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Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
31–40 of 57 posts
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#32The thing you have to be careful about is artificially creating this kind of bonding. If a company gives you opportunity to bond with your colleagues, that's a great thing. However, some people feel as though a team just isn't a team unless they're eating lunch every day together and everybody loves everyone's company enough to do so.
In my experience, it's usually a cargo-culted management technique. One thing to keep in mind is that with all the startups of the last whatever-years, there is a shortage of experienced management, so someone who has gone from Developer at one company to Director of Engineering at another has only these stories to cull company strategy.
Furthermore, Forbes.com is the perfect venue for extroverts to circle the wagons.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#33A lot of the comments are based on the expectation that nothing personally worthwhile could happen during lunch with co-workers. I'm sure that's an accurate description of some workplaces. I read the interesting submitted article as suggesting that for a small start-up, focused on successful teamwork to launch new products, making part of the team interaction happen over a tasty, unhurried meal is a change of context that makes the teamwork more effective and enjoyable. I'm sure that's an accurate description of some workplaces too.
What each of us has to find out, wherever we work, is what works for us (you and me individually) and what works for the team. If the company makes more money for all employees (reflected in higher pay and better benefits that you desire) and reduces the number of tedious meetings that are not over lunch, it could be a win-win to have lunch together with everyone else on staff. Last summer I had a contract to do a remote job where everyone ate together, and I liked that very well, as some of my colleagues there were people I've known online for years but rarely see in person. I'm already looking forward to a longer contract stint with more program responsibilities at the same place this summer. Conversations over meals will be on the plus side of the ledger for me as I evaluate whether or not I go back in future years.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#34Its not that I don't want to hang out with my colleagues during my lunch hours, I just have too much other stuff to do like running errands, paying bills, etc. However, I made an effort to have a coffee break or such with my colleagues when they have them. I think that is a good compromise for me. Furthermore, I rather spend the time I have at home with my family rather than doing the mundane stuff that I can during…
Companies benefit when there is a breakdown in work/life separation.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#35My team cooks our own lunch in our office kitchen almost every day. We take turns in the kitchen duty. Today was my turn, whipped up some salad with halloumi and a little bratwurst in the grill. I very much enjoy our lunch hours, gives a chance to not talk about work with your teammates. Looking forward for tomorrow, there's this season's new potatoes (a local seasonal delicacy!) with some salmon on the menu and I do…
We did this too. Even if you know nothing about cooking it's easy to find simple and tasty ideas for lunches (as I found out), it's much cheaper than eating out, and it's good for the team. But growing from 6 to 12 people made it too much of a chore to shop and cook for so many.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#36I would never work for a company which required me to spend my lunch or break time talking about work.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Introverted or not, being able to sit down and converse with your teammates is important. I wouldn't want to work with someone who either couldn't or didn't feel it important to do so.
That's what meetings are for, right? Or even just the ability to walk to someone's office/cube/desk, and talk to them about important things. You can establish a culture of communication within a team that doesn't intrude on personal time.
There is a lot of use in say, complaining that a way you are going about a problem will work, but seems too damn hard. Say for example, I see a 4 hour solution to a problem that should really be solved in 30 minutes. Often coworkers who know some systems better, or have a different way of viewing the problem will see a much easier way to solve it by leveraging tools I don't know about or approaches I didn't think of.
Certainly, these informal discussions over lunch aren't strictly necessary, and certainly, having some alternate way of making these discussions happen is very useful, but they are just often helpful.
It's also not the case that having lunch with coworkers is by any means mandatory, or that taking the lunch for yourself is frowned upon.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#38There's absolutely no research to backup their claims.
Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. An expectation to perform during personal time is not what the introverts on your team need.
Introverted or not, being able to sit down and converse with your teammates is important. I wouldn't want to work with someone who either couldn't or didn't feel it important to do so.
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Re: Not eating lunch with your team every day? You're missing out.
#40My team cooks our own lunch in our office kitchen almost every day. We take turns in the kitchen duty. Today was my turn, whipped up some salad with halloumi and a little bratwurst in the grill. I very much enjoy our lunch hours, gives a chance to not talk about work with your teammates. Looking forward for tomorrow, there's this season's new potatoes (a local seasonal delicacy!) with some salmon on the menu and I do…
Interesting. My work place had a baking roster (totally voluntarily). Everyone who joins is to bake something for the team when it is their turn. Not too sure how successful it turned out to be, but it is not running more.