We all have our definition of productivity, and projects drive change. I will admit that I am not a "good preacher," and I just had my lunch at my desk yesterday. We started having lunch once every week, even though teams member expressed the desire to be social, I noticed 50% participation rates for the last past 3 months. However, I would like to implement the change of stop eating lunch at our desks, including myself. So, how do I increase the participation rate consistently? Saving Changes...
There is no reason to supposse that doing this will increase productivity. The first question you have to do is what does mean productivity for my organization? The worst thng you can do is to stop stablished practices mainly if it will impact to your team members.
Thank you, Sergio, agreed with you to some extent. Alluding to productivity, I will add: nor cooping up at your desk implies productivity. Contrary much literature/post have imputed the benefit of not eating lunch at your desk.
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Aug 28, 2019 3:48 PM
Sergio Luis Conte
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At the end, is up to you and mainly your current organization. The key here is to understand the environment. I fully disagree with the literature you mentioned (just in case it exists I do not know about that) because I have experienced it from years and it never jeopardizes productivity (at least in the defintion of productivity we used). For example, if people have not enough money to take luch out of the company and the company has no space for lunch, what do you do? Do you think that in case you say "no way" people will be more productive in this type of situation/environment?. Believe me, you will surprise the well known today places where I have the opportunity to work in and the today well known (some of them references) that I have the opportunity to take lunch eating on the desk.
Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Aug 28, 2019 3:38 PM
Replying to Simon Olivier Guienguere
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Thank you, Sergio, agreed with you to some extent. Alluding to productivity, I will add: nor cooping up at your desk implies productivity. Contrary much literature/post have imputed the benefit of not eating lunch at your desk.
At the end, is up to you and mainly your current organization. The key here is to understand the environment. I fully disagree with the literature you mentioned (just in case it exists I do not know about that) because I have experienced it from years and it never jeopardizes productivity (at least in the defintion of productivity we used). For example, if people have not enough money to take luch out of the company and the company has no space for lunch, what do you do? Do you think that in case you say "no way" people will be more productive in this type of situation/environment?. Believe me, you will surprise the well known today places where I have the opportunity to work in and the today well known (some of them references) that I have the opportunity to take lunch eating on the desk.
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1 reply by Simon Olivier Guienguere
Aug 29, 2019 1:14 PM
Simon Olivier Guienguere
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Thank you Sergio for your opinion: we have plenty of spaces designated for it: sun view, chairs,tables, group lunch tables, plenty of microwaves, etc. The model is : bring your own lunch and let us discuss about anything except work.Now, make no mistakes, we are not forcing nor mandating ( I believe that is against the work environment code of ethics). However, we are encouraging with free of will: there is a difference. Also, stepping out your desk once in a week to have lunch with your peers and get to know them better does not implies productivity nor cooping up at your corner.
Here is the link for the literature: there are plenty out there
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/136d/95f3...aec60c2eca8.pdf Another one from sage: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2165079916653416 JOH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478529/ Right Management: https://www.right.com/wps/wcm/connect/righ...ual+Lunch+Break I would conclude with this:
Office workers are more productive after a change of pace. “We know that creativity and innovation happen when people change their environment,” University of California workplace psychology expert Kimberley Elsbach.
“So staying inside, in the same location, is really detrimental to creative thinking. It’s also detrimental to doing that rumination that’s needed for ideas to percolate and gestate and allow a person to arrive at an ‘aha’ moment.”
There, you have it.
Is there a particular reason you want your team to be more social? Or do you just believe it's generally better to be social?
I work with Network Engineers, and most prefer to be solitary. Some get together for lunch periodically, but I would only cause problems if I tried to force gregariousness onto others just because I personally preferred it.
Thank you Eric, I believe it has some tangibles benefits as "I am a witness tube".
Agreed, this is not a personal goal or preference by no means. We decided collectively to have a weekly lunch:"Bring you own lunch and no work related discussion during the collective lunch time", and all agreed. Saving Changes...
Invite them out once or twice a week to a restaurant during lunch hour away from the office atmosphere and do not discuss work during lunch but discuss personal things so you get to know each other better. It might not work immediately but it will at some point and one person will spread the word to the other.
