I’m working with a startup that recently purchased a used fussball table for $200. To me, it was a brilliant decision by senior management.
While you may accuse me of being overly dramatic, the reality is the fussball table has made a huge impact on the corporate culture and, arguably, employee morale and productivity.
In the pre-fussball days (aka PFB), employees would socialize by getting together in the kitchen or by going out for coffee. Now, they gather around the fussball table.
The office is louder but it’s also more fun, collegial and energy-filled. In a work environment in which people are expected to work hard and produce, the fussball table has become the perfect social break in the action.
What I find fascinating about startups and their willingness to install fussball tables, ping-pong tables, video games and pinball machines is how play is part of the work scene.
No one bats an eye when a startup encourages employees to take a break to play games during the day. It’s almost as if it is a bad thing if you don’t want to play.
It makes you wonder why most large companies are anti-play.
At the big company, people are expected to work. They sit at their desks or perhaps in meeting rooms so they can do important work. Once a day, they are released into the wild to descend upon the food court or the local strip mall to consume fast food.
So why is it you don’t find ping-pong tables or fussball tables at large companies, where as startups, which operate a lot leaner and meaner, have them as standard equipment?
Why do startups embrace fun while larger businesses have a no-fun policy, unless you count gathering around the water cooler as fun?
It may have to do with expectations. At a startup, failure is a very real possibility so it may be important to create outlets so people can take a break in the action. At large companies, there is less risk and far more structure so why give people an outlet that would be distracting and anti-work?
If I were the CEO of a large company, which is highly unlikely, I’d install fussball tables on every floor, and encourage people to take a play break. Not only would it make work more fun but I bet that employees morale and productivity would go way up.
What do you think? Why do startups let people play games? What’s in it for startups? What’s in for employees?
I guess on one hand it’s a way startups can differentiate themselves from the big companies. And on the other hand, there are more bad apple in large companies as in startups (they can’t hide very long in a 20-employee startup!). So I guess for 10 good workers who could enjoy a break on the fussball table, there’s one or two incompetent / lazy one that make the direction to banish such distraction.
More than fussball or ping-pong, we see the same thing for the personal Internet usage, instant messaging, facebook… Because a few abuses, the whole group has to pay. I know some managers who got control freak with those Internet monitoring tools.
We got a ping-pong table and we even do some meetings while playing. Like walking, its helps the ideas to come out!
Absolutely agree Mark, every startup needs something like fussball or table tennis or billiards or something to get employees to connect in ways not possible by sitting at a desk.
It’s worth noting that several big companies do in fact do this. Microsoft (as an oft-though of example of ‘big business’ in the computer space) for instance has foosball tables, ping pong tables, arcade machines, etc. in almost every building.
Dan: Thanks for letting me know. I guess there is hope for large companies!
cheers, Mark
In the case of startups, tech specifically, you are often looking to attract younger employees and are hoping to create a foundation of camaraderie and a team-first culture. That’s not to say some of us beyond our 20s don’t enjoy a game or two. Some startups don’t stop at fuss ball and add a bar with keg beer. If you want your coders etc. there ‘hanging out’ and working late on weeknights and weekends, creating a playful and sociable in-office environment can really be a benefit. Happy startup employees are often the most productive and loyal employees.
Having said all of that, this kumbaya playful strategy, unfortunately, does not scale well and that is why you do not see it in most large companies. As businesses and office-sizes scale, in-office interruptions takeover your work day and are the absolute enemy of all productivity. Large office employees find it harder and harder to get real work done in the office. Phone calls, group chats, knocks on doors, Managers, meetings etc. all snowball seemingly exponentially as an organization and employee counts scale up. Perhaps in some rare cases, a large company can maintain that ‘startup culture’. But for the most part, large companies can’t count on you hanging out in their office on Friday evening talking code or spiff-balling about your next big marketing campaign no matter what game or drink they make available. As businesses get larger, what was once seen as a benefit or perk, quickly becomes another interruption or distraction.
James: Thanks for the insight. It’s too bad that fun has to disappear from the equation when a company grows, although I suspect there are other kinds of fun such as excellence programs, retreats, etc. Happy holidays! Mark