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Does Your Office Have a "No-Gossip Zone?"
June 18, 2009
Productivity, and the way to achieve it, is misunderstood in most American companies, says Sam Chapman, CEO and author of "The No-Gossip Zone: A No-Nonsense Guide To A Healthy, High-Performing Work Environment." A mistake many employers make, Chapman points out, is believing the more hours they squeeze out of employees, the more the company can produce, sell, or service.
"My personal belief is well-rested employees with finite schedules feel more happiness and become more productive. Joyfulness and productivity go hand-in-hand. Anyone who says, 'It's work so you can't enjoy it' is going to find they have a lot of employee turnover," says Chapman.
Here are some of Chapman's suggestions:
No-e-mail times
Employees carrying work home with them and never taking mental breaks is a management mistake many companies make, says Chapman. "My employees and I stick to a no-email policy after 6 p.m. or before 6 a.m., and no e-mail, period, on the weekends," he explains. "PDAs and e-mail can be addictive, and stopping the noise as a group keeps these addictions from taking root."
Breaks in the office
Work-life balance also must include regular breaks, he emphasizes. "The theory of 'work, rest, recover' is used by everyone from Olympic athletes to NASA scientists as a preferred method of employment," says Chapman. "Just as athletes need to rest their bodies between workout days in order to allow muscles to heal and grow, employees need to rest their minds during the workday in order to promote creativity and clear-thinking. Without sufficient rest, an employee's work will certainly suffer."
To achieve this balance, Chapman recommends the following:
• Begin the workday by reading the paper and drinking coffee together in the break room. "Not only is reading the news and being informed a big part of being successful," says Chapman, "but it also allows employees to bond, relax, and recharge before a grueling day of work."
• Give employees a one-hour lunch break at noon, or try to provide lunch at no cost to them. "By providing your team with healthy, delicious food, you can turn lunch into a productive part of your company's day," he points out. "It saves employees money and time—since they don't have to run out to buy their lunch or coffee—but it also gives everyone a chance to enjoy lunch together."
• Create summer hours for employees in which during the summer employees can leave at 3 p.m. on Fridays, and come back to the office at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays. "This creates a feeling of a 'long weekend' that negates the need for employees to take a week off for vacation in the summer time," says Chapman.
Client/employee relations
Another important component of work/life balance is how employees are treated by employers and clients when on the job, he notes. "If you are expected to take it on the chin from an angry client or an angry boss," says Chapman, "it almost doesn't matter about the rest of your work life. If you are not treated respectfully, joyfulness will not prevail and productivity will be low."
Social outings
Don't forget about creating social situations for employees to connect. "Employees don't usually want to play with the boss," he says,
"but they want to know they can, and they want to be known and understood as the person they are…not just another cog in the corporate wheel."
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