| > Do you have mandatory lunch times and locations? No. In some offices there is a canteen where you can sit down and have a lunch with your colleagues, though. Times and locations are most of the time decided by people. For example, you might decide to go to a restaurant/pizzeria with 2-3 colleagues, or just one, or more people from different departments, etc. > Doesn't anyone ever want to spend their lunch break exercising or taking a walk? Normally, people here in Europe tend to eat at the same time - let's say 12:30, or 13:00, or 13.30 - depending on the country. > Or even going home to eat with their families? This is almost never the case - as far as I know. > What if you hired a Muslim who fasted for Ramadan? I had a Muslim colleague once, and while he was fasting, he just didn't join, which is fine. However, before/after he was always part of the group. Mine was not a criticism, just an observation, because that's what I have noticed during the years. It doesn't imply anything, just that under the following circumstances: - in a country where people tend to eat at the same time on average ( let's say at 12.30), - there is a canteen/kitchen in the office, or restaurants nearby, - nobody goes to see the family during lunch, - nobody goes for a walk during lunch, except for reaching the restaurant, or in the case everyone in the group (that doesn't have to be the whole team/company) is willing to. Then, I have noticed that when people don't sit at the same table (it doesn't have to be the whole company simultaneously), there are issues in the teams. As I said, this is a personal observation, and I want to thank you for answering because your response offered me different insights and points of view (like: exercising, going for a walk, eating with family, etc). |
Elective lunches and socialization is certainly a thing at my office too. It's just there is such a variety of lunch activities in my office and it's never been a hinderence to the team dynamics.
There's also some people with strong opinions on your relationship with your co-workers should be business-only and others who have met their best friend or even spouse at work.
None of this has ever hurt team dynamics though.
My office skews older though.