Think Of All The Lost Productivity In Giving People Lunch Breaks

from the rethinking-produtivity dept

Mon, Jan 15th 2007 6:15pm — Mike Masnick

Every time we hear of a study (and they seem to come out every few months) complaining about all the lost productivity from people doing non-work things at work, we wonder if there are really people out there who take them seriously. Almost every time the studies are sponsored by companies who are trying to sell things like internet filters into companies, and so they have the incentive to make every bit of "non-work" activity sound as pricey as possible. Certainly, it's true that people doing non-work things could be hurting productivity -- but it doesn't mean they necessarily are. If someone is particularly productive, but needs a break to recharge to remain as productive later in the day, isn't that a good thing? Isn't that why we have breaks and lunches and time to go home after work? For some reason, though, many people still seem to assume that any non-work activity must be bad. Even worse, they conclude that it's a "cost." It's not a cost at all. Yet, here we are with the latest study saying that it's now online gambling that's costing employers millions. Online gambling probably isn't a very good thing to do at work, but it's a bit of a stretch to suggest it's costing companies. If someone isn't getting their work done, then that should become clear, and it becomes a disciplinary question, not a revenue one. If online gambling is costing companies revenue, so are lunch breaks, commutes and talking to the person in the cubicle next to you about the TV show last night. Yet, no one's putting out studies worrying about those things. Yet.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

14 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Rational Thought, 15 Jan 2007 @ 6:29pm

Company Time?
This emotion is nothing new. In 1990 I was disciplined for using comany email to send invitations out to the staff for Friday happy hours on a regular basis. (This was because someone complained about receiving these emails and that he was offended as he did not drink). But I digress. Now at this time I was working about 12-18 hours a day and being paid only for 8. Because I was sending emails out during "normal" business hours, it was deemed misuse of company property and time. I promised to stop sending out these emails if they agreed to pay me for all the hours that I was working. Somehow the corporate lawyers did not see it that way and I was ordered to stop at the risk of losing my job. So as you can see, nothing much has changed from corporations wanting to "own" employees back in the industrial era.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Zack, 15 Jan 2007 @ 7:05pm

middle managers who dont hit their numbers have to have SOMETHING to point to in their defense. why not published studies? http://mammals.wordpress.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jonathan Barbeau, 15 Jan 2007 @ 8:06pm

A comment on Recharging
You hit the nail on the head there with recharging. If we think to much about something, we develop types of blockage in our minds, becomming less productive.

I for one need to relax, take a walk, read a book or do something completely different than the task at hand when I find myself in a rutt.

It is very health to take your mind off something, and revisit the task in a different state of mind.

I agreee that taking frequent breaks assists in the complex process our mind goes through when channeling ideas. However, this is a very complex theory, and would have to take into consideration the many variables revolving around motivation, distractions, focus, etc..

I for one requested a hammock at my new job where supply technical computer assistance, system administration, network support, web development and marketing, along with a plethora of other jobs needed by a technically inclined computer and web guru such as myself.

I need a place where if I decide to work over time, I can sit back, relax, and recollect my thoughts. Sometimes a completely different subject will trigger astounding comparisons to your current project, and shine some new light on complicated tasks.

Try a hammock in your office, it really kicks butt!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Casey, 15 Jan 2007 @ 8:13pm

A disciplinary question
As the manager of a small office but also someone who spends a good amount of time during the day doing non-work-related activities, I've been torn as to how to handle this issue. I have one employee, however, whose online gambling was more than annoying -- it was a contributing factor to her general inability to perform her duties in a timely manner. In fact, she's often so rushed to finish things after spending hours gambling online that she makes a remarkable number of mistakes.

But when I fire her tomorrow, I'm not going to mention the gambling, just like I wouldn't mention YouTube obsession or incessant news-reading (that's me). The more important issue is really whether things get done efficiently.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mousky, 16 Jan 2007 @ 5:31am
  
  Re: A disciplinary question
  You should be firing for being inefficient, for making mistakes, for doing things last minute.
  
