Make Teamwork Happen

Eight years ago, I read an article about an intriguing, new restaurant opening up at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. I still remember the picture of Aureole’s four-story “wine tower” with “angels” who deftly rappel their way to your wine selection.

When I found myself in Las Vegas facilitating a client meeting, I asked my sister, Joy, the wine snob, to join me for dinner at Aureole’s for an absolutely delightful evening. Yes, the wine tower is four stories tall and everything I had imagined. Think Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible and you get the picture.

Rather than a wine menu, the sommelier provided a computer tablet with the complete inventory of wines - searchable with drop-down menus! Joy selected a lovely, Argentinean Malbec and the fixed-price three course meal. My selections were absolutely delicious; starting with a lobster and artichoke appetizer (I had never paired those two together before), a tender rack of lamb on a bed of garlic infused white beans and capped with a carmelized apple dumpling and steaming cup of decaf coffee.

All in all, I don’t think I have had such a lovely dinner in a very long time.

I mentioned to Joy that I wanted to write about Aureole in my blog, but that nothing struck me as a “teamwork moment”. I couldn’t point to one specific action that would define “teamwork” for my readers. And yet, Aureole is the epitome of teamwork from the moment you walk down the staircase, admire the wine tower; escort to our table; ask for our order; offer another roll; and otherwise check on us in an unobtrusive manner. It’s seamless teamwork – seemingly effortless to the customer, but requires dedication “behind the scenes” to make all the moving parts work in symphony with each other.

Question: From your customers’ perspective, does your team work appear effortless?

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