How to stock a breakroom people actually use

The breakroom is the one room every employee visits and no one is responsible for. That's exactly why it drifts — half a box of stale tea, three kinds of sweetener, and never any spoons. A little structure fixes it.

Most breakroom trips are short: a coffee, a rinse of a mug, a snack between meetings. Optimize for that. Keep the coffee and the cups within arm's reach of each other, put the disposables where spills happen, and don't make anyone open three cabinets to find a napkin.

A simple par-level list — the minimum quantity you always want on hand — turns restocking from a judgment call into a glance. When something dips below its line, it goes on the next order.

Cups, napkins, and coffee are consumables with predictable demand. Buying them by the case costs less per unit and means fewer emergency runs. Save the variety for the things people actually have opinions about, like the snacks.