Encouraging creative side projects can increase employee happiness and productivity

Google famously implemented an initiative in which employees are to spend 80% of their time doing the job in which they were hired. However, for the remaining 20% of their time, they can work whatever work they would like—given that it advances the company in some way.

Encouraging employees to spend time on creative side projects has been found to increase productivity in the workplace. Dr. Kevin Eschleman and colleagues of San Francisco State University found that employees who participated in creative projects were more likely to be helpful, collaborative, and creative. An additional benefit is that employees typically feel more relaxed and in control.

As explained by Dr. Eschleman:

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The results indicate that organizations may benefit from encouraging employees to consider creative activities in their efforts to recover from work. Creative activities are likely to provide valuable experiences of mastery and control, but may also provide employees experiences of discovery that uniquely influence performance-related outcomes.”

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According to a post on Medium, there are three best practices of side projects:

• • They do not have to provide you with a living. You can survive without them.
• • There are no deadlines or time pressures. It is a chance to take chances and experiment.
• • You participate in side projects because you want to and it is something you are passionate about.

Perhaps consider allowing your employees to participate in side projects and reap all the benefits of doing so in the workplace.