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Last week, at the end of a work day, we started talking about what the schedule was going to be for Saturday (not a 6th work day -- we're not on a M-F schedule
by ken 8y ago
Last week, at the end of a work day, we started talking about what the schedule was going to be for Saturday (not a 6th work day -- we're not on a M-F schedule here). Someone asked "Is it a goal-based day or a time-based day?" And there was an answer ready! Fantastic.
In 20 years, I've never heard anyone ask that in the software field. In software, I've always been expected to work as fast as possible at all times, and when we get near an (arbitrary) deadline, to stay late as needed.
Software is full of young people, and people who have never managed any kind of team before. I have no problem working for someone younger than myself, but I do think that people should have experience managing some kind of team before they're thrown into the deep end. Software is much more complex than almost anything else we make, and it's no wonder that just figuring it out as we go along has yielded less than stellar results.
- acoard 8y agoI've often heard this (or a similar?) distinction as "man-hours" vs "calendar time"
- thaumasiotes 8y agoken doesn't describe what a "goal-based day" means, but I don't see how it could match the distinction between man-hours and calendar time. The difference between today and tomorrow is one day of calendar time. If you have a team of 3 people working 5 hours a day on a given project, then in one work day of calendar time 15 man-hours of work will be done on the project. Man-hours just aggregate calendar time contributed by multiple people (and ignore calendar days when no work occurs). But none of that has anything to do with goals.
- lkrubner 8y agoI've seen some young people who are very good managers, but I've also seen some absolute disasters. I've also seen some older folks who are absolute disasters. I shared a story about both kinds of manager in How To Destroy A Tech Startup In Three Easy Steps: https://www.amazon.com/Destroy-Tech-Startup-Easy-Steps/dp/0998997617/ https://www.amazon.com/Destroy-Tech-Startup-Easy-Steps/dp/09...