For many years bosses around the world have worried about the time spent around the office water cooler by staff. This was seen to be wasting time and costing the company money, and was therefore frowned upon.
Water cooler talk was practically and institution in most offices in the United States, who have used office water coolers for many years. It is only recently that businesses in the UK have also taken to investing in office water coolers, so it is not such a big thing there yet, but it is still a worry for some bosses.
What bosses need to understand though, is that life around the office water cooler is a given, and it is NOT a bad thing!
Individuals who work in offices need a break in the monotony of sitting behind a desk all day long working on detailed documents, liaising with the clients, or solving intricate mathematical problems. If they do not get up and stretch their legs every now and then, and take a walk to get a cool refreshing drink from the office water cooler they will become fatigued, listless and bored.
Medical research has shown that office water coolers are vital in keeping staff from becoming dehydrated. The body is 70% water, and unless that fluid level is maintained, problems such as headaches, listlessness, dizziness, impaired brain function and a host of other health issues could occur.
Another reason not to begrudge your staff a few minutes catching up with colleagues around the water cooler is that human contact is all but gone these days. What with e-mails, SMS messages, twitter, and various other forms of communication, the current generation has become far to insulated from human contact.
It is amazing what a few minutes of “catching-up†around the office water cooler does for office morale and cohesion amongst members of the same company or team. In actual fact, some of the best and innovative ideas have been born around an office water cooler.
Linguists and psychologists have studied the idle chitchat that goes on at the office water cooler for many years, and their findings are unanimous; human interaction is essential to psychological wellbeing, is vital to instilling a sense of community amongst the staff, and definitely boosts office morale and solidarity. Social bonds developed at work become an important support network for individuals.
Wise bosses will actually join in the chatter around the office water cooler every now and then, as they would then seem far more approachable to their subordinates, and may learn a lot about their individual staff members and the team as a whole. Smart bosses know that life around the office water cooler is a barometer of the organisation’s health.
No matter what you do, you will never be able to put a stop to the chatter around the office water cooler, so be smart and rather use it to your advantage. Place a notice board near the office water cooler with important notices on so that staff will see them and probably discuss them. You might even put a task or goal-board up there and start a competition between departments, making sure to keep the board up to date – this will foster a keen sense of competition and pride, and will increase productivity.
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