Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to institute a celebratory late lunch on Fridays.
Speaker 1: Whether you do this lunch in person or virtually, this
Speaker 1: will give your colleagues a chance to socialize in a
Speaker 1: way that's not exclusionary and can help you in the
Speaker 1: work week in a less haphazard way. One of the
Speaker 1: truisms of modern management is that teams that like and
Speaker 1: trust each other tend to be more productive. Much time
Speaker 1: can be wasted jockeying for position and other such things
Speaker 1: that don't happen when people assume the best from each other.
Speaker 1: One of the best ways to build that trust is
Speaker 1: to spend relaxed time together. That's why, in normal times,
Speaker 1: good managers like to look for opportunities to take the
Speaker 1: team out for drinks or dinner. I know that these
Speaker 1: days many people are working from home, but as people
Speaker 1: go back to their offices over the next few months,
Speaker 1: I think it's important to question the way things have
Speaker 1: always been done. And it turns out that there's a
Speaker 1: problem with late night socializing. It assumes that people have
Speaker 1: the freedom to spend non work hours with their colleagues.
Speaker 1: Some working parents or others with outside of work obligations
Speaker 1: might just beg off, or they may need to make
Speaker 1: other arrangements for daycare pickup or sending a citter home,
Speaker 1: And if they know a spouse is covering this extra
Speaker 1: time or the babysitter meters ticking, they might feel pressured
Speaker 1: to jet out as soon as possible. Watching the time
Speaker 1: doesn't make you feel relaxed, which is the point of
Speaker 1: social occasions. So if you truly want to make everyone
Speaker 1: feel welcome and included, it's important to have these social
Speaker 1: occasions during the work day. This shows that socializing is
Speaker 1: an important part of the job, which is true. If
Speaker 1: you actually believe that teams need to like and trust
Speaker 1: each other, then it's not extra something to come out
Speaker 1: of personal and family hours. It should be part of
Speaker 1: work hours. I think a festive lunch once a week
Speaker 1: serves this purpose nicely. Having a regular occasion allows people
Speaker 1: to plan for it. They know not to pack their
Speaker 1: lunch on that day, or if people want to go
Speaker 1: do a workout or read or something else over lunch,
Speaker 1: they can plan that for other days. And if people
Speaker 1: are working virtually, they can build it into their schedules.
Speaker 1: As for a late Friday lunch, well, hosting a lunch
Speaker 1: from one thirty to two thirty or so on Friday
Speaker 1: afternoons acknowledges that not much happens after that point. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like a happy hour, but doesn't need
Speaker 1: to center around alcohol. And Hey, if the company pays
Speaker 1: for lunch, which would even mean paying for people's door
Speaker 1: dash with a virtual workforce, then most people will at
Speaker 1: least be engaged until the end of it, which isn't
Speaker 1: always a given on Friday afternoons. A late Friday lunch
Speaker 1: also allows for a more ritualistic ending of the work week.
Speaker 1: In life, we tend to be better at starting things
Speaker 1: than ending them. We drift out at different times and
Speaker 1: don't pause to reflect. A late Friday lunch allows everyone
Speaker 1: to chat about what happened and how it went, and
Speaker 1: to thank everyone for their contributions. So think about whether
Speaker 1: a late Friday lunch would work in your office. If so,
Speaker 1: how could you make it happen. If you're in charge,
Speaker 1: talk with your team about what would work best. If
Speaker 1: you're not, try mentioning it to your supervisor as a
Speaker 1: possibility you might just start ending the week in a
Speaker 1: far more productive and social way. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
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