Warm Offices Boost Productivity 520
bluelip writes "It looks like the real reason for offshoring is corporations looking for warmer weather. Instead of paying the energy bills to crank up the heat in the office to a more productive temperature, the offices are moving to warmer areas. This article shows a 44% error reduction and 150% increase in productivity for those working in warmer offices. Will this increase in output be enough to convince my boss to pay for us to vacation-commute from a tropical island?"
Too warm? (Score:4, Informative)
77F = 25C
(for those of use that use Celcius)
25C/77F is very warm. I prefer to work around 21C/70F. Any warmer than that and I'd be falling asleep. Certainly
T.
Re:Too warm? (Score:3, Interesting)
I work best when it's cooler - about 65-68. I also prefer a darker environment and plenty of rest. Since I'm a night owl, trying to force my sleep rhythm to match the office hours isn't very productive.
Re:Too warm? (Score:2)
Yeah, I was about to write the same thing and it's already at the top. If it's sunny and I'm outside, 77F is ok, but inside an office at that temp and I may as well unroll the thermarest.
In meetings it's especially true-- if it's any warmer than 70 it's really hard to stay awake.
Re:Too warm? (Score:3, Funny)
In my lab it's often below 17C / 62F or above 27C / 80F.
No wonder it takes us so long to graduate...
Temperature Fascists (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Temperature Fascists (Score:5, Funny)
My motto is very simple
When its cold you can always put on more clothes.
When its hot you can only take off so much before your arrested!
Re:Temperature Fascists (Score:5, Insightful)
and it's ignorant clods like you that make my GF's work life difficult.
she has Reynauds, a condition tha tcan cut off the circulation in her fingers if exposed to low temperatures... Yes a half hour in of 67 degree temperatures WILL trigger this condition. Many other people also have circulation problems.
Her last boss was so stupid that it took us filing for disability for her on his ass as well as a lawsuit on him for creating a hostile work environment before he turned the temperature back up to 70.
Maybe these people "bitching" have a real reason.
Re:Temperature Fascists (Score:3, Insightful)
If you have had a burn or freeze above 2nd degree on more then 30% of your hands you will have similar problems. Under 20C you are likely to start experiencing pains in your hands after less then an hour of typing (speaking out of personal experience here).
Are you all insane?? (Score:4, Informative)
Snooze (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Snooze (Score:3, Insightful)
In a cooler climate, where nothing grows during the winter, you'd better have that supply of food built up-- Or you'll starve. It's a simple matter of necessity.
However, when my fingers are cold, I cannot type very well. But when they're warm, they just fly across the keyboard!
Re:Snooze (Score:4, Interesting)
Whether the root cause is food or not, I don't know, but in Britain, labour was relatively expensive, wheras in India, labour was cheap.
So, if you're running a textile business, and you need to power a fabric loom, you have India do all the work with their manual looms and skilled workforce.
Domestic work would of course be more profitable, but there aren't nearly as many skilled people working the looms in Britain.
Slavery inhibited this need in the Roman empire, but in Britian, it was nowhere near as prevalent... not enough slaves.
...so somebody figured out that you could get more work out of people if you began using water-powered looms, then steam powered looms, then you used British government to restrict the sales of cheaper and superior Indian textiles, finally forcing Indians to buy more expensive, inferior textiles from Britain...
Slavery might have inhibitied this need in the Americas, but one thing came with the American conquerors that the Romans never had... guns. The development, sale and distribution of firearms was a technological boon for the Americas. Then came the railway... this covered the creation of a coal-engine-fine machinery industry across the country which could be tapped for both skills and resources to create new technologies like the wireless and so forth.
When the British machinery was used in the U.S., the need for slavery or slave-wages was reduced and eventually eliminated, only the most unscrupulous designer labels practicing slavery or wage-slavery today.
But food probably does play a part in dictating why there was so much cheap labour in India v.s. Britain, it's tough to say... it's just as remarkable to look at why Rome didn't develop modern technology as why Britain and the Americas did.
