Invite people to lunch
When you work at a very large company, especially one that has experienced a lot of growth, it’s easy to lose touch with people and feel less socially connected. A couple of years ago, I decided to start sending out lunch invites to people, just one person at a time. I tried to vary the kinds of people I invited:
People I’ve known forever but lost track of
People in different organizations (i.e. not just engineering)
People new to the area where I work or perhaps new to Apple People that are great to brainstorm with
People I work with cross-functionally
People who spend too much time in their offices and otherwise have work/life balance issues
Many people need to be dragged away from their desks! Taking a break for an hour can have a lot of benefits:
Networking can be tremendously important
It’s a great mental break
You can get some great ideas by talking with people from very different areas of the company
You can make some new friends
You can help new Apple employees find their way
You can learn more about things your company does that you never knew about
You can possibly get some sun and fresh air
You can get out of a rut of eating with your team or the same people every day
You can get away from your desk if you typically eat lunch there (bad!)
Sometimes an out-of-the-blue invite can catch people off guard, so I sometimes send an email ahead of time and say “Hey, I do this thing where I invite random people to lunch. I won’t be offended if you decline.” Sometimes I’ll invite someone I barely know and they can behave strangely.
So, invite people to lunch. Inviting more than one might be more comfortable. You could invite me to lunch! Contact Me.