The 9-to-5 work day takes its toll on the creative drive. It’s all too easy for your staff members to fall into a rut. It’s a bit complex, as forming routine habits has a both positive and deleterious impacts in the workplace.
If you had to rethink your every move all day long, it’s likely you wouldn’t get much work done. Yet, a roomful of employees cruising through the day on autopilot is not the path to creative problem-solving.
But there is a downside to allowing everyone to slip comfortably into that daily workplace routine. You know the feeling. You spend an hour doing routine tasks without having a single new idea that whole time. Ideas and a nimble attitude drive entrepreneurial endeavors more than having that cup of Joe.
That’s where corporate retreats have a vital role to play in workplace productivity. While it’s true forming these habits helps us to work more efficiently, turning on our ‘autopilot’ takes its toll on those innovative sparks. But look at what happens when the corporate team throws workplace routine up in the air through staging a corporate retreat. Studies show people will perform automated behaviors — like pulling out of a driveway or brushing teeth — the same way every single time, if they’re in the same environment. But if they take a vacation, it’s likely that the behavior will change.
According to the March 5, 2012, National Public Radio broadcast ‘Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them,’ as habitual behavior forms in the workplace, creativity and intellectual prowess take a big hit while on the job. It’s akin to the way you automatically park your car in a tight spot without even thinking about the complex physics, especially when you compare that to your first attempt with executing that maneuver.
And there’s more to the story. According to the NPR article, studies ‘show organizational habits form among workers working for the same company.’ That puts a whole new spin on the productivity equation.
When thought processes fall into a rut, there’s one way to put the creative juice back into your workplace: Stage a company retreat. Shake things up and watch the new ideas roll out, while the profits go up. Now that will create a stir in the workplace!