Planet with two hemispheres (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Too warm? (Score:3, Informative)
I myself prefer a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius.
Re:Too warm? (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Honeywell, top maker of vac units and controls recommends temperatures of 76-78 degrees for low-activity office environments; check out the website they offer a very handy climate tool. This is also right on keel with the energy department's guidelines.
2. How many of the people complain that this is too warm:
a. are overweight, or
b. smoke, or
c. drink warm beverages and not the recommended 8 glasses of water a day, or
d. have high blood pressure, or
e. feel sleepy because they aren't
Re:Too warm? (Score:5, Funny)
a. are overweight, or
b. smoke, or
c. drink warm beverages and not the recommended 8 glasses of water a day, or
d. have high blood pressure, or
e. feel sleepy because they aren't getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep at night, or
f. not interested in what they are doing enough to stay awake.
a: no
b: no
c: the 8 glasses of water a day thing is an urban legend [snopes.com]
d: no
e: no
f: no
And yet I'm comfortable at 70F and miserable at 78F. Furthermore, if you're cold, you can dress warmer. If I'm hot, my options are much more limited -- stripping naked at one's workplace tends to have negative repurcussions.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Too warm? (Score:3, Funny)
It shouldn't be cold enough to shiver, but it definitely shouldn't be warm either!
Daniel
Re:Too warm? (Score:4, Informative)
The only type of 'work' they tested was typing. This does cause one to question the validity of the sweeping productivity statements made.
Still, I definately work best at around 25deg C. The freezing office I work in makes my fingers to stiff to type properly.
Re:Too warm? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Too warm? (Score:4, Funny)
OTOH they took the heat much better
Re:Too warm? (Score:5, Insightful)
25 degrees C is uncomfortably warm if you're wearing a shirt and tie, or full battle gear (suit), as is typical of my law firm and many other professional groups.
But 25 degrees C is damn perfect if you're wearing comfortable clothing, like shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. By no coincidence, I'm most productive when I'm comfortable, which includes how I'm dressed.
I hope that this starts a trend back to more casual dress. We were headed there in 1999, but the shock waves of the .com bust produced a backlash to heavy, formal clothing. Hopefully we can resurrect the previous trend.
- David Stein
Re:Too warm? (Score:5, Informative)
Do a Google search for
'convert 77F to C'
And it will convert almost everything as well.
T.
Re:Too warm? (Score:5, Funny)
> CONVERT LEAD INTO GOLD
Definition of convert - WordReference.com Dictionary...
Darn. And I thought Google could do everything.
I can't believe that (Score:2)
Since it's under science... (Score:4, Interesting)
It is just a coincidence? Astronomers/Astrophysicists always seem to know where to build the best ground-based telescopes (Hawaii, Chile, the Canary Islands...)
Re:Since it's under science... (Score:2)
Do you think this might have anything to do with the clear skies, and lack of nearby cities (light pollution)?
But you are right - maybe a warmer climate would increase productivity too. It would at least make people feel happier. I'm looking out at the rain outside my window, and thinking that I have to go home in that very soon.
T.
It's stupid (Score:2)
And a *lot* of us don't want it that warm. If it gets above 74 or so, most of the people in our office get sluggish.
Re:It's stupid (Score:2)
Where I am, we keep our office at about 71, which is a good working temp. Too warm and we fall asleep, too cold and our fingers can't move to type.
Also I don't know of a single building in SA (or other warm area) that doesn't have some form of HVAC, it's nessecary down here, so temps in the office are arbitrary. Maybe that's why warm areas are better because they can better control the temp and
Re:I can't believe that (Score:4, Insightful)
Bundling up is an option... (Score:5, Insightful)
Common sense, really.
Warm??? (Score:2, Insightful)
The worst thing in the world is to be working in an office that's too warm. It's just horrible.
