Why do people work late?

Here are some common reasons for people working late -
  1. Plain inefficient – Lacking logical thinking you spend loads of time on simple problems.
  2. Bad planning – Managers bad planning, leaving no time for the execution phase, so team has to slog.
  3. Bad process – Whole process is inefficient so lots of time waste.
  4. Managers perception – If people working late are assumed to be efficient, then you have to sit late..
  5. Bad personal planning – people wasting time in initial phases and then scrambling in the end. We tend to have the last minute scrambling syndrome.
  6. Inefficient team – So you end up doing what you team was to do. This is probably fine in initial phases but sometimes it just never improves.
  7.  Office perks - Bachelors sit for free internet, coffee, dinner, comp off's, etc.
I have had many instances where people working late as perceived as hard workers. The problem is big in software industry as this is a service industry. You can spend hrs solving and researching a trivial problem, or you can solve that in 2 mins. Managers who do not get into the thick and thin either agree go with the perception. So all efforts by perceived good workers are assumed as legitimate and all by perceived bad workers is assumed illegitimate.

what more??

Comments

abhishek tyagi said…
Good,Precise,experienced write-up & quite capable of eliciting the corrective steps !!

Infact, present n previous TCS project, both have shown & proved a lot what u wrote!

Point 1-6 specially..n 7..true..not a long runner though!

To tell u here, I gradually opted to go the 'late sitting way' cz it was :
1. Proving the only visible way there, (hope u can interpret this) &

2. wanted to bring down the performance n show up d presence..

At such places, its a big bad hole supporting the Ass n Face sitting - malafide & unhealthy practice only,

The Ones who r insecure,lacking in 1 or other important thing or so..promote this.On other hand, Having zeal to fit in time n good knowledge base within ourselves is good enough to cater such issues..partially I agree!

...no matter what.. I still remain the loner to oppose this..n still silence is best answer I guess :)!
10:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Difference between a Brahmin and a Pandit?

To many people the word brahmin and pandit means the same. I wanted my 2 brahmin friends accompanying me to a recent Jaipur trip, to visit the Amer fort temple. They wanted to leave fast and rest. I insisted..In the heat of Amer and the afternoon, my friend retorted "There is a difference between brahmins and Pandits", i stuck to my guns, "Whatever but i want you visiting the temple". A bystander (sharmaji) could not stop himself from asking the difference between brahmins and pandit (in his lovely heavily accented khadi boli) with my friend OM, and OM gave a very straight and accurate reply...Sharmaji was dumb struck,,,I don't remember the reply as i was enjoying the expression on sharmajis face after the reply from OM.. Answer -  Pandits usually charge a fees for things that they do... like karm kand etc... Brahmins are the ones who are also priests, gurus etc but live on dakshina and not fees...
Read more

Difference between role and designation

This is a follow up post based on a comment on my old post . Here are dictionary definitions of Role and designation Role - Prescribed or expected behavior associated with a particular position or status in a group or organization . Designation - nomination, appointment, or election to an office, position, etc. In many IT companies I have seen designations and roles as totally mismatch. So someone being called as an Architect does no different work from a developer. And sometimes Leads act as managers, and managers just act as project coordinators. This often leads to confusions among what is expected from people, and what are their goals. It's also important to understand that ROLE PRECEDES DESIGNATION. So if you are a lead aspiring to become a manager, in addition to your responsibilities, you need to get into the role of your manager. Start doing and understanding the nuances of being a manager. Any questions?
Read more

Role and Designation

There is lot of difference between role and designation, but v few people in IT industry actually understand it. Many a times role and designation are aligned, but many times it is not. Whenever it is not aligned it leads to lot of frustrations, and confusion for the person on what he should be doing. To make the matters worse, in your annual appraisal cycle you are judged on basis of the designation, and as you were in an unaligned role, you fare badly. The only way i see around is to press management and HR functions to constantly review this and correct this. However as this is a long run exercise it gets overshadowed by many other things. Many people blame attrition on salary, however one can have happy employees even at slightly lower salaries if you can provide them a challenging work environment and role. Also there is big lack of planning future for your employees. Most organizations do not have a growth plan for their people. few who have do not stick to the plan, or make a pl
Read more