Over the past few years, many organizations have been asking the same question:
How do we get people back to the office?
Many leaders — including those at NorthCoast 99 winning organizations — are starting to ask a different question:
How do we make time together impactful?
Before 2020, connection happened almost automatically at work. People overlapped naturally. Conversations happened between meetings. Teams gathered without needing to plan for it.
Today, connection doesn’t happen by accident anymore.
It has to be designed.
The strongest workplaces are designing intentional overlap
Across Northeast Ohio, we’re seeing many organizations adopt what’s often called “anchor days” — shared in-office days when teams intentionally gather to collaborate, connect, and build momentum together.
These days work best when they include moments that feel human, not just productive.
One of the simplest ways to do this is something many workplaces used to take for granted:
eating together.
Shared meals create natural opportunities for conversation across teams, departments, and levels of leadership. They help new employees integrate faster. They give managers informal time with their teams. And they turn an ordinary workday into something people actually look forward to.
Connection works best when it’s easy
Most teams want to gather around lunch.
What gets in the way is friction.
Someone has to make it or order it. Someone has to collect preferences. Someone has to stay within budget. And someone has to remember to do it again next week.
When connection depends on extra effort, it happens less often than people intend.
The workplaces that are doing this well are removing that friction. They’re building small, repeatable moments of connection into the rhythm of the week instead of treating them like occasional events.
In many cases, a simple shared lunch becomes the anchor that makes collaboration days feel worthwhile.
Small rituals often outperform big programs
Many NorthCoast 99 organizations are leading the way in areas like flexibility, leadership development, and employee well-being. There’s also growing attention on something equally important:
predictable moments of connection.
These don’t have to be large or complicated initiatives. Often, culture-building happens through small rituals that repeat consistently over time.
- A weekly shared lunch
- A cross-department collaboration day
- Even something as simple as a puzzle table in a common area that people contribute to throughout the week
These small, shared touchpoints create natural opportunities for conversation across teams — the kinds of moments that used to happen automatically but now benefit from a little intentional design.
These kinds of rhythms are helping teams strengthen relationships, improve communication, and make in-office time feel more meaningful again.
Workplace culture is shaped by shared time
Progressive organizations aren’t focused on recreating the old office experience. They’re designing a new one — one where time together supports connection, collaboration, and culture in intentional ways.
