20 Percent Time Scheme: Google's Secret Weapon

20 Percent Time Scheme: Google's Secret Weapon

Google has unfolded a strategy where employees are allowed to spend 20 percent of their working time to projects they're passionate about. This has been proven effective for Google as most of its successful projects are products of the 20 percent time scheme, such as Gmail and Google News.
Nick Creswell, Google's University Programmes Manager, described the concept as a vital part of Google. He said, "Everybody's really involved. It's something that's owned by everyone in the company, particularly in the software engineering functions. 20 per cent time is something that we've had pretty much since the organisation was founded. It's been one of the major drivers of innovation."

Google revealed it has an indefinite number of employees practicing the scheme. Employees are just left doing the projects to measure their own ability to spare time.