I don't really know the other people in my office that well. My company is spread over several cities, and most of the people I work with day to day are in a different city than me. I see the people in my office in the halls every day. But since I don't work directly with them it's hard to get to know them.
Occasionally there are happy hours, which I make an effort to go to. And sometimes a group will go out to lunch. But that doesn't exactly help. Everyone in my office eats lunch at their desk. Even when they go out with other people. It's a little weird.
For example, this morning one of my coworkers stopped by to ask if I wanted to go get burgers for lunch. burger sounded good, so I said yes. He emailed me an order form for the restaurant and told me to specify the pick up time at 1:15. I filled out the form and paid for my burger.
At 1:10, a few of us gathered in the lobby. We walked two blocks to the burger joint, picked up our burgers, and walked back to the office. At the office, everyone went back to their separate offices to enjoy what was reportedly the best burger in DC. Of course we talked on the walk to and from the restaurant, but there's only so much you can say while walking in a group on a crowded city street.
So maybe it makes sense that I don't really know anyone in my office. It'd be nice if getting lunch with someone could last long enough for a conversation to occur.
I have never had a job where people did this, I have worked at a lot of places where the culture was very workaholic but there always seems to be something about lunch that made people want to get up and go to the lunch room or faculty lounge and eat. At one job my boss actually told me not to eat lunch at my desk so that I could get to know the other people I was working with. Lunch is an important part of the work day, I like to eat lunch with the people I work with instead of at my desk. I work hard enough the rest of the day, I like my 30ish minutes of break a lot, and with it I like my conversation.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying it's your responsibility to make lunch a more communal event at your work, mostly I'm just saying how I feel about lunch. Also, I'm hungry.
When I was in Boulder, I was the only one at my company who even ate lunch. So it's nice that people do get out of the office here. They just don't get out for very long.
DeleteIt's bad because it creates this guilt if I'm away from my desk for more then fifteen minutes. I'd like to take a longer lunch, but I'm scared I'll miss something important. At least I can dick around on the internet for a bit while I'm eating.