Time Wasting Activities within the Workplace: Don’t Be Apart of Them
Author(s)
Derrick C. Darden
ABSTRACT
If you work in an office for a small or large organization, you will notice managers, supervisors, and even your co-workers engaging in time-wasting activities during the day. Typical examples of such activities are talking around the water cooler spreading office gossip or sitting in non-productive meetings. These non-productive, time-wasting activities are common in the workplace. The objective of this article is to help you to identify time-wasting behaviors and what to do about them based on information gathered through observations in the workplace and recent research articles on the topic. In particular, the article identifies three areas of non-productivity such as preoccupation, attending useless meetings, and time-consuming communication unrelated to office business. For both the manager, supervisor and individual worker identification and elimination of the time-wasting activity can foster an organization that promotes efficiency and increases productivity with increase profitability.
If you work in an office for a small or large organization, you will notice managers, supervisors, and even your co-workers engaging in time-wasting activities during the day. Typical examples of such activities are talking around the water cooler spreading office gossip or sitting in non-productive meetings. These non-productive, time-wasting activities are common in the workplace. The objective of this article is to help you to identify time-wasting behaviors and what to do about them based on information gathered through observations in the workplace and recent research articles on the topic. In particular, the article identifies three areas of non-productivity such as preoccupation, attending useless meetings, and time-consuming communication unrelated to office business. For both the manager, supervisor and individual worker identification and elimination of the time-wasting activity can foster an organization that promotes efficiency and increases productivity with increase profitability.
KEYWORDS
Non-Productivity, Time Wasting Activities, Boring Meetings, Preoccupation, Productive Worker, Managers
Non-Productivity, Time Wasting Activities, Boring Meetings, Preoccupation, Productive Worker, Managers
Cite this paper
Darden, D. (2015) Time Wasting Activities within the Workplace: Don’t Be Apart of Them. Open Journal of Business and Management, 3, 345-348. doi: 10.4236/ojbm.2015.34033.
Darden, D. (2015) Time Wasting Activities within the Workplace: Don’t Be Apart of Them. Open Journal of Business and Management, 3, 345-348. doi: 10.4236/ojbm.2015.34033.
References
[1] Rosen, C. (2008) The Myth of Multitasking. The New Atlantis, 20, 105-110. [2] Loukopoulos, D., Dismukes, K. and Barshi, I. (2008) The Multitasking Myth. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham. [3] Crenshaw, D. (2008) The Myth of Multitasking: How Doing It All Gets Nothing Done. 1st Edition, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 144. [4] Industry Week (2005) Meetings a Waste of Time, Employees Complain.
http://www.industryweek.com/archive/meetings-waste-time-employees-complain [5] Psychology Today (2010) Want to Improve Productivity? Scrap Meetings.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201010/want-improve-productivity-scrap-meetings [6] CareerBuilder (2015) Biggest Time-Wasters at Work? You May Be Surprised.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/careers/biggest-time-wasters-work-you-may-be-surprised-n373671
[1] Rosen, C. (2008) The Myth of Multitasking. The New Atlantis, 20, 105-110. [2] Loukopoulos, D., Dismukes, K. and Barshi, I. (2008) The Multitasking Myth. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham. [3] Crenshaw, D. (2008) The Myth of Multitasking: How Doing It All Gets Nothing Done. 1st Edition, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 144. [4] Industry Week (2005) Meetings a Waste of Time, Employees Complain.
http://www.industryweek.com/archive/meetings-waste-time-employees-complain [5] Psychology Today (2010) Want to Improve Productivity? Scrap Meetings.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201010/want-improve-productivity-scrap-meetings [6] CareerBuilder (2015) Biggest Time-Wasters at Work? You May Be Surprised.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/careers/biggest-time-wasters-work-you-may-be-surprised-n373671