The Summer is here - a point very difficult to ignore in Israel, and many parents are facing the problem of what to do with their kids during the Summer. There are Summer schools and other possibilities such as vacation with the family, but they rarely cover the entire vacation period.
So at some point the bright idea - "why not take them to work ?" pops up.
Some places do not allow children, they claim that it is due to the fact that having the children come to work reduces productivity and may be disruptive. Unless it is a question of safety, I think the real reason is the wish to avoid being embarrassed by having them see something like that::
By the way, do not be surprised if in today's world when you come home and tell at dinner that you had a real big fight at work that they think it went something like this:
Getting back to our discussion, the big question is:"can you get something out of their visit?" that is in addition to spending time with the younger members of the family - that is to say that this post is just as rlevant for grandparents as to parents.
In a recent post Prof. Shlomo Maital mentioned that the point of view, innocent outlook and lack of filters regarding asking questions that children have can help innovators with promoting their innovations. I claim here that not only entrepreneurs, or grand innovators can benefit from that but rather every business with open enough attitude.
In many veteran organizations, routines have developed, and due to embedded inertia have not been reviewed and updated according to needs and new technology. Many of the currently employed routines are no longer efficient, but we are used to them and do not review them daily. It is at that specific point, that when you explain to a child what you do, that their questions may help you see that some things need and can be changed / improved. If they see that A sends a request to B for something that C has to do, they will ask why not just ask C? In the past that routine had a reason, but that reason is long gone - the cycle can be made more efficient. The maximum risk is that you just practice explaining what you do (always good), and might get some funny insights regarding your work, the best scenario is to you learn something that can be improved.
While this is general, and might have always been true, there is a more current benefit to consider. Most of us are not computer native (e.g. me), that is to say, have been borne into a computerized environment, but rather have learnt to work in a computerized environment as these evolved in the 1990's and 2000's. I would dare say that none of the workers at your place are web natives (these are too young to be workers - if you do have any of those please check your employment policy). Our kids are web native, for them processes that can be done by computer, or better by web and are not being done seem strange and they will ask you why? This could be your opportunity to see how your work is seen by a web native - you many never see it the same again.
Many organizations spend a lot of money on organization consultants, where some preliminary checks can actually be done by having the kids over to work and explaining to them what it is we do. At minimum they will understand us better (a great value just by itself), but at maximum we could get a free consultant (not really free I know - have kids of my own) over view our workplace.
Going back to the point above regarding safety at work, if you think we cannot learn from them there please see the small movie below:
One interesting point that I noticed bringing my kids to work a few years ago, is that they analyze the "chain of command" very astutely, ignoring completely titles on the door. They see who tells what to do, who needs to ask permission and for what, they look at the real "chain of command" and not the official one.
Wishing you a happy warm Summer
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