21–30 of 55 posts
But there's also this "feed" of work-related activity, which might not be bad, but I'm not sure how helpful it can be. I see it as Basecamp's "Progress" view, but for all your apps.
If a company I worked at implemented this, and I knew about it, I'd quit. Despite the tagline about nobody liking micromanaging (not to mention being micromanaged), this is software that explicitly encourages micromanaging. None of the metrics they track are directly tied to productivity, they're just ways for managers who don't trust their employees to be Big Brother with fewer uncomfortable personal interactions.
I agree. This product is mislabeled. It doesn't help you avoid micromanaging - it allows you to do so efficiently. I think we can agree that this would be useful in low skill jobs. But would be perceived as insulting at most respectable companies who respect their employees.
Where do you plug in the whiteboard or your notepad/sketchbook or is there a Theta/Alpha wave interface?
If a company I worked at implemented this, and I knew about it, I'd quit. Despite the tagline about nobody liking micromanaging (not to mention being micromanaged), this is software that explicitly encourages micromanaging. None of the metrics they track are directly tied to productivity, they're just ways for managers who don't trust their employees to be Big Brother with fewer uncomfortable personal interactions.
I agree. This product is mislabeled. It doesn't help you avoid micromanaging - it allows you to do so efficiently. I think we can agree that this would be useful in low skill jobs. But would be perceived as insulting at most respectable companies who respect their employees.
So, Peak makes micromanaging easier?
A lot of people are saying this would encourage micromanaging, but I think it has a more valid purpose: 1.) A great way for a CEO of a growing company to check in and see the pulse of their company. Someone who has a head on their shoulders would probably just say "great, things are moving along." An idiot who's primary job is to get in the way would probably do what people are talking about here. 2.) A deterrent for…
If a company I worked at implemented this, and I knew about it, I'd quit. Despite the tagline about nobody liking micromanaging (not to mention being micromanaged), this is software that explicitly encourages micromanaging. None of the metrics they track are directly tied to productivity, they're just ways for managers who don't trust their employees to be Big Brother with fewer uncomfortable personal interactions.
I want my company to use this just so I can write scripts to game the metrics. For bonus points, can it integrate with WooBoard ( http://www.wooboard.com/ ) so we can do ridiculous tracking and ridiculous recognition in the same place?
I get why this tracking system is ridiculous, but I think that this wooboard thing can work in some context. Dont you think so?
It's the same problem as with employee of the month awards, Dance Mom pyramids etc.
Also: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/08/09.html
("doin' it for the Woos" T-Shirts available at CafePress soon :) )
A lot of people are saying this would encourage micromanaging, but I think it has a more valid purpose: 1.) A great way for a CEO of a growing company to check in and see the pulse of their company. Someone who has a head on their shoulders would probably just say "great, things are moving along." An idiot who's primary job is to get in the way would probably do what people are talking about here. 2.) A deterrent for…
We shouldn't be encouraging idiot CEOs to do virtual shoulder-tapping. All the CEO's I've reported never needed to ask "Hey, so... how's it going..." because my team and I are delivering. Constantly. More than expected. Every single time. Isn't this the way it should be?
"Rebecca brought in two new contracts."
As a CEO, this makes me say "oh, no shit, I should send Rebecca a thank you or offer up a coffee for helping my business to grow."
Or another example:
"Luke is less active than usual."
If this popped up a handful of times, I'd probably want to make sure Luke was taking enough time off for himself or wasn't coming down with a cold. For example, "hey man, looks like you're dipping off a bit, want to take the week off?"
Again, it all comes down to the individual and how they use it. It's great that you're a powerhouse, but most people are not. Yes, it would be awesome if everyone was at peak performance all day everyday, but it's not realistic. Anyone who expects that is a bit crazy in my book.
I think what's presented here is confusing because it invites the opportunity to be a human instead of a robotic airhead who's obsessed with productivity. I'd say the majority of people out there today are too caught up in the game of life to realize that "employee" is just another way to describe "person who happens to work for/with me."
The reason I'm interested in Peak is that it may be a good tool to implement the "trust, but verify" approach to management. I feel like I under-manage my team (7 people) because I really dislike interrupting people. I generally assume everybody is doing something productive, and understands the goals and priorities of our products.
However, when a team member gets stuck or goes off into the weeds, they may not realize it themselves. Before they've spent a days doing unnecessary work or spinning their wheels, it would be great to have a non-interrupting way to notice this and give them the support they need to get back on track.
Of course you need to take the numbers for what they are - if you directly incentivize people to get their dropbox files changed numbers up, you're gonna have a bad time. Still, I see this as a potential tool to help me understand what might be going right and wrong with my team without bugging them, and that's a good thing.
So if I spend an hour at my desk with a pen on paper while I sketch out a few pages of notes, designing a new system before I implement it, I'm unproductive? No thanks.
It seems to me that one of things this app might enforce is the idea that your work isn't really done until you've documented it and/or shared it. Pushing for measurement of using tools like Dropbox, Gmail, Basecamp, Google Drive, etc. might enforce this ethos. Yes, it's definitely not perfect: it's not tracking that time when you lean over and ask the designer next to you for feedback, and so on. But it seems worth an experimental try.
I know many very productive people who seem less productive than they are, because they hate going to some project management tool and documenting what they accomplished. If we could semi-automate documentation of work being done, such as by hooking in to Github, that might make their progress more visible with little to no effort.