Here's a secret people: if you're too cold, wear warming clothing! If I'm too hot, I can't take off all of my clothes (and keep my job).
Re:Warm??? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Warm??? (Score:2)
Warmer temps = tendency for people to get sleepy. The reason optimal temperature is around 69-72 is that a cooler temp will help keep people awake.
Again, those that are cold can always add more clothing, those that are warm can only take so much off....I do not think it would be appropriate to come to the office in a bathing suit and t-shirt.
Re:Warm??? (Score:2)
Re:Warm??? (Score:3, Informative)
What is even worse is when someone (I won't say women) adjusts the thermostat in the computer lab because they are too cold. Computer labs are SUPPOSED to be cold. You crank the ambient temp up to 75 degrees F and you are asking for trouble with the servers. It is amazing that some people in the software industry don't realize this.
Re:Warm??? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Warm??? (Score:5, Informative)
There is nothing wrong with pointing out the phyiscal differences between sexes.
I have never worked at a company where there was an issue with men turning the heat up, which causes discomfort for others, just because they were a little too cold.
Re:Warm??? (Score:3, Insightful)
Nap Time? (Score:2)
Cooler temps = more alert workers. (lots of Hot coffee to 'warm-up' helps too!)
omg, Canada is doomed! (Score:4, Funny)
Go burn those fossil fuels, Canucks!
Re:omg, Canada is doomed! (Score:2, Funny)
Work from Home (Score:2)
Stupid study (Score:2, Insightful)
In the end, if you wish to increase productivity dim the lights. And monitor the results, productivity will go up. Increase the lighting a week later, productivity will again go up. Keep this up until productivity exceeds 100% efficiency.
I'm only half kidding.
The Suits (Score:5, Interesting)
Which is why I doubt the AC is gonna be lowered anytime soon. It would be a battle between HR and upper management, and while certainly a glorious battle it would be, uppper management usually wins.
Re:The Suits (Score:3, Insightful)
Suit wearers are definitely one group keeping the temperature set low, but there is a larger factor at play.
I think the major reason offices are intentionally kept cold and drafty is that the vast majority of office workers drink coffee. I've worked in several different offices, some large, some small. I was always getting cold sitting still in my chair all day and ended up wearing several layers of clothing. I actually kept a sweater at the office because I didn't need it anywhere else. I eventually real
Warm = Productivity?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Between 18 and 16 Degrees Celsuis are perfect for me, then again, I do live in Canada.
100% (Score:5, Interesting)
100% of the time? Does this seem a little high to anyone else? Don't people take breaks for bathroom, /., etc?
Re:100% (Score:5, Funny)
That's it... (Score:4, Informative)
Oh, and now we're not supposed to have space heaters. Thank God for surplus AlphaServers...
Turn down the AirCon! (Score:2)
It's hardly rocket science.
This is Just for Typing Skills (Score:2)
Obligatory offshore joke (Score:4, Funny)
No, but welcome your new office in sunny Bangalore, where the temps often exceed 100F and humidity reigns!
great.... (Score:2)
Where is Cornell again? (Score:2)
Way too hot! (Score:2, Interesting)
Not me (Score:2, Funny)
Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't know about anyone else, but a warm office really hurts my productivity. Heck, when the A/C goes out, I think more about the temperature than the job at hand. It's also unpleasant coming into the office after doing a little bit of exercise, and spending the next 20 minutes wiping all the sweat off. Plus, warm offices feel somewhat stuffy.
Personally, I know some offices are nice and chilly, and it can hurt productivity, but too warm is probably a lot worse than too cold. (Too warm - get a fan - if you're still hot, tough. Too cold - a heater, sweater, anything - when you're warm enough (or feeling hot), take it off.
Then again, maybe I'm weird to prefer cooler weather. Me, like airplanes, like cold air... not hot (and possibly humid) air.
