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> Zak: It's the human beings that make a business; a business organization is itself a small society. When you understand that a society's biggest aspect is its
by bmacho 4y ago
> Zak: It's the human beings that make a business; a business organization is itself a small society. When you understand that a society's biggest aspect is its people, you realize that you need to run the business as a society. I think oxytocin has potential part to play in the organization of the workplace.
> HUG: What can a business do to create a more oxytocin-rich environment?
> Zak: First, something I was so skeptical of as a practicing economist: morale building. Going out to the mountain for the day, helping people bond as a team in a stressful situation.
> Second, they should create a much more horizontal female structure. Nowadays, the biggest assets a company has are human assets. People want to feel part of a team.
I wonder if there are studies about morale building activities.
- doubled112 4y agoForced "fun" is never fun. Morale and team building have only ever pushed me out.
- jackmott 4y agoSome people enjoy that stuff, it’s important for us to remember that, and it is important for them to remember some of us hate it.
- metadat 4y agoEven GoKarts?
- doubled112 4y agoI'll admit I wouldn't need to be forced to GoKarts. It's not really a team activity, though. You could go in a group, but at the end of the day? I'll see you at the finish line.
- metadat 4y agoAgreed, it was fun but I'm not super bonded today with any of the folks I did that with 10+ years ago. Plus nearly all the GoKart places in the bay shutdown.
- jackmott 4y ago[dead]
- mbg721 4y agoI used to think that too, until 2020 happened and I started a new job where I didn't have any casual connections to any of the people I had to work with. Now I think about teambuilder events the way I think about going to the dentist; I don't want to do it, but later on I'll be glad that I did.
- doubled112 4y agoI have some pretty terrible teeth, and freezing doesn't always work for me. A trip to the dentist is something I refer to as building up a resistance to physical torture. What I can't decide is whether that makes the analogy more accurate or less.
- mbg721 4y agoDepends how competitive you are at bowling or mini-golf, I guess.
- screye 4y agoI wonder if there are studies about morale building activities. My anecdotal guess is that morale building activities work as long as you don't try to to make them "morale building activities". Board game nights, fifa tournaments, paid-for conferences, drink-carts, thanksgiving potlucks & year-end parties are all morale building events. But it is important for them to appear organic and unsupervised. These serve as great ways to build genuine connections with coworkers, understand why they have certain triggers and resolve issues through a secondary activity. But if HR is breathing down your neck, forcing you to do any of that.....it won't happen. However, it also means allowing uncertainty & odd conversations every once in a while. As long as HR only exists as a guard-rail to avoid the worst outcomes (actual aggression, black-out drunks, sexual harassment), these events can be incredibly rewarding.