Why hold off until happy hour for your favorite drink? New research says you may be a more valuable contact center employee if you toast at lunch.
Employees are more creative when they drink alcohol, says recent research out of the University of Illinois and published in ScienceNews.
Study participants who were on the verge of being legally drunk did better in creative problem-solving tasks than those who had no alcohol.
People who imbibe are less focused – therefore more likely to find remote connections that can actually solve problems, researchers suggested. Plus, drinkers seemed to be less afraid to make mistakes, therefore opening them up to options the teetotalers may not even consider.
While this sounds like all fun and games, we don’t condone drinking on the job. After all, that would open a legal can of worms.
But the research does point to one thing that can help contact center agents improve problem-solving skills: social interaction. Drinking alcohol and having snacks – like the people in the study – is a social event and likely contributed to the increased ability to solve problems.
So the next time your team needs to get creative, solve a complex internal or customer problem or come up with the next idea to improve service, add a social element to your session. Try a catered lunch or breakfast where agents can chat socially before getting to business. Or a teambuilding activity might work before a training session.
