to think you should provide lunch if you are a business hosting a meeting from 10am to 2pm?

[Mintyy]

Just that really.

What was actually offered was 1 cup of coffee.

[razmataz]

For an internal meeting I wouldn't expect it but externally I would.

Not if the meeting was just an hour or so either 12-1 or 1-2, but if it was running between 12-2 or longer I would expect something to be provided.

Internal meetings I'd never expect lunch though, just doesn't happen in my company.

[happyyonisleepyyoni]

Yanbu.

Very unprofessional to schedule a meeting over lunch and not make it clear what the catering arrangements are.

Perfectly acceptable to hold "brown bag" lunch meetings where people know in advance to bring their own, but you have to tell them first!

[Bonsoir]

Yes of course. How can people be expected to work if they are hungry?

[londonrach]

Lunch? You mean people provide sandwich for meetings. Working in the nhs I can tell you we bring our own and if we have a meeting usually have a clinic in the afternoon so it's finding time to eat sandwich before seeing patients.

[CharityCase]

Surely the point is that for external visitors, you dont know what their schedule is like for the rest of the day- they may be heading straight into another meeting or have come directly from one. In my sector this is quite typical- they will come into town to see 7 funders in a day with only a 5 min taxi ride between meetings. Therefore I always offer lunch if the meeting covers all or some of 12-2pm. They can decline if they don't want it. I view it as basic hospitality. Similarly, if the company organises internal meetings between 12-2pm they provide a sandwich lunch.

[SoulJacker]

I don't think lunch needs to be provided but I would expect some sort of notification of it, e.g. we'll break for lunch, please bring your own/grab a late breakfast as no lunch provided.

[flowery]

Did they actually know it was going to last until 2?

[NymodigFruOla]

I used to work in the advertising industry years ago, and it was absolutely unthinkable for the host company not to provide food for meetings which covered lunchtime.

I don't know what it's like now, but certainly a host company should advise about catering in advance.

[cingolimama]

OP, I think it's really rude and inconsiderate to not provide something for lunch OR at least make it clear that their budget cannot make that provision. It's also stupid.

Hungry people lose focus. Tummy rumblings can be very loud and embarassing. Also, there is something equalising and calming about eating together with people you're working with - it's civilising and condusive to getting stuff done.

I'm freelance and frequently have meetings over lunch. It's usually provided. However, a few weeks back I had a note from one company who put it thus: "So sorry about this, but we've had to cut expediture back fiercely and can for the moment no longer provide lunches. However, we'll have some biscuits and plentiful coffee and water to tide us through." This was as classy a way to not provide lunch as possible.

I would be tremendously peeved if it was just assumed that I don't eat lunch or wouldn't be hungry. Not nice.

[Fleta]

I don't think it matters whether or not lunch is provided as long as the decision is clear when the meeting is arranged giving people chance to make other arrangements.

For example I need to take medication at lunchtime with food - I always have a cereal bar in my bag in case there's no food but I'd feel a bit awkward having to take it out in the meeting I'd more likely excuse myself to the loo and ram it down my throat on the way

[TruffleOil]

I'd be distracted by hunger. It's not the point that someone can go from 10-2 without eating, it's that they're not going to be productive from about 1-2 because they'll be thinking about food.

[Mintyy]

Sorry to have disappeared - have been at work myself today (got my own lunch from Pret A Manger - very nice cream of chicken soup).

Someone asked what industry - its television. So dh is going to be a presenter on a large event and the company who were hosting the meeting are the producers. I'm being vague so I don't out myself, but this is a global event.

So, yes, media, central London, yada yada. Lunch was expected (by dh, how very entitled of him!) and his stomach was indeed rumbling loudly by 1 o' clock apparently.

[Evie2014]

Ah yes, but he's the talent, Mintyy. They're more used to being looked after than the rest of us so it probably hurts them more.

[NymodigFruOla]

Irrespective of Mintyy's DH being 'the talent' in this particular meeting, she has a point that it's just courteous to let people know whether they're going to be fed during a lunchtime meeting .... or not.

[Merguez]

If it's an external meeting then I would definitely think sandwiches should be included.

[NurseyWursey]

Personally I would have offered light refreshments

A full lunch would have taken away time from the actual meeting, so I'd probably have put fruit and a few sandwiches on the table later.

However I'm sure people can last four hours?

[NurseyWursey]

How can people be expected to work if they are hungry?


You'd think this was common sense wouldn't you
13 hour shifts with 2 bites of a sandwich is the norm here.
But god forbid the manager's in a 2 hour meetings don't get their lunch

[NymodigFruOla]

I doubt that MrMintyy was expecting a three-course lunch to be served up in some company boardroom; but, as others have said, maybe some sandwiches, fruit and a variety of soft drinks.

Just one cup of coffee in 4 hours? That's just damn rude.

[chrome100]

I eat my breakfast at 6am, my first lunch at 11, my second lunch at 3 and my tea in the evening! Would not be impressed having to wait til 2, esp as I have a 25 mile cycle to the office.

[PlumProf]

Delaying lunch by 1 hour is no big deal so YABU
But they should have made it clear so YANBU

Incidentally, was the meeting scheduled for 10-2pm or was it a 10am meeting that accidentally over-ran into lunch time?

[susiedaisy]

Yanbu op. It should of at least been a working lunch where everyone brought their own and had a small break in the middle to have a 'comfort' break and a quick bit of lunch.

[PlumProf]

chrome you eat at unconventional times! (So do I ) How can a business possibly cater for that? You are basically saying that you cannot have any meeting for longer than 2 or 3 hours without providing a meal in case it is over someone's idiosyncratic mealtime. That is unrealistic.

[60sname]

I have to eat at ridiculously short intervals and am always hungry to the point of feeling light-headed by midday. My concentration and thinking just go. Plus my stomach rumbles loudly. So yeah, I'd be in the meeting but wouldn't be able to contribute usefully. For some people it's not just a case of exercising some restraint.

[ForalltheSaints]

I think you should avoid having a meeting going over the lunch period if at all possible. Lunch breaks are not just about eating- I do a lot of personal business such as visiting the bank in mine.

[SigningGirl]

See in that context I'm even more surprised... normally in that kind of environment, the least you would surely get would be a junior member of staff sent on a sandwich run? (What my old team did more recently - was that for internal/contractor meetings one of us would go round taking sandwich orders... and getting the cash from people to pay for them)

I guess as the "talent" though, he could have spoken up? Even for another coffee and some biscuits??