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How To Have Water Cooler Conversations in a ROWE

Nov 9, 2010 » by Michael Reynolds

I was amused by a recent article about the return of “core hours” and I very much enjoyed Jody’s response to it.

One point in the article was that “water cooler” conversations were important and that losing that part of the workday is a negative aspect of going ROWE.

Well, I’d like to share three ways that my company has been able to re-create the water cooler using technology.

1. Skype. Try starting a new Skype chat each morning labeled “Water Cooler”. Invite your co-workers to it and leave it open all day. If you have a casual comment that you want to share, throw it out into the chat room and start some chatter. You can always make a video call if you want to take the conversation face to face.

2. Twitter. The world’s largest water cooler is called Twitter. Make a list that includes all your co-workers and jump in and out of conversations here. Just remember that your conversations are public so be careful what you say. This can also be fun because people outside your company can join in and sometimes contribute value to the conversation.

3. Foursquare. Sometimes you legitimately do want to hang out in person with your co-workers. If you are on Foursquare, you can check in at the office or at other “home base” locations like coffee shops and can see when others are in the area. This lets you sync up with co-workers in person without having to rely on “core hours”.

Becoming a ROWE is not about forcing people to be anti-social or eliminating the human element of communication. It’s about choice, common sense, and freedom. With a few simple tools, you can re-create your own water coolers that may even be more useful than the one in your office!

What other tools make great water coolers in a ROWE? I would love to hear your comments below.

Michael Reynolds, President & CEO of SpinWeb, is a ROWE supporter and regular contributor to the ROWE Blog.

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  • John

    D’you know, it just dawned on me that I sit very near the watercooler and in the 3.5 yrs I’ve worked here I’ve never had a productive or useful chat with anyone whilst getting a cup of water.
    In fact, there are so many people on my floor with whom I seldom speak and who’s names I don’t even know! How can this be when I sit next to the watercooler?!?
    Could the lack of communication result from a limited understanding about what one another do? Might that stem from a lack of leadership in defining a clear unified vision and strategy that brings us all together? Is it all a possible symptom of the fact that we work in a culture that is not focussed on results? Instead employees keep their heads down and complete the many tasks they’ve been set with little understanding about how those tasks join up with the efforts of other teams or how they benefit the wider organisation (if indeed they even do).
    Or maybe there is something wrong with the watercooler… I wonder which it is. It must be the watercooler. Excuse me while I log a call with property services

    • Cali

      Well, hopefully Property Services can fix that watercooler – don’t they know it’s been the cause of relationship breakdowns and decreased productivity for the last 3.5 years (at least)??! After the big fix, you’ll be able to enjoy hours and hours of tantalizing conversation…we know you can’t wait for that, John!

    • Persephone K

      John,

      I can totally empathize. I once literally sat next to a water cooler as well, and all it did was keep me doing anything but work as person after person came by to chat about something and generally disrupt my “zone.” It did make eating my daily oatmeal much easier. Now that I’m working from home on a generally “ROWE-ish” (certainly not there yet!) schedule, I eat my oatmeal there instead and get to work when I’m good and ready. :)

      • Cali

        And here you are, Persephone – at the beginning of the party! Good job :)

        There probably are good reasons for sitting by the water cooler, but if oatmeal and being able to take your Excedrin Migraine pills more easily are two of them, I’ll pass just like you and John.

  • Eric Ohlson

    I have impromptu water cooler – as well as work related – conversations all day long using Gmail Chat (personal) and MS Communicator (work).

    That allows me to work and chat at the same time. Being stopped in the hallway by someone who doesn’t seem to catch on to my body language that I’m disinterested always feels like a painful waste of time.

    People who choose the water cooler over the more productive forms of electronic communication are a little backwards in this day and age.

    • Cali

      We’re with you, Eric – working and chatting at the same time. Feels great. And yes – much easier to ignore an IM poke if you’re focusing on something else than it is to ignore someone in the hallway waving you down to talk about the mice in their basement.

  • Brandon Adams

    This is a perfect opportunity to promote the product of another ROWE – Campfire, by 37signals. It’s basically group chat.

    I’ve read that their employees generally have Campfire open whenever they’re working, and can interact with their team or the whole company whenever they need to.

    http://campfirenow.com/

    • Cali

      Yes! Great point, Brandon – thanks for linking to Campfire. I’ve heard that it’s a fantastic tool for interaction and can definitely satisfy any “watercooler conversation” needs that exist. Anyone using Campfire? Are you liking it?

  • KellyK

    I’m a fan of Trillian and Gmail chat as virtual water coolers. (Trillian organizes MSN, AIM, and a few other instant message programs to let you keep everybody on the same contact list regardless of what software they use.)

    Also, a lot of companies have Facebook pages–why not use the wall or discussion sections for that purpose? (Just, like Twitter, remembering that it’s public.)

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