This is not one of the various "Examiner" tabloids and small papers, which are usually regional, that you might be familiar with. This Examiner is some sort of "citizen journalism" website with far many more writers and contributors than larger blogs, even major newspapers. Think of it as a news-oriented version of About.com, HowStuffWorks, Ehow, etc; many contributors, each specialized in a field and all of varying expertise.
Why would it matter which site this is coming from? It isn't news - it's just a humorous take on something that many employees live through and relate to.
My team has recently started with a Friday Fun Day sort of thing - it's really not as bad as the article proclaims. Sure, it'd be better to have the day off, but that ain't gonna happen.
We just usually sit around, drink beer, snack, and watch movies on the expensive boardroom projector.
Generally speaking managers don't have the authority to let 10 people go home early - "Friday Fun Day" is a pretty good compromise.
We usually only have a Friday Fun half-day - a full 8 hours of movie-watching, beer-drinking times is probably a bit much. Work in the morning, have lunch, wrap up your work and unwind until hometime. It works pretty well.
As other poster mentioned, the presence of beer is what makes this tick - and adds an important layer of non-corporate-ness which is crucial to this sort of thing. If it feels like an HR-approved activity, nobody will have fun.
Also, the lack of any senior management is what really makes this tick. For us it's just the engineers, bizdev guys, and a couple managers we work with daily. No big bosses present.
Drink beer... that's why it's not as bad as the article says. I've never worked for a company that would allow alcohol at a company-sanctioned event. Ever.
My previous employer did this sort of thing - not every Friday - it was a full day once a year, and something from ~3pm once every few months.
I really enjoyed them, and they built relationships. I was lucky enough to work with people who I really liked, so the opportunity to spend time with them w/o having to get work done was fantastic. I can see how if you didn't like your co-workers, it would be very different (ala The Office), but if that is the case, the problem isn't the fun Fridays...
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 34.5 ms ] threadWe just usually sit around, drink beer, snack, and watch movies on the expensive boardroom projector.
Generally speaking managers don't have the authority to let 10 people go home early - "Friday Fun Day" is a pretty good compromise.
As other poster mentioned, the presence of beer is what makes this tick - and adds an important layer of non-corporate-ness which is crucial to this sort of thing. If it feels like an HR-approved activity, nobody will have fun.
Also, the lack of any senior management is what really makes this tick. For us it's just the engineers, bizdev guys, and a couple managers we work with daily. No big bosses present.
I really enjoyed them, and they built relationships. I was lucky enough to work with people who I really liked, so the opportunity to spend time with them w/o having to get work done was fantastic. I can see how if you didn't like your co-workers, it would be very different (ala The Office), but if that is the case, the problem isn't the fun Fridays...