Are you even a tech startup if you don’t have a pool table? Well, yes - we’ve even gone to the trouble of defining startups in a previous blog. But there’s a good reason why the office pool table is one of the most popular office perks.
Here at Tiny, our teams use the pool table every single day and it’s become part of our team culture. We love playing pool - not just because we’re awesome at it, but because it helps us do better work as a team.
In case you’re thinking about investing in your own pool table (or dusting off the table you’ve already got), I wanted to share what our setup looks like and some of the benefits we get from it.
How we play pool at Tiny
We play every day
Our office pool table sits in a breakout room that gets used 8-10 times every day. In the room there’s also an arcade and foosball machine, but they’re rarely touched. The fridge and chips see a pretty high turnover, though 🍺🍟
We go with the flow
We have an unofficial schedule for our teams who use the pool table. The marketing team gets it from 9am-10am every morning and my team has it at midday. None of this is documented, but we all seem to slot in and we always make sure the earlier teams have their go first. Each team spends an average of 15-20 minutes playing pool (although there’s no timer) and sometimes we’ll have a second game if we feel like it.
We use it for all sorts of things
Some of the teams have meetings around the table - they might do an update on what they’ve been working on while they play the game. Or they might talk about what they’ve got planned for the weekend. But sometimes they just come in to blow off steam and beat their teammates with a bit of healthy competition.
9 benefits of an office pool table
Here’s why we’ve dedicated a whole room (and a whole lot of time) to the humble office pool table.
1. Build friendships
A game of pool is about more than who wins or loses. It’s about helping your team unite, build trust, and gel - which helps them work better together when they’re back in front of their screens.
I’ve only been at Tiny for a couple of months now, but the pool table has been a big part of helping me get to know my teammates and other teams, and make friends. (It also helps that my desk is pretty close to the breakout room!)
2. Boost morale
Remember when you were a kid and you really didn’t want to go to school? You’d be just about to fake an illness to your mom and then you’d remember it was sports day… or library day, technology day, or the class where you’d get to sit next to your favorite person? The office pool table is a bit like that.
It helps your team look forward to something so they feel more motivated and pumped to come into the office. And after the game, you’ll find that their energy is renewed (whether they won or lost), which leads to higher productivity.
3. Build trust
Giving your staff unlimited access to a pool table requires a degree of trust… will they spend all day playing? Will they still get the work done? Fortunately, when you hire the right people, they won’t abuse their perks, whether it’s free access to a pool table or assorted snacks and beverages. They’ll still get their work done on time, and they’ll appreciate having a management team that trusts them to step away from the pool game at the right time.
4. Improve focus
If some of your team members are struggling to focus, a regular game of pool might help with:
- Doing standups around the table - When you do your meetings over a game of pool, your team will be more engaged
- Practicing focus in a new way - Your mad pool skills can help you solve work-related problems faster when you’re back at your desk
- Coming back to work refreshed - Pool gets your team focusing on a different activity so they can return to their screens with fresh ideas and renewed focus
5. Improve health
There’s a good chance your team spends most of their day sitting down - after all, they need to be at their desk to get most of their work done. But we’ve all heard of the dangers of sitting down. Issues and risks of too much sitting include:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Obesity
- Cardiovascular disease
- Back pain
- Knee stiffness
- Poor balance
An office pool table can encourage your team to get up off their chairs for a while, move their limbs, and get in some extra steps. It’s not much, but when you add in 20 minutes of activity a day, it can have a positive impact on health and wellness.
6. Reduce stress
Speaking of health and wellness, stress is another concern for many workplaces. With deadlines, code that doesn’t work how it’s meant to, and other external pressures, it’s important to create opportunities for your team to blow off steam. Fortunately, playing pool is the perfect opportunity to laugh at yourself and your teammates. Plus, you know what they say about laughing… it’s the best medicine, especially when it comes to counteracting stress.
7. Minimal investment
Unlike most other employee perks and team building activities, you don’t need a big budget for a pool table, so it’s very startup-friendly. You might be able to pick up a secondhand one for next to nothing, and it will very quickly pay for itself as your teams collaborate more effectively. All you really need is a good-sized room to put it in.
8. Long-lasting impact
An office pool table is easy to install, so your teams can start using it and getting all the benefits right away. And unlike a “lunch and learn”, an office party, or team building retreat, you should get many years and hundreds of games from your pool table.
9. Optional participation
Traditionally, corporate team building has been done outdoors. Teams might be expected to play games, throw balls, and complete physical challenges. In my experience, this approach doesn’t work well for IT teams and can lead to conflict and resentment.
I find the best kind of team building is optional - and a pool table is perfect for this. You can make it available and your teams will come and use it as often as they like. But you can be confident that your pool table will get plenty of use, as long as you’ve got 2-3 keen players in the building.
Do you play pool?
Do you have a pool table in your office? Let us know how your team uses pool (or other activities) to build friendships, trust, and morale at work! Tag us on Twitter @joinTiny.
Oh, and if you ever come to the Tiny office here in Brisbane, say hi and make sure you bring your best game 😎
