I always knew it: having some short chats increases the productivity during work time. But only, when it is done between two tasks, not during a task. That was the finding of a study done at MIT, which was reviewed by John Whitfield in the magazine Nature (click here to read the full story)
Especially people that have to work in a team (like purchasers) increase their output by having short discussions. In the MIT study the most connected person got 60% more done than the least connected. For the researchers this was a complete surprise. They guessed that the direct reporting lines and the interactions with the managers would have influence, but as a matter of fact the informal network was the real efficiency driver. (Probably the “Fika” – a kind of a coffee-tea-break at 3 p.m. – is the secret to success of the Swedish economy.)
Another finding was, and that is obvious, that productivity melts down, when somebody wants to chat with you during a task. The most productive workers were the people with the most consistent behaviour.
