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Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

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Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#11

Post by zerr »

meteor wrote: post #6
sheldor wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly that. If it's some "policy" and not something objective you will sound clueless. Many people just sit in corporate environments waiting for the clock to hit 6, and do nothing until they leave. You don't want this kind of behavior. In case his work is time sensitive, it's a different problem.

That's the challenge I am facing. We are very flexible with the timings. It usually works for us. We seldom find people misusing this freedom. But then, once in a while we come across this situation. I am not sure asking the person to stretch a little more will help the coarse. I want him to be motivated intrinsically.

Ask yourself a question: if she'd stay 9-to-5 and delivered the same result, would have you been happy? If so, don't bother that person, she does her job.

On the other hand, you might think that making her stay longer hours will deliver more result - but that's not always true. In fact, she might even lose her productivity and deliver significantly less than now.

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#12

Post by x5n1 »

techjuice wrote: post #5

If the person is not working their full hours commitment that they agreed to to when they accepted the job (e.g. 40 hours for a regular full time job ) it is time for them to go. It is illegal (fraud) to bill for a full days work, but not work the full day for the hours billed. If they are skimping on things like working a full day without using their vacation time and clearing leaving early with the boss. Then the p…

a bit too concerned about form and not enough about function. might want to reconsider your priorities.

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#13

Post by [deleted] »

meteor wrote: post #6
sheldor wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly that. If it's some "policy" and not something objective you will sound clueless. Many people just sit in corporate environments waiting for the clock to hit 6, and do nothing until they leave. You don't want this kind of behavior. In case his work is time sensitive, it's a different problem.

That's the challenge I am facing. We are very flexible with the timings. It usually works for us. We seldom find people misusing this freedom. But then, once in a while we come across this situation. I am not sure asking the person to stretch a little more will help the coarse. I want him to be motivated intrinsically.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#14

Post by jasonkester »

meteor wrote: post #9
jasonkester wrote: post #7

You left out the important bit: Is he actually working less than 8 hour days (or whatever is the norm in your country), or is he simply working less hours than the rest of the team. Only in the first case do you need to have that difficult talk with him. In the other case, the best plan would be to use him as an example for the rest of the team to emulate. Get your work finished and get out. If the rest of the team i…

We don't follow any norms for work timings. We are flexible. And I wouldn't mind if he finishes his work and moves out. But, it's not happening that way. I am concerned about others in the team who might be demotivated because of this person.

Still unclear: Is the guy working 8 hour days or not?

And now extra unclarity: If you are flexible and have no expectations for how many hours comprise a day, how is it possible that one could "leave early?"

If you've handwaved like this to the employee, it shouldn't come as a surprise that his definition of "no norms, flexible" might differ to yours. Give him an expectation, and maybe he'll meet it.

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#15

Post by confiscate »

correct me if I'm wrong, but given the way you stated the question, it sounds to me your real concern isn't whether she's delivering enough work, but rather, whether her hours will give the impression to the rest of the team that "working less is ok" and potentially demotivate others.

is this what you're asking? if so, might help to clarify that in the question statement

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#16

Post by meteor »

jasonkester wrote: post #14
meteor wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't follow any norms for work timings. We are flexible. And I wouldn't mind if he finishes his work and moves out. But, it's not happening that way. I am concerned about others in the team who might be demotivated because of this person.

Still unclear: Is the guy working 8 hour days or not? And now extra unclarity: If you are flexible and have no expectations for how many hours comprise a day, how is it possible that one could "leave early?" If you've handwaved like this to the employee, it shouldn't come as a surprise that his definition of "no norms, flexible" might differ to yours. Give him an expectation, and maybe he'll meet it.

This guy isn't working 8 hours a day and we don't expect him to work 8 hours a day.

I don't mind when person finishes his task in couple of hours and leaves the office. But, I am concerned when a person calls it a day after working for 4-5 hours without completing his task. 'Flexible timings' shouldn't translate to 'Flexible work'.

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#17

Post by spacemanmatt »

Seems like this question is from the perspective of a 9-5er who doesn't have visibility into this person's performance or workflow.

I look like the in-late-out-early guy part of the time, especially when I'm working late at home a lot. If you have to wonder, though, your problem is with management, not me.

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#18

Post by fringedgentian »

If I am not not their supervisor and they are not specifically impacting my ability to get my own work done, I would mind my own business. Because it is thankfully not any part of my job description to monitor the time my coworkers spend in office.

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#19

Post by fian »

meteor wrote: post #16
jasonkester wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still unclear: Is the guy working 8 hour days or not? And now extra unclarity: If you are flexible and have no expectations for how many hours comprise a day, how is it possible that one could "leave early?" If you've handwaved like this to the employee, it shouldn't come as a surprise that his definition of "no norms, flexible" might differ to yours. Give him an expectation, and maybe he'll meet it.

This guy isn't working 8 hours a day and we don't expect him to work 8 hours a day. I don't mind when person finishes his task in couple of hours and leaves the office. But, I am concerned when a person calls it a day after working for 4-5 hours without completing his task. 'Flexible timings' shouldn't translate to 'Flexible work'.

It sounds like the issue to less to do with the hours worked and more to do with timely delivery.

Does this person know what the are expected to deliver on any given day/week/month? If not, they may think they are delivering acceptable outcomes.

Can you set clear weekly targets for this person to achieve?

Re: Ask HN: How will you handle a team member who always comes late and leaves early?

#20

Post by gbalaji »

If that member survives in the org without getting fired for this behavior, it shows he/she is productive and delivers the result. If at all, you worry it may create negative impact on your organisation's culture, you may offer better position and make use of member's skills for their own as well as organisation's growth leading to win-win situation.
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