Ask HN: Does starting early have positive impact on a tech team's productivity?

#1

Post by flyankur » Mon, Nov 07, 2016, 1:10 PM UTC

Hey, I work at a fairly large startup and my management thinks tech team should start at 8.00 am in the morning. Every engineer in my team does not want to start at 8.00 am, although they have no problem working late.

1) How do make them understand they should measure the output and not the number of hours. 2) What kind of metrics/framework can I provide them to show the productivity of my team?

Thanks

Re: Ask HN: Does starting early have positive impact on a tech team's productivity?

#2

Post by PaulHoule » Mon, Nov 07, 2016, 1:15 PM UTC

Depends on the individual.

Some sales people believe 8am or even earlier is the time to make calls. It is a way to stick out of the pack, and it works for some of them. If you are on the US east coast and selling into the west coast it is a non starter.

I have seen workplaces in Los Angeles that shift the workday earlier or later by 1 or 2 hours to avoid rush hour.

Re: Ask HN: Does starting early have positive impact on a tech team's productivity?

#3

Post by brudgers » Mon, Nov 07, 2016, 2:22 PM UTC

To me, a data driven argument is probably a losing battle. Punching a timeclock management like it's an assembly line is, in this context, likely to be more about control than productivity. If that's the company culture, and there are companies where it is, then the alternatives are compliance and its consequences, non-compliance and its consequences, or switching company cultures.

To put it another way, if there is strong buy-in from above, then the policy is likely to change when someone notices that a bunch of engineers have quit. If there isn't strong buy-in from above, then when your manager writes you up for not being there at 8am, the manager will get some training/coaching/mentoring/scolding.

But right now, the management didn't ask for staff's input when developing the policy, telling management they're wrong is unlikely to work.

Good luck.