Productivity | Should you let staff watch Netflix at work?

We’re all hooked on the latest dramas like Black Mirror, Stranger Things, and House of Cards…but is it ever acceptable to watch it at work?

A Netflix study found that 37% of people who took its poll on Survey Monkey admitted to having watched the streaming site at work. The convenience of watching on even a mobile device is all too tempting to some – but can they really justify it?

Policing of other personal activities such as checking your texts or personal emails while at work has only recently relaxed, with bosses realising that to try and police it was near impossible and that the focus of management should be measuring the results they yield. Some jobs even require company profiles to be active on social media at all time and so it makes sense to encourage the influence of the company, however, this is not something you can do through Netflix.

Of course, you would naturally think that watching Netflix at work is an instant no-no, and the University of Ohio’s 2012 study found that when you try and Multitask at work, it almost always damages performance levels. However, one thing they found is that it significantly increases morale and happiness levels, something that is crucial especially in a high-stress work environment. It was clear from the start that watching TV or Netflix relaxes the mind and body – but whether it’s acceptable “rest” at work is a different thing altogether. We know that many companies now, including Huffington Post and Google, allow napping time at work, so why not Netflix time?