Keep the energy up *clap clap*
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 4:20PM Talented chef and restaurateur Neil Perry has a number of fine eateries in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in Australia. And if you've flown on Qantas you will have tasted some of the great food that the team he advises has created for cruising altitude.
Have you truly seen him at work? Yes, he's been on TV plenty of times and he's been interviewed and shared his recipes ... but have you seen him work?
He does work! And I love his style.
In the kitchen at the Melbourne Rockpool restaurant (exposed to diners in that modern, transparent, 'look-at-what-we're-creating-for-you' style that is a big part of restaurants today) I've seen him leading his team on several occasions.
He's not a loud, shouting and cranky chef as many of the stereotypes have us think.
But he does make some noise.
*clap clap*
Yep, he delivers a double clap to create and sustain some energy, pace and delivery among the team. It's probably his way of saying 'now come on, step it up, let's get that dish to the servery', 'where are those oysters' and 'what's happening with that Waygu?'
*clap clap*
It's a tool I've adopted in my own office to motivate the team that is me. It keeps the energy up. It can celebrate when a task or project is completed and it also tunes the ears into thinking, sounds and what's going on.
Too often people can drift off into their internal worlds when you'd prefer them to be focusing on the here and now.
I'm not suggesting you go around and clap in the face of people who aren't participating in a dull meeting, or who are quieter contributors in a workshop. No... just remember that you are able to shift and change the energy in an environment. And if that's an environment you're responsible for creating, then there are times when you will need to do something.
*clap clap* is Neil Perry's way of keeping the energy up, keeping the team focused.
What can you do to inject energy, maintain focus and creating stimulating environments for your team?