Comfortable, fun, delicious,
DIY: Creating Rules for Living with Coffee

There are two main types of coffee makers. One is a bit of a hassle but it's delicious. The other is one that you can easily make coffee with the push of a button. When we had to decide which one to choose, we chose the drip type without a grinder, because of the DIY-oriented atmosphere in our company and because we thought it would be better to take the time to make delicious coffee ourselves.

To be honest, we are still new to coffee, so we asked Manabe-san (head of the production department), who is in charge of the food team at Google , for recommendations.
Based on that feedback, we selected the coffee maker, grinder, and espresso machine.

Yes. My previous coffee maker was fully automatic, from the grinder to the drip, but this time I chose a non-automatic one in pursuit of better taste, so I received a lot of comments and questions from various people.

Where should it be stored? Who will brew it and when?
So I talked with Mr. Hayashi (the representative), and we decided that it was important for us to decide future operating rules ourselves, and that we should stop having the executives make decisions unilaterally.

That's why we decided to hold the "1st Coffee Summit" in March of this year.

First, Mr. Hayashi gave us a theme that we should start by discussing, and then we all discussed it together.

• The company doesn't provide cigarettes, and they don't even buy ashtrays. Not everyone drinks coffee, so is it okay for the company to buy beans for us?
• The cats are fed by volunteers, but how is this different from feeding the coffee?
• If I were to make a latte, would it be better for the company to buy me a stirrer and milk?

The main activity was for participants to pair up and discuss such fundamental issues with the person next to them, then make a presentation.

Yes, I think the main focus was on breaking away from the very idea that we had to operate within the rules set by those above us.

We started by discussing whether it was right for everyone to decide on operational rules together, and whether we even needed a coffee manager in the first place.

The Four Heavenly Kings was merely a temporary project to determine operational rules. As we were deciding on the rules, we discussed how to deal with emergencies such as breakdowns, and decided that we needed an administrator.

For now, we've decided to try it out for about three months and then decide whether or not to continue with the same members after that.

To be honest, towards the end of the Coffee Summit, I couldn't see the goal and I was like, "What is this going to be like?" The atmosphere was tense, with people asking, "Who is going to speak?"
Perhaps in order to change this trend, Hayashi-san said, "Let's choose someone to set the rules." At that time, I was like, well... what is this situation? No constructive opinions were being offered, and no one really seemed to want to do it, so I thought, "Well, that's fine," and I ran for office, half-angrily saying, "Yes!"

You and Fujiwara ran for office at the same time, didn't you?
So I gave Kawarazaki-san a big eye contact (laughs).

That's right. I had one foot in the door as the organizer of the year-end party, and Hamabata-san was looking at me.

Fundamentally, I'm the same as Hamabata-san; we've reached a point where the story won't move forward unless someone takes action, so I thought I should do it.

However, Fujiwara-san is usually away on business, so I thought it would be too biased to just have Hamabata-san and me, as we are on the same team in the same department.
So when I said, "I think it would be good to have someone from another department," Nasu volunteered.

When I raised my hand, I thought, "Oh, there's no one from the Coding Factory Club (CF)." I wondered if no one would run.
As you said, I thought it was unbalanced, and I'd never had the opportunity to participate in something like this with voluntary companies, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Also, I simply drink a lot of coffee, so I thought if that's all I drink, I should probably do this (laughs).

Hamabata-san also taught us how to clean and even made a video so that everyone could learn how to do it too.
You also did the storyboard drawing.

I also took into consideration the time it would take to complete the work, so as not to put too much strain on the team.
At first, we thought we could save time by doing the cleaning and making coffee in the morning together, but we received feedback that cleaning in the morning was not hygienic, so we decided to have people take turns cleaning in the evening.
On the other hand, we didn't have a rotation for making coffee in the morning, but anyone who wanted to drink it started making it, so I no longer had to worry.

Should I make a video on how to brew coffee?
Put a QR code near the coffee maker (lol)

Let's make a booklet too.
Let's make notebooks and pencils. I think we should increase the number of products we sell.

There aren't any major problems at the moment.

The idea was that cleaning duty would be rotated among people who were in the Coffee Chatwork group, but some people said they hadn't joined Chatwork with the intention of doing the cleaning duty, and on the other hand, there were people who voluntarily came to ask if they could join the group.

Indeed, there was no announcement made to new employees.

Maybe I should put up a sign saying, "We're looking for people to join our coffee group."

Someone who came in the other day said they came because they love coffee.
We are looking for people who love coffee and are willing to help with operations.

We plan to discuss future plans once each shift has been completed.
The ideal situation would be for the system to function even without an administrator or the Four Heavenly Kings.

I was happy to find that there were more people who were willing to help than I thought. There was one person who took the initiative, and I thought it was good that he taught me how to make coffee. I didn't even announce it to everyone.

However, with the number of new staff increasing, it might be a good idea to show those who don't know how to brew coffee how to do it.

The best thing I did was to clean the office and make coffee every day for a month before the operation started, which meant I had to come to the office about 30 minutes early. So I started getting up early.

Is it still going on?

It's come back a little bit (laughs).
Also, it feels really good to come early in the morning and clean up the coffee.