Data proves that coffee is the key to staff compatibility.
Coffee breaks may seem like a trivial part of your working day, but they can do wonders for your energy - and not just because of the caffeine.
Even just a few minutes chatting in the kitchen could be the refresher you need before facing that task you’ve been putting off all day. Plus, what better way to get to know your colleagues better, and potentially even find your ‘work bestie’.
We believe that coffee breaks with coworkers can have a significant impact on the employee, and wanted to put this to the test. So, we ran an experiment to measure how factors such as job satisfaction and productivity are affected after a full working week, void of coffee breaks with a favoured colleague.
Our study also investigated the qualities (including hot drink habits) which make us more compatible with other members of staff, so you can see if you and your work bestie are a match made in coffee heaven.
Do coffee breaks with our work bestie impact job satisfaction?
Without coffee breaks with your work bestie, our study found that there’s a 94% chance that you’ll have less fun in the office.
Our experiment saw 30 participants rate how they’re feeling about their job before, and then after five working days where they were not able to take their usual coffee breaks with their work bestie.
After a week without these breaks, 84% of participants reported that they were enjoying their job less, and 70% were more likely to quit.
Even productivity was found to be impacted, with 77% of people reportedly feeling 23% less productive.
Without coffee breaks, we also found that there’s a 77% likelihood that you’ll feel more distant from your work bestie, or besties – with participants reporting that their bond had decreased by 16% on average.
Do we have more or less caffeine because of our work bestie?
It turns out that we have more breaks because of our work besties. In fact, if we weren’t able to take breaks with our favourite colleague (or colleagues!) we would have a third fewer breaks each day.
On average, our study found that participants typically take around three breaks a day, and drink around two coffees (2.1) and one tea (0.9) per day.
However, post-experiment, 47% of participants drank fewer coffees each day, with 1.2 fewer coffees in the office.
What makes us compatible with a work bestie?
It turns out that the glue that bonds us with our colleagues may actually be a brown, caffeinated beverage.
Our study investigated certain factors which make two colleagues more likely to gain ‘work bestie’ status.
The factors which make you more compatible with another member of staff, in order of significance, are:
– If you offer them a drink in your first week (80% chance of compatibility)
– If they offer you a drink in your first week (77% chance of compatibility)
– If they both have the same lunch habits (73% chance of compatibility)
– If you sit near each other in the office (73% chance of compatibility)
Study finds our coffee habits ‘sync up’ with our work bestie’s
It’s almost guaranteed that once you find your work best friend, your coffee habits will become synchronised.
Our study found that in 90% of cases staff reported that their coffee habits have ‘synced up’ with their favourite member of staff. This adds up given that during the experiment when absent of a work bestie, people had fewer coffee breaks, and hot drinks consumed during the day.
Coffee & work bestie are just as energising as each other
We asked our study participants a near-impossible question: would you rather go a week without seeing your work bestie, or a week without coffee?
The jury was hung, with 57% preferring a week without coffee and 43% opting for a week without their work bestie.
Clearly, that colleague which holds a special place in your heart can be just as energising as a cup of joe.
Methodology
The experiment consisted of 30 participants who were asked to spend five working days in the office without having coffee breaks with their self-nominated best friend at work. WFH days were excluded.
Participants were asked to rate factors about their job before and after the experiment, from a scale of 0-10, to measure any impact after a working week without their work best friend.