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Plugging Time Leaks
• Many managers view socializing as a major drain on their
employees’ productivity.
• Socializing occurs more often than it should. 117
• Many workers probably feel guilty about their “goof-off”
moments.
Yet an “all-work” day would be grim indeed. A study at the
Xerox Corporation a number of years ago concluded, for exam-
ple, that employees acquire more useful information during
their coffee breaks than from the company’s operations manu-
als. In many ways, socializing—in reasonable amounts—boosts
job satisfaction, morale, and, consequently, productivity. It’s not
unlike exercise: where experts once believed that vigorous
physical activity hastened the wearing down of the body, it’s
now known that, in moderation, physical activity does quite the
opposite—it keeps our bodies healthier and our lives fresher,
happier, and more productive. So, too, with socializing: in mod-
eration it’s a tonic that enhances the quality of work.
Of course, it’s more complicated than that. Our need for
daily playfulness is affected by:

Monitoring Your Staff
Many companies have begun to monitor the phone calls
and Internet activity of their employees.This is, of
course, to discourage Internet “surfing” and personal telephone calls.
While it’s reasonable to make sure that employees are spending
their time well, sometimes such efforts, when taken to extremes, can
have unpleasant side effects. Morale can be severely damaged if valued
employees feel that their company doesn’t trust them. Moreover, per-
sonal phone calls are sometimes necessary, given the long hours peo-
ple are customarily putting in at the office these days. Even the occa-
sional “surfing” break may serve a purpose—if it doesn’t last too long.
It may clear the mind between tasks or even result in an unexpected
discovery of valuable information.
You should encourage your employees to use their time wisely and
productively, but draconian efforts to ban all personal communications,
socializing, and even ’Net surfing may actually backfire by eroding
morale and, consequently, hurting productivity.