Coffee… - “as black as the devil, as burning as hell, as pure as an angel and as sweet as love” according to Talleyrand – has lately been making quite some waves in the office. And making sense of all the vices and virtues of the coffee break, it very well seems to be all of these things at the same time. So, heavenly break or hellish waste of time?
A Divine Comedy.
A hot flavorous coffee during work may be important, sometimes indispensable! It enables:
- to catch your breath,
- to regain your strength
- to exchange original ideas and shared feelings
- and other things…
But it can also be:
- a leisure time…
- … which costs 490 euros per employee and per year to the firm,
- and which serves as an excuse for tired employees to mope alone
- and other things…
Yes, it can be all that.
One might praise the benefits of the Arabica’s flavour against the strength of the Robusta all he wants. Everyone’s entitled to their own taste. But put a stop to this useless debate!
Plus it automatically excludes all the tea-drinkers.
Damn the reactionary!
Why is this debate useless? Because it’s outdated. Because it implies a work time and leisure time strictly separate from one another. Which is not the case. Because we work under our morning shower, in the subway AND at the coffee machine. And because we often only pretend to work in front of our computer. Don’t deny it!
We cannot think in the same ways we used to. New apps make it possible to organize virtual coffee breaks! We work differently? Manage differently.
The time we officially dedicate to work has never been so short. And yet, what keeps us most awake at night? Professional problems and the evil shadow of our boss. Studies point that out.
So let us just have our coffee break in peace and how we want it, expresso, lungo or other!
Back to 1984…
What lies next? Studies measuring the cost of toilet breaks have already been conducted: Check. Leading to absurd decisions to regulate our bladder: cameras installed at the toilets’ entrance, electronic cards to be able to go in… Check. The latest genius idea? A Norwegian executive made his female employees wear red bracelets during menstruation periods … to account for their suspiciously frequent journeys to the restroom. Truly admirable. Check.
To such firms trying to be Big Brother: don’t expect great loyalty from your employees. Or their motivation. Actually don’t expect much from them.
Power misuse or coffee abuse?
Now let’s talk popular psychology. I don’t care, I have Dale Carnegie and his world-wide best-seller How to win friends and influence people on my side: if you really want to maximise the holy productivity, don’t try to control everything. Don’t put rules and obstacles at every turn. GenY’s are allergic to it.
Instead, express your trust in one’s abilities and independence. Only then will you develop all their potential, make them believe in themselves and give the best they have. A simple chain reaction. And without raising a finger. Actually. Specifically by not raising it.
After all, only you can know what coffee brings you…
Illustration by Germain Jammernegg.