Creating an inclusive workplace means paying attention to detail. Sure, it’s fantastic to reward your team with the occasional pizza party — but getting a big, cheesy pie every Friday can leave your lactose or gluten-intolerant staff members feeling cheated out of the fun. 

Fortunately, you don’t need to perform culinary acrobatics to ensure everyone gets a slice of the proverbial pie. Here’s how to make room for dietary restrictions during your next office event. 

1. Survey Says

The simplest way to ensure you make room for every staff member’s dietary restriction is to ask. Communicating shows that you care, and technology makes your job easier than ever. 

It takes only minutes to develop a free survey with the help of the right website and blast it off to your entire team via email. Some services even tally your results, saving you from doing math. 

2. Look for Double-Duty Dishes

Making room for dietary restrictions during your next office event doesn’t mean preparing a separate meal for each staff member. Get creative with your menu, seeking dishes that do double-duty, hitting more than one guideline at a time. 

Start with the appetizer course. Vegan lettuce wraps with a bold Tamari dipping sauce cover three restrictions at once. They’re cruelty-free, gluten-free and even keto-friendly.

Onto the main course. Pasta dishes often work well — you can serve the meatballs separately from the sauce to please vegetarians. Adding a choice of marinara or alfredo sauce and perhaps some zoodles along with the traditional spaghetti noodles. You can even go the pizza party route if you look for delivery establishments with gluten-free options and a vegan cheese choice.

3. Get Serving Savvy

Many people are familiar with the extreme symptoms a peanut allergy can produce. Other disorders like celiac disease may not produce an immediate reaction upon eating but nevertheless cause severe health damage. Even a small amount of gluten can sicken some sufferers. 

The solution? Allow people with dietary restrictions to serve themselves first at buffet-style office events to minimize the risk of cross-contamination. Prepare allergy-friendly meals in a separate skillet and have plenty of extra tongs on hand so that people don’t double-dip from one dish to the next. 

4. Labels Are Recommended

Unless you work in the foodservice industry, you don’t necessarily need to concern yourself with the full list of FDA labeling requirements. However, you should list each ingredient on every dish so that people with undisclosed dietary restrictions don’t accidentally indulge. 

When ordering takeout, ask your restaurant to provide a full ingredient list for each dish. Please have them include details such as the oils they use during cooking. While rare, some people have allergies to widely-used substances like canola. 

If serving potluck style, ask your staff members to do the same, writing down each ingredient they use. You could also request that your employees bring in prepackaged items only, but doing so sucks much of the fun away from those who relish the chance to showcase their culinary expertise. 

5. Embrace Potlucks

Why shoulder the entire burden of planning your next office event solo? Your staff members might enjoy your get-together more if they play an active role in getting things ready. Plus, it allows everyone to sample Barb in accounting’s brownies — rumor has it that they’re to die for. 

Potlucks allow those employees with dietary restrictions to contribute a dish that they can safely eat while introducing others to new ways of preparing dishes. You could end up with enough healthy eating tips to write a cookbook from all the creative modifications you learn. Who knew that tacos could still taste delicious without meat? 

If possible, have individual chefs dole out their goodies by portion to prevent cross-contamination at buffets. Help them out by providing the plates and flatware or look for sustainable disposable alternatives. 

Make Room for Dietary Restrictions at Your Next Office Event

The goal of office events is to generate team spirit. You can’t do so effectively if some members feel left out because of the menu. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to perform complicated culinary gymnastics to please everyone on your squad. Make room for dietary restrictions at your next office event by following the five above tips.