Have A Break, Have a Virtual Team Lunch
Tomorrow marks the start of official COVID-19 “Circuit Breaker” directives in Singapore, resulting in remote work for many. Yet, do you know that working adults may face immense emotional and psychological pressures when they work from home, especially if the shift is abrupt?
At TeamSpirit Singapore, our product manager Ninomiya-san came up with the following virtual team bonding schedule (READ: FOOD) to help everyone feel connected and in good spirits while doing remote work:
This post is about three benefits of why your company should also consider having a weekly virtual team lunch while employees work from home.
Virtual Team Lunch Benefit #1: The Team That Eats Together Stays Together
Eating is an incredibly human activity.
Why? Because everyone in the team– regardless of age, corporate hierarchy, skin colour, nationality or statuses— needs to eat. Eating together is key to breaking down imagined barriers and differences amongst team members– especially when we can enjoy good food together!
In addition, extensive research has shown that positive interpersonal connections built up in the workplace can result in higher productivity.
So why not bring team lunches online too during the COVID-19 pandemic, where we definitely get to see what everyone else is eating at a single glance?
Virtual Team Lunch Benefit #2: Strengthen Company’s Culture in Times of Uncertainty
A company’s culture is characterised by corporate values, mission and vision. It is also fluid, and is constantly redefined in accordance to business circumstances and dynamics amongst stakeholders.
In such times of uncertainty and a relative change in working environment brought about by COVID-19, it becomes even more important for companies to strengthen their corporate culture.
Having regular virtual team lunches during remote work achieves that objective. Colleagues can still feel safe to discuss their concerns about the new remote work situation freely, casually and openly…over lunch.
Isn’t this how we keep our “Day 1” startup culture at TeamSpirit? (Thanks Ryan for the link!)
Virtual Team Lunch Benefit #3: Checkpoint on Mental Health During Remote Work
Working at home has many challenges, particularly when the government strongly discourages us to go outdoors due to the virus. Some of us might suffer from restlessness, boredom, loneliness, feelings of claustrophobia, overeating and/ or oversleeping. Some parents might experience a drastic decline in productivity due to screaming/ crying young kids. And on the other extreme, some of us may overwork as the boundary between work from home becomes blurred.
Having a weekly virtual lunch scheduled for the team is therefore a good idea for managers and colleagues to check in on one another, or for the individual to check in with himself or herself.
So, remember to take a break. Instead of grabbing that Kit-Kat, have a virtual team lunch instead!
What do you think? Will you be scheduling a virtual team lunch soon as well? Let us know in the comments!