6 ms·

I didn't realize drinking on the job was a thing. I've had the odd company party with beer in the late afternoon, but that's perhaps twice a year. I'm not a te

by jfoutz 10y ago

I didn't realize drinking on the job was a thing. I've had the odd company party with beer in the late afternoon, but that's perhaps twice a year. I'm not a teetotaler by any stretch of the imagination, but drinking at work seems counterproductive.

matwood 10y ago
We have beer in the fridge and a keg at work. Sometimes it's nice to have a beer at the end of the day, but after a working all day I usually just want to go home.
- jfoutz 10y ago
  Yeah, i can see that. Finish a big project and have a beer with your team. I have a hard time seeing that as a daily or even weekly thing.
  - existencebox 10y ago
    I'd like to give a counter-perspective, since those who drink at work are often grouped as "brogrammers" when I don't feel like the term encapsulates the environment I'm seeking at all; I have a group of mixed engineer/PM peers accumulated from multiple past jobs who perhaps once a month after work on a friday go to a bar for happy hour and just shoot the shit about work. We have non-drinkers there (we'd glady have more but by no planning of my own many of my coworkers happen to drink) and I've never heard any murmur of pressure to participate beyond being a grumpy engineer :) Sometimes, as the parent said, this happens out of the work fridge, as going to the bar isn't feasible, and it's nice to take 30m or so out of a long afternoon to be slightly less heads down, as said above, the fact that beer is involved is more just that it's a common source of enjoyment than any intrinsic ties to the hanging out. Coffee, video games, etc are all other ways of doing this, and I think if the culture is natural and very laid back you can avoid the peer pressure that naysayers like to bring up. To your earlier point of being counterproductive, by 4 on a friday, I am so far from my peak of engineering productivity that a casual chat that spawns some interesting conversations is probably far more work-beneficial than my banging my head further on the same thing I've been doing for the prior 79 hours of the week, if I'm being honest with my workflow. Just my thoughts. The stated lack of pressure comes from a recognition that these are just that, MY thoughts; I absolutely believe that this pattern doesn't work for anyone, but after so long of seeing the anti-drinking sentiment grow I wanted to chime in a bit with a positive spin; in as mentally intensive a field as we often have a chance to unwind is so valuable to me.
    - jfoutz 10y ago
      > [we...] go to a bar for happy hour and just shoot the shit about work. Yeah, that makes perfect sense, i do that myself. Absolutely agree with the 4 on Friday point as well. I like drinking. It's just the at work part that makes me nervous. I see the utility in not having to move to a different location, and how that is more inclusive to everyone. I think it takes a very light touch. Because it's at work people might feel more obligated to participate - even if they don't claim any feelings of obligation. Because people are drinking, they might be a little less tactful than normal. These two can compound in ways that aren't great for everyone. You and your team sound like smart responsible adults. And i'm sure organizations that approach it with your level of delicacy will do great.
      - matwood 10y ago
        It is definitely much easier in a small company. We hire mature adults and treat people as mature adults. Drink/don't drink, play a chess game or not, work at home or not, stay and play some games after work or go pick up your kids, we do not care as long as the work gets done. All people are different and value different things. If you hire responsible adults, you can give a lot of leeway with how the work gets done.
    - arprocter 10y ago
      Something that often goes unmentioned is that there's a huge difference between having a pint over lunch and getting trashed. A well rested person with a little beer in them is going to probably be less incompetent than someone who was up all night with insomnia. I'm intolerant to caffeine and if I drank the same amount of coffee some folks drink it would leave me a juddering wreck
  - mathattack 10y ago
    I worked at a software company that had Whiskey afternoons around 4pm on Thursday. It was good for getting people across departments to talk to each other, and helped bring out some introverts. I wondered if it had negative gender connotations, as guys were much more likely that women to partake.
  - intoverflow2 10y ago
    Much more common in the creative industries. In advertising for example it's not uncommon for creative teams to head off to the pub for a brainstorm in the afternoon if its thursday/friday.
  - 67726e 10y ago
    Hell, is having a beer with lunch that big of an issue?
Waterluvian 10y ago
We have a keg at work. It's used enough to not go bad, but there's never been an issue with it. People will have a beer on a Friday or during a lunch on a really busy day. I'm not a beer drinker and bring in cider for those times. This probably goes without saying, but alcohol isn't the problem. I imagine problem people and problem cultures often like to involve alcohol, so there's a correlation.
tomjen3 10y ago
Drinking at work while trying to work is counterproductive. Drinking a beer after work isn't and it's an okay way to get out of the silos one normally work in.
morgante 10y ago
At a previous startup, I would regularly work past 7 or 8pm. At that point in the day, I definitely liked being able to crack open a cold cider. It's not like I was getting drunk, and I would often continue to code for a few more hours.
lmm 10y ago
For medium-to-large organizations, lack of communication is the biggest problem - especially no-one being willing to say anything negative. Drinking cultures can greatly increase productivity, IME.
phusion 10y ago
When I used to visit the Yelp offices in SF, and a few other high profile tech outfits, they had kegs in the office.
technion 10y ago
My first job, many years ago now, was at a place where the job of the junior (me) included going to the bottlo up the street and bringing back drinks, which often started at 9am. Everyone from the CEO down was totally sloshed by afternoon, every day. I would absolutely hate to work in that environment, but it's definitely "a thing".

