Have you noticed how coffee and chocolate is becoming as pompous and snobby as wine tasting used to be?
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; as most of us will have bad memories of huge catering tins of icky powdered instant coffee in our respective workplace tearooms and were glad to see even fast food joints like McDonald’s embrace fresh ground coffee and barista-trained staff.
Taking a coffee break means that it’s no longer a stroll past the cubicle farms and stationery cupboard into the kitchen. We now take orders from our workmates and leave the building to the decent café across the road that, like Cheers, now knows your name and exactly how you like your coffee. The place can also function as an impromptu meeting room for those times you want to discuss something away from the office, or as a little ‘treat’ to staff for a job well done.
This is all good news, isn’t it?
Well, not according to some bosses it isn’t. Time is lost when a worker leaves the workplace, walks to the café, lines up to place their order, waits for it to be made (and any good barista will tell you that a decent brew takes love and time), pays for it, walks back, distributes the coffees to the others who ordered one whilst handing back their change, before sitting down at the desk to enjoy their own coffee.
>Not surprisingly, it seems as though the take-away cappuccino is viewed by some bosses as being an even bigger time-waster than the internet or hiding outside under the stairwell for a cigarette.
‘Miawling Lam’ from Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph reports that, “Businesses have become so fed up with workers leaving their desks in search of a caffeine fix that many are now paying for professional coffee machines to be installed on-site.”
They argue that paying thousands of dollars for top-level espresso machines is worth every cent, because it keeps their staff in the building, reducing the time wasted to go out for good coffee. It also keeps them motivated: “They are flattered that we think they’re worth the best coffee money can buy,” one advertising manager, who wishes to remain anonymous, told me recently. “And this keeps them alert and increases their motivation and output for us.”
Is coffee the new opiate of the masses? I remain undecided on this one. I love a good coffee and have been known to walk across town to a preferred café and faff about on my own Gaggia at home, but I can appreciate the time being eaten up in finding a good cup.
On the other hand, I’m a big advocate for taking regular breaks away from your desk; and if a brisk walk outside in relatively fresh air for a coffee isn’t a break, what is?
What are your thoughts on this?
Technorati Tags: taking a break, time away from your desk, productivity
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:05 am
The “we can improve productivity by giving great coffee/food/snacks in the office” rationale is based on the misguided notion that if a worker is at their desk they are productive and that any time spent away from the desk in unproductive.
Everyone creates value differently, under different circumstances, at different times. For example, my best ideas come while running.
I’m not saying that companies should not give away these perks: but they should do it for the right reasons.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:21 am
They haven’t read Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.” There’s a lot to be said for clearing the cobwebs out of the brain and to think through a problem while doing a mundane task like getting coffee. I say this is a nice creative perk (um, unintended pun) that each side should look at as a benefit. That means an implicit agreement not to take advantage of the occasion.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:54 am
As a “boss” with 40 employees, I consider a few moments away from the office spent gathering coffees as time well spent. Working with the public requires an occasional hiatus, and as long as there is no abuse of the coffee runs I see no reason to panic. Besides, I also like the idea that one department is often volunteering to get a beverage for another, which is good for communications and helps address the “them and us” attitude that sometimes surfaces.