How useful are company BBQs?

This Friday will see the first of a series of staff BBQs (weather permitting..) that we have at RY over the summer months. We have a resident BBQ expert (no, he’s not Australian, just a committed carnivore) who takes charge of the food and a budding DJ (one of our design team) who takes care of the music. The BBQs start at 5pm on Fridays and are a great opportunity for everyone in the agency to come together at the end of the week and have a drink and a chat. Even though we all sit in the same building, although not on the same floor, it can be very easy to go for long periods of time without having a conversation with some of your colleagues. So, the BBQ provides a great opportunity to catch up with people you haven’t spoken to in a while and find out how their flat / garden / pottery classes are going.

But these BBQs also have business benefits. A survey published last week by YouGov showed that working with good colleagues was as important as money in persuading people to stay with an organisation. It’s long been known that if people feel ingrained in the social fabric of the organisation they work for then they are more likely to stay in their job – and social events like this can help. It’s also an opportunity for people to forge relationships and friendships with people they don’t necessarily sit next to or work with on a regular basis. This can lead to better cross-company communication, people developing a more in-depth understanding of what different parts of the business do and, last summer, even resulted in the set up of a couple of ‘working parties’.

It’s surprising now much strategic thinking there is behind the burgers and the bun.