As an early career scholar, my senior faculty arranged for all interested in going to lunch about twice a month.
It was an informal conversation that onboarded the young faculty on various things - from curriculum to values to the political lay of the land.
I recall feeling like part of the team - because the information sharing made me feel like a trusted colleague.
As time passed, & onboarding ended, the senior faculty stopped inviting us for lunch.
As more time passed, the feeling of inclusion did as well - as the dept fragmented as new hires joined, cliques formed, & private information sharing proliferated.
Despite the best efforts of some, that department never recaptured the feeling of Camelot - & eventually - I left.
As we move to a new post-pandemic normal, I was reminded of the power of lunch & eating together this past month as I visited different universities.
In groups where people routinely eat together, there was a lot more laughter & closeness.
In groups that were just coming back together, it took time for that laughter & closeness to resurface.
In all groups, there was an ongoing discussion of how much & when to meet.
I was struck - as I experienced the interaction & listened to the norms being set - by one essential insight.
No matter how often we meet, we need to organize in a way that encourages sharing social information & opportunities for relationship building - in authentic, organic ways.
This brings me back to lunch.
While it may seem archaic, regular lunch meetings afford an opportunity to co-create a new normal.
First, it provides a relaxed atmosphere for people to chat.
Lunch tends to be a somewhat unstructured time where people expect to engage in work and nonwork chit-chat.
These conversations can serve as the glue that helps people reconnect.
Second, it’s not unexpected for people to engage in some shop talk - however, it is unusual for people only to discuss work.
Having the permission to range across topics creates ‘ours’ for people who are not yet ready to fully engage in conversations about work.
This lets people ease back into face-to-face work life.
Third, it’s easier to onboard people over meals, particularly around the soft side of the organization.
Newcomers can learn a lot simply by listening to how people talk to each other (or not), the topics discussed, & the values expressed.
This type of social information is tough to acquire in zoom calls.
Finally, they can bring a routine to your team.
Regularly scheduled lunches provide structure for information sharing & let people think about when & what they might want to discuss with peers.
Routines are going to very important as we reconnect as colleagues & members of communities.
I recognize many people don’t want to go back to the office, but for many of us, it seems inevitable, so let’s optimize our time together!
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