Psychologist and author Dr. Susan Newman makes the case that there are times when you need to treat your kids like employees. Sometimes, home life needs to look like business life. The holiday season, especially Thanksgiving, is one of those times. Being a busy, career-oriented mother means that you need to approach Thanksgiving like you do work—with a business plan.
Outsourcing
Martha Stewart has demonstrated that she has the capability to make every little radish rosette and napkin swan but the odds are that she has someone do it for her. The Martha Stewart brand employs up to 500 people, reports Glassdoor. Like many companies in the U.S., she outsources secondary jobs. Thanksgiving Day decorations are important but they will never compete with a delicious turkey. Do not waste your time trying to create a centerpiece when you can easily buy one. Take a look at the holiday centerpieces from FTD and devote your time to creating an amazing meal.
Project Management
Qantas Airways’ director Maxine Brenner can cook. She showed that at the CEO Cookoff this year when she worked with a professional chef to raise more than $13 million for Australia’s homeless. Cooking a grand meal and running an airline have a very important thing in common: both need precise scheduling. List out everything that you need to do to pull off the perfect meal, including time frames and preparation overlap. Find recipes that you can make in advance to spread the project over a longer period. Remember that a big turkey takes several hours in the oven so you have plenty of time to do other meal time prepping.
Human Resources
You are not alone. You can manage people at work so do the same at home. Monaica Ledell of the website mommybreadwinner.com says that she runs her family like a business. She delegates to her husband and her two underage assistants. Make it clear that you are looking for help, not the extra chore of cleaning up after a failed attempt. Telling your adolescent that she is smart and can figure it out is perfectly acceptable. Just like at work, the caveat is that quality assurance is a standard, not a stab at perfection. Let everyone know, in no uncertain terms, what you need then empower them to deliver in their own way.
Inventory Control
The CEO of Campbell Soup Denise Morrison says that she has been preparing to run a company all of her life. You can guess that she does not run out of carrots for Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Creating a Thanksgiving feast requires organization. When you create your grocery shopping list, make sure that it reflects the entree that you are creating with the ingredients. If you are using the same ingredient for several food courses, place the total amount on the list then parenthetically separate the quantities so that you know what you need for each recipe.
Marketing
We all like to think that our business and our cooking is the best, but how you market your meal makes a difference. Food advertisers spend millions of dollars annually to make people believe that their food is a little better than reality shows. Research in the journal Appetite shows that marketing, especially to children, positively affects the enjoyment of the food so present your food with a flourish and the disclaimer that it is delicious.
