(no subject)

Today, Joel on Software asks:

Do you like your job?

Do you enjoy the people you work with?

Would you want to have lunch with them? Every day? [...] I like to think that we just enjoy eating together because we genuinely like each other and like spending time together. If you can’t imagine eating lunch every day with your coworkers, I hate to break it to you: you might not like them. Is it OK to spend most of your waking hours with people you don’t like?

I find this interesting because I've considered it a sine qua non for my entire career -- I will not work for a team that doesn't have lunch (mostly) together most days. That kind of camaraderie is critical, in my opinion, to the formation of a team that pulls together in crunch periods.

When I was at Bitstream, in fact, we had a strict policy: No work-related conversation at the lunch table. This was great not only because it gave us a "safe zone" when things were stressful, but more importantly because it gave us a chance to get to know one another as people and not just as job roles. We'd discuss the latest production at the Huntington or the ART; we'd discuss what our kids were up to; we'd discuss books we'd read or the Red Sox or our various choirs.

And even though I've been gone from Bitstream for about 18 months now, we still get together regularly for dinner to catch up on those same things.

Joel is right. If you're not enjoying lunch with your co-workers, why not?

(no subject)

Today, Joel on Software asks:

Do you like your job?

Do you enjoy the people you work with?

Would you want to have lunch with them? Every day? [...] I like to think that we just enjoy eating together because we genuinely like each other and like spending time together. If you can’t imagine eating lunch every day with your coworkers, I hate to break it to you: you might not like them. Is it OK to spend most of your waking hours with people you don’t like?

I find this interesting because I've considered it a sine qua non for my entire career -- I will not work for a team that doesn't have lunch (mostly) together most days. That kind of camaraderie is critical, in my opinion, to the formation of a team that pulls together in crunch periods.

When I was at Bitstream, in fact, we had a strict policy: No work-related conversation at the lunch table. This was great not only because it gave us a "safe zone" when things were stressful, but more importantly because it gave us a chance to get to know one another as people and not just as job roles. We'd discuss the latest production at the Huntington or the ART; we'd discuss what our kids were up to; we'd discuss books we'd read or the Red Sox or our various choirs.

And even though I've been gone from Bitstream for about 18 months now, we still get together regularly for dinner to catch up on those same things.

Joel is right. If you're not enjoying lunch with your co-workers, why not?