WEBVTT - Celebrate with Friday lunches

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to institute a celebratory late lunch on Fridays.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether you do this lunch in person or virtually, this

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<v Speaker 1>will give your colleagues a chance to socialize in a

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<v Speaker 1>way that's not exclusionary and can help you in the

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<v Speaker 1>work week in a less haphazard way. One of the

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<v Speaker 1>truisms of modern management is that teams that like and

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<v Speaker 1>trust each other tend to be more productive. Much time

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<v Speaker 1>can be wasted jockeying for position and other such things

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<v Speaker 1>that don't happen when people assume the best from each other.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the best ways to build that trust is

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<v Speaker 1>to spend relaxed time together. That's why, in normal times,

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<v Speaker 1>good managers like to look for opportunities to take the

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<v Speaker 1>team out for drinks or dinner. I know that these

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<v Speaker 1>days many people are working from home, but as people

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<v Speaker 1>go back to their offices over the next few months,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's important to question the way things have

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<v Speaker 1>always been done. And it turns out that there's a

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<v Speaker 1>problem with late night socializing. It assumes that people have

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<v Speaker 1>the freedom to spend non work hours with their colleagues.

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<v Speaker 1>Some working parents or others with outside of work obligations

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<v Speaker 1>might just beg off, or they may need to make

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<v Speaker 1>other arrangements for daycare pickup or sending a citter home,

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<v Speaker 1>And if they know a spouse is covering this extra

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<v Speaker 1>time or the babysitter meters ticking, they might feel pressured

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<v Speaker 1>to jet out as soon as possible. Watching the time

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't make you feel relaxed, which is the point of

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<v Speaker 1>social occasions. So if you truly want to make everyone

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<v Speaker 1>feel welcome and included, it's important to have these social

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<v Speaker 1>occasions during the work day. This shows that socializing is

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<v Speaker 1>an important part of the job, which is true. If

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<v Speaker 1>you actually believe that teams need to like and trust

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<v Speaker 1>each other, then it's not extra something to come out

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<v Speaker 1>of personal and family hours. It should be part of

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<v Speaker 1>work hours. I think a festive lunch once a week

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<v Speaker 1>serves this purpose nicely. Having a regular occasion allows people

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<v Speaker 1>to plan for it. They know not to pack their

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<v Speaker 1>lunch on that day, or if people want to go

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<v Speaker 1>do a workout or read or something else over lunch,

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<v Speaker 1>they can plan that for other days. And if people

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<v Speaker 1>are working virtually, they can build it into their schedules.

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<v Speaker 1>As for a late Friday lunch, well, hosting a lunch

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<v Speaker 1>from one thirty to two thirty or so on Friday

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<v Speaker 1>afternoons acknowledges that not much happens after that point. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of like a happy hour, but doesn't need

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<v Speaker 1>to center around alcohol. And Hey, if the company pays

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<v Speaker 1>for lunch, which would even mean paying for people's door

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<v Speaker 1>dash with a virtual workforce, then most people will at

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<v Speaker 1>least be engaged until the end of it, which isn't

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<v Speaker 1>always a given on Friday afternoons. A late Friday lunch

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<v Speaker 1>also allows for a more ritualistic ending of the work week.

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<v Speaker 1>In life, we tend to be better at starting things

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<v Speaker 1>than ending them. We drift out at different times and

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<v Speaker 1>don't pause to reflect. A late Friday lunch allows everyone

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<v Speaker 1>to chat about what happened and how it went, and

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<v Speaker 1>to thank everyone for their contributions. So think about whether

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<v Speaker 1>a late Friday lunch would work in your office. If so,

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<v Speaker 1>how could you make it happen. If you're in charge,

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<v Speaker 1>talk with your team about what would work best. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're not, try mentioning it to your supervisor as a

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<v Speaker 1>possibility you might just start ending the week in a

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<v Speaker 1>far more productive and social way. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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<v Speaker 1>heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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<v Speaker 1>to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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