B1 – Intermediate
A working lunch. So many of us are guilty of being a “desktop diner”. Is it wrong?
Click on the title below and be ready to talk about the etiquette of dining at your desk.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35717493
Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk.
- Have you experienced working during your break? Is this bad for us?
- Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk?
16 replies on “Desktop Dining Etiquette”
1. Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk
The five rules for lunch or desk dining, suggested by office etiquette trainer Ann Marie Sabath, aim to create a considerate and professional eating environment:
– Avoid Smelly Foods: Opt for meals that won’t produce strong odors to prevent disturbing your coworkers with unpleasant smells.
– Don’t Use the Phone: Refrain from using your phone while eating to maintain focus on your meal and avoid potential disruptions to your work environment.
– Avoid Foods that Take Concentration: Opt for easily manageable foods that don’t require intense focus, allowing you to balance eating and working effectively.
– Don’t Eat with Your Hands: Choose foods that can be eaten with utensils to minimize mess and maintain a clean workspace.
– Always Tidy Your Mess: Clean up after yourself to ensure a hygienic and organized environment, reflecting professionalism and consideration for your colleagues.
Following these rules promotes a harmonious and efficient workplace, where individuals can enjoy their meals without negatively impacting their coworkers or the work environment.
2. Have you experienced working during your break? Is this bad for us?
Yes, in my previus job, I sometimes ate at my desk while I continued working because there was very little teamwork and that meant that all the work fell on a few, so there were times when I had to take advantage of these break times to get the work done.
In my opinion working during breaks can have more negative than positive effects. For example, some negative effects could be burnout and fatigue, decreased creativity, por work-life balance or physical health impact.
In conclusion, I think that the key is finding a balance. Occasional short, focused work during breaks might be beneficial for some, but it’s essential to prioritize genuine rest and relaxation to avoid burnout and maintain overall well-being. Individuals should be mindful of their own needs, listen to their bodies, and aim for a healthy work-life balances.
3. Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk?
Following office dining rules is essential for maintaining a professional, considerate, and productive workplace. It ensures that your eating habits don’t disrupt colleagues, contributes to a clean environment, and upholds a positive professional image. Adhering to etiquette fosters teamwork and helps minimize distractions during work hours.
Appreciate your time and efforts in writing all your responses. You wrote them really well!
Here are just a few minor things you can improve in terms of spelling and punctuation.
Be mindful of your spelling of “previous” in ‘Yes, in my previus job‘ and “poor” in “por work-life balance”
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1. Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk.
I agree all of them because they are logical reasons for a good convivence with ourselves and others.
Avoid smelly foods, it is a good way for not annoying to others
Don’t use the phone, between others reasons we could send unpleasant noises
Avoid foods that take concentration, because it would be dangerous for the devices, books and else
Don’t eat with your hands, because you are going to dirty the objects that you touch, devices, pens, notebooks and else.
Always tidy your mess, this is a good idea not only after desktop dining, it is always a good idea for best working.
2. Have you experienced working during your break? Is this bad for us?
Yes, I have had some experienced working during my break but they were an exception. I think that working during breaks is bad for us because is stressful and also we should focus our mind to other things
3. Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk?
We should follow certain rules while eating in our office because we must respect our companions and work environment
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1. Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk.
->Avoid smelly foods. It’s important to others.
->Don’t use the phone. You will need your both hans to eat.
->Avoid foods that take concentration. You might stain your desk.
->Don’t eat with your hans. After, you will touch other things.
-> Always tidy your mess. Don’t work surrounded by food.
2. Have you experienced working during your break? Is this bad for us?
Yes, I have experienced working during my break. I think we should separate work and food. When we are working we must be focused and when we are eating we must be relaxed.
3. Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk?
We should follow certain rules because they are necessary to maintain cleanliness and not disturb our colleagues.
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Discuss:
1. Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk.
I agree with these rules because I think if you don’t follow them you can annoy your co-workers:
• Avoid smelly food
• Don’t use your phone
• Avoid food that take “concentration”
• Always tidy your mess
And I disagree with this rule because is the simplest way to eat and if you clean your hands after eating and respect the rest of the rules you should not bother your colleagues at work.
• Don’t eat with your hands
2. Have you experienced working during your break? Is this bad for us?
Yes, when a had a lot of work. I think is not good for our physical and mental health, because you usually eat bad or junk food and you don’t take a rest at your job and I think to have a break is very important in order to avoid stress and be able to produce and be more focus after.
3. Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk?
Of course, in our Company we have some recommendation in order to avoid job hazards (p.e.: don’t use at your desk device to heat the food, etc.) but I think we also need some rules for desktop dinning like the five tips in the bbc video.
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1. Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk.
Can`t agree with all of them. Smelly foods at work are disgusting. Strong smells at the office are not nice. Eating while talking at the phone is rude. Why would I avoid foods that take concentration? eating can be like a pit stop while working.
Don’t eat with your hands…couldn’t agree more. They keyboard and the mouse would be dirty.
Whay if I am tidy in my mess?
2. Have you experienced working during your break?Yes. When we have a huge amount of projects sometimes breaks are not even an option. Is this bad for us?Absolutely. Your brain needs a break and if you don’t take it your brain somehow will take it.
3. Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk? Because we are polite people and whe don’t want to annoy our coworkers.
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I’m strongly against not taking the rest time that belong us as workers, either to rest our eyes, our mind or having lunch. In fact, if it is a question of productivity, it is better to take the time to eat with calm, forgetting not to use the hands to don’t dirty the table, or not to bring a particular food that doesn’t require concentration or doesn’t have any smell (windows can be opened too); resting for a while, either twenty minutes or an hour, and then returning to work.
However, I think the main reason to respect the break time is our health: it is necessary to eat well, to eat balanced, not “a kind of food in particular to not disturb or dirty the environment”. It is also necessary to take it easy, not eating fast because “we’re doing two things at the same time and we’ve to finish as soon as possible because there’s a lot of work to do”.
In my case, when it’s lunch time, I completely stop what I’m doing and focus on eating, as when I am working, I’m focused on working. Everything has its time and I do well to take that hour for myself, to disconnect, eating with calm, digest the food and then go back to work.
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1. Discuss the 5 rules when having lunch or eating at your desk.
Sorry I can not see the video for politic of security of my company
2. Have you experienced working during your break? Is this bad for us?
Yes, many times but this is not good we need break at least 1 hour about to for forgot the work during that time
3. Why should we follow certain rules when eating in our office or at our desk?
I think that especially for hygiene but also by image, for example if a client visits us it is not a good image that we are eating at the desk
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I usually eat at the office but not at the work table but in a room with a microwave and I don’t like it at all because I have to carry the food in a plastic container.
Rules:
1 – Do not scream
2- Waiting for your turn
3- Clean and wash everything
4- Do not talk about work
5- Going for a walk
Thank you for taking the time in answering our questions. Good job.
In this sentence below, you can use the word “office pantry” instead of “a room with a microwave” and be a bit careful with your prepositions too.
Have a lovely day ahead!