Gimme cold! (Score:2)
Office Attire / Room Temp? (Score:2, Interesting)
Many workplaces require slacks and a collared shirt. Add an undershirt and I'm good for 70F.
We had an issue with our AC for a while and had to deal with 80F temps. We complained and complained to get it to 70-72F.
Isn't "room temp" 72F/22C ??
Duh (Score:2)
I'll bet next week there is a counter study that offices that are too warm exhibit a decrease in productivity too. Sheesh
Anybody get the feeling that most research into working conditions is going to eventually rediscover common sense? Respect your employees, don't treat them like productivity units or morons, and don't subject them to unfavorable working conditions like poor equipment or temperature control. Guess what - they'll appreciate it a
This is old news (Score:5, Informative)
From Article: When the office temperature in a month-long study increased from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, typing errors fell by 44 percent and typing output jumped 150 percent.
This is a well-known phenomenon, first seen in the Hawthorne studies [analytictech.com]. One of the first productivity studies was in a factory where the researcher first reduced the light, and productivity increased; then the researcher increased the light, and productivity still increased. The end result is that worker productivity increased indirectly merely by changing the work environment.
Maybe that's why we keep getting reorganized....
Re:This is old news (Score:3, Funny)
So the most efficient environment is one with a flickering light?
Re:This is old news (Score:5, Insightful)
I was actually wondering if anyone else had mentioned this, sometimes called the Hawthorne Effect. However, it seems you have the summarization a little wrong.
It's generally believed that productivity didn't increase because their environment was changing; productivity went up because they knew they were being studied, and/or that management cared about them enough to look. Remember that the Hawthorne study was one of the forerunners in the wild new theory that increasing productivity might have something to do with employees, not machinery.
It's not entirely unlike the placebo effect, although I'd stop short of equating the two.
Re:This is old news (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not entirely unlike the placebo effect, although I'd stop short of equating the two.
One way in which it differs is that the Hawthorne effect is somewhat more conscious. Workers know that working faster will lead to increased productivity. They consciously can change the outcome. A patient getting a placebo effect doesn't know what "muscles" he's flexing, or which attitudes he's affecting that are causing his healing to speed up.
So in other words:
Hawthorne effect: The subject knows he's being
Results questionable... (Score:2)
-My productivity / output do not corrolate to how much I type.
-How much I type does relate to what projects I'm working on and what I have to do that day. Perhaps the people who typed more had assignments that month that required more typing.
-68 degrees is comfortable for me. 77 is sweltering.
-In warm offices, my productivity falls.
-In warm offices, I get sleepy.
The Science Behind It All (Score:2)
Office Temperature Optimal (Score:2)
Now I did do a study in college (don't have the resources as it was a while ago) and I also came up with the statistic that 69 degrees is optimal. For those that are cold - you can always add more clothing, while those that are hot (typically men get hotter then women) can only take so much clothing off...especially in many offices where men are required to wear a shirt, tie and potentially a suit jacket.
I try and ke
Office drones vs. developers (Score:2)
Until they can control the ambient temperature to small regions of each floor, let's keep the temp on the cool side; you can always put on a jacket.
Warm Office=Faster Typing (Score:5, Insightful)
productivity (Score:2)
I'm not saying that this should be removed from the companies, cause it's the major appeal of some places, but it's
I've been saying it for YEARS! (Score:2)
That explains alot (Score:2, Funny)
All this time I thought I was just born lazy, but its actually the working environment.
Thanks Science!
Sample size (Score:5, Insightful)
In the study, which was conducted at Insurance Office of America's headquarters in Orlando, Fla., each of nine workstations was equipped with a miniature personal environment-sensor for sampling air temperature every 15 minutes.
Wow, what a meaningful sample size.
That, and the references to keyboards and accuracy makes it sound like it's purely a study of a typing pool to me. Probably female, probably requiring little in the way of creative/critical thinking, just a cosy space to get on with the tiresome task of earning a dollar.
