141–150 of 155 posts
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So... lie. If they want dishonesty, just ask for it.
The manager wanted to see 40 hours reported against his main project. He did not want dishonesty, but probably would not mind some tweaking in how work activities are categorised in a timesheet.
I once witnessed the moment when the messenger from the new management team comes over to explain to the brilliant engineers who built the company up from nothing about these "timesheets" they need to fill in, and how it's "really not a big deal". You could feel something dying over the course of the conversation. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen, and I'm sure it's far worse if you are one o…
There are definitely better ways and worse ways... I guess it depends some on what's be acquired, is it just a revenue and customer acquisition or is it a technology acquisition? I can't say names here. I once worked at a rinky-dink startup, one of the early guys, we raised some cash, burned through it, and finally found an acquirer. The acquirer had been acquired by a larger company a handful of years earlier and es…
>we had to switch to their email system [...]
>basically everything was exactly the same as it had been
I disagree. Although I would characterize the behavior as far more hands-off than the typical acquisition, it's clear that the acquirer here couldn't resist the temptation to Fuck With the little things. Even the little things matter, but, as other commenters have pointed out, something like timesheets (arguably a very little thing in deed) are a symptom rather than a cause.
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I've witnessed numerous efforts to "measure" "morale". Couched in positive language, they inevitably ended up being increasingly bad efforts to paper over failure to address underlying (or over-arching) issues. Here's a question: Why do you need timesheets? You didn't before. What's changed? If you can't -- legally -- avoid them, at least be honest about it. And don't let them become a tool for petty tyrants. (Oh, an…
Surely timesheets are never a legal requirement?
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Just for the record - this is a composite of various conversations over the years, and does not reflect specifically on any one manager I've directly reported to. Also... I'm taking it too seriously? Over a 2 month period when, say, 400 hours are logged, but one week 2 hours are not accounted for in a specified (yet unspoken, hint hint, nudge, nudge) manner, and I'm taking it too seriously?
Ok, so seriously isn't the correct word. You're taking it too literally. They don't want to know how many seconds you spent typing code or thinking about code. They have a budget where some department has purchased 40 hours per week for you to work on their main project. Presumably you have smaller time bookings for other tasks. If you break this down it will come out to something like: 98% main 1% support 0.5% boss'…
The places I've been without timesheets have generally been less stressful overall, and I think the 'fit things in to a timesheet' model contributed to that stress (for me and for others).
I've just joined Flickr but I'm finding it awkward in some places, and the 'community' (at least that of extension/tool developers) seems to have died in 2008 or so. The upload tools are atrocious, no reliable way to download stuff for backups, the UI is unpolished and doesn't seem to get updated much. So, where do I go for online photo hosting / backup? Picasa / Web Albums isn't better, plus it's very desktop focuse…
It also keeps my photos happily organized.
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I agree completely. As soon as I have to do bullshit like timesheets, that mental switch flips and my creativity is gone. I assume my employer has decided, ``it's worth making each employee do 20 minutes of busywork a week and killing their happiness rather than doing without a sheet of numbers that says "8 8 8 8 8"''.
Heh, it can be worse. In my last job we actually had three parallel time reporting systems. One for billable hours, one for hours worked on project, and one that clocked on entering/exiting the building. Of course, they all three had to match. I've always wondered how that's useful to anyone. Judge me by the quality of work I do, but not whether I sit in the chair the required number of minutes.
A couple of months of dutiful swiping later, one of the guys got curious and... found that it wasn't connected to anything.
(A bunch of people left shortly after.)
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Ok, so seriously isn't the correct word. You're taking it too literally. They don't want to know how many seconds you spent typing code or thinking about code. They have a budget where some department has purchased 40 hours per week for you to work on their main project. Presumably you have smaller time bookings for other tasks. If you break this down it will come out to something like: 98% main 1% support 0.5% boss'…
And if you have 50+ hours on a project for several weeks, but only 38 on another week, who's taking things too literally? I still don't see it. Look for habitual slackers, look for trends, but don't hit someone who's coming off a sustained period of 'over and above' work effort with the insinuation that they're somehow slacking. Had it happen to me directly once, and seen it happen with other people. The places I've…
I used to get stressed about time sheets, same as you. Then I had a manager who told me what they were really for. Since then I always put in the stock work week, broken down how ever it is supposed to be broken down. Regardless of what I actually work. I keep my real hours in a personal spread sheet so I know how much time I'm over or under and actually work from that.
As a side note, this extra time you're working is just time thrown in the trash. No one is going to thank you for it and if everyone else is doing the same thing you wont even get any kind of promotion for it since it's not "above and beyond". I know, I used to work 60+ hours for a company. Up until the day they laid me off.
I once witnessed the moment when the messenger from the new management team comes over to explain to the brilliant engineers who built the company up from nothing about these "timesheets" they need to fill in, and how it's "really not a big deal". You could feel something dying over the course of the conversation. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen, and I'm sure it's far worse if you are one o…
If I understand you right, the do not own the company (anymore)? So that would make them employees - no? I think it's pretty normal that employees explain what they are doing. Especially if they work in a specialized field that is hard for the management to understand fully. So it doesn't have to be mistrust or a form of repression against the engineers. Yes I admit - I've always wanted time sheets. And they ARE a mi…
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Reddit's Founders left the company and since then it has grown to become bigger and better and exceed everyone's expectations.
Could it possibly be that some of the employees are special people? There is no magic bullet. If the right people are in a position where the can succeed, they will. If you don't have the right people, it doesn't matter what scheme you employee, it won't work.
However, Reddit had some innovative founders, who came up with a new concept, then got acquired and eventually the founders left. However, due to its great team (and passionate community) it has continued to grow and become something amazing.
Therefore neither getting acquired or the founders leaving caused a negative effect.