In a recent survey, almost a quarter of employees admitted to playing video games on their computers at work. Should companies be doing anything about this?

Playing games at work has been a common occurrence ever since computers first started coming with solitaire installed. But, thanks to more powerful processors and faster Web connections, the games have gotten more complex and accessible — and more time-consuming.

Some companies have responded by taking a firm stance against game-playing, while others have stayed passive. Who’s right?

Answer: It depends. Some things to keep in mind regarding the issue of workplace gaming:

• Which breaks are allowed and which aren’t? If people can leave their desks for 10 minutes to smoke, is it wrong to stop people from playing a game for a few minutes at a time?
• Are all employees going to be treated the same? Having a policy that’s not consistently enforced can be worse than not having one at all.

The best solution might be to take a performance-based approach; in other words, if someone’s screwing up or not getting the work done, it doesn’t matter why.

In fact, some even argue that allowing employees to play at work will boost productivity. A few big companies like Google have even gone so far as to create “gaming rooms” where employees can go for breaks to keep their minds sharp.

What do you think? Does your company have a policy on workplace games? Let us know by dropping us a comment.

Tags: games, internet, performance, policy