The Secret Life of the Office (1987) [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6RCKPY32Lg

by hazelnut-tree • 4 years ago

2 2 4 years ago

An extract from the video:

The value of the information technology itself is unproven in the last 20 years. The number of office workers has almost trebled. However, research has failed to find any significant increases in office productivity. Perhaps because it's almost impossible to measure.
There's still a lot of paper about - an estimated thousand billion sheets a year in America alone. And so many office activities remain largely unaffected by technology because they depend on people talking to colleagues: telephoning, reading, and writing things, going to meetings, even thinking.
Though not so obvious as it used to be, the traditional office hierarchy still exists. The conflict between the need to control what the staff do, and the need to motivate them by allowing them freedom still remains.
Perhaps all this high technology is really no closer to creating the perfect office and the scientific management techniques of the 1920s. I suspect the efficiency of an office is really more dependent on the personalities of the people who work there, and how well they all get on with each other.

schiffern• 4 years ago

Tim is putting some wonderful stuff on Youtube these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1ZbLlQwqE

The Secret Life of the Office (1987) [video]

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