The teabreak is back! Why a cuppa could lead to a much friendlier workplace

Name: Tea breaks

Age: A little over 200 years old

Appearance: Fifteen minutes of quiet relaxation.

I’m already nervous about this. What has tea done to warrant a mention here? Relax, everything is fine. Nobody is trying to cancel tea.

Thank God. I’d hate to have to drink my cuppa in secret for fear of being “tea-shamed”. It’s OK, I promise. In fact, if anything, tea is getting a bit of a boost.

How so? Because a study has suggested that old-fashioned tea breaks should be reintroduced to increase social cohesion at work.

Really? Yes. McVitie’s commissioned the study of 4,000 people, and found that most people do not take breaks at work. Besides lunch, it was found that workers only take between 10 and 13 minutes of downtime a day.

Hang on, workers get lunch breaks? Oh come on, you get a lunch break too. I saw you yesterday. You spent 45 seconds cramming a sandwich into your mouth as you carried on writing at your desk. That totally counts as a lunch break, you slacker.

So we shouldn’t take additional breaks? Actually, yes we should. The survey revealed that three-quarters of workers feel that their lack of breaks is negatively affecting their performance. Even worse, a third of workers don’t know the names of all the colleagues they work most closely with.

That’s sad. It is, isn’t it? And to think, it could all be cured with a daily cuppa.

How? Because taking time out of your day to drink a hot cup of tea gives you a chance to relax and refocus. You might even start chatting with the strangers you work with. You might find you share something in common. You might even sow the seeds of a lifelong friendship. This is the power of tea.

You know what this sounds like, don’t you? It isn’t a plan to get everyone back in the office, if that’s what you’re thinking.

Good, because we’re all much happier now that we get to work from home sometimes. Yes, but do you have tea there?

Well, yes, obviously. But it isn’t a formal tea break, is it? You don’t get to spend it making excruciating small talk with a colleague you have no interest in bonding with, do you?

No, but … Come on! Have a good old fashioned tea break in the office! You know you want to. Those extra 15 minutes will more than make up for the wildly expensive two-hour commute it would take just to get you here, won’t it?

I’m sorry. Nobody likes tea that much. Please? I’ll open a packet of Hobnobs and everything.

Do say: “Two sugars please.”

Don’t say: “I’ll drink it at home.”