Why not organize a shared meal. Like, bring something from your culture or origin. It was done and repeated in a project, it did encourage people to exchange. Did it increase productivity? not sure, maybe better communication.
Thank you Vincent for the insights, definitely. We thought about a potluck as well. Saving Changes...
Be careful with that approach. While you mean well, they say The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
It sounds like a great way to alienate introverts. You may not know who they are, but it takes a lot of effort for introverts to be social, even though they may enjoy it sometimes.
At once a week, you can quickly come across as a lunch club to some and taking away personal time for others. You may find that some people are not at their desk now, but are now purposefully avoiding your social hour which is exactly the opposite of what you wanted.
I could not agree more: Thank you Keith. Saving Changes...
At the end, is up to you and mainly your current organization. The key here is to understand the environment. I fully disagree with the literature you mentioned (just in case it exists I do not know about that) because I have experienced it from years and it never jeopardizes productivity (at least in the defintion of productivity we used). For example, if people have not enough money to take luch out of the company and the company has no space for lunch, what do you do? Do you think that in case you say "no way" people will be more productive in this type of situation/environment?. Believe me, you will surprise the well known today places where I have the opportunity to work in and the today well known (some of them references) that I have the opportunity to take lunch eating on the desk.
Thank you Sergio for your opinion: we have plenty of spaces designated for it: sun view, chairs,tables, group lunch tables, plenty of microwaves, etc. The model is : bring your own lunch and let us discuss about anything except work.Now, make no mistakes, we are not forcing nor mandating ( I believe that is against the work environment code of ethics). However, we are encouraging with free of will: there is a difference. Also, stepping out your desk once in a week to have lunch with your peers and get to know them better does not implies productivity nor cooping up at your corner.
Here is the link for the literature: there are plenty out there
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/136d/95f3...aec60c2eca8.pdf Another one from sage: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2165079916653416 JOH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478529/ Right Management: https://www.right.com/wps/wcm/connect/righ...ual+Lunch+Break I would conclude with this:
Office workers are more productive after a change of pace. “We know that creativity and innovation happen when people change their environment,” University of California workplace psychology expert Kimberley Elsbach.
“So staying inside, in the same location, is really detrimental to creative thinking. It’s also detrimental to doing that rumination that’s needed for ideas to percolate and gestate and allow a person to arrive at an ‘aha’ moment.”
There, you have it. Saving Changes...
Simon,
I won't argue that a change of pace does not make people more productive. There is an underlying assumption, there however that getting away from the desk is in fact a change.
Consider someone who spends all their working time interacting with other people away from their own desk. In the case of the introvert in particular, the change of pace may be getting away from people and having some quiet time away from interacting with others. Mindfulness and mediation fits into this same situation. We have lunchtime yoga clubs at work where people gather, but there is not any real discussion going on.
For different personality types and job roles, a change of pace can mean different things. I often spend my lunch looking for new recipes, planning personal projects, interacting with virtual friends, and other things that have no relation to my work at all, before I go back to meeting rooms, hunting people down at their desks, and hallway discussions between one destination and the next.
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1 reply by Simon Olivier Guienguere
Sep 10, 2019 1:52 PM
Simon Olivier Guienguere
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Well said Keith, it could be a chaos if not disciplined: It is not a party's time however.
Good idea by the way.
Saving Changes...
Kimberly ChavezPlatform Program Manager, Integration| BrightspeedOverland Park, Ks, United States
I have to agree with Keith. One other point I will add is that sometimes that break where you don't talk about work is just enough to ruin a productive flow. I often prefer to take lunch at my desk because I am most productive in the mornings and if that gets interrupted my afternoons will sometimes suffer. Don't sacrifice good quality work for social time. I like the people I work with a lot, and sometimes will agree to go have lunch but I always reserve the right to cancel if inspiration strikes. I don't want that to be held against me as a friend or colleague just because I opt out.
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1 reply by Simon Olivier Guienguere
Sep 10, 2019 1:49 PM
Simon Olivier Guienguere
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Thanks, Kimberly, that is why they call it break time or lunchtime. There is a time for everything.
