How lunch can bring your team back to the office
1. Lunch is the best social glue there is
Researchers at Cornell University studied the impact of a good office lunch. Teams that ate together, performed better together. Makes sense, when you think of it: sharing a meal is a ritual people have fostered since the beginning of time to build relationships.
Putting lunch front and center is a clear invitation to connect on a personal level. Whether you share a meal every working day of or just a couple of days a week, those moments of connection definitely spill back over into work
2. Feel great, work better
Research by the Health Enhancement Research Organization shows that a healthy lunch improves productivity by 20% – and even improves work results up to a whopping 25%. What’s more, a study by the National Library of Medicine states there’s a correlation between eating fruits and vegetables and an increased sense of wellbeing, creativity and curiosity.
In other words: good food helps you feel great and do well. A delicious reason to get back to the office. Eat that, cup noodles!
3. A lunch culture attracts new talents
Anthropologist Krystal D’Costa states that the lunchtime habits at your office are a soft indicator of your company morale. It simply shows you care.
A UK survey by Just Eat for Business found that two third of employees believe eating lunch together develops a great work culture – and that 81% is more likely to accept a job offer if free lunch is a perk. That makes for some tasty employer branding!
4. Lunch can unify your team
The pandemic shook up traditional office routines. Working remotely, teams found ways to work around official hierarchy and find new, pragmatic ways to get the job done.
A McKinsey report states the pandemic has been ‘a vindication for flatter, faster non-hierarchical structures’. While figuring out how to create the ultimate mix of remote and office working and manage teams, lunch can help build a new and open way of working. Especially if everyone joins in, from management to guests.
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