Tea and Work, and How You Should Be Mixing the Two
You may find it hard to mix tea and work. The hustle and bustle, lack of hot water, inability to bring in high-quality tea-ware all scream: TEA-BAG! But that doesn’t have to be the case, new technologies, and a little brain-power can go along way in helping you enjoy tea at work, and thus — have a calmer day. We’re not going to go into these ideas at this point, but I wanted to share with you some interesting articles from the Guardian that have showed up recently.
The most recent suggests making tea for your colleagues at work: “Offering to make your colleagues a nice cuppa marks you out as a team player, and if you’re the boss it shows that you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Bear in mind though that any goodwill this generates can quickly evaporate if your PA is spotted filling up the kettle.”
I cannot agree more, many work-areas are separated by cubicles, offices may be split upon many floors of a building, a challenging problem in management as a corporation grows is team-building, and encouraging employee interaction. Tea just may be an solution to this problem.
The article also suggests tea as an important networking tool: “Making tea is also a great way to network. At the tea point or in the kitchen you can meet people from all over the organisation, and shared banter over the rising cost of tea bags or the smelliness of the fridge can help grease the wheels next time you need to ask a difficult question. For the non-smoker, the kitchen or tea point offers an opportunity for impromptu gossip – and it’s much warmer than that spot just outside the back door of your building.”
And not only will tea help bring people together, an earlier Guardian article told of a study that found warm beverages to encourage warm feelings: “The warmth of a drink also influenced whether people were more likely to be selfish or give to others, researchers report in the journal Science. A team led by John Bargh at the University of Colorado set about testing whether hot and iced drinks influenced perceptions of others after noting how frequently “warm” and “cold” are used to describe personalities.”
I'm writing a full-length book on tea. No history, just practical tea information and SCIENCE!
7 Responses »
Trackbacks
- Tea in the workplace. « Tiesta Tea
- Tea in the workplace. | Tiesta Tea
This is a great idea. The best way to make tea at office is to get an an extra large coffee press (33.8 oz) for brewing loose leave tea or even tea bags. This way you don’t have to mess with the traditional tea pot which I found annoying and easy to break, what with the long snout and all. The extra large coffee press also makes it easier to make enough tea to share with coworkers and the boss. And I can tell from having lived in England, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, many deals are inked over a cup of good quality tea. It focuses the mind and relaxes everyone while coffee makes everyone a bit too edgy. Besides tea is much healthier.
Thanks for posting! I drink loose leaf tea everyday
using Melitta disposable tea filters. My favorite teas are Blueberry Irish
Cream and Ginger Honey by Cavolobacca Gourmet Organic Teas.
If your office kitchen is limited to a small community fridge and a microwave, it can be difficult to steep a proper cup of tea. What I like about XINGtea is that they brew and can their green and black tea drinks hot, so there’s no need for preservatives, and since they sweeten their tea with cane sugar, you can heat it up in the microwave and it doesn’t compromise the flavor. It’s a pretty easy hack I use to satisfy my tea cravings at work.
Ayup. I was the “tea-lady” at work, and it gave me plenty of opportunity to educate folks about tea, and to spread the joy.
Oh and what a way to network with the co-workers and just pay it forward by being kind When I think of tea, I think of kindness and love and warmth.