I think Google’s well-known “20 percent time” is an absolutely brilliant idea, and we’ve been having discussions of maybe implementing something similar at EfiCode. I’m fairly sure it could end up being the best thing since sliced bread.
Here’s my take on what we could do, which I call Freeform Fridays. It consists of three key ideas: freeform work, brown bag sessions and video sessions.
The basics
Every Friday, say after 10 am, everyone is allowed to work on whatever they want. There are only two rules:
- Whatever you do, it should not be directly related to any project you’re currently involved in at work
- You should share with others what you’re up to
The time could be spent studying or experimenting with new technologies. It could also be used programming on some personal project. It could be contributing to an open source project, or starting a new one. It could be doing pro bono development for a non-profit organization. It could be solo work or teamwork.
If someone has an important meeting on a Friday, or if they’re just extremely busy, the free time could be rescheduled to another day.
Brown Bag Sessions
Every Friday we would provide the possibility to have take-out lunch together, and every Friday someone would do an informal presentation about some idea, technology or problem they’re working on, after which we could discuss it. We could probably schedule the sessions with a wiki page.
The Video and Pulla Sessions
We could continue the video sessions we’re already doing. They would just merge into the concept of “Freeform Fridays”.
