21–30 of 57 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reality is we spend most of our waking lives at work. Bloody hell, that sounds so depressing when you put it like that...
Even more sad if you live in a northern climate. You get go to work in the dark, and return in the dark. Daylight is just something that happens during work.
I run my own business these days.
The reality is we spend most of our waking lives at work. Other than those we had before we started, most of our friends (and even romantic partners) will be made there. Enforced work socializing is counterproductive, but enforced non-socializing is even worse. A good workplace should accept that people are social, that being able to play around for a few minutes in the middle of the day makes you more rather than le…
The reality is we spend most of our waking lives at work. Bloody hell, that sounds so depressing when you put it like that...
So worst case scenario, in a week, I spend 50 hours at work and 62 hours being awake and not working. If your numbers are not in that ballpark, you probably want to re-evaluate whether all the hours you spend at work are optimal :)
I worked at a place once where we were forced to work 12 hour days for about 5 months straight. As exempt employees, we were not paid more, and our pay was already below industry standard. In exchange, we got free soda, nerf guns, and they would buy you dinner. They also had a beach party once... on a saturday. Also raffles for free swag. Despite the fairly pleasant social atmosphere and talented co-workers who were…
What do you mean exactly by turnover rate of 200%? That each year, the entire workforce was fully renewed twice?
Ping pong/foosball/assorted games have a wonderful place in startups. Case in point - welcoming new employees. New people tend towards shyness. Cutting through this shyness should really be the first step in onboarding new people. Guess what? One game of foosball/ping pong is better than three (usually awkward) lunches with a supervisor/other coworkers...
Then, there is the struggle. Ben Horowitz wrote about the struggle from the perspective of founders, but startup employees feel it just as acutely. Ever been stuck at work, late into the evening, desparate to complete a project? Ever go out with friends from university and discover that you make 25% less than the rest of your group? Ever work for a company that has pivoted so many times you can't remember what you originally signed on to build?
Good founders and an environment built upon respect and open communication can go a long ways towards reducing the struggle. However, when you're in the thick of it, a couple of games of ping pong can keep you moving forward (or keep you from applying to any of the 35 other startups that would hire you)...
Finally, there's one other wonderful business reason for mixing work and fun. Retaining your talent. Really good people (aka - the people you need in startups) have all kinds of options. If they have fun where they are and work with close friends, they are less likely to quit.
All in all,decent article. Unfortunately, it overlooks a huge number of situations when ping pong actually becomes important.
If you build a company culture that makes people comfortable enough to play and have fun with eachother at work, then you've succeeded.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm, did I come across to strong? I definitely didn't mean for it to seem like flamebait. :/
No, you didn't. It was thoughtful and even-keeled perspective, conveyed in a tone that should be embraced here even if there is disagreement about the actual points made.
I worked at a place once where we were forced to work 12 hour days for about 5 months straight. As exempt employees, we were not paid more, and our pay was already below industry standard. In exchange, we got free soda, nerf guns, and they would buy you dinner. They also had a beach party once... on a saturday. Also raffles for free swag. Despite the fairly pleasant social atmosphere and talented co-workers who were…
What do you mean exactly by turnover rate of 200%? That each year, the entire workforce was fully renewed twice?
As far as I could tell, there was a core 5 ~ 6 people who stayed on and had been there since the beginning, and the rest were all on their way in or out.