For Dr. Xiao Cai who focuses on AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) having her team in the office was important but she found the clue to bringing people together was not all that scientific or technical.

"Boba tea would never have been in Peter Drucker’s toolkit for connecting with employees. But it was critical for my team and me as we navigated the fraught path back to the office.

I’ve always been a firm believer in the power of collaboration, however the pandemic made this more challenging. Without the opportunity to work side by side in an office environment, efforts by team members became more siloed and it seemed our productivity was slipping.

Originally published in BizWomen; read the full story here.