Entrepreneurs have a reputation for working long hours to get their businesses up and running, leading some of their employees to a quick burnout.
But some business owners have instituted activities that may seem better suited to summer camp — outdoor planning sessions, meetings in a salt room, deal talks on a surfboard. They may sound fun and relaxing, but they are meant to be productive.
Eric Tetuan has the kind of New York job where he could be in the office 100 hours a week and still think about work the rest of his waking — and probably some of his sleeping — hours.
He loves what he does, running an event and production company called ProductionGlue in Midtown Manhattan. But a few years ago, he felt the effects of his staff’s being overscheduled. He saw morale sinking and mistakes rising at his company. So he began forcing his workers to take walks, ride bikes or just sit by the Hudson River.
There was just one twist: These were not solitary moments to recharge but activities to be done with colleagues as a way to discuss work outside the office. His goal was to increase creativity at ProductionGlue, a business that thrived on creating spectacles.
“I knew it wasn’t about more oversight on jobs,” said Mr. Tetuan, a co-founder of the firm and its chief innovation officer. “It was about a holistic change to how we approached the job.”
And that meant leaving the office behind. “There are a lot of distractions when you go into a conference room,” he said, adding that workers were focused half on the meeting and half on their devices. “On a walk, we spur more ideas.”