<i> Rule #1 – Eat lunch together around a table. </i>
Not sure about this. It is fine to have lunch together twice a week. Do it every day? Unless someone really enjoys talking and being listened.
I enjoy discussion with colleagues. I find, though, if more than 4 persons are involved, it is more efficient to be in a formal place or follow a formal procedure. Otherwise, 90% of time tends to be on trivial issues.
If lunch together is for socializing, I don't see why twice a week is not enough. I worked in such an environment before and the topics during lunch were mostly the same everyday. Most topics were not interesting. To be fair, it is hard to have an interesting or insightful talk with 10 people. The talks that made me think and made me intrigued were always with 1 or 2 colleagues. We can go out for a drink. If the topic is work-related, we can have a 15 minutes coffee break and discuss it.
I understand that lunch is also supposed to give people a break after working hard for 3~4 hours. But lunch together might not be a break for some people. Sometimes after constantly working for 3 hours, especially if the work requires me to be very concentrated, I just want to have a quiet lunch time, to relax, to read 20 minutes of history or other books to adjust my brain, to plan what to do in the afternoon, or walk in the sun for 10 minutes. At these occasions, lunch together and talking to other people only make me exhausted.
People are different. It is fine, though, if the boss wants to establish this lunch-together culture and exercise the cookie-cutter. There are always start-ups that don't require this.
Once or twice a week is completely fine. I work at Thumbtack (and have since the first meal!), and occasionally if I am in right in the middle of something or need a break I'll eat at my desk. It isn't a big deal, and I certainly don't agree that people must eat together everyday.
However, one of the key things our culture is that everybody is always welcome at the table, and there is never any issue with somebody pulling up a chair anywhere and joining any conversation. You certainly don't have to if you aren't in the mood, but you always can. I'm also not a big foodie at all, but the food is really really good, and that helps a lot :)
Not sure about this. It is fine to have lunch together twice a week. Do it every day? Unless someone really enjoys talking and being listened.
I enjoy discussion with colleagues. I find, though, if more than 4 persons are involved, it is more efficient to be in a formal place or follow a formal procedure. Otherwise, 90% of time tends to be on trivial issues.
If lunch together is for socializing, I don't see why twice a week is not enough. I worked in such an environment before and the topics during lunch were mostly the same everyday. Most topics were not interesting. To be fair, it is hard to have an interesting or insightful talk with 10 people. The talks that made me think and made me intrigued were always with 1 or 2 colleagues. We can go out for a drink. If the topic is work-related, we can have a 15 minutes coffee break and discuss it.
I understand that lunch is also supposed to give people a break after working hard for 3~4 hours. But lunch together might not be a break for some people. Sometimes after constantly working for 3 hours, especially if the work requires me to be very concentrated, I just want to have a quiet lunch time, to relax, to read 20 minutes of history or other books to adjust my brain, to plan what to do in the afternoon, or walk in the sun for 10 minutes. At these occasions, lunch together and talking to other people only make me exhausted.
People are different. It is fine, though, if the boss wants to establish this lunch-together culture and exercise the cookie-cutter. There are always start-ups that don't require this.