Seminars

Abstract: We experimentally study the effect of time blocking (dividing a work period into smaller intervals) and non-binding assigned goals on workers performance. While time-blocking increases performance by around 10% overall, goals have no significant effect on average. We find heterogeneous effects depending on a worker’s ability levels. Goal setting only boosts the performance of high ability workers, but time blocking is equally effective regardless of ability levels. Moreover, for low ability workers, the combination of time blocking and goal setting results in more mistakes and lower performance. In contrast, high ability workers’ performance improves under both non-monetary incentive mechanism. Our findings highlight time blocking as an effective, easy to implement motivational technique that works well for most individuals. On the other hand, the effectiveness of goal setting depends critically on a worker’s ability. Finally, our results caution against combining motivational techniques that might inadvertently hinder performance for low-ability workers.