The mobile device has changed the way humans interact, access information, and at incredibly fast speeds. Though, in many ways this access has changed what used to be a boring lunch hour, train commute, etc. into times where we can be entertained and gain information. For Fantasy Football fans, the game now goes with you wherever you are and you can watch draft picks and gain cheat sheets from home, work, coffee shop, train commute, and airplanes. The question then arises that if the game goes with you wherever you are what happens to the other parts of life you used to focus on? Mainly more than anything there is a growing concern that Fantasy Football may be taking over what used to be a productive workplace.
Has Fantasy Football changed your productivity levels in the workplace?
The answer is a difficult one and really depends on who you ask, there are two sides to every coin but let's start with the negative first. PR Newswire reports that conflicting evidence shows that Fantasy Football "costs the economy $10.5 billion annually by being a distraction" and also helps to "boon the economy by $4 billion dollars." So yes Fantasy Football is helping to fuel the economy quite a bit, but in comparison to what it's costing us as a workplace distraction it makes it very easy to see why it's hurting productivity in the workplace. With $6.5 billion dollars hanging in the balance, it makes a good argument for some employers to say it's not worth the effect on their companies bottom line. After all, you got hired at your workplace to do a job for set hours during the day and for many Fantasy Football is not on the on that growing list of tasks that even before the mobile age we still could not complete in that 8+ hour work day.
So that was the negative side, that yes Fantasy Football is a distraction to our workplace and it is costing us billions. Brad Reed challenges this view slightly in his article in "Network World." Reed shows that in a survey conducted by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas that 54 percent of human resources departments aren't bothered by employees playing Fantasy Football in the workplace. The study also found that 8 percent of workplaces actually encouraged participation in Fantasy Football as part of team and morale building efforts. How does your workplace handle it? Does your office encourage it? It's easy to see how this would really depend on what type of career you have and what kind of workplace environment you have. For myself, working in the art industry allows for a more relaxed work environment with some of the things you can do like listen to music at your desk, but at this point it's such a pressured environment as well that Fantasy Football would never be allowed. I'm sure it's different everywhere you go but it's not encouraged where I work right now. This may also be because workplaces in general are still in a very transitional period of time where bosses and employees alike are still adapting to having a workplace that for many businesses can go with you now through the use of mobile devices.
So while more and more employers a getting use to these new technologies that allow more work to be done anywhere anytime, they will also be more challenged in the future to consider things like Fantasy Football, games, drawing, and listening to music while at work. In Reed's article he quotes the CEO of Challenger, John Challenger as saying, "It's difficult for companies to take a hard-line stance against Fantasy Football...the Internet technology that helped fuel the rapid growth of fantasy football participation and makes it possible to manage teams from one's own desk also makes it possible for employees to attend to work duties during their personal time." So in essence you as the employee have made a choice, be allowed to manage your Fantasy Football team from your desk at work, but as a trade off being willing to take that work you don't get done with you to complete on your personal time. But we all need short breaks sometimes, even more so to refocus and recharge about the task we have at hand. For instance in a report produced by Fantazzle.com seeking to dispel the belief that Fantasy Football is bad for office productivity, research found that taking a short break is actually more helpful to your brain to come back and concur a task. “once the forty-five minute threshold has passed and the worker and the pre-frontal cortex are both drained, a break is vital to maintaining productivity and vital to learning.” So yes Fantasy Football can function successfully as the break needed to regain your thoughts and strengthen your ability to learn. So what would you prefer the ability to do Fantasy Football in your workplace or leave it for your personal time and do your work at work? The mobile device is challenging yet again separations, many times between the real and virtual worlds, and now it is challenging and blurring the lines between work time and personal time.
And just for fun some workplace Fantasy Football comics:
Sources
PR Newswire (2010, December 15). "Are fantasy football games a workplace distraction?" Retrieved from EBSCOhost November 1, 2011, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/are-fantasy-football-games-a-workplace-distraction-111970829.html
Reed, B. (2010, September 30). "Fantasy football killing productivity? Pure fantasy." Retrieved from EBSCOhost November 1, 2011, http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/093010-fantasy-football.html
Fantazzle.com (2010, December 14). "Fantasy football is not a workplace distraction." Retrieved from Google.co, November 1, 2011, http://www.fantazzle.com/fantasy-site/fantasy-thought-leadership.php
Graphics
http://ericspitznagel.com/content/published-stories/fantasy-football-leagues/
I think workplace Fantasy Football ties back in to our "multi focus" lesson, where we decided that although we think we can do many things at once on the Internet, we're really dulling our focus and probably proving for less acceptable work.
ReplyDeleteNot saying that absolutely no one has this ability, but I know for me that if I'm not completely focused on what is at hand, I'm really not giving it my best. If it's Friday and you only have a few more hours to choose your lineup, what's more important: winning the game this Sunday or your TPS report?
Sam, I really see it as going both ways and I think it really depends on the type of job and work environment you have. I can see how in some jobs it works like you commented that if you are making the choice, there are many people that would rather finish the report than choose their lineup. There are some jobs where you have to take breaks though, and I think if you can take breaks you could choose to do it between tasks or when you get to a good stopping point. I think playing a little Fantasy Football at work on a break can help because if it's something you enjoy it is probably good to take a few seconds and engage our mind in something you enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI think it is positive to see that mindsets about engaging in activities like Fantasy Football while in the workplace. And I think it's very interesting that many companies are using Fantasy Football as a way to connect employees and create a team-building atmosphere in the office. I also think that if we're counting money lost in people playing Fantasy Football, that there are so many other distractions to consider when looking at how much distractions are costing us in the workplace. Ironically many of the distractions in today's workplace involve and center around new media, using social networks, email, surfing the web. So there is a whole list of things that may be costing the workplace money, but I say if your workplace let's you choose your lineup at work why not?
I agree Ashley, money-wasting distractions and other mistakes in the workplace have many causes related to new media. At my one job with the Detroit Red Wings, we are not allowed to be on our cellphones during the game because it is too much of a distraction and we need to be able to react in a split second to what happens on the ice. I can't tell you how many times the wrong advertisement or player head-shot was played on the scoreboard last season due to cellphone-related distractions. It got so bad, the owner of the production company himself banned cellphone use inside the control room.
ReplyDeleteThat is just one example of a job where constant attention is key. Other jobs, like you said, can be more laid-back where workers have the opportunity to check their fantasy team scores or Facebook and not lose much productivity. If I sat at a desk all day in front of a computer, the temptation to check my team would easily overcome me. I know that these types of distractions shouldn't take place but who is to say that someone going on a smoke or coffee break isn't just as guilty? I don't smoke and I hate the taste of coffee so checking my teams is my own little way of wasting company time.