No post body was provided.
Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
1–10 of 19 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#2Motivational posters have become such an annoying cliché that you can make a successful business out of parodying them:
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#3Back during the dot com days the joke was the only motivational poster that did anything was the whiteboard that had the current stock price on it.
I don't think I've ever heard someone say "Wow I really like the motivational posters" but I have seen some that went pretty wrong (and as a result were ineffective).
So my guess is the have high downside and little upside.
That said, nice artwork (no pithy saying), seems to always make the space feel more inviting and comfortable.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#4We have a tv per desk (we have wide u shaped desks in an open-office) above our desks in my office with chromecasts in them. Presumably these tvs are for showing things off, or displaying things should we ever have a meeting in our production area, but for the past 3 months I've been here, I've just seen beautiful sunsets, waterfalls, cats and many other relaxing images.
Just walking into the office, or taking a break from a frustrating problem and seeing these 30second (or however long) stills has done infinitely more than any motivational poster could or would ever do for me.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#5They sometimes make me giggle with their bombastic promises of teamwork and winning. Posters are just another kind of wallpaper.
Only thing I've ever seen work to raise productivity and motivate the workers is a sincere and firm handed bit of support from the higher ups. Leads, managers, and the rest that would act like regular people, make sure you had what you needed and could feel free to complain. Also higher ups that protected all the workers in the trenches from Client crazyness and subsequent fallout emotions.
The only kind of wall coverings I've seen that made a difference to the people working there was art from people working there, prints, paintings, photographs. Many people have side projects and they'd love to get some viewers.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#6You're kidding, right? Being surrounded by empty platitudes with the expectation that they'd motivate me would serve only to demotivate.
Try giving your developers responsibility, autonomy, trust, and respect. You'd be amazed how far a little self-determination and native pride in ones work can go.
And if your developers are incapable of handling autonomy or have no particular desire to take pride in their work, your problems run way deeper than motivation.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#7The only thing that has ever worked -- for programmers anyway -- is a quiet, roomy office with a comfortable chair, plenty of desk space and a solid door.
And very few interruptions.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#8In 8th grade, I was in the band, and at the end of the year, for the last 3 weeks of school, the 8th graders would go practice with 9-11th graders of the high school band to perform at graduation. In the high school band room, there were a bunch of home-made motivational posters on the walls, and you know what? They did work then and they probably helped inculcate some enthusiasm into me. Of course, that wasn't an organization trying to make money off of me, and I was 13.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#9They do - not posters, but those wall stickers. They make me feel more productive, and make the space seem like something more than a collection of white walls. Seeing a motivational quote when starting your day is a good affirmation and even tho they might be a cliche they bring a good vibe and I think everyone is acting a bit "holier than thou" by shitting on them.
Re: Ask HN: Do productivity posters do anything for you? What works in your office?
#10We have no posters, but if we did I would prefer something comical