Interesting Ways to Encourage Your Team to Take a Break from Technology

There has been a huge amount of controversy among parents and educators on the dangers of living in the age of technology. Parents and teachers alike have found that our youth are not learning creative problem-solving strategies because it is altogether too easy to Google a question only to find pages of possible answers. If you are noticing that your employees are spending altogether too much time at their computers and would like to share with them that this isn’t exactly healthy, perhaps the best way to broach the subject would be to find interesting ways to show them they really can live without that laptop or cell phone. Here are some interesting suggestions.

1. Time Away from Computers and Technology at Work

If you really want to show them that they can do many of their tasks without the aid of computers or cell phones, mandate that some of their routine duties must be accomplished the ‘old fashioned’ way. Perhaps interoffice communications one afternoon would disallow emails and text messages. Either they write a memo in longhand or wait to communicate when the technology ban has been lifted. It is fun watching as they reach for their keyboard only to have the boss softly cough under his or her breath as a ‘gentle’ reminder.

2. Respect Their Time Away from the Office

One article in Forbes online magazine contends that more bosses should respect their employees’ time away from the office. Although you might have a question you forgot to ask during the day, refrain from sending that email you know they will read while at home. You may also want to refrain from calling them on their cell phones, unless of course they are like tens of millions of people who no longer have a land line.

3. Technology-free Problem-Solving Games

For a bit of fun, take them out of the office for an evening at an Atlanta escape room (if you live in Georgia that is). These are some of the most entertaining ways to learn to solve a mystery without the aid of IT apps. You join other players and are literally locked in a room for an hour. Working together, you solve a murder mystery as each person finds clues along the way. It’s a bunch of fun and it really is possible to solve a ‘who done it?’ without asking Google for the answer!

4. Office Camping, Hunting or Fishing Trip – No Technology Allowed

Whether you have a group of employees who like to hunt or fish isn’t a problem here. Why not schedule a weekend camping trip where some can hunt or fish if the mood strikes them but always with the condition that no technology is allowed? They must even leave their handheld Garmin devices at home and use a mechanical compass to find their way around.

So you see, technology is meant to make life easier, not be the totality of the lives we lead. If you are truly concerned that your staff is too dependent on technology, these interesting breaks from the digital world should solve your problems nicely.