[zaphar]

We used to do Starcraft lunch at work.

2 people would play a starcraft game and the rest of us would gather in a conference room to watch the stream and provide running commentary.

We also have an in house tool that sets up lunch times between a random group of 4 people periodically. It's a great way to meet others in the office and socialize.

Both of these were employee provided ideas. If you empower your employees to implement their own ideas it can have a powerful effect on office morale.

[jakub_g]

> We also have an in house tool that sets up lunch times between a random group of 4 people periodically. It's a great way to meet others in the office and socialize.

This is an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing that.

[mikeleeorg]

Great idea, especially the running commentary part! Sounds like a great way to include more people, plus make these lunches potentially hilarious.

[_random_]

It also helps if there are no boring bring-lunch-from-home types.

[gknoy]

If bringing your team together is the goal, it cannot be served by labeling those who choose to bring a lunch as "boring types". I know my feelings would be hurt if my coworkers decided to exclude me for that reason.

How does bringing lunch from home prevent team lunches? If it's scheduled ahead of time, it's easy to bring less. One might even be able to justify budgeting N lunches/month out with coworkers.

Also, lunches together don't always have to be in a restaurant. Buyers can get food to go, bringers can take theirs with them, and then you can either meet in a conference room, at a park, etc.

[marincounty]

I like the way you think!

[_random_]

I guess that's true, maybe the problem is elsewhere.

[Robin_Message]

And none of those annoying people that buy lunch out every day and complain about having no money all the time...

[rhizome]

Please don't go into management.