How to agree on what to eat

The office team has a problem. Every day at noon someone will ask the mind-boggling question: “What do you guys want to eat?” This will be followed by a deep sigh and the usual answer of: “I don’t know.”

If you found this situation familiar, fret not. We’re here to give you some advice on how groups can decide on where to eat.

The main issue of not being able to decide is because we’re spoilt for choice. Everything looks good but we can’t decide what would taste good for the day, especially if we’re always in the same area all the time.

When the decision gets complicated because of what everyone else wants to take into account for their meals, a leader can mentally sort through the mess to help reach a compromise for everyone.

Doing this on a rotational basis will give everyone more time to think about what they’d like to suggest when their turn comes.

We all know that deadlines give us the motivation to complete last minute assignments, or in this case, make decisions.

Stress can have negative side effects, but a little bit of stress can actually be beneficial to your decision making process. Setting a cutoff time to decide allows you to choose if you should eat chicken rice or Western food faster than if you didn’t have that little smudge of stress.

Trying a brand new place puts everyone on a clean slate; no one knows what’s there, and without past impressions it’s easier agree on trying it out.

Mobile applications such as Yelp and HungryGoWhere are great to help you find new places. You can also see reviews from others too.

If all else fails and you’re still left undecided, send everyone on their way to buy their favourite dishes in a larger portion to share.

We can all agree that having more food is better than less, and the variety of food is a great topic for discussion…and consumption.

From nearby shopping malls to ordering online, lunchtime is where eateries slash their prices for two golden hours to attract the crowds.

Newspapers also sometimes slip coupons for fast food restaurants between their pages, allowing you to save money and make a decision on where to lunch in a split second.

Many times, the discounts are time sensitive; so finishing these coupons would save you the pain of having to decide what’s for lunch for at least a month.

With these tips in mind, your lunch times will not be associated with growling stomachs and indecisiveness, but rather more time to eat, drink and be merry!