and spirit.”
When planning and preparing meals for training or meetings in a training room rental or seminar room rental, consider these six things to keep everyone attentive and productive:
Key elements in organizing a meal plan:
Attendees
One of the first things you should do is figure out who will be attending the meeting. You can do this in a variety of ways. The simplest is to ask them, but you can also put together some sort of survey. In that way, you can exceed their expectations.
Think also about the number of attendees so you will know the amount of time you need to prepare the food.
Schedule
The most important point is that every menu item should fit into one of three categories: light, regular, or heavy. This includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.
The type of catering you ordered for the meeting will depend on the length of the meeting. If it’s short, opt for boxed lunches. If you have more than 30 minutes, choose sit-down lunches. If you have 1.5 to 2 hours to spend at the meeting, opt for buffet-style meals.
Space
Consider the room set up as well. When you serve a meal, the table is going to be filled with used dinnerware, papers, pens, and laptops. There might not be enough space for a buffet table in a small seminar room.
Regardless of how meals are served, ensure that there is plenty of space for guests to talk, spread out and eat comfortably.
Food
- Taste – People don’t remember what they ate, but they will remember how good it tasted. The flavours should complement one another.
- Appearance – While most people focus on the food, presentation is just as important. How will it look? Will it be attractive to guests? Will it look appealing to the eye?
- Practicality – Refrain from serving foods that are difficult to eat or expensive to prepare. Keep it to four or five menus and make sure you keep it fresh. By keeping it simple, you’re limiting the amount of time the food needs to sit around before it gets eaten.
Drinks
Meetings are often packed with a variety of beverages. Water is a great option for keeping everyone hydrated and focused. But if you want to encourage attendees to drink more water, offer them a variety of beverages like juices, sodas, or even coffee and tea.
Caterer
Always hire a professional, highly-recommended catering company to handle all the details. It’s much easier for you to just focus on the logistics of running the event.
Conclusion
One of the main things to keep in mind when creating your meal plan is that it should suit the needs of everyone involved. This means that it’s important to take into consideration your audience when coming up with ideas for your menu. Think also of the schedule, space, taste, presentation, and caterer.
If you like this article, you might want to read this article about Why Does Your Business Need a Great Training Room Environment?