Distractions

You must not be distracted while doing your work.

Distractions include any activity that prevents you from being 100% focused on the work you are being paid to do. Distractions may include anything which happens while you are working that reduces your effectiveness. Perhaps it would be better phrased as such:

1. We are a professional services organization who sells intellectual service, at a premium, to clients. There is no job at Treefrog that does not require your complete mental focus and attention. If you can do it while driving, you can do it while working at Treefrog. You are not being a steward of our success if you are only half-engaged.
2. We are in a tight environment. If you are distracted, you are lowering the focus of the entire team by distracting them with something that is not relevant to them. You are costing everyone money at the benefit of your entertainment or lack of focus.
3. If you dropped into your accountant’s office and he or she was working on your taxes while watching hockey, would you feel comfortable with the quality of his or her work? Will you believe you got value for your dollar? How does this look to clients? What reputation are we engendering? What product are we making?
4. We are charged overage fees for some services, such as Internet. Please be cognizant of the potential costs that you are incurring to Treefrog.

Music

Frogs are welcome to use personal music devices while working in the office. The volume should be at an acceptable level that does not interfere with the working environment of the office. If meetings are taking place, headphones or earbuds may be necessary to avoid any disruption.

• Pod Music - If all members of a given area are in complete agreement, public music may be played. If universal agreement cannot be achieved, you might as well get used to your headphones.
• Headphones - If Treefrog has some headphones kicking around, you are welcome to use them. However, it is not a right to listen to music - it is a privilege. Therefore, please bring your own headphones if you plan to listen to music regularly.

Personal Calls

You can take a personal call at any time as long as it does not impact the Frogs seated around you. However, you are not paid to take this call. You cannot talk on the phone with your friend or loved one while you bill work to a client - it is unethical.

Turn off your time tracking, take the call offline, and talk as long as you want providing it does not affect your ability to meet your obligations at Treefrog or damage other Frogs’ ability to function.

Watching Television

It is not appropriate to watch television at Treefrog while you work.

If you need to watch television, please stay home and/or use your holiday time to do so. If the need to watch “said show” is unbearable, Treefrog would be happy to make special concessions for you to watch television at home if only once, or under specific conditions, we can work it out. If you need it on a regular basis, Treefrog would be happy to provide you with a special ticket to unlimited time at home on your couch.

When might it be appropriate to watch television? If you can genuinely justify the watching as a critical part of knowledge gathering, pertinent to your skill set and the ongoing success of Treefrog, please do so. If the show is longer than a few minutes, please schedule it with your team leader as “education”, and project managers will allot time for it accordingly. We are likely to ask you to do this in a room by yourself so that the team does not get distracted.

It is totally “kewl” to watch the odd few-minute, company relevant, or culturally constructive internet meme or YouTube video. It has positive social effects on us all and ties us together as a team. You are not being paid while watching it as it divides your focus.

We love the fact that we send each other things to watch just for fun. It’s great. If it is a few minutes, watch it on your own time between projects. If it’s half an hour long, watch it after work. It is social; it is not operational. Do not distract the team.

Other Distractions

Within reason, Treefrog will attempt to minimize any and all distractions that could potentially impede your work. We are regularly distracted by other things all day. Try and reduce them where you can.

However, if you are constantly distracted by things, you may be in the wrong line of work. Please try and be tolerant of others’ needs as the depth of your own distraction may lead to other people being uncomfortable.

Reporting Distractions

When you are distracted by something that should be changed or fixed, please report it to the right person at the right time. For Pod-level distractions, talk to your Champion. For company-level distractions, please talk to your CEO.