Recently the website, http://www.TED.com/, was brought to my attention. It is filled with informative and motivating speeches by various groups of speakers, like industry professionals and educators in various fields. TED is ideas worth spreading. One speech in particular that caught my attention was Jason Fried: Why work doesn’t happen at work. Found at http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html, he speaks about just what you’d expect, why work doesn’t happen at work, meaning why work doesn’t really ever get done at the office.
There are many reasons for this. Jason speaks on the main two reasons, managers and meetings, or M&M’s, as he calls them. The main reason no one gets any work done at the office is that no one gets any uninterrupted time. People are always coming in and out the office, causing distractions. This is why some people come into the office early or stay late to try and get work done uninterrupted. People have spaces where they are most productive, like on a porch or in a home office, but working from home isn’t always allowed. Some managers think if you’re at home your not working, but that not true, it is just that if you’re at home then your manager has no one to manage so then what are they to do? Most of the time managers just interrupt subordinates as they are working and this can disrupt someone really involved in something important for example. People are also pulled away from something for a meeting they might not even be part of, are then distracted and it’s just a waste of company time. Jason had a few ideas for helping to combat this, ideas I myself am defiantly going to borrow in the future. For one, instead of face-to-face meeting why not use an instant messenger? That way people can respond at their leisure and not be interrupted at a crucial moment. Another idea is have silent Thursday afternoons or any block of time for that matter where no one talks and everyone just sits and is productive. No meeting or interruptions or nothing just quiet time. One last idea he had was no Monday meetings for example. Just an easy Monday morning and great way to ease everyone back into the workweek and be more productive. It will people be relaxed and ready to work, which is what all employers really want.
I could not agree more with Jason had to say and his ideas to help people actually work at work. People don’t always need meetings and managers to get things done; they just need a quiet spot to be uninterrupted. For my future companies and corporate culture I will defiantly take to heart what his speech had to say. For more information on Jason Fried and his work check out, http://www.ted.com/speakers/jason_fried.html
