I work in a small office, anywhere from 4-7 people on any given day. We are a pretty close bunch and laugh and joke and like to take quick breaks together to build comrade and get a fun break from work. Recently, the CEO brought a foosball to the office and plays it everyday for extended periods of time. The regular play times are around 11am, 2pm, and 4pm. I see those times as peak productivity for me at least. There are usually more than three games played a day; those are just the main times. The game is incredibly loud and players shouting around the table makes it even harder to concentrate. I will join in the games on Thursday and Fridays in the afternoons when I feel like I am in a good place with my work. The foosball table itself could be fine, but everyday for a total of 2.5+ hours is way too much. I feel crazy complaining about a job where the CEO wants to play foosball, but it is such a distraction for work. I have communicated my feelings a few times, but doesn’t really get addressed. Am I the asshole for thinking a lot of my coworkers are assholes for constantly playing games during work hours. The coworkers who play get their work done on their time, so that is not an issue, but I believe people should be considerate of others in a shared work office.
Edit: I have seen a few responses about noise cancelling headphones and I should have mentioned in the original post that I do have noise cancelling headphones that I wear when they play, but the table is right outside my office and doesn’t really block everything out, and I am on the phone with vendors and our various store locations a lot, which rarely gives me an opportunity to wear both headphones. Despite the distraction of foosball, I do like my coworkers and really enjoy the work I do, but I am looking for other jobs. Foosball gets annoying due to how many times a day it gets played and for how long each session is, but it is still a pretty solid job.
YTA
NAH. Why are you more concerned about your productivity than the CEO?
YTA. Most people would love to work at a place that encourages works to take mental health breaks. That’s all they are doing—-stress release. Try it sometime and don’t be so judgy.
NTA.
Being loud and rowdy absolutely distracts from work.
*Yes it’s good for companies to do things like this in support of employee mental health,* **but struggling to focus at your job for hours every day due to excessive noise will also be bad for your mental health**.
Is there a way for the table to be moved to a more secluded area? Maybe a room with a door? Or have designated quiet hours at work?
NAH except the CEO. You’re not wrong to find this annoying and distracting. I wouldn’t blame your coworkers for playing though because they’re just doing what they’re being explicitly encouraged to do by leadership. This is why it’s ridiculous when companies don’t let desk workers work remotely. You can be so much more productive without these distractions.
i get where you’re coming from, but no one wants to be at work. let people have their fun and get noise canceling airpods / headphones ?
YTA for continuing to complain about something you know your CEO likes that doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s productivity instead of figuring out a workaround. Like earplugs, WFH certain days, asking for use of a higher partition or any sort of available enclosed space like a meeting room, etc.
she’s an asshole because she doesnt want her CEO to *play a fucking game instead of doing his fucking job* and he does it in a way that’s distracting as fuck meaning not only is HE not getting his work done, neither is she or anyone else who is palying/watching instead of working? are you fucking good or are you just fucking this CEO? im lost
NTA. But I encourage you to find another job. This isn’t the work environment you seem to want, and it will never change if the CEO is the fun instigator.
NAH. Get some noise canceling headphones for foosball time. Everyone wins.
Our company put in a couch and PlayStation, then managers criticised people who actually used it as being lazy.
in this job market i personally would keep it to myself and invest in a good pair of noise cancelling headphones. any negative workplace feedback you share outside of reporting harrassment could work against you in both the short and long term, it’s not how it should be but reality isn’t exactly idealistic or equitable (even less so in a corporate landscape).
example – back when i worked in office my floor kept the lights off, everyone was in agreement with this as we felt less lighting improved our focus. another team was moved to our floor and *one person* demanded the lights stay on. using ample natural lighting and both a desk and floor lamp that illuminated her entire workspace/cubicle wasn’t good enough for her, so we had to have bright ass overhead flourescent lighting enabled in every part of our floor to accommodate her one desk in a sectioned off corner. we’d keep the lights off until she came in, she’d turn them on (visibly annoyed), then we’d turn them back off as soon as she left for the day. she quickly gained a negative reputation as a result and ended up leaving for another company eventually. there was no overt bullying, we learned to adapt but she was culturally iced out over a decision that benefitted only her to the detriment of every other employee on the floor.
you can be that person if it’s that important to you, you’d be well within your rights to be, but if it were me i’d much rather learn how to navigate a noisy shared space than unemployment.