Sharing a meal strengthens the team: Petr Houdek publishes in Organizational Dynamics

Petr Houdek has published an article on how shared meals at work can support trust, cooperation, and relationships among colleagues.

In the article The commensality model: From team practice to organizational flourishing, Petr presents commensality, or eating together, as a tool for supporting relationships within work teams. Regular shared meals can create space for informal interaction and contribute to trust, psychological safety, inclusion, and better coordination among colleagues.

However, the benefits of eating together are not automatic. The article points out that poorly designed shared activities can instead reinforce conflict, hierarchy, or a sense of forced participation. Petr therefore proposes a five-stage framework to help organizations assess when and how commensality can be used effectively. The model also considers hybrid and remote teams, where virtual shared meals or other forms of informal interaction may serve a similar function.

We can vouch for the practice ourselves! At Decision Lab Prague, lunch together follows every team meeting, and once a month we even add a fun social activity. A nice habit we would recommend to any other team.

The article was published in Organizational Dynamics (Vol. 55, Issue 3, 2026, Article 101267).