Work anniversary team lunches

by Rick Joi
Rick Joi is the founder of The Workiversary Group and author of the award‑winning book, Inspiring Work Anniversaries.

Are you a manager of a team that’s together in-person at least once a week?

Want to do something meaningful for your employees on their work anniversaries while simultaneously boosting team belonging, trust, and interdepartmental cooperation?

Are you busy and don’t want to have to put a lot of effort into it?

If you’ve answered yes to those questions, then work anniversary lunches are for you!

It starts with scheduling

Meals don’t make sense for every team, but if they make sense for yours, then you’ll want to add them to your and your team’s calendars.

The goal of scheduling something on people’s calendars ahead of time is to get as many people from your team there as possible so that it’s a good team bonding experience.

Boost interdepartmental cooperation

Another really special thing to do is to invite people from outside your team who work closely with the employee celebrating the work anniversary. That can go a long way towards supporting interdepartmental understanding and cooperation.

Also consider inviting your boss. In some situations, having the employee’s boss’s boss along will stifle free communication, but in many others, it is a great opportunity for increasing skip-level communication and understanding.

Which restaurant?

If you’ve captured employee favorites, then the employee’s favorite local restaurant is an obvious choice. Or, if you’ll have a bigger group, you may want to choose a restaurant that’s able to seat you all at a single table (or multiple tables pushed together). The ideal restaurant will be quiet enough to support easy conversations. And, a restaurant that you can walk to is better than one you drive to, especially for office workers who spend the vast majority of their time sitting.

While it’s not free, it’s backed by science

While these meals will add up in cost, eating together is scientifically proven to increase trust and cooperation. That makes this especially valuable for teams that need to collaborate and work creatively together. It also makes including people from outside your team especially valuable.

(If meals are too expensive or otherwise don’t make sense for your team, maybe consider a snack in the breakroom. What can be special and unique about the snack? Getting a “happy workiversary” cake with their name is one way to show that they matter. If you want to be more original, consider what might employees not have any other time? What is associated with the company? Is there some special off-menu food from your restaurant?)

Make it special

Here are some tips on how to make the most of the lunch:

Ideally, the group can all sit at a single table (or multiple tables pushed together). Circular tables are ideal because everyone can see everyone, but a single long narrow table is better than multiple circular tables.

Have someone share a few words about the person celebrating the work anniversary. This can be you sharing the thankful paragraph described in the work anniversary paragraph of appreciation blog post. Or, it can be a few words from their best friend at work. For more tips check out the how to write a great work anniversary speech blog post.

Make it really special

This isn’t for everyone, but consider a ritual, like singing the happy work anniversary song.

If your group is less musically minded, consider doing a haka-inspired work anniversary performance.

If you’re straight up too boring for the previous two ideas (and most of us are), then right as the meal arrives and before anyone starts to eat, you can yell out “2-4-6-8, whose seven years with XYZ Corp do we appreciate?” and then have everyone respond with the person’s name.

That will be a story they’ll tell with a smile when they get home that night. 😃