Healthy Team Lunch

One of the best ways to foster better relationships and bonds among your employees is to have a healthy team lunch gathering. Team lunches are an excellent opportunity to put in a little fun to make work less tiring and boring, especially if you make the food healthy to boost their energy and morale. To create a healthy team lunch gathering for your employees, here are ways to do it:

#1. Pick a theme

To spice things up during lunch, have a lunch gathering. You can schedule it once a month or even once a week depending on your availability. There are many themes to choose from, but make sure that the food that will be included in your themed lunch gathering are healthy. You can refer to this great guide on SnackNation for delicious healthy snacks that would suit anyone. Here are some fun but healthy themes your employees can choose from:

  • Mexican – There are many healthy and delicious meals to choose from in a Mexican-themed lunch. You can have chipotle chicken, turkey enchilada, or even Mexican tomato rice.
  • Japanese – This is one of the most popular themes you can choose from. Surely it will be a hit with your employees. You can have vegetarian sushi, Japanese baked sweet potato, and combine it with a healthy matcha smoothie drink.
  • Barbecue theme – almost no one can deny a very tempting barbecue, but this time, serve it with a healthy twist. You can eat barbecue chicken fajita skewers, smoked mushroom burgers or even a grilled salad. These meals are easy to prepare, and are also perfect for your health.

Themes may seem a little silly for some, but it will serve as an ice breaker for your employees. For a more meaningful themed lunch experience, you can have your employees dress up with the theme of your choosing to make it more fun and enjoyable.

#2. Schedule it consistently

You can schedule the team lunch gatherings once a week, once a month or anytime that fits your company’s schedule, as long as it’s consistent. You can even schedule it during your employees’ anniversaries or birthdays so that your employees will have something to look forward to during work. The schedule must also fit the employees’ schedules. One of the benefits of a team lunch is to make work more enjoyable, and it would give your employees a break from stress. Overall, you would have a positive vibe in your workplace.  

#3. Send an invitation

You can make creative invitations designed with the theme you chose. By making invitations, you are showing that you are giving importance to the healthy lunch gatherings in your workplace by going the extra mile of being creative. Invitations will make the gathering more formal, but with a streak of creative design, you can get everyone to be excited about attending. When employees see that you’re valuing them, they are more likely to become productive.

#4. Plan where to get the food

There are many options that you can explore with regards to where you get your food. Here are two options:

  • Catering: If you have the budget, you can let a restaurant or a food truck cater the food for you. This is very convenient because you don’t have to go through the hassle of cooking the food, especially if you have a really tight schedule. You can even let the caterer set up in front or inside of the office so that it would be more convenient for your employees. Just make sure that the food you will be served is healthy for the body.
  • BYOP or Bring Your Own Provision: This means that each employee is required to bring food that is enough for all of you. In that way, you do not need to worry about the food not being enough because in BYOP, food will, for sure, be abundant. However, it must be reiterated that only healthy foods are allowed.

There are still lots of options that you could try out, but the two mentioned above are the best in terms of convenience. Also, make sure that you have taken into account the special diet requirements of some of your employees to give respect to their preference.

#5. Explore your creativity

The key to the best healthy team lunch gathering is to keep it simple, but that doesn’t mean forgetting to be creative. You could explore different themes and variations to a team lunch so that the employees will want to participate in it. You can add in games and team building activities to strengthen your bond as a team. Or you can have themed lunches where you can celebrate essential dates. To keep things simple, you can restrict the use of phones during lunch so that the employees will have a chance to talk to each other to promote a sense of togetherness in your workplace.

Conclusion

If you’re thinking of a way to break the monotony of your work while improving team morale and company culture, organize or create a healthy team lunch for your employees. By doing that, you will be promoting the work environment, and you’d be giving your employees a chance to relax while improving their overall health.