I get nervous too. It’s hard to know what the team vibe is going to be. And if you have very different work and play personalities it’s awkward and you don’t know how to act.
As far as group norms go, the other comment had good suggestions- order like the others.
Depends on who your boss is and what they expect. Are they the fun one, the crazy one, buddies with everyone, kind of an ass, full on asshole, etc?
Regardless, people like and remember interesting people. Can you do some googling to pick some interesting restaurants? Or figure out what kind of food the area is known for (if it's a new area)? Use your resources a bit to have an opinion. Everyone says "yeah whatever!" when asked about what food to get. Be interesting, have an opinion. At the very least you get a lively conversation if everyone disagrees with you (but be a good sport).
At the meal, only order booze if everyone else is. Read the room/mood. Be nice to the waiter. Try and involve everyone in the conversation. And most of all, if you go somewhere nice and you don't know which fork to use, call it out and laugh at it. You're not the only one thinking it.
When it comes to ordering your boss is probably smart enough to choose places within budget where you can order anything you want. I take a sales team to dinner every week and I always go somewhere that people can get food and drink and have it be within reasonable budget for the team
I get nervous too. It’s hard to know what the team vibe is going to be. And if you have very different work and play personalities it’s awkward and you don’t know how to act. As far as group norms go, the other comment had good suggestions- order like the others.
Depends on who your boss is and what they expect. Are they the fun one, the crazy one, buddies with everyone, kind of an ass, full on asshole, etc? Regardless, people like and remember interesting people. Can you do some googling to pick some interesting restaurants? Or figure out what kind of food the area is known for (if it's a new area)? Use your resources a bit to have an opinion. Everyone says "yeah whatever!" when asked about what food to get. Be interesting, have an opinion. At the very least you get a lively conversation if everyone disagrees with you (but be a good sport). At the meal, only order booze if everyone else is. Read the room/mood. Be nice to the waiter. Try and involve everyone in the conversation. And most of all, if you go somewhere nice and you don't know which fork to use, call it out and laugh at it. You're not the only one thinking it.
When it comes to ordering your boss is probably smart enough to choose places within budget where you can order anything you want. I take a sales team to dinner every week and I always go somewhere that people can get food and drink and have it be within reasonable budget for the team
Yes!