A Funny Analogy

So here's a funny thing I learnt in my PR lecture today. Being the one who makes the tea at a workplace is actually constructive! I've been in plenty of situations where you're the new one and it's down to you to make the tea, however this is a good practice for project management!

Imagine you've got four people's drinks to make, all are different. Imagine each cup is a client or project and you need to make sure that they are all done and served whilst they're still hot- there we already have one skill that is multi-tasking. You will also have to remember what each drink requires and remember which one is which when serving up.

Now taking a step back you need to figure out what ingredients you have to work with before asking what each person wants, for example if you don't have skimmed milk you can't promise to put it in someone's drink when they ask for it. Lesson number two: you need to do your research before trying to fulfil a client's needs and don't promise something you're not 100% sure you can't deliver.

Now to the making of the drinks; if you're new somewhere you need to figure out your surroundings, if they have a complicated coffee machine chances are you won't know how to use it... So, figure it out- acquire a new skill you didn't have before in order to fulfil your task!

Now to delivering the drinks, four drinks plus your own means more than you can carry so you need to think about the logistics of everything and acquiring the right resources that you may need, in this instance you would need a tray of some sort.

Upon delivery people may check with you that you definitely put sugar in it or if you're sure you used decaf coffee. Think of this as an evaluation and people may come back to you and either say 'it was lovely' or they'll give you feedback such as 'next time could you make it stronger.' Use this as constructive feedback and reflect upon your actions on what you think you could have done better. This is all experience so the next time you make the drinks you'll know what to do without even asking and your performance will only get better.

I thought this was a pretty good analogy that I wanted to share with you- oh and the fact that I also work in a café also meant it caught my attention... I'll never look at a cup of coffee the same way again!