What are the benefits of a lunch meeting (shuffle lunch)?

There are companies that
As an opportunity for employees who don't often interact in their daily work to communicate, "Shuffle Lunch" is a program that utilizes lunch.
Actually, what about the effects?
Actually, our

First implementation

Four to five randomly selected individuals were formed into a group, and a leader was chosen by lottery from within that group.
The chosen leader decides the date, time, and location for lunch.
Additionally, the company has decided to provide a 1,000 yen per person lunch subsidy as a benefit.
Later, as an effectiveness measurement, a questionnaire was conducted, and...

It was refreshing to have lunch with members I don't usually go with.

I was able to learn about a restaurant I hadn't been to before.

If I had to say, due to the number of people, the leader has a bit of a burden because they have to leave earlier than the busy times or make a reservation.

Second implementation

Based on the results of the previous survey, we will partially revise the rules and conduct the second survey.
Even if it's only for 4 or 5 people, restaurants get crowded during lunchtime, and many don't accept reservations.
The leader's burden was greater than anticipated, so we decided to make it so that "advance restaurant reservations are not required," taking that into consideration.

Since it was a lunch gathering that included both management and part-time staff, the opportunity to chat casually with colleagues they rarely interact with seemed to be quite well-received.
"It's a hassle until you actually do it, but once you do, it's surprisingly fun." "That said, it's tough to coordinate schedules every month..." Is that about right?
From now on, we will continue to hold sessions while repeatedly implementing them regularly and improving them through surveys.
And at the most recent lunch meeting, it evolved into "one-on-one private lunches."

Lunch meeting effect

What I realized by continuing these lunch meetings (shuffle lunches) was the effect of the "Mere-Exposure Effect (Zajonc's Law)."

The Law of Familiarity (Zajonc's Law) is a psychological effect where the more you get to know someone, the more their impression improves, and your liking for them increases (you can't dislike them).
You can get to know a different side of your colleagues that you don't see at work through casual conversations while having lunch.
It certainly seemed that learning about that unexpected side of each other had made them like each other even more.
They say "organizations are made of people," so the effect of a slight increase in mutual likeability actually cannot be ignored. It will likely affect the frequency and quality of communication in daily work.

By continuing these efforts and sharing them in this way, we’ve also seen some welcome side effects.
We previously
The article only covers superficial aspects, but it still touched upon anecdotes that represent our company culture, making people think, "This might be a good place." For us, that's simply gratifying.
Considering these secondary benefits as well, wouldn’t you agree that the lunch gatherings are a cost-effective initiative?
Please try it.