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I don't get this. If you have a coworker that enjoy having lunch with you... what's stopping you both doing so? I mean, even if you both work from home, you cou

by danwee 4y ago

I don't get this. If you have a coworker that enjoy having lunch with you... what's stopping you both doing so? I mean, even if you both work from home, you could still schedule a lunch together in the city, right? If you both live in different cities, well, I guess before COVID you weren't having lunch together that frequently. 100% remote doesn't dictate how (or with who) you eat lunch.

slothtrop 4y ago
Even if you lived in the same city, you'd have to waste time commuting from respective neighborhoods to some halfway point, which could easily be 30 min off your lunch hour.
icedchai 4y ago
Well, physical distance might be a factor: they're 500 miles away. Previous company, everyone I worked with was 1000+ miles.
kwanbix 4y ago
Nothing stops you. But being together "forces" you to socialize. When I turn off the camera, you are gone.
devmunchies 4y ago
Just based on basic behavioral science and statistics, every desired action from pt A to pt B (e.g. visit website -> buy a product) is a collection of smaller actions that comprise a funnel. For example, in the funnel of a customer visiting amazon to finally buying a product, amazon loses millions of dollars when initial page load times are 300ms slower within that funnel. Any added friction between stages in a funnel will reduce the result at the end of the funnel. You add scheduling complexity, physical driving, distributed workforces, etc, and the number of shared lunches are going to drop super fast. Hell, you put 2 onsite employees in 2 different buildings on campus and their chance at a lunch together will drop. If you or your company cares about in-person collaboration or socializing, you had better foster that behavior and not count on raw willpower to break out of the mold.
jasode 4y ago
>I don't get this. If you have a coworker that enjoy having lunch with you... what's stopping you both doing so? I mean, even if you both work from home, you could still schedule a lunch together in the city, right? I don't like the office and work 100% remote but I remember collaboration scenarios that were easier and more natural in the office. Example... - coworker and I discuss something at the cubicle or meeting room. Maybe use the whiteboard. It's now about noon so we agree to grab lunch at the cafeteria. - continue discussion while walking toward the cafeteria - continue at lunch table and/or walk back to desks No coordination or invites on Zoom. Continued discussion in-real-life just flows while we're multitasking (i.e. getting some food) -- because we're both physically present. So two remote workers getting in the car to meet for lunch isn't the same. But at the moment, I'm not working on anything that requires that intense level of in-person collaboration described above -- so I'd rather remain working 100% at home.
closeparen 4y ago
Nothing prevents you from making plans to meet up with coworkers, once every few months. That is a very different thing, from a sense-of-belonging perspective, from having a group that you share meals with day after day. The only thing besides work that could be comparable is a family. That's it's own challenge, though: easy to get cabin fever locked in with the same small group of people all the time.
AdrianB1 4y ago
I am working remotely for 15 years, but from time to time I go to the local office; when I go to lunch, I just socialize with anyone that I see there and I either have an informal affinity (calling them friends may be too much) or I want to discuss a light business matter that does not require a formal meeting, but can be discussed over lunch. Also I have a coworker in my team that is in the same city, but the opposite part, around 2 hour drive from me to his place. If we want to have lunch, we waste a lot of time (1 hour per direction for each of us); if we are in the office in the same day, there is zero cost. I found small chat over lunch or a coffee break to be very effective in building relations with people you don't directly work with. This helped me many times in the past when I had to talk to someone and it was not a cold approach, so they made time to talk to me and help.
- biomcgary 4y ago
  Zero additional cost. You each pay 2 hours a day in commuting to get to the office. Take those two hours that you get back EVERY DAY and make friends within walking distance.
  - AdrianB1 4y ago
    It is not about making friends, it is about relations with the people I work with. More than 10 years ago I saved someone's job just by simply clearing a serious misunderstanding with people I knew.
nightpool 4y ago
> If you have a coworker that enjoy having lunch with you... what's stopping you both doing so? The fact that I don't even live in the same state or country as them anymore? When you hire people locally, you can exist in the same physical space as them. When you hire people remotely, and work for a remote startup, this isn't possible. I don't understand your question.