  The biggest problem is that there are plenty of 'managers' who should have never become managers in the first place. They don't have the guts to discipline an employee, more so if they work in an union environment. Instead, they would rather have a blanket policy about doing non-work activities at work. That way they can simply point to your internet log and fire you. Who cares if you are productive?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brendan, 15 Jan 2007 @ 8:56pm

So true
I work at a small company, and they don't micromanage us or tell us what to do. We have no filters on our internet, and no one keeps track of our time. We are responsible for our own deadlines, and the environment is MUCH more productive than the bloated large company that I used to work for. Without all the overhead of dealing with managers delegating tasks, we are able to actually get work done and think for ourselves. This kind of environment encourages us to work, and there's no reason to try to sneak around and cut corners just to get a break. I actually want to work in order to please my bosses with my accomplishments. Positive reinforcement works much better than punishment.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Capt. Underpants, 15 Jan 2007 @ 11:03pm

disciplinary question, not a revenue one
This is actually only part true. If an employee is not performing as expected, and the problem seems to stem from that person spending too much time buying gold plated elephant poop on Ebay, then the company has every right to discipline the employee. At very least give a verbal warning, followed by a written if things did not change.

If there was no improvement and the employee were fired there is still a cost in filling the position and what impact an employee being fired would have on morale or the productivity of others.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mousky, 16 Jan 2007 @ 5:37am
  
  Re: disciplinary question, not a revenue one
  I agree that the company has every right to discipline an employee that is not meeting corporate standards. Problem is that more employers are instituting blanket policies about non-work activities at work on the incorrect basis that non-work activity effects productivity.
  
  My gut tells me that most employees who are unproductive or inefficient would be unproductive with or without the internet. Give them a written warning. No improvement? Fire them.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Louis, 16 Jan 2007 @ 4:40am

RE: Company Time?
I've found that the company takes as much as you give it, and it never complains. Working 18 hours a day is detrimental to your own health, not the company's... it doesn't mind you working your ass off. Word to the wise, don't trust anyone who doesn't drink.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yet Another anonymous coward, 16 Jan 2007 @ 6:19am

If you are reading this at work...
...you should all be fired. But, since I work in Security, I'll just modifiy the logs to make it look like I did it outside working hours...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Strofcon, 16 Jan 2007 @ 6:57am

Another take perhaps...
While not in the interest of being snide or sarcastic, I am curious, is it possible that the "lost productivity" claim is simply a cover this time? After seeing the bans recently placed on cell-phone-based poker and whatnot, it seems to me that there's a small chance companies are more concerned with the online gambling of their employees becoming a legal liability to them. I've never been fired, or even reprimanded, for reading news sites, sleeping, or even playing WoW at work (though thank God I dropped the WoW habit!) because my productivity was through the roof. And one of my jobs was at CompUSSR... er... CompUSA rather. My bosses even commented on such studies, as they were pushed on them by the higher-ups, but they never really seemed to care, so long as I kept up the work.

Oh, and off-topic, a word to the wise, never trust anyone who willfully imbibes a mentally crippling drug that strips people of anything resembling a rational thought process. A drinker may not be hard to find, but neither is a person with an STD. Being widespread doesn't make it any better! :-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2007 @ 7:11am

At the end of the day productivity counts for very little in most companies. Whilst there are some companies out there that truly let an employee manage his own time and only come down on him when his productivity falls. The reality is most companies, even the ones who say they have such policies in place, are slave drivers.

They truly believe they own you and think you should do what you are told, when you are told. Actually most companies think you should do what they want without being told, you should proactively seek unpaid overtime.....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2007 @ 9:55am

My company allows me to websurf as I see fit with no filters, blocking, or tracking, but I would never a.) download porn or b.) online gamble at work. Anyone that does either, deserves to be fired for sheer stupidity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kevin, 27 Feb 2007 @ 6:53am

costs are real
When too many employees fill up the existing resources and you're left purchasing more bandwith, that is a real cost.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]