I just join whenever someone else joins or about a minute or two before it starts. Or whenever, doesn’t matter as long as I am not late. The main point for me is not being late, so that I respect other peoples time. If I am more than two minutes late, I apologize most of the time.

Small talk isn’t that hard. Might feel a bit unnatural until you get used to having it. But is that tiny awkwardness an actual issue, or something you just should ideally get used to?

How are you doing? What’s going on with x-project/your work? Looking forward to the weekend/had a good weekend? Watched any good shows lately? Have any pets?

Fridge cold honeydew melon. Nothing even closely compares to how tasty that is for me. Low in calories as well.