[acb-hsp] Adjust Your Thermostat

[peter altschul]

Not sure, but I prefer my room temp.  at 68dg.

Peter



> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Baracco, Andrew W" <Andrew.Baracco at va.gov
>To: "Discussion list for ACB human service professionals" 
<acb-hsp at acb.org
>Date sent: Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:31:25 -0700
>Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] Adjust Your Thermostat

>What about extreme heat?  My building at work was built in the 
1930s as
>a psych inpatient facility.  No AC and the windows, providing 
that you
>can open them, only open about two inches.  And, for some 
unexplainable
>reason, the steam heat is on, and has been all summer.  The temp 
is in
>the low 90s inside.  I wonder what that does to productivity, 
trust, and
>all that.
>Andy


>-----Original Message-----
>From: acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org] On 
Behalf
>Of peter altschul
>Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 9:52 AM
>To: Acbhsp
>Subject: [acb-hsp] Adjust Your Thermostat

>Want More Productive Workers? Adjust Your Thermostat
>  By Ron Friedman September 17, 2012
>  If your office is a meat locker in the summer and a sauna in 
the
>winter, your employees' productivity and collaboration 
suffers--probably
>more than you think.
>  Some years back, the Campbell Soup Company stumbled upon a 
marketing
>insight worthy of Don Draper.  If you want to predict when people 
will
>buy soup, the reasoning goes, you have to look beyond the 
product.  It's
>not about the depth of the soup's flavor, the color of its 
packaging or
>even its price.  In fact, it's hardly about Campbell's at all.  
It's
>about the weather.
>  Consumers buy more soup when conditions are cold, damp or 
windy.  The
>question facing Campbell's was this: How do you leverage this
>information into sales?
>  So they did something brilliant.  They linked the frequency of 
their
>radio buys to the weather of each station.  To determine when ads 
would
>be purchased, they developed an algorithm called the "Misery 
Index,"
>which uses meteorological data to track weather patterns.  To 
this day,
>if you're hearing an ad for soup on the radio, there's a good 
chance
>youbre either carrying an umbrella or wearing a coat.
>  The rationale behind Campbell's Misery Index is simultaneously 
clever
>and obvious, a hallmark of game changing ideas.  But it also 
raises an
>interesting question.  If a drop in temperature changes what we 
buy,
>what does it do to the way we think?
>  ininTyping With Gloves * If you sit near a vent, share legroom 
with a
>space heater, or use your desk to store outerwear, the question 
warrants
>serious consideration.  One of the painful ironies of office life 
is
>that we can never quite get the temperature right.  We spend our 
summers
>shivering in meat lockers and our winters sweating in saunas.
>  Central air hasn't made us comfortable, so much as made us
>uncomfortable in a different way.
>  The experience isn't simply unpleasant.  It comes with a real
>financial cost.
>  To find out just how much, Cornell University researchers 
conducted a
>study that involved tinkering with the thermostat of an insurance
>office.  When temperatures were low (68 degrees, to be precise),
>employees committed 44% more errors and were less than half as
>productive as when temperatures were warm (a cozy 77 degrees).
>  Cold employees weren't just uncomfortable, they were 
distracted.  The
>drop in performance was costing employers 10% more per hour, per
>employee.  Which makes sense.  When our body's temperature drops, 
we
>expend energy keeping ourselves warm, making less energy 
available for
>concentration, inspiration and insight.
>  ininFeeling Cold? You Might Just Be Lonely * And it's not just
>performance that dips.  It's our impression of the people around 
us.  In
>a fascinating study reported in the prestigious journal Science,
>psychologists uncovered a link between physical and interpersonal
>warmth.  When people feel cold physically, they're also more 
likely to
>perceive others as less generous and caring.
>  In a word, they view them as cold.
>  When we're warm, on the other hand, we let our guard down and 
view
>ourselves as more similar to those around us.  A forthcoming 
paper from
>researchers at UCLA even shows that brief exposure to warmer
>temperatures lead people to report higher job satisfaction.
>  Why the link between physical and mental warmth?
>  Psychologists argue it has to do with the way we're built.  The 
same
>area of the brain that lights up when we sense temperature--the 
insular
>cortex--is also active when we feel trust and empathy towards 
another
>person.  When we experience warmth, we experience trust.  And 
vice
>versa.
>  Neurologically, it seems we have our wires crossed.  Except 
it's not a
>coincidence.
>  There's a reason we associate warmth with trust, and it's 
because
>doing so promotes our survival, especially early on.  As infants,
>keeping close to our caretaker is vital to staying alive, which 
is one
>reason we're programmed to seek out warmth.
>Throughout our lives, we associate warmth (a hug) with affection 
(this
>person loves me).  It's a connection that grows stronger with 
every
>intimate embrace.
>  ininWhy Lonely People Take More Showers * Because our minds
>unconsciously link warmth with affection, we're more sensitive to 
cold
>temperatures than we think.
>  Research shows that when we experience cold temperatures, we're
>especially likely to feel isolated.  In fact, countering the 
experience
>of isolation is one reason people spend more time in the shower 
when
>they're feeling down.
>  The unconscious desire for physical warmth is thought to be the 
reason
>lonely people bathe longer, more frequently, and using higher
>temperatures.
>  ininThe Warmth-Productivity Link * We know that cold 
temperatures
>worsen productivity.  What new research is showing is that it can 
also
>corrode the quality of our relationships.
>  And this, ultimately, is why office temperature matters.
>  Great workplaces aren't simply the product of good 
organizational
>policies.  They emerge when employees connect with one another 
and form
>meaningful relationships that engender trust.  What's often 
overlooked
>is that connections don't operate in a vacuum.
>  It seems obvious that the temperature of a restaurant or 
theatre can
>alter our experience.  So why do we continue to neglect it in the
>workplace?
>  Copyright B) 2012 Mansueto Ventures LLC.  All rights reserved.
>_______________________________________________
>acb-hsp mailing list
>acb-hsp at acb.org
>http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-hsp
>_______________________________________________
>acb-hsp mailing list
>acb-hsp at acb.org
>http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-hsp