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.