It is usually a quiet space, no one talks every time in this office but all you can hear are click sounds from computer keyboards and mice. This does not mean they don’t talk, no, not all. It is not their moment.
However, this quiet environment changes when the bottom right side of their computer screens reads 01:00 pm. This time, here they call it the “happy hour”. While no drinks or food is served for free like a party, the feeling at the Nukta Lab, the first private media lab in Tanzania, matches the real happy hour.
“I always wish time runs fast to reach this hour and when it gets there I wish time stops, to me this is a platinum moment,” says Omar Suleiman Mwiru, a 28 year-old Multimedia Producer at Nukta Africa.
Nukta Africa is a Tanzanian digital media startup specialises in applied research of emerging journalism techniques, media training and production of digital and data-driven content and tools.
“This is a precious time in a hard time, during this moment is when you get to know if your colleagues are fine or stressed,” he said while smiling.
Most members in this lab, situated along Mwananyamala Road in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam are data analysts, IT specialists and content creators. They spend more time in the field and the lab when creating their content.
Loud laughs, happy interactions and good music breaks all the silence that clouds the Nukta lab five hours before the lunch break.
What is happening at Happy hour here is not by default. Among the important values and lessons from the lab is to focus on work, collaborate and make sure you deliver highly innovative content that improves lives. It is rare to find someone idle playing video games in the middle of working time but only to spare colleagues from the creative section sometimes.
By the way, where do you get such idle time while your business partners are under deadlines to deliver their projects and the audience is not served with quality news?
Daniel Samson, who has been a Digital Editor at Nukta Africa for three years, said with the nature of his job he cannot mess up, taking a lunch break on time to breathe in and refresh his mind to increase productivity.
“Having to write my own stories and edit the other colleagues’ stories is not a joke. I don’t really have time to chit chat, I normally just focus so as to finish my work on time,” Samson, an award-winning data and education journalist, said.
“The lunch break is the only time I get to breathe in and out well (relax) from all the work I have, call my family and socialize with my colleagues,” he added.
There is no single person from the Nukta Africa team or other lab members who is loathed with this hour. On the moody days, hard days and happy days the lunch break hour seems to have it all sorted out.
“I thank the person that started this practice since it is really helpful and gives me a chance to gather the energy I need to finish my work,” says Essau N’gumbi one of Nukta Africa’s Multimedia journalists.
One hour lunch break might seem like a waste of time to other people but to this team, it is a reward that fixes everything. This is one of the things that contributes to the best work published and produced by the Nukta Africa team.
What type of happy hour do you have at your work? Share with us via @NuktaAfrica.