Productivity theater

Last updated

Productivity theater is a form of impression management where an employee acts productively in the workplace, typically by appearing busy or unavailable, without actually being productive. [1] [2]

Following the rise of remote work after COVID-19, productivity theater became a large concern with remote employees who lacked onsite supervision. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Mouse shuffle

The "mouse shuffle" refers to someone continuously moving their computer mouse around to keep their screen active, giving them the appearance of being at work. [7] The mouse can either be physically shuffled by a person or mechanically by a mouse jiggler. The mouse shuffle is useful in workplaces where employees' computer screens are visible to others, like in open-office layouts.

Employees where mouse shuffling is prevalent have increased stress and reduced job satisfaction. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remote work</span> Employees working from any location

Remote work is the practice of working from one's home or another space rather than from an office.

Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work. Employees work in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work an employee does, the prevailing conditions of the sector and the bargaining power between the parties. Employees in some sectors may receive gratuities, bonus payments or stock options. In some types of employment, employees may receive benefits in addition to payment. Benefits may include health insurance, housing, and disability insurance. Employment is typically governed by employment laws, organisation or legal contracts.

Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process, i.e. output per unit of input, typically over a specific period of time. The most common example is the (aggregate) labour productivity measure, one example of which is GDP per worker. There are many different definitions of productivity and the choice among them depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and data availability. The key source of difference between various productivity measures is also usually related to how the outputs and the inputs are aggregated to obtain such a ratio-type measure of productivity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Busy work</span> Work that creates only an illusion of value

Busy work is an activity that is undertaken to pass time and stay busy but in and of itself has little or no actual value. Busy work occurs in business, military and other settings, in situations where people may be required to be present but may lack the opportunities, skills or need to do something more productive. People may engage in busy work to maintain an appearance of activity, in order to avoid criticism of being inactive or idle.

Time-tracking software are computer programs that allows users to record time spent on tasks or projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workforce productivity</span> Concept in economics

Workforce productivity is the amount of goods and services that a group of workers produce in a given amount of time. It is one of several types of productivity that economists measure. Workforce productivity, often referred to as labor productivity, is a measure for an organisation or company, a process, an industry, or a country.

In human resources, turnover refers to employees who leave an organization. The turnover rate is the percentage of the total workforce who leave over a certain period. Organizations and wider industries may measure their turnover rate during a fiscal or calendar year.

A virtual workplace is a work environment where employees can perform their duties remotely, using technology such as laptops, smartphones, and video conferencing tools. A virtual workplace is not located in any one physical space. It is usually a network of several workplaces technologically connected without regard to geographic boundaries. Employees are thus able to interact in a collaborative working environment regardless of where they are located. A virtual workplace integrates hardware, people, and online processes.

Employee monitoring software, also known as bossware or tattleware, is a means of employee monitoring, and allows company administrators to monitor and supervise all their employee computers from a central location. It is normally deployed over a business network and allows for easy centralized log viewing via one central networked PC. Sometimes, companies opt to monitor their employees using remote desktop software instead.

Goldbricking is the practice of doing less work than one is able to, while maintaining the appearance of working. The term originates from the confidence trick of applying a gold coating to a brick of worthless metal—while workers may appear industrious or productive on the surface, in reality they are less valuable.

A four-day workweek is an arrangement where a workplace or place of education has its employees or students work or attend school, college or university over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five. This arrangement can be a part of flexible working hours, and is sometimes used to cut costs.

Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers.

A “toxic workplace” is a colloquial metaphor used to describe a place of work, usually an office environment, that is marked by significant personal conflicts between those who work there. A toxic work environment has a negative impact on an organization's productivity and viability. This type of environment can be detrimental to both the effectiveness of the workplace and the well-being of its employees.

Employee morale or workspace morale is the morale of employees in workspace environment. It is proven to have a direct effect on productivity.

Workplace democracy is the application of democracy in various forms to the workplace, such as voting systems, debates, democratic structuring, due process, adversarial process, and systems of appeal. It can be implemented in a variety of ways, depending on the size, culture, and other variables of an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouse jiggler</span> Motion simulator device for a computer mouse

A mouse jiggler is a software used to simulate the movement of a computer mouse. It can also be a mechanical device moving the physical computer mouse. In all cases, it prevents sleep mode, standby mode or the screensaver from activating. Mouse jigglers are also known as mouse movers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Resignation</span> 2021–2023 surge in job quits

The Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit and the Great Reshuffle, was a mainly American economic trend in which employees voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most cited reasons for resigning included wage stagnation amid rising cost of living, limited opportunities for career advancement, hostile work environments, lack of benefits, inflexible remote-work policies, and long-lasting job dissatisfaction. Most likely to quit were workers in hospitality, healthcare, and education. In addition, many of the resigning workers were retiring Baby Boomers, who are one of the largest demographic cohorts in the United States.

In human resources, resenteeism refers to a form of professional dissatisfaction wherein individuals choose to remain in unfulfilling jobs breeding resentment and a sense of entrapment. This is because they either unable to find a more applicable position, or are concerned about the perceived risks associated with changing employment. Individuals experiencing resenteeism will have poor employee engagement and may appear disillusioned, embittered, miserable, and unhappy. Resenteeism arose following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great resignation where people reevaluated their work-life balance in the face of cost-of-living increases and is an extension of quiet quitting. Resenteeism is a form of occupational burnout.

In human resources, a hush trip refers to the practice of remote workers working from a location they have not informed their employers about. These trips epitomize freedom for remote workers who are digital nomads.

In human resources, coffee badging refers to the act of employees going to the office after clocking in for a brief period, typically long enough to grab a coffee, before departing to work from elsewhere. This is done to fulfill office attendance requirements by hybrid and remote workers which arose following the return to in-person work following the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. Mensik, Hailey (26 April 2023). "WTF is productivity theater?". WorkLife. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  2. Wong, Ryan (April 21, 2023). "'Productivity theater' is officially out of control at work" . Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  3. Robinson, Bryan. "Employees Using 'Productivity Theater' To Protect Against Surveillance, Study Finds". Forbes. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  4. Stillman, Jessica (Aug 22, 2022). "Remote Workers Are Wasting More Than an Hour a Day on Productivity Theater, New Report FindsDigital presenteeism is sapping the productivity of remote workers, a new report finds, and bosses are to blame". Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  5. Berger, Chloe (May 3, 2023). "Workers are adopting 'productivity theater' to impress their bosses". Fortune. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  6. Bhaimiya, Sawdah (May 3, 2023). "Workers say they're engaging in 'productivity theater' for over 10 hours a week to appear busy, a survey shows". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  7. Robinson, Bryan. "The 'Mouse Shuffle,' A 2024 Workplace Trend, Has Employers Scratching Their Heads". Forbes. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  8. "'Mouse shuffle': Worrying new trend emerging among remote workers". August 9, 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.