There are many cultures, too, in which eating together has a lot of significance for a relationship. It's a very basic biological necessity that I think has deep, tribal roots as a bonding experience.
I think it can be especially important for nerds, too, in that we're not gregarious or socially outgoing by nature.
Well how does this work, then? "Some people don't like olives, that's why we have an olive-eating contest every Thursday."
A company who relies on group lunches to make a company work normally needs new management, period. Surely there's an HR/hiring problem if people are being brought on board who require informal interaction outside of a work context in order to do good work. You might think I'm being all Sheldon about this, but work-life balance is important to me, and lunchtime is a part of that.
It's a very basic biological necessity that I think has deep, tribal roots as a bonding experience.
Sure, but as you say, this is solely your belief. That doesn't make it fact, and it doesn't mean it applies to anybody else. If you can only work at a company that subscribes to this belief, that's your option, but it's not fair to say that every company should hew to your beliefs.
I also don't think anyone (least of all me) is saying this should be universally enforced as standard practice. If you say you must have this time for yourself, and that's a deal-breaker for you, then I respect that. You obviously wouldn't want to work for a company that insists on this. I'm also not saying that I wouldn't work at a company that didn't have this or a similar policy.
I'm just saying I agree that this kind of policy can help, especially among nerds.
Assuming good coworkers, team lunch is hugely beneficial for unstructured communication. Everyone gets together, regardless of role, and just talks. People learn about each other, learn about the state of the business and figure out when someone they don't often talk to is actually in a position to help them out.
It's also literally true – the team eating together begins and ends their meals simultaneously, meaning that productivity resumes at the same time for everyone. This makes things really easy when you're working on projects with multiple people.
Team lunches are magic with the right crew.
Certainly in my somewhat limited experience coworkers who are friends generally work better together and are more likely to ride out the bad times.
The theory goes that eating together is a natural environment for people to establish a rapport that carries through to their working relationship.
I'm... so unaccountably bewildered and even offended at just the notion of it. I've never felt this way before.
I suddenly have so much new compassion for religious zealots.
edit: Ha, the anti-lunchers have come outta the woodwork here. Come on dudes, grow a sense of mirth. I'm mostly judging myself for intolerance here.
BTW, free food in our office at Bush and Kearny Tuesday/Thursday! Swing by if you want to talk about zombies or anything else controversial. (Hey, we're ex-Splunk and LookSmart after all!) :)