1. What do lunch habits mean for the working environment, well-being and performance?

– Lunch habits mean more than we think! The lunch has several functions. Firstly, it is a break and relaxation from the work that the body and brain need. Research shows that employees who skip lunch have a significantly higher risk of physical and mental exhaustion, says Eikerapen.

– The lunch is also an arena for getting to know those you work with better. This of course requires that the topics you talk about are sometimes more than superficial talk. Getting to know each other better can lead to increased psychological security and more so-called “high-quality relationships” at work. Both parts are related to better well-being and performance at work.

– Vi vet that good lunch conversations and an experience of community contribute to internal motivation, and that strong organizational cultures and teams spend time eating together.

2. Are lunch habits about personal needs or culture and leadership?

– For some people, it is completely natural and attractive to eat lunch with others. Something to look forward to. For others, it is a distraction from work, and if you could choose, you would prefer to eat lunch in front of the PC.

– But if you have an understanding that in this workplace it is a norm, an expectation that you eat lunch together, then most people do. I think that good lunch habits are therefore to some extent governed by culture and unwritten or written norms in the workplace.

3. Can a lunch culture become so strong that people compromise their own needs?

– Yes. Some prefer to go for a run at lunchtime, others to meditate. In any team and in any workplace, someone should regularly have a conversation about “how do we want it to be with us?”

4. What do you miss when employees often eat alone?

– Put it to the fore: It is a clear signal that you do not prioritize the community and do not want to contribute to the working environment, which we create together. You say: “The rest of you are not important enough to me for me to prioritize you.” Even if that is not the intention.

5. What are the most common misconceptions about people who eat alone?

– It is easy to interpret eating alone as a sign of strangeness, selfishness and a social deviation. Sometimes there are completely different reasons. Social anxiety, extreme work pressure, chronic stress etc.

– The problem arises if this is a fixed pattern. Then it is a good test of the working environment if someone gets in touch and asks why the person is eating alone.

– Some voluntarily choose to eat alone. They are engrossed in their work, or have some habits that you think do not concern anyone but themselves. Some may think that where and how you eat lunch is a private matter, especially if you have not paid for it.

6. Can you miss something by always eating with others?

– What you can miss is a real break. For some, sitting around a table and talking to others is a break. But if you’re slightly below average on extroversion, it can take a lot of energy to keep a conversation going. You have therefore had a change in lunch, but not the restitution you need.

7. What can lunch and meal breaks reveal about hierarchy and social status at work?

– In some environments there are clear unwritten rules for who sits with whom. For example, in the canteen of a hospital. There you will rarely see doctors sitting together with porters.

– In countless NRK sketches, including in the Radio reception, they have made a point of the strict hierarchy linked to who you sit with at lunch. In such a perspective, lunch can become an arena for exclusion or manifestation of social status in a workplace.