It'll cost you a dollar!

We have a policy around our office that we don't talk about work during lunch.  I know it sounds crazy but it really allows us to know each other on a more personal level than just 'working together'.  We've become entwined as a group in a unique way through these conversations.  I know when people are going on vacation or where they've been.  I know what hurts and pains their children are going through.  We've experienced the birth of a new grand baby with all the pictures. All of these things draw us closer together then if we just talked more about work!

Along with the pleasure of knowing each other better is the threat of owing a dollar.  Yeah, this is the part that's not so fun.  Long ago one of our employees got tired of talking and hearing about work at lunch so she set up the policy that if you start talking about work anyone can say, 'That'll be a dollar'.  Then, you have to put a dollar in a cup (supposedly).  Somehow, that cup has never surfaced but the conversation stays away from anything work oriented!  I think it's just the threat of owing a dollar these days that keeps things going.  Or maybe it's the gal who invented the idea glaring at you with piercing eyes!

Give this a try at your work place and see what the reaction is.  Being a part of people's lives is so much more gratifying then owing a dollar!