Careers: Office politics don't take a break at lunch time
By COLLEEN NEWVINE
Associated Press Writer
Nearly every day in elementary school, I bought hot lunch, and many of
those days, I jealously watched the cool kids as they unpacked their lunch boxes.
Eventually I persuaded my mom to buy me a lunch box, just in time for
me to observe the cool kids switching to brown paper bags.
Turns out my tuning in to everyone else's lunch behavior was good
practice for the office.
Career experts advise that although you might think you're off the
clock for lunch, office politics haven't taken a break.
It's good to observe what everyone does at work and mirror their
behavior, says Penelope Trunk, CEO of Brazen Careerist, an online community for young
professionals. That goes for how they dress, what time they arrive and what they do at
lunchtime.
"Our real job is to monitor company culture and to fit in," Trunk said.
"Some people get good at it the rest of the day and then just don't get it at lunch."
Trunk suggests watching senior management, who probably use lunch to
recharge and to network, then emulating your boss and your peers.
But what if you work with "I'm much too busy for lunch" types and your
stomach is growling? Or what if everyone else goes out for lunch and your budget urges PB&J
from home?
"Work is not a place to be a revolutionary," said Trunk. "People get
hired for their skills and get fired for their fit."
I sometimes get nostalgic for my old office, where nearly every day
many of us would informally gather at the conference room table and eat together. It didn't
matter if you brought your lunch or got takeout.
It appears we were the exception to the rule. A 2005 workplace survey
by the office furniture maker Steelcase found that the lunch "hour" was actually half an
hour or less for most of the survey respondents. A 2006 survey from the American Dietetic
Association reported that 75 percent of office workers ate lunch at their desks as often as
two or three times a week.
Michael Crom, executive vice president and chief learning officer at
Dale Carnegie Training in Hauppauge, N.Y., urged managers to take the lead on fostering a
positive lunch culture. Managers can set the tone by example, and by refraining from doling
out assignments that demand working through lunch.
In a tough economy, Crom said, encouraging people to stop and eat is
one way to prevent burnout.
Crom cited one department at Dale Carnegie that frequently eats
together. They informally discuss problems they're working on, and the lunches are an
opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level.
Unlike Trunk, Crom said employees can effect change if the current
lunch culture isn't working for them, but should do so gently and with sensitivity. Talk to
your boss about research that connects taking breaks with productivity, for example.
If the challenge isn't the boss but colleagues, you could try to gently
persuade them. Crom advises that's best done by action -- inviting someone to join you, for
instance -- rather than by criticizing the status quo.
"Allowing others to arrive at your conclusion and point of view on
their own will position you as a natural leader, rather than a person who unnecessarily
stirs the pot," he suggested.
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