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Any Google user would know the search engine replaces its homepage logo almost everyday. Some of these logos — called doodles — are global; some are specific to countries. In recent times, Google India has had the festival of kites (January 14).
Last year, on May 21, to celebrate Pac Man’s 30th anniversary, Google used a playable version of the iconic game. What Pac Man ended up devouring was productivity in the workplace. According to an analysis by RescueTime, an automated time tracking and management website, users spent 4,819,352 hours of extra time on Google that day. This translates to around $120 million.
The Google Pac Man doodle was a one off. Actually, most surfers didn’t realise it was playable or else the damage would have been much more. But the Net has become the enemy No. 1 of productivity across the world. According to a survey by salary.com, the biggest time-wasting component in the workplace is Net surfing. The 2010 Wasting Time at Work survey says 48 per cent of employees fritter away their “wasted” hours on the web. The other key diversions are socialising with co-workers (33 per cent), conducting personal business (30 per cent), personal phone calls (19 per cent) and long lunch breaks (15 per cent). Why do they waste time? The three most important factors are boredom, too long hours and lack of challenging work.
In India, where the Internet has not yet spread its tentacles, the figures are a shade sober. But there are other complications. Trade unions have begun insisting that employees be given access to the Net. They don’t have it at home and cyber cafes don’t attract them. Companies have begun putting up PCs in lunchrooms and other designated places.
Those who work on computers are going one step further. “They claim — and very often rightly so — that work has made huge inroads into their home life,” says Mumbai-based HR manager D. Singh. “Therefore, pleasure surfing in the workplace should be their right.”
The problem is that many things done at home aren’t treated as work. People spend hours responding to emails and they do a good part of this at home. Nobody seems to recognise that. But let one personal email get into your office account and the cyber snoops are out to nail you.
Singh gives a couple of other examples. When you commute to office, that is treated as your own time. Two people in the same post are expected to spend the same number of hours at work, even though one might stay an extra hour away. But, since the advent of mobile phones, you are expected to spend that travel time on official calls. There are companies that pay your mobile bills and then keep track of who you are talking to. “I know of one case where an executive was hauled up for spending more time talking with his (presumed) girlfriend than his wife.”
Singh, who conducts courses at a prominent residential B-school, says the whole character of executive education has changed. Earlier, a course for senior managers would be camouflaged as a refresher on, say, technology. The real purpose was networking and to give the burnt-out executives a break. “Today, even in the classrooms, they are busy interacting with their office on smartphones,” adds Singh.
Where does that leave all this “time wasting” in the office? HR experts are very clear that if companies try to leverage that to get more work out of their staff, it will lead to burnout or rebellion. The trouble is that HR is still dinosaur territory; the changes in the environment have passed it by. The environment killed the dinosaur. But these dinosaurs could well kill the environment.
A HUMOUROUS TOUCH FROM VGG.COM
Lots of people just don’t understand the finer points of wasting time at work — they are so afraid of getting caught. Here are some tips:
■ Drink lots of water: Water, tea and coffee make you urinate quicker and more often than other drinks. No one can blame you for normal bodily functions.
■ Be clean: While you’re in the bathroom take an extra couple of seconds to wash your hands thoroughly.
■ The Internet: The World Wide Web is a red flag. The best way to use the Internet to your time-wasting advantage is to use it for all research.
■ Naps: Lots of people want to take naps at work. This is very dangerous and should only be attempted by the most seasoned napper.
■ Office conversations: Enter business conversations around the office taking place in the open. The important thing is to be there physically.
■ Meetings: Go to every meeting that is appropriate for you to attend. Everyone knows meetings are a colossal waste of time, so use them.
Remember, you can’t waste the company’s time if you don’t work for the company. With a little effort no one will ever know how little you do.
