February is Hot Breakfast Month, a perfect time to focus on the benefits of morning meetings, and how eating together enhances productivity.  

Breakfast business meetings are typically more relaxed and informal than lunch meetings. As we gain a deeper understanding of the importance of breakfast, these meetings will only become more and more popular. 

Ryan Estis is a leadership coach and speaker based in Minneapolis, MN. He explains to BBC Worklife why the early morning has become his go-to time for meetings: “I am caffeinated, centered and intentionally focused,” he says. 

Benefits of Eating Together 

A 2015 Cornell University study found that groups that eat together perform better together. In research that could have implications for organizations that want to enhance team performance, Cornell professors found that firefighter platoons who eat meals together have better group job performance compared with firefighter teams who dine solo. “Eating together is a more intimate act than looking over an Excel spreadsheet together. That intimacy spills back over into work,” said the study’s author, Kevin Kniffin, visiting assistant professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. “From an evolutionary anthropology perspective, eating together has a long, primal tradition as a kind of social glue. That seems to continue in today’s workplaces.”

Check out one of Chicago’s most popular catering options for your breakfast or brunch meetings.