Often, your working day not only involves carrying out your usual tasks, but also attending various meetings. When these take place in the morning, we always hope that they don’t drag on for too long and start eating into our lunch hour…as our stomachs rumble at the thought. But once the training, conference or meeting is over, do you choose to have lunch alone in your chosen spot – or do you suggest to your colleagues that you dine together? While eating solo has its perks, we’re going to explain how having lunch with your co-workers could be beneficial to you.
Jobs where you work completely alone are often the exception rather than the rule; the 21st-Century employee is a social animal who needs to be able to adapt to their environment in the interests of efficiency. While it is essential to communicate daily with your colleagues within the work environment, thats’ not always enough – and seeing them outside of the meeting room for lunch may open up new doors for you. So here are the benefits of having lunch with your colleagues after a meeting.
Lunch with your colleagues boosts your work performance
Having lunch together is not only a generally pleasant way to spend an hour, but can also be an ideal way to enhance your performance for the rest of the day. It offers a chance to take a step back from your work – and talk about other things with your colleagues – but without ever fully leaving the professional sphere. Striking this balance between your professional and personal life is particularly useful for optimising your performance throughout the working day. Those of you who already do this will know what we’re talking about – but if you don’t, we can only advise you to try having lunch with your co-workers after a meeting or seminar. You’ll soon feel the benefits!
Sharing a meal strengthens team spirit
On a similar note, we should point out that sharing a meal with your colleagues is a great way to considerably enhance team spirit. This has a dual effect: firstly, the positive dynamic generates productivity and creativity; and secondly, you feel good about yourself, and more comfortable in your own skin. Communicating with your colleagues outside of the restrictive environment of a meeting room or a board room is the perfect way to get to know them and to spend time together in a way thats’ more friendly than professional. So it’s not only the team spirit that gets a boost; your own feeling of happiness in the workplace is also increased. Whats’ more, the friendships that develop from this can lead to enhanced mutual understanding. For instance, you may have established close ties with the project manager during an after-meeting lunch, perhaps by finding out that you share a common interest – but now you risk being late on one of the tasks they’ve assigned to you. By being open and explaining things to them, there’s a higher chance that they’ll show some flexibility, whereas if youd’ had lunch alone in your corner, things might have turned out differently…
67% of French people like to lunch with their colleagues
According to sociological studies, the French widely appreciate the benefits of lunching with their co-workers. In fact, no fewer than 67% regularly dine with their work colleagues. For them, its’ altogether natural to socialise with the people who are part of their daily routine.
English 
Français 
Nederlands