(Direct News, Friday, 03 Apr 2009 08:48) Taking a break at work to read the news online could improve workplace productivity, according to a new Australian study.
Research
led by Dr Brent Coker of the University of Melbourne's department of
management and marketing found that people who engage in Workplace
Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB) are up to nine per cent more
productive in the office than those who do not take short breaks.
Looking at online news
was ranked among the top WILB activities in the study of 300 workers,
in addition to searching for information about products, viewing video
content and playing web-based games.
The university estimates
that some 70 per cent of people who use the internet at work engage in
WILB and that in moderation, the brief breaks restore workers'
concentration, making them more productive.
However, Dr Coker
stressed that these figures only represent employees who spend less
than 20 per cent of their working day on such sites.
Earlier
this week, Hitwise revealed that celebrity and entertainment-related
terms dominated searches in Google News in the 12 weeks leading to
March 21st.
Online news searches for music and sport also ranked highly, according to the figures.
(Read the original article.)
Tags: workplace, behavior, productivity
Categories: News