This passes for 'research'...? Oh dear.
nothing to do with offshoring (Score:2)
WTF just turn off the AC (Score:2)
Conclusion unwarranted (Score:5, Interesting)
When the office temperature in a month-long study increased from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, typing errors fell by 44 percent and typing output jumped 150 percent.
Those data don't warrant the conclusion "Warm Offices Boost Productivity."
The improvement could simply be a result of the change. The gains might not be sustained over time. Lowering the temperature another 3 degrees six weeks later could also yield an improvement.
A change is as good as a holiday.
Warmth may seem great when you lack it but then the same can be said for coolness.
Re:Conclusion unwarranted (Score:3, Funny)
those morons jump on trendy bandwagons faster than 14 year old girls.
yeah? Around here morons jump on 14 year old girls quicker than anything.
Cold hands can't type (Score:4, Insightful)
At one office I worked in, my hands would become almost immobile and typing was often difficult.
Reminds me of idea (Score:3, Funny)
I mean seriously, what beats coding on the beach? And customers would love to do business with us even if we charged more than the competition. I think its a winner. Every day will be Hawaiian shirt day.
Warmer offices is politically correct term for... (Score:5, Funny)
Sedentary jobs (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd also guess that this study was comprised of mostly women. Women tend to be lighter (less body mass), and be comfortable at a slightly higher temperature than men. I would find 77 to be a sweltering hell after about 4 or 5 hours. Winter in my house is always interesting, as my wife wants the thermostat on 80 and I try to find a room with an open window.
This article could be a life saver (Score:3, Interesting)
Tropical brain power (Score:4, Funny)
Spin that wheel, run that ratrace, little rodent! (Score:3, Insightful)
Americans should see America as a business, but one where THEY are the owners, and not the worker drones. Do you see business owners worrying about how "productive" they are, about how many words per minute THEY type? Instead of worrying about helping the corporate plantation squeeze as much work as possible out of ourselves, we should be thinking about how America can be organized so that we have as little work to do as possible.
Life is finite, people....
Quite the opposite (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Quite the opposite (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Quite the opposite (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Quite the opposite (Score:3, Funny)
I'm currently working in the tiny island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. Here, the temperature is seldom less than 23-25, and frequently warmer. Everyone here at the office is extremely productive.
(Whoops, back in a second. There's someone selling green coconuts. Gotta get a drink....)
Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, productivity, right. Yeah it's great here in Vanuatu because
Heh, sorry, got cut off by my boss. I'm heading out to the beach this afternoon, an
Hot Offices (Score:3, Informative)
"warm" as an abstract word is useless..
There was an old IQ study ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Then again, intelligence may not correlate with the urge to produce. Wasn't there that study out a few weeks back showing that monkeys were more "productive" at a repetitive task if their neuronal reward circuits were disabled? Those who still experienced the pleasure of reward would put off work until just before the reward was anticipated, while those without the pleasure would just keep working no matter when.
So maybe warm = stupid = less feeling of accomplishment, but "paradoxically" if you're performing some drone task may make the boss very happy with the consequences.
You want warm? (Score:3, Informative)
Oh, and today we will have a high of 94F and 84% relative humidity.
(I'd kill for a 70F or less office!)
Come to North Carolina then (Score:3, Funny)
Come to the Tarheel state. It's like Mumbai except the people don't speak English.
Strike caused by temperature! (Score:4, Interesting)
One of my uncles was a union negociator. He was called whenever the discussions between management and unions went south and his job was to mend things.
Once, he was called in a machine shop where workers had gone on strike after fighting with management over apparently irrelevant issues.
After peeling the various layers of gripes, it became clear that tempers had flared for no real discernable reason. And then, my uncle noticed something: It was really warm in the floor (this was in the winter).
It turned out that the temperature for both the machine floor and the offices were controlled by a thermostat that was in the office of the boss' secretary, an older woman who liked it warm.
The thermostat was moved to the floor, the boss got a space heater for her secretary, and the work relationships improved markedly.
