The Water Cooler
Several studies show that in order to increase “productivity,”* it is important to provide workers time for breaks, including around the water cooler. Through using badges with mics to monitor interactions, scientists recorded sociability as well as work habits: ….we monitored IT workers and their productivity using similar badges. Once again, we found that group cohesion was a central predictor of productivity. In fact, workers whose group cohesion was in the top third showed an increase in work productivity of more than 10%. In addition, workers who had a

Getting It Done, Getting It Done Right
Bob Sutton has a great post on the tension between getting it done and getting it done right. He describes this as the tension between the need for completion and the need for perfection. The discussion about perfection and completion reminded me of a job that I had as an editor in which I was consistently sent back to the drawing board to rework whatever idea we developed. I never completed a project because of

Is Voice Mail Obsolete?
Apparently those of us who still call our voice mails to check messages are in the minority. Many people have their voice mail electronically transcribed and sent to them.

A Very Unhappy Customer Service Rep
Who knew customer service reps were so unhappy (you probably did) or had such dark senses of humor.

Less than Full Disclosure
I don’t read a lot of Mommy Blogs mainly because too much talk about children makes me want to poke out my eyes. (And, yes, I am a parent.) However, I have been struck a number of times when I pass by a Mommy Blog by the amount of consumption that is often included as a key part of parenting. There’s always mention of a great snack picked up cheaply at Target, some great pair of $50 leopard-print toddler sneakers with sequins, or maybe a trip to Disneyland to take rides and buy Mickey Mouse undies. The entire subject matter makes me want to gag. I’m sorry. But. Disney. Leopard-prints for toddlers. Snacks at Target. Gag. But, yes, excessive consumption