This was the question running in my mind while i was coming back to "my little home" (cubicle !!) from a party at work one Friday. The treat was hosted by one of my enthusiastic colleagues who executed it faster than did his award. By the way, never the hell could i stop thinking and calculating the productive hours of so many resources moving around in the campus everytime whenever i was also being one of them.
I always feel personal and professional(work) life cannot be separated from each other. One leads to other or is the cause of other or is within other, hence they have to go hand in hand. It reminds me of one of my teachers in college whom I made a phone call and got scolded from her husband because of calling at non-work hours. She later explained me that they had decided not to mix work with personal life and i tried to break that rule. I was confused, but relented myself thinking i was too young to understand what personal or professional life meant. It wasn't untill i got a chance to enter into so called professional life.
I feel productive means anything and everything that is involved in resulting of faster,quicker,better or a new by-product including items that can motivate, energize or rejuvenate towards one's goals.Infact many great ideas,solutions and inventions have happened during so called "non-productive" hours - over coffee, driving, walking or even in rest-rooms because it allows us to visualise those items in a rather un-conventional way than we usually do at work. Hence ,the belief of defining productive work as just activites which directly result in profits (or revenues) seems highly inappropriate. There should not be any such distinctions which entice employees to do such work only as it may restrict free flow of views and ideas thereby leading to loss of interest and motivation.
Freedom plays an important role in an employees productivity. Research has proved that people are more prone to commit mistakes when forced or they are told they are being observed. In an event involving tying of shoe laces and typing, one group of people were told that they are being monitored where as the other group was not observed at all. Results showed the group who were monitored made more mistakes than the other group, although they completed the job at a quicker rate. Freedom is an indispensible right of every individual and the outputs of a person are greatly impacted if it is deprived or hindered. In the earlier example, the first group felt deprived of freedom of action which resulted in higher number of errors. Recently a work hours policy introduced in our company insists employees to mandatorily spend certain hours daily resulting in criticism by many employees. At times, certain employees seem to stay in office just to comply this policy. Stringent deadlines is another such constraint. Focus goes on to complete an activity quickly rather than doing it in the right way. Such constraints in my view tend to distract employees focus, decrease their motivation and impact moral values which mostly results in lower quality of job. The job might need to be re-performed causing over-burning of the employee or the schedule getting delayed. In any case, ultimately the employee might feel de-energised and less happier at work.
Well What is a Friday then ? One very common thing discussed on this day is about the coming weekend. People seem to be too happy and excited on fridays discussing about the activities for the next two days free from work(professional) committments. They tend to feel more energetic, happier and free in a similar way as a bird freed from a cage. The weekend becomes a special occasion like an aniversary,new year or birthday.
There surely cant be more Fridays, but in my view if employees consider work as part of personal life and an environment is provided to employees where they feel themselves free, there would be more days when people can find work more fun and intriguing and the organisation can become more efficient and productive.
I always feel personal and professional(work) life cannot be separated from each other. One leads to other or is the cause of other or is within other, hence they have to go hand in hand. It reminds me of one of my teachers in college whom I made a phone call and got scolded from her husband because of calling at non-work hours. She later explained me that they had decided not to mix work with personal life and i tried to break that rule. I was confused, but relented myself thinking i was too young to understand what personal or professional life meant. It wasn't untill i got a chance to enter into so called professional life.
I feel productive means anything and everything that is involved in resulting of faster,quicker,better or a new by-product including items that can motivate, energize or rejuvenate towards one's goals.Infact many great ideas,solutions and inventions have happened during so called "non-productive" hours - over coffee, driving, walking or even in rest-rooms because it allows us to visualise those items in a rather un-conventional way than we usually do at work. Hence ,the belief of defining productive work as just activites which directly result in profits (or revenues) seems highly inappropriate. There should not be any such distinctions which entice employees to do such work only as it may restrict free flow of views and ideas thereby leading to loss of interest and motivation.
Freedom plays an important role in an employees productivity. Research has proved that people are more prone to commit mistakes when forced or they are told they are being observed. In an event involving tying of shoe laces and typing, one group of people were told that they are being monitored where as the other group was not observed at all. Results showed the group who were monitored made more mistakes than the other group, although they completed the job at a quicker rate. Freedom is an indispensible right of every individual and the outputs of a person are greatly impacted if it is deprived or hindered. In the earlier example, the first group felt deprived of freedom of action which resulted in higher number of errors. Recently a work hours policy introduced in our company insists employees to mandatorily spend certain hours daily resulting in criticism by many employees. At times, certain employees seem to stay in office just to comply this policy. Stringent deadlines is another such constraint. Focus goes on to complete an activity quickly rather than doing it in the right way. Such constraints in my view tend to distract employees focus, decrease their motivation and impact moral values which mostly results in lower quality of job. The job might need to be re-performed causing over-burning of the employee or the schedule getting delayed. In any case, ultimately the employee might feel de-energised and less happier at work.
Well What is a Friday then ? One very common thing discussed on this day is about the coming weekend. People seem to be too happy and excited on fridays discussing about the activities for the next two days free from work(professional) committments. They tend to feel more energetic, happier and free in a similar way as a bird freed from a cage. The weekend becomes a special occasion like an aniversary,new year or birthday.
There surely cant be more Fridays, but in my view if employees consider work as part of personal life and an environment is provided to employees where they feel themselves free, there would be more days when people can find work more fun and intriguing and the organisation can become more efficient and productive.
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