3 ms·

Sorry, an hour a day doing busywork (like entering hours) in a startup is utterly indefensible. I've done a bunch of startups and not only did this never happen

by kabdib 9y ago

Sorry, an hour a day doing busywork (like entering hours) in a startup is utterly indefensible. I've done a bunch of startups and not only did this never happen, it would not have been tolerated. Even at <<<several large software companies>> I never spent more than about ten minutes a day doing tracking; during heavy bug crunches, maybe an hour doing detailed writeups within bugs for other groups, for communication purposes. In a small team in a company with a short fuse, you can't afford this. Either you have people who can do the work and coordinate, or all the tracking in the world is not going to help. (Time tracking by the hour . . . I can't even . . . it's time to get a new manager by firing the current one or finding a better job elsewhere. Totally serious).

ryandrake 9y ago
The indignation seems misplaced. Time tracking seems pretty common in the industry, whether it be mandatory or voluntary. Several places I worked had detailed time tracking, and it was pretty informative/helpful as a tool to manage your own task prioritization. It can be pretty eye-opening to sit down at the end of the week and actually take stock of how much time you spent coding, thinking, in meetings, getting coffee, screwing around, etc.
dalore 9y ago
> Time tracking by the hour... How is that a difficult idea to get around? As a contractor I'm expected to keep track of my hours and what I'm working on. Lucky it's just a chrome extension that I click to start and click to stop. Boom, tracking by hour of what I work on.
- kabdib 9y ago
  It's not a difficult idea. Mindfulness of how you are spending your time is quite useful. What results from it is, however, difficult. Nearly without fail I have seen these tracking systems degenerate into blaming, micro-management and tools for destruction ("Figby is working two hours a day more than you are, what's up?") So no, not difficult at all. Easy to do. Much, much harder unless you want a culture of fear and overwork in your company, and screw that, I've been there.
- splintercell 9y ago
  Which chrome extension would that be?
  - dalore 9y ago
    Didn't want to name companies, but oh well, toggl and everhour both have chrome extensions.

by kabdib 9y ago

ryandrake 9y ago

The indignation seems misplaced. Time tracking seems pretty common in the industry, whether it be mandatory or voluntary. Several places I worked had detailed time tracking, and it was pretty informative/helpful as a tool to manage your own task prioritization. It can be pretty eye-opening to sit down at the end of the week and actually take stock of how much time you spent coding, thinking, in meetings, getting coffee, screwing around, etc.

dalore 9y ago

> Time tracking by the hour... How is that a difficult idea to get around? As a contractor I'm expected to keep track of my hours and what I'm working on. Lucky it's just a chrome extension that I click to start and click to stop. Boom, tracking by hour of what I work on.

kabdib 9y ago
It's not a difficult idea. Mindfulness of how you are spending your time is quite useful. What results from it is, however, difficult. Nearly without fail I have seen these tracking systems degenerate into blaming, micro-management and tools for destruction ("Figby is working two hours a day more than you are, what's up?") So no, not difficult at all. Easy to do. Much, much harder unless you want a culture of fear and overwork in your company, and screw that, I've been there.
splintercell 9y ago
Which chrome extension would that be?
- dalore 9y ago
  Didn't want to name companies, but oh well, toggl and everhour both have chrome extensions.