While many business owners have long believed that investing in a water cooler for the business only encourages people to stand around and talk and waste time, scientific studies have shown the opposite to be true.
Water cooler chat is important in in today’s digital-centric world because it gives employees a well-deserved and much needed time-out, help relieve stress, as well as actually increasing productivity in the office.
Other good reasons for investing in a water cooler at your business and encouraging water cooler chat include:
- Building Company Culture: A strong company culture is vital to the bottom-line of any business, and water cooler chats help to promote and develop a positive company culture by bringing people together on a more personal level.
- Relieving Social Anxiety: Social anxiety often leads to communication problems in the workplace, which in turn can lead to a lack of focus, missed appointments and missed deadlines. Water cooler chat makes people feel more secure and comfortable and helps to bring them out of their shells.
- Providing Casual Facetime with Management: Employees always work better when they feel comfortable in approaching management, and casual water-cooler chats about personal interests as opposed to work-related details can go a long way to make them feel more at ease with management.
- Improving Collaboration: there has to be trust and respect between employees or them to work together successfully on a project. Allowing your employees to take breaks around the water cooler and discuss non-work-related topics can enhance this relationship, thereby fostering better collaboration and better work.
- Improving Productivity: Contrary to general perception, water cooler chats also vastly improve workplace productivity because it helps de-stress them and also hydrates them, and good hydration is vital for energy and for the human brain to work at its peak.
