Want to build teamwork at the office? Get a pizza!
The department meeting is going to be a long one, or several team members need to put in a few extra hours to deal with an unexpected deadline. These situations often call for pizza – the world’s most popular takeaway food. Did an overeager colleague burn her mouth? Did he belch because of the spicy topping? Surprisingly, it’s such funny, awkward or even embarrassing moments that bring people closer together, according to an international team of researchers.
Pizza anyone?
Creating memories around shared experiences like having a pizza can build camaraderie. The findings were published in the ‘Journal of Management Studies’. The study also found that management can exploit the potential of shared experiences to strengthen working relationships across teams. Businesses stand to benefit by providing opportunities for employees to form lasting memories together. “One major takeaway from this research is that, for larger projects involving people in different occupations or experience levels within the same company, you’ll need some kind of shared experience that enables them not only to work more effectively together but also be more comfortable sharing their ideas,” explained co-author Matthew Lyle, assistant professor at Binghamton University in the United States, in a news release. “It could also be like a double-edged sword in a way because, if the event is strong enough to bring people together, it could also disrupt established groups.” The researchers analysed a case study of the South Korean public broadcaster TelvCorp’s major 170-day strike by reporters. Other staff members were cautious about joining the cause until the CEO fired union leaders. The action triggered conversations across workplace roles that resulted in powerful collaboration. This setting nurtured what the study refers to as a mnemonic community – a group sharing nostalgic memories of the past. The group outlived the strike. Despite this, a rift was caused between the striking and non-striking employees. “When the strike was over, the situation became more complicated because things were unlikely to go back to the way they were at that workplace,” stated Lyle. “Now, there’s a new group after the strike, with some people saying they could no longer see colleagues who chose an opposite side in the strike as good people.”
Create a memory, boost team dynamics
So, could trivial experiences such as those involving steaming hot or spicy pizza actually help to effectively solve a problem together? “When you’re in the in-group, you’re more likely to help each other out and have each other’s backs,” concluded Lyle. “We know we can create those things artificially, but why not create them around some shared experience that makes a memory, that makes people want to work together?”
Keywords
pizza, teamwork, shared experience, employee, memory, workplace, colleague