lunch time

Every company will have a typically one hour lunch break. Some companies works on the basis of rotating lunch hour among the staffs, whereby some will leave earlier, some will leave later to keep the company business running uninterupted even during lunch hour.

Other companies observe a very strict lunch break in the sense that no business will be entertain during the lunch break. Even when the potential customer walks in, there will a note stating that it is their lunch break. Even phones have pre-recorded automatic system that informs you that its their lunch hour and call back after lunch.

I think this practice is a good practice. It is not fair for the staffs to take turn for the lunch time. Just imagine half the office is gone for the first hour of the lunch break, typically from 12pm to 1pm leaving behind the late lunch group of people going from 1pm to 2pm. I had observed that companies that operate in the rotating lunch manner will effectively loose a total of 2 hours of productive work from their staffs.

Why I say that you might ask? Simple. Just put it this way. At 12pm, the first group of people walks away for their lunch break, leaveing behind a group of people that is suppose to take their break at 1pm onwards continue working.

How many people do you think will have to mood to work when they see their friends heading out for food? Matter made worse when the staffs on their lunch break gather at the pantry with their packed food and the aroma of the food lingers in the office re-circulating air conditioner.

Just imagine yourself hungry at 1230pm, but it is not your lunch time yet and the nice smell of hot food coming through the air condition ducting blowing at you. I am sure your mind will just be thinking on what are you going to buy for lunch later and not concentrating on the work.

Then, you might say, then we only loose one hour of work right? Wrong. The second part of the stories goes this way. The first batch of lunch staffs return to their workstation at 1pm, then the second batch of people leaves at that time heading for food. Do you think the first batch of people that had return will start work immediatly after setting the base on the chair? This never happen. Typically this is what happen, when the second batch of people leaves for lunch, the first batch of people will sit and chit-chat among themselves until the second batch of staffs returns.

Don't think so?

Have you been to an over the counter customer service window during lunch time and you will observe at some counters, there will be a small signage there stating "Out for Lunch" and some windows servicing customer and those that is open will operate slower than usual? Then, when the all the counter opens, the process gets faster, not that there is more people sitting in the counter, just that when they see their counterparts sits back to work, they will work faster. In a way a mechanism inside them telling them that it is back to work time and that is after 2 hours.

So enjoy your lunch...