So maybe this study is relevant for nine female underactive office clerks. But put machine shop workers wearing their full security attire in a 77F environment, and they will mill your butt off!
I call bullshit on this on behalf of men (Score:3, Interesting)
This study should've gone further and broken down the data on gender, because I have yet to find a guy in the various offices that I've worked in that thought the temps in the office were TOO COLD to WORK PRODUCTIVELY.
On the contrary, I've had nearly drop-down-dragged-out fights with the ladies in offices where I've worked because of the thermostat. No -- I'm not a violent man -- I'm not putting smackdown on cold female co-workers. I'm talking about insidious "cold war" (no pun intended) tactics -- surreptitiously bumping UP/DOWN the thermostat on the way to the can; taking informal "polls" asking how COLD people think the office is; etc.
The only way I've found to combat the never ending "cold ware" in my office is to basically lay down the equivalent of mutually assured grossing out. I basically tell the ladies in the office whining about the cold that I can either take of my shirt to stay cool and let them turn up the heat, or they can put on more clothing.
Man boobs are a powerful weapon in the hands of the right male.
IronChefMorimoto
The staff were yanking the management's chain (Score:3, Interesting)
"At 77 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers were keyboarding 100 percent of the time with a 10 percent error rate, but at 68 degrees, their keying rate went down to 54 percent of the time with a 25 percent error rate,"
The workstations had monitoring equipment fitted, the people knew what was going on (well, you wouldn't miss the temperature varying from 68 to 77, would you) and they worked out an appropriate response. Well, nearly appropriate -- that 100% could only be believed by someone with a very pointy head or by someone in a very high ivory tower.
Overly flip stuff in every Slashdot lead-in (Score:4, Insightful)
Why does every third Slashdot story have to contain some sophomoric, contentious and/or unfounded sentence in the lead-in? These sorts of things generate, as a rule, a huge amount of off-topic flaming and often frame the actual article in question in a distorted light ("Ask Unix Co-Creator (sic) Rob Pike"). It'd be nice if there was a little less raw opinion and random editorializing splattered across the actual stories. It's only a few lines; for heaven's sake try to be a little professional.
Re:Overly flip stuff in every Slashdot lead-in (Score:3, Insightful)
You must be new here. ;{)
21 Celcius or 70 farenheit is optimal (Score:4, Informative)
just before reading the article as far as I know not such warm climate is optimal :)
see
http://www.usaweekend.com/00_issues/000116/000116b iology.html [usaweekend.com]
Pay attention to air quality. Cool, dry air, especially on your face, helps keep you alert, while heat and humidity make you drowsy. Studies show that mental performance, such as rule-based logical thinking, can be reduced by 30% at temperatures not even warm enough to cause sweating. So keep the room at 70 degrees, the average optimum temperature for mental work in the United States. (Not everybody shares the same optimal temperature -- some are "cold-blooded"; others are "hot-blooded" -- so you may need to adjust up or down.)
see also http://schoolstudio.engr.wisc.edu/energysmartschoOptimal Thermal Conditions Thermal comfort has been shown to influence task performance, attention spans and levels of discomfort. In general, historical empirical studies going back 50 years have indicated that temperatures above 80 degrees F tend to produce harmful physiological effects that decrease work efficiency and output (McGuffy, 1982). Thermal conditions are below optimal levels affect dexterity, while higher than optimal temperatures decrease general alertness and increase physiological stress. One researcher (Harner, 1974) when reviewing optimal temperature levels for the performance found that reading and mathematical skills were adversely affected by temperatures above 74 degrees F. Reading speed and comprehension were most affected by temperature. A significant reduction in reading speed and comprehension occurred between 73.4 degrees F and 80.6 degrees F. This researcher also found that achievement is mathematical operations such as multiplication, addition and factoring have been shown to be significantly reduced by air temperatures above 77 degrees F.
school (Score:3, Interesting)