Is eating together good for your team?

They say that a family who eats together stays together, so why would it not be the same for your work team? Taking the time to sit together in a different environment can be hugely beneficial for a team and can increase how well they bond together and how productive they are.

Here, Craig Sellers, Operations Manager at Workplace Refreshments, takes a look at how eating together can be good for your team.

Importance of meal breaks

We all need to eat for nourishment, but there are other benefits to our meal breaks at work. They give us the opportunity to step away from a computer screen and all of the stress that it brings with it, allowing us to reset and come back to work feeling refreshed. There can be a temptation to eat at our desks, but taking time out from work helps to give your brain a break, making it more efficient when you return to work.

Eating is also fuel for what we do, and the right foods can not only give us a fresh burst of energy, but also help to boost our brains, improving on concentration, cognitive functions, and memory, making us more productive and successful.

It is also important to remember that there are legal requirements to give your employees regular breaks. Workers are entitled to an uninterrupted 20-minute rest break if they work more than 6 hours a day as part of what is known as the right to rest.

Eating together

When you encourage a team to eat together, it can be a great way to bring them together. This could be something that happens naturally when everyone takes a break at the same time, or something that you can organise for a special occasion or team building exercise.

Not only will your team get a chance to relax, but they can also build stronger relationships by having the chance to chat about things from outside work as well as having a more informal environment in which to take about any work issues. These personal connections can make work a more pleasant place to be, which makes it easier for people to be productive together.

Sharing a meal also gives chance for extra networking opportunities, particularly when you involve staff members who would not normally get the chance to speak to each other. Getting to know people from other departments and allowing staff of all levels to sit together on equal terms can help to introduce new ideas and make work interactions much easier.

Organising group eating

To get people eating together, you could organise something as a treat for hitting a target or a work anniversary. This could involve going out for a meal or having catering brought in that everyone can get involved in.

Setting aside a break space in your workplace can also help these kinds of interactions to happen more naturally. By giving people a place that they can go to in order to grab a cup of coffee or eat a sandwich means that they are more likely to socialise together by sharing a table and chatting. It avoids everyone working in isolation and gives you the chance to put up leaflets and posters that might be missed if simply forwarded in an email.

We tend to use food as a way to get to know people, whether it is with friends or a romantic date, so it stands to reason that eating together will help to forge stronger working relationships. Giving your staff the space and opportunity to eat together can be hugely beneficial for them and for the business as a whole.