I was having a discussion with a friend who asked what in my experience had been an effective way to improve team communication and enthusiasm in an agile project room. We discussed various ideas, but later that evening, I remembered this –

Here’s a quick and easy way to improve team communication on a local team. On one side of the room, place a table. Place a supply of snacks – candy, cakes, drinks and coffee, fruits etc. Replenish this every time levels diminish. That’s it.

People will gather around it to grab snacks and they will talk. People will talk as they eat, they’ll throw candy wrappers at each other and they’ll gel. The level of trust will go up and as people make the transition from colleagues to even friends, aided by the banter and the food, the level of noise in the room will increase somewhat (usually a good sign) and the team will become more effective.

It worked for me…!