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Network Games at work?

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by mezdor

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I was wondering if offering Network games once a month would reduce stress and promote a little better work place. Maybe it might bring the employees together. Any thoughts on this?

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by admin

But the extra support and inevitable little problems with games had me realizing that it stressed the IT people even more and ended up essentially becoming more work. I invite them to LAN parties instead, then if their box gets buggy with a new gameinstall or something they don't have to have it fixed by Monday.

Good idea though... those that play together stay together :)

by timwalsh

1. Not everybody is a game player.
2. Will this be during or after business hours?
3. Will this be paid or unpaid time?
4. Will those who don't want to play games be sent home, or will they continue to work?
5. If they continue to work, howwill the game playing affect their ability to work? Network games tend to be bandwidth intensive. This could bring any work-related network traffic to a standstill.

Stress-relief activities are usually beneficial to any organization. The trickis finding an appropriate activity that most employees want to participate in. This activity should not impact work-related processes that must continue regardless.

by road-dog

I worked a mercenary contract for a Telco a couple of years ago that had a unique way of assigning weekend "pager duty". We all got back into the shop a little early on Friday afternoon and fired up Duke Nukem 3D. The guy who got fragged the most time in the deathmatch wore the pager. It paid to keep your laptop optimized if you liked weekends free.

A good time was had by all, and nobody felt "stuck" every weekend due to seniority rules. Out eye hand coordination was superb, as well.

I missed that assignment when it was over. I was working with a great bumch of guys for a very understanding manager. (although I had to explain a lot of unpaid "overtime" to the wife!)

by ghstinshll

Team Building is the name of the game. This should be allowed for group stress management, as well as team building and comradery.

When my former employer was open, we received an Xbox from Microsoft per our phone support roles with them, and people used to play Halo on their breaks. Any way you can liven up a desk without making it a negative productivity issue, then it is good for the group as a whole.

by mezdor

Thanks for some of the input. I plan on setting something up for either after work on a friday or a Saturday morning thing. My Boss said it was okay as long as it does not effect the systems. So I have a few weekend chores to do. I'll post to let you all know how it faired and if it helped.
Thanks again.

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