Tip: Buy lunch…just don’t go.

Posted by Hailey Heimbach on Monday, November 24, 2025

Tip: Buy lunch…just don’t go.

Managers and leaders may think it’s a good bonding exercise to go to lunch with their teams, but Arthur C. Brooks, who writes a popular happiness series in The Atlantic, offers up some surprising (!) information: “spending time with the boss creates more negative emotions for employees than anything else across a normal day. (These researchers showed that time with the boss induces more negative emotions than commuting or household chores, for example.) This doesn’t make you, the boss, a bad person; it is human nature to not be perfectly comfortable around a person who has power over you.”

Here is Brooks’ advice:

“Schedule and pay for a team lunch with no agenda. But here’s the kicker: You’re not invited. To begin creating an organic culture of friendship—and happier employees—you should help construct the ecosystem then get out of the way.”

What do you think of this advice? Is it something you already do? Is it something you would consider doing? Share your thoughts with us here.​

​Read more from Arthur C. Brooks in his “How to Build a Life” column in The Atlantic.

SHEPA LEARNING COMPANY WEEKLY POSITIVE NETWORKING® TIP​
​No. 1139, November 12, 2025​
​By Gayle Hallgren and Judy Thomson

Categories: General

Tagged: General, Information, Chamber, Tips and Tricks