In my experience observing organizational behavior, especially start-ups, what happens at lunch is a key indicator of an org’s health. If people go out, for a walk, and talk about non-work stuff – Congrats.
If they brown-bag it and eat alone at their desks – something is very, very wrong
Laurent Bossavit agrees with me (courtesy bBlog). Formally expecting regular lunches with the team is great way to say you care about your org’s health.
I remember one “lunch” I had with a creative director – when I arrived to his darkened, barren office, he was in the corner eating a Hot Pocket off a paper plate. No…he didn’t share. Unhealthy in so many ways.
I think that it is very important to spend quality ‘non-work’ time with fellow employees because it strengthens relationships and encourages the community of people to come together for reasons other than work. The simple act of eating lunch with co-workers implies a greater connection between people. Or it signifies having no one better to have lunch with- you choose.
While I agree, in theory, in reality, I’ve experienced the opposite. The large company where I was encouraged, at times, to brown-bag-it in front of the computer is still doing business just fine while the other one where fun, daily outings for lunch as a team were routine is sadly long out of business.
Granted, I was much happier at the latter place.