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I work at a software company. I have a coworker who props up his phone most of the day, watching stuff while he works such as video game streamers, or cooking shows, or whatever. He's trying to give the appearance that he's working while having the content on in the background, but a lot of times, its hard to tell if he's working or just watching stuff. He would be a great employee otherwise, and he works a lot of hours (unpaid overtime), though my impression is that the total hours he "effectively" works is probably close to regular hours (or less).

Should I approach him about this behavior? I'm one of the leads on the team, though not his direct boss, but I am one of the ones who is asked to give feedback on his performance occasionally. I'm concerned he isn't operating as efficiently as he could be, so when I'm asked to give feedback on him, it puts me in a tough spot.

Should I approach him about this behavior?

I would only do this if this person is falling behind on their tasks, or their work quality worsens.

You just said that this person is a "good employee otherwise, and he works a lot of hours", so I take it that this person actually works hard and delivers their tasks on time. If this is true, I see no reason why to approach him right now.

I must say that it seems you are assuming what this coworker is doing on their phone, when it could well be that he is chatting with some client, or reading IM or emails on their phone (not necessarily idling).

If you still decide to approach this person, try to understand what they are doing on their phone first, before taking for granted that they are idling or losing their time (this person may get offended if you "accuse" them of idling before finding out what's the truth).

I don't know the psychological term for this but when I was in university studying computer science I developed a bad habit of always playing random repetitive games on my phone or laptop while listening to lectures, things like minesweeper or tetris. The lecture had my full attention and I found without this I would feel jittery and not be able to concentrate.

I carried this on into the workplace and although I don't watch lectures anymore I do like to divide my attention to other things while my code is compiling or if my brain "overheats".

To a casual observer I'm barely working, often on my phone.

But my work output is more than two of my peers put together.

There's another guy on the floor who looks like he's playing flash games on his laptop a lot. He's one of the brightest guys who does excellent work.

If he's working well leave him alone, concentrate on his productivity rather than how he achieves it.

Unless this person is noticeably underperforming relative to the prevailing standards and norms of the team, no, I would not bring it up.

It's up to your management, and perhaps you, to judge what he produces, not how he produces it.

It is not at all uncommon for people, especially in a technical field, to use an audio/visual distraction to block everything else.

Additionally, if you enforce this with him, you have to be prepared to include the entire team and all forms of audio/visual content. Meaning, if Joe can't watch YouTube, Jamie can't listen to Spotify.

From your Answer, this is where you should draw your conclusion:

"total hours he "effectively" works is probably close to regular hours"

If that's the case, I don't see an actual problem here.

I am very much like this guy. I own my own business and work long hours. Having a show playing in front of me helps me to be vastly more productive. If I turn everything off and try to just focus on one thing, I end up endlessly switching between one task and another and accomplishing very little in any of them. If I put a show on and can listen to it, I end up cranking through a lot more work in a day than I could without. But those hours of intense work come with the need to stop every so often and just wander around the office or finish watching an episode without working.

There are times that it can become distracting, and I've learned to recognize when maybe I need to switch to music or an audio podcast. A lot of times I'll be 10 or more episodes into a show before I know what one of the main characters looks like. Just having the moving image in front of me accompanied with the sound of the show is enough distraction for my mind to focus on the task I'm supposed to be doing. It's kind of the adult version of giving the hyperactive kid in class an exercise ball to sit on. My high school chemistry teacher hated that I spent every lecture playing tetris on a graphing calculator, but he never told me to stop because I could always answer any question he threw at me.

So my advice is, if he's getting the work done on deadline, then let him be. Just maybe give him a gentle reminder that he needs to make sure it's helping him get stuff done and not being a distraction.