by danwee 4y ago

slothtrop 4y ago

Even if you lived in the same city, you'd have to waste time commuting from respective neighborhoods to some halfway point, which could easily be 30 min off your lunch hour.

icedchai 4y ago

Well, physical distance might be a factor: they're 500 miles away. Previous company, everyone I worked with was 1000+ miles.

kwanbix 4y ago

Nothing stops you. But being together "forces" you to socialize. When I turn off the camera, you are gone.

devmunchies 4y ago

Just based on basic behavioral science and statistics, every desired action from pt A to pt B (e.g. visit website -> buy a product) is a collection of smaller actions that comprise a funnel. For example, in the funnel of a customer visiting amazon to finally buying a product, amazon loses millions of dollars when initial page load times are 300ms slower within that funnel. Any added friction between stages in a funnel will reduce the result at the end of the funnel. You add scheduling complexity, physical driving, distributed workforces, etc, and the number of shared lunches are going to drop super fast. Hell, you put 2 onsite employees in 2 different buildings on campus and their chance at a lunch together will drop. If you or your company cares about in-person collaboration or socializing, you had better foster that behavior and not count on raw willpower to break out of the mold.

jasode 4y ago

>I don't get this. If you have a coworker that enjoy having lunch with you... what's stopping you both doing so? I mean, even if you both work from home, you could still schedule a lunch together in the city, right? I don't like the office and work 100% remote but I remember collaboration scenarios that were easier and more natural in the office. Example... - coworker and I discuss something at the cubicle or meeting room. Maybe use the whiteboard. It's now about noon so we agree to grab lunch at the cafeteria. - continue discussion while walking toward the cafeteria - continue at lunch table and/or walk back to desks No coordination or invites on Zoom. Continued discussion in-real-life just flows while we're multitasking (i.e. getting some food) -- because we're both physically present. So two remote workers getting in the car to meet for lunch isn't the same. But at the moment, I'm not working on anything that requires that intense level of in-person collaboration described above -- so I'd rather remain working 100% at home.

closeparen 4y ago

Nothing prevents you from making plans to meet up with coworkers, once every few months. That is a very different thing, from a sense-of-belonging perspective, from having a group that you share meals with day after day. The only thing besides work that could be comparable is a family. That's it's own challenge, though: easy to get cabin fever locked in with the same small group of people all the time.

AdrianB1 4y ago

I am working remotely for 15 years, but from time to time I go to the local office; when I go to lunch, I just socialize with anyone that I see there and I either have an informal affinity (calling them friends may be too much) or I want to discuss a light business matter that does not require a formal meeting, but can be discussed over lunch. Also I have a coworker in my team that is in the same city, but the opposite part, around 2 hour drive from me to his place. If we want to have lunch, we waste a lot of time (1 hour per direction for each of us); if we are in the office in the same day, there is zero cost. I found small chat over lunch or a coffee break to be very effective in building relations with people you don't directly work with. This helped me many times in the past when I had to talk to someone and it was not a cold approach, so they made time to talk to me and help.

biomcgary 4y ago
Zero additional cost. You each pay 2 hours a day in commuting to get to the office. Take those two hours that you get back EVERY DAY and make friends within walking distance.
- AdrianB1 4y ago
  It is not about making friends, it is about relations with the people I work with. More than 10 years ago I saved someone's job just by simply clearing a serious misunderstanding with people I knew.

nightpool 4y ago

> If you have a coworker that enjoy having lunch with you... what's stopping you both doing so? The fact that I don't even live in the same state or country as them anymore? When you hire people locally, you can exist in the same physical space as them. When you hire people remotely, and work for a remote startup, this isn't possible. I don't understand your question.