The Workplace Taking Care of You
January 21st, 2008 by Cali & Jody
Thanks very much to Harriet Traxler for the tip on this:
Sound the alarm! Microsoft wants to hook you up to your computer to monitor your “heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure.” And we thought the stress mouse was bad.
You can read the scores of reactions to this story, and we’re in agreement about the privacy issues, but we also think there is something larger happening here. What bothers us more is the idea that the role of the workplace in people’s lives has expanded to the point where it has invaded territory traditionally owned by friends, families, communities, and so forth.
We’re all for health and safety standards at work. What we don’t like is this idea that work is supposed to take care of you, or that work is the place where you have the strongest social network, or that work is where you find your identity.
One of the benefits of a ROWE is that it downplays the role of work in people’s lives. Of course your job should still make you money, and can still bring you fulfillment as a career. But in a ROWE, people rediscover aspects of their lives and their selves that they had forgotten because they had gotten too bound up in work.
Work-life balance is about more than time. It’s really about creating a healthy balance among all aspects of your life. You can reject workplace spyware, but don’t stop there. Reject anything about your job that takes away from you being you.
Hmmm. It’s interesting, though (and I think true) to say that the workplace is indeed the place of strongest social network for a lot of people.
It’s not new, either. Remember those old TV shows—Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart? They took place mostly at work.
I think the workplace became a social network out of necessity. You have to go to work, so you are bound (human nature) to cultivate some sort of relationship with some workers.
How many coworkers are considered a person’s best friend? None for me. Don’t get me wrong, I have met some real nice people, whom have turned into “work” friends, but I rarely, if ever, see them outside of work.
With ROWE, I think the focus is on your work and then all of your other time can be spent on socializing, friendships, and family. I mean I have never said, “Lets all go hang out at work tonight.”
With different work environments come different work relationship dynamics. I have had a wide array of jobs and have worked with people I with who I wanted to see outside of work and others with who I coexisted. Work, like Cali and Jody stress, is something you DO. It is not a place to find friends. Friendships may develop but it is not the intended output nor reason for the company’s existence.
While I am in favor of finding a place for work among other things in your life, I don’t think its a bad thing if your workplace offers other benefits than just a paycheck. In fact, I think its a pretty good thing. Not that I want my computer to tell me or my employer how healthy I am. But if I’m spending 40 hours a week - or more - working - or even 20 hours a week working for that matter, I want that time to be valuable on multiple levels. If I make a great friend - that’s a good thing. If I learn a skill I can use outside of work - even better. And if I work for a large corporation and can go to the dentist during my lunch hour, that may also be a good thing, and not a just another sign that work is taking over who we are.
Sarah…if you go to the dentist during your lunch hour, when do you eat lunch?