Joel Spolsky: Lunch • Hacker News Board

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#61

Post by impendia » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:38 PM UTC

It seems there's an obvious middle ground which doesn't seem to have been mentioned by Joel or anyone else.

Being compelled to have lunch with colleagues every day sucks. Sometimes you are feeling cranky, want some fresh air, need to run errands, or have a hot date.

Not having the opportunity to lunch with colleagues also sucks. It provides a great opportunity for employees to get to know each other, make friends, and informally discuss company business.

Seems the onus is on the company to make lunch pleasant, and perhaps to steer newcomers into the middle of the crowd. After that, create the kind of environment where no one feels compelled to do anything, but employees want to eat with each other at least a lot of the time.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#62

Post by mmagin » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:41 PM UTC

I like eating lunch with my coworkers some of the time. (Maybe once a week.) It's good team building.

However, I'm an introvert, and I pair program nearly every day. This tends to leave me wanting a nice break in the middle of the day where I can have some time alone. Also, my idea of a good/healthy lunch usually doesn't intersect with any sort of work-provided lunch, if such a thing is being provided.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#63

Post by mmcconnell1618 » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:41 PM UTC

jfruh wrote: post #16

Joel is obviously not aware of the differences between introverts and extroverts, which seems weird for someone who works in a field with a lot of introverts. I'm not down on his idea of eating lunch together - it's probably fun and productive. But if someone spots me eating lunch by myself while reading (a book, a magazine, on my phone, on my computer), it's not because I "don't like people," or, sadder, that I pret…

Introverts tend to "recharge" by themselves while "extroverts" tend to gain energy through interaction. I applaud Joel's efforts to bring his team together but I wonder if some of the introverts are taking extra long bathroom or smoke breaks to make up for all of the face time that is required.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#64

Post by sandipagr » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:42 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

"I'd rather 'chew razor blades' than talk about traffic, weather, casino gambling, baseball,..." +1

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#65

Post by gdulli » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:42 PM UTC

kujawa wrote: post #25

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

This works a lot better if you're actually friends with most of your coworkers. Then it's pretty awesome.

Right. I've had a great time having lunch daily with some groups of co-workers. Others have been boring as hell and there's no way I'm going to spend an interminable extra 30-60 minutes making small talk with them.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#66

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:44 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

[deleted]

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#67

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:45 PM UTC

InfinityX0 wrote: post #59

ionfish wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, because everyone who loves their job also loves sitting down to have lunch with their coworkers who they see for not less than seven hours a day five days a week. Personally I think this is an utterly ridiculous idea. Perhaps you love it. Perhaps many others do too. But perhaps also there are those of us who want to spend their lunchtimes not socialising but meditating; who want to be alone rather than with ot…

I'm not saying that you should eat lunch with your coworkers. I actually rarely do. It's just the case described by the original comment is one of someone who doesn't hate lunch , it's a case of someone who hates their job. There's a difference.

[deleted]

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#68

Post by neworbit » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:47 PM UTC

If this is a useful part of corporate culture here (it rarely is) that's one of the first reasonable arguments I've heard AGAINST telecommuting. In general, I think I'd opt for a telecapable workforce, but there's certainly some reasonability to adhoc meetings at lunchtime.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#69

Post by weaksauce » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:47 PM UTC

sspencer wrote: post #38

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

Number 9 seems to directly contradict number 8. By your own rationale, you should speak freely about/to your boss. Alternatively you might try finding a job where you don't hate your boss.

I think he did; he is a freelancer.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#70

Post by theoj » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:50 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

The fundamental question is this: is lunch work time or is it free time?

I actually subscribe to the view that lunch is free time, and because of this I agree with the parent comment and disagree with Joel dictating my lunch choices. At the end of the day, everyone wants to get something different out of their free time, including their free time at lunch.

- Some people want to relax, so then getting out of the office is the natural choice for them.

- Some people want to socialize and get to know their co-workers better, so going to lunch with the team is the natural choice.

- Some people want to have interesting conversations, so they seek people with similar interests to talk about the topics that are close to their hearts (it's the evil cliques, I tell you!).

- Some people want to use lunch for business and get outside their department to interact with internal clients and figure out their pain points.

It's all about what you want to get from your free time at lunch, and different people want different things.