by jfoutz 10y ago

matwood 10y ago

We have beer in the fridge and a keg at work. Sometimes it's nice to have a beer at the end of the day, but after a working all day I usually just want to go home.

jfoutz 10y ago
Yeah, i can see that. Finish a big project and have a beer with your team. I have a hard time seeing that as a daily or even weekly thing.
- existencebox 10y ago
  I'd like to give a counter-perspective, since those who drink at work are often grouped as "brogrammers" when I don't feel like the term encapsulates the environment I'm seeking at all; I have a group of mixed engineer/PM peers accumulated from multiple past jobs who perhaps once a month after work on a friday go to a bar for happy hour and just shoot the shit about work. We have non-drinkers there (we'd glady have more but by no planning of my own many of my coworkers happen to drink) and I've never heard any murmur of pressure to participate beyond being a grumpy engineer :) Sometimes, as the parent said, this happens out of the work fridge, as going to the bar isn't feasible, and it's nice to take 30m or so out of a long afternoon to be slightly less heads down, as said above, the fact that beer is involved is more just that it's a common source of enjoyment than any intrinsic ties to the hanging out. Coffee, video games, etc are all other ways of doing this, and I think if the culture is natural and very laid back you can avoid the peer pressure that naysayers like to bring up. To your earlier point of being counterproductive, by 4 on a friday, I am so far from my peak of engineering productivity that a casual chat that spawns some interesting conversations is probably far more work-beneficial than my banging my head further on the same thing I've been doing for the prior 79 hours of the week, if I'm being honest with my workflow. Just my thoughts. The stated lack of pressure comes from a recognition that these are just that, MY thoughts; I absolutely believe that this pattern doesn't work for anyone, but after so long of seeing the anti-drinking sentiment grow I wanted to chime in a bit with a positive spin; in as mentally intensive a field as we often have a chance to unwind is so valuable to me.
  - jfoutz 10y ago
    > [we...] go to a bar for happy hour and just shoot the shit about work. Yeah, that makes perfect sense, i do that myself. Absolutely agree with the 4 on Friday point as well. I like drinking. It's just the at work part that makes me nervous. I see the utility in not having to move to a different location, and how that is more inclusive to everyone. I think it takes a very light touch. Because it's at work people might feel more obligated to participate - even if they don't claim any feelings of obligation. Because people are drinking, they might be a little less tactful than normal. These two can compound in ways that aren't great for everyone. You and your team sound like smart responsible adults. And i'm sure organizations that approach it with your level of delicacy will do great.
    - matwood 10y ago
      It is definitely much easier in a small company. We hire mature adults and treat people as mature adults. Drink/don't drink, play a chess game or not, work at home or not, stay and play some games after work or go pick up your kids, we do not care as long as the work gets done. All people are different and value different things. If you hire responsible adults, you can give a lot of leeway with how the work gets done.
  - arprocter 10y ago
    Something that often goes unmentioned is that there's a huge difference between having a pint over lunch and getting trashed. A well rested person with a little beer in them is going to probably be less incompetent than someone who was up all night with insomnia. I'm intolerant to caffeine and if I drank the same amount of coffee some folks drink it would leave me a juddering wreck
- mathattack 10y ago
  I worked at a software company that had Whiskey afternoons around 4pm on Thursday. It was good for getting people across departments to talk to each other, and helped bring out some introverts. I wondered if it had negative gender connotations, as guys were much more likely that women to partake.
- intoverflow2 10y ago
  Much more common in the creative industries. In advertising for example it's not uncommon for creative teams to head off to the pub for a brainstorm in the afternoon if its thursday/friday.
- 67726e 10y ago
  Hell, is having a beer with lunch that big of an issue?

Waterluvian 10y ago

We have a keg at work. It's used enough to not go bad, but there's never been an issue with it. People will have a beer on a Friday or during a lunch on a really busy day. I'm not a beer drinker and bring in cider for those times. This probably goes without saying, but alcohol isn't the problem. I imagine problem people and problem cultures often like to involve alcohol, so there's a correlation.

tomjen3 10y ago

Drinking at work while trying to work is counterproductive. Drinking a beer after work isn't and it's an okay way to get out of the silos one normally work in.

morgante 10y ago

At a previous startup, I would regularly work past 7 or 8pm. At that point in the day, I definitely liked being able to crack open a cold cider. It's not like I was getting drunk, and I would often continue to code for a few more hours.

lmm 10y ago

For medium-to-large organizations, lack of communication is the biggest problem - especially no-one being willing to say anything negative. Drinking cultures can greatly increase productivity, IME.

phusion 10y ago

When I used to visit the Yelp offices in SF, and a few other high profile tech outfits, they had kegs in the office.

technion 10y ago

My first job, many years ago now, was at a place where the job of the junior (me) included going to the bottlo up the street and bringing back drinks, which often started at 9am. Everyone from the CEO down was totally sloshed by afternoon, every day. I would absolutely hate to work in that environment, but it's definitely "a thing".