In this column, we provoke fresh thinking and round up some of the weird, wonderful, quirky, surprising – and shocking – stories out there
The mouse-jiggling world of employee ‘fauxductivity’
Productivity may be dipping at work, and employers are rightly concerned, with organisations such as PwC resorting to tracking employees’ working locations. But are we really seeing a rise in ‘fauxductivity’? This new HR buzzword describes when someone pretends to be productive. Instead of tackling meaningful tasks, they attempt to look busy, or resort to mouse-jiggling to give the illusion of work when at home.
Employees deny it – 67% of respondents to a study by consultancy Workhuman said they didn’t fake productivity, yet 48% of managers say faking activity is a common issue on their team. However, 38% of C-Suite executives and 37% of all managers admit to engaging in fauxductivity. Of those managers admitting to faking activity, 69% say this is a common issue on their team, compared to 37% of managers who don’t fake activity.
Among those workers who admit to engaging in fauxductivity, reasons given include trying to achieve a better work-life balance, tackling feelings of burnout, not having enough work, unrealistic expectations and appeasing management, finds the survey.
Employees faking productivity aren’t concerned about it affecting their performance though – 69% of employees say it hasn’t had any impact, and 48% say they’re an above-average worker.
It’s in the stars
Some 80% of Gen Zers and Millennials in the US believe in astrology, with 72% allowing it to guide critical aspects of their lives, such as romance, health, work, and education.
Many are turning to astrology to cope with stressors, with 80% admitting they believe it at least some of the time. Among those who do, 58% check their horoscopes weekly, while one in three feel anxiety if they fail to do so regularly, according to a study from student website EDuBirdie: Planetary Persuasion: How does astrology influence one’s life?
Twenty per cent of young Americans admit to feeling embarrassed about their reliance on astrology, with 10% admitting their beliefs have led to issues such as relationship breakups and poor financial decisions, finds the survey, which polled 2,000 Americans aged 16 to 34.
Some 32% of respondents rely on the zodiac to make important health decisions, with 29% viewing it as a viable alternative to traditional therapy. Eighteen per cent let astrology influence their career choices, with 41% reviewing bosses’ and colleagues’ zodiac signs before accepting a job offer.
Among those, 63% believe astrology has positively impacted their professional lives, with 15% crediting the zodiac for securing their dream job.
Music to our ears
Listening to music can help us focus on tasks such as administrative work, emailing and writing documents, according to a survey of 2,000 UK-based professionals by The Music Licence.
Some 59% of respondents find listening to music helps them complete administrative tasks, emailing (43%), writing documents (37%), planning and research (35%), and preparing presentations (22%), finds the survey. The optimal office concentration playlist consists of pop according to 24%, chill-out (16%) and RnB (12%).
UK workers lose up to 15 hours a week through distractions, with 67% of employees finding themselves distracted at work.
Overall, UK workers’ top ten distractions in the workplace are: colleagues talking in the background (41%), talking to colleagues (37%), interruptions (30%), temptation to look at phones (27%), hunger (21%), people walking around (21%), unexpected visitors (20%), temptation to look at social media (20%), phones ringing (19%) and people typing loudly (15%).
The top distractor for remote workers is the temptation to look at phones (27%) and for office workers, colleagues talking (38%).
But before you press play, remember that you require a music licence to play all commercial music within a public setting, including office and workplaces, The Music Licence reminds us.
Harder to read?
Is it harder to form a first impression via video calls than face-to face? Not usually, although there are exceptions, finds research by Marie-Catherine Mignault at Cornell University and colleagues.
Their research found that participants could perceive each other’s unique personality and liked the other person just as well via Zoom as in person. However, some aspects of personality were evaluated more accurately and some less accurately in person than via Zoom, while the reverse was true for others. Aspects judged to be more easily observable during a first encounter, such as being ‘assertive’ and ‘energetic’, were more accurately perceived in person, while aspects rated as being less observable, such as being ‘original’, were more likely to be perceived accurately on Zoom.
Intelligence and openness may be perceived more accurately on Zoom than in person, suggests the study.
More visible cues to personality, such as larger and faster movements, signalling higher energy, might be easier to express in person while some personality cues that are absent from in-person meetings, but which can be present during a Zoom meeting such as wall art may act as useful cues to less visible aspects of personality, such as originality.
When the audio-visual quality during a Zoom meeting was rated as being relatively poor, participants formed less accurate impressions of the other person’s personality.
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- Email: liz.hall@coaching-at-work.com