After a morning packed with meetings and projects, the last thing on your team’s mind is what they want to eat for lunch. But when you encourage group meals or team lunches, both you and your team will see some surprising benefits.
Let’s look at what benefits team lunch offers and how DoorDash for Business makes group meals easy.
Host a group meal today, build a resilient workforce tomorrow
Nothing brings people together like breaking bread; we do it with our family during the holidays, friends on birthdays, and loved ones on anniversaries. But when you look at research on workplace dynamics, most people somehow forget about this desire for social interaction.
In fact, nearly 40% of people say they never take a break during the workday (for lunch or any other reason), and among those who step away for lunch, nearly 50% eat alone.
So, why, when most people crave connection in every other aspect of life, do they shy away from it at work?
There are a number of reasons why this happens. For one, some workers want to get ahead, and with limited time in the day, they can get more done by skipping lunch. Others feel guilty for taking a “long” lunch with coworkers. So instead, they eat lunch at their desk while chipping away at the day’s tasks.
By encouraging your team to not only take lunch but take lunch as a group, you stand to see some long-lasting benefits. Don’t just take our word for it: eating together has been found to lower stress, boost camaraderie, and improve productivity in various settings.
Take a page from your family unit’s book
For many families, the demands of daily life can get in the way of time together at the dinner table. Most American families actually say they eat as few as a single meal together during the work week.
When families do, however, find time for dinners together, the benefits are felt throughout the household. One survey found that 91% of families felt less stressed after sharing a meal with their children and partner. Families also say sharing a meal reminds them of the importance of connecting with other people and that dedicated time to unwind outweighs continuing to work.
And it’s not just parents who are better off—kids in households that eat together often perform better in school and make healthier food choices.
Look at your local fire department
You see similar dynamics at play in the workplace, as well. Take firefighting, for example. The job, by nature, requires trust among coworkers. No firefighter, after all, could be effective without believing the person behind them would catch them when they fall, both literally and figuratively.
Researchers found that one way firefighters build that much-needed trust is by eating together. Those who ate meals together were more likely to have better job performance as a group than those who dined solo.
Given the research around families and firefighters, there’s a clear upside to encouraging and arranging group meals at work. But how do you make this a painless process?
Make a group meal possible with DoorDash for Business
DoorDash for Business offers two ways to arrange a group meal at work.
Group Orders
Use Group Orders when you want to order food on the day of a group event. Give your team a budget to order food on DoorDash, but instead of placing several individual orders, everyone adds food to a shared cart up to the limit you set earlier. And when you order together, you only pay only one set of fees, allowing your team to stretch their budgets further. What’s more, each individually wrapped meal comes in one delivery. That way, your team can enjoy a group meal as soon as your delivery arrives.
Catering
When you want to place a large order days in advance, DoorDash for Business' Catering option is your best bet. Catering, unlike Group Orders, requires you to place an order in advance, and instead of distributing a budget to your team, you pick all the food for the event. Keep in mind, most caterers on DoorDash also have minimum order sizes and minimum lead time for pre-orders.
Place an order fit for your next team gathering
Picking between Group Orders and Catering may not be a straightforward decision, so here’s a simple way to think about it.
Small team gatherings that come together on short notice and don’t have exact headcounts call for the flexibility of Group Orders. Group Orders, as mentioned above, let you arrange a group meal hours before it happens. Each person receives a budget and orders what they’re craving that day. And don’t worry about last-minute cancellations; unused budgets are returned to your corporate account.
This works well for work anniversaries, company lunches, or any small event that comes together organically.
Catering, on the other hand, is better for much larger group meals. Think all-hands meetings, company offsites, or holiday parties. All these events are scheduled well in advance, and you usually have a good idea of headcount. In those cases, you don’t want to be ordering 100 individual meals on the same day. Instead, you’ll want to cater large trays or buffet stations that satisfy most, if not all, tastes.
Arranging a group meal is easy with DoorDash for Business. And by making them a regular habit , you can have a significant impact on building a happier and more productive team.
Contact us to learn more about Group Orders and Catering.
