Why Real Thread Does Friday Lunches

Breakfast might be the most important meal of the day, but don’t write lunch off just yet. Sure, dinners at dusk might be more atmospheric — capping off the day with wine and maybe even dessert can be the perfect way to unwind — but we think lunch is truly special. Lunch is a great way for people to step away from their lives for a brief moment in the middle of the day to convene. Though the goal of lunch might not be to feast (unless you’re planning on scheduling a nap right after,) breaking bread with friends, family, or coworkers can be a great way to recharge before getting on with your day. 

For the team at Real Thread, however, lunch isn’t just special — it’s downright sacred. Every third Friday of the month, our entire team (remote teams, too!) enjoys lunch from a local restaurant, discussing wins (both business and personal) between bites.

While we put plenty of thought into choosing our lunch option, the food is far from the most important part of these lunches. Rather, these lunches are our way of focusing on our internal culture, and ensuring that our entire team is on the same page. These lunches can also be a great way to get the creative juices flowing if the morning’s energy is beginning to fade, and you’d be surprised how impactful getting a few different perspectives on the same topic can be! 

Below, the team at Real Thread discusses the reason behind our Friday lunches — internal culture — and the impact it can have on both a team and a business. 

What is “Internal Culture”?

Internal culture, as you can probably guess, refers to the culture of an organization — and permeates everything from hiring, to onboarding, to, well, team lunches! While internal culture is created by hiring individuals with similar values, a strong internal culture cannot exist without the proper input from top leadership. Standards in communication, urgency, feedback, and competitiveness all contribute to internal culture, and few organizational culture’s are exactly the same. 

Why Internal Culture Matters

There are dozens of reasons internal culture matters. Team members want to feel supported by their leadership and their coworkers, but they also want to feel a sense of belonging. Now, more than ever, organizations are taking strides to ensure that employees from all walks of life are welcome — and our Friday lunches are just one way of accomplishing this goal that we aspire to each day. Taking care in creating a strong internal culture can pay off in spades, resulting in teams that actually feel like teams, and greater success as a business. 

Stronger Teams

While “the secret to a strong team is eating lunch together” might sound like something pulled out of a bizarre magazine diet from the 1970’s, it’s the truth! Of course, it’s not just lunch: it’s the way organizational leadership doles out feedback, or the way employees are encouraged to behave, react, and respond. It can be “Summer Fridays” all year-long, it can be Slack channels devoted exclusively to Bravo shows, or, in our case, it can be Friday lunches. Whatever it takes to create a culture that was glaringly absent from your previous gigs — and the gigs of your colleagues.  

Greater Success

There’s a saying from former NFL player Deion Sanders: “when you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you play good. When you play good — they pay good.” While that doesn’t directly apply here… it sort of does? It’s a simple fact: when teams feel good — in that they feel supported in taking risks, and honestly feel that they are a valuable component of the organization (because they are!) — the payoff is noticeable. Many top companies credit their success to their internal culture (including LEGO, AirBnB, and Netflix,) and we also owe much of our success to our team and the internal culture they have helped create — one Friday lunch at a time. 

What’s Your Friday Lunch? 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to internal culture, and our Friday lunches could be another team’s Beach Day — complete with custom t-shirts, of course. If you feel your internal culture is lacking, or if you’re just looking for a way to get your entire team involved, take a page out of our book and give Friday lunch a try. We think you’ll be surprised at the impact it has on both your team and your business.