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Yes, the 'work' is getting done, but again I think it could be around 40% more productive. I do realize that we have to refresh ourselves time to time but when

Yes, the 'work' is getting done, but again I think it could be around 40% more productive. I do realize that we have to refresh ourselves time to time but when it's a long stretch of time on work looking at investment/finance websites, I think these are signs of trouble. Of course, no one wants to block anything from anyone, or have butts-in-seats time. But I think at "some level" little bit of accountability is needed, I will need to have that uneasy conversation in some or the other way :|.

knightofmars 7y ago
"I think it could be around 40% more productive." Why do you think this? What metrics do you have to support this thought? The one thing I wish managers everywhere would burn into their memory is this, "If you can't measure productivity outside of time spent in chair (looking at code), then you're not actually measuring productivity." Productivity should be measured based on whether or not a team is meeting both their team goals as well as the team's individuals meeting their own goals. These goals need to be clear and realistic. A manager that is setting unrealistic, vague, or otherwise unclear goals is a problem. When teams and individuals repeatedly meet their goals then you can increase the amount and/or difficulty. Or if it is an agile shop, the team should be increasing their "velocity" or whatever metric is used to determine work done, you shouldn't be left with too many empty days in a sprint. If you increase the amount of work or difficulty of work and these individuals are still looking at investment/finance websites after accomplishing their goals, then it is likely that you as the manager were under-utilizing the skills of the individuals on your team. The other important thing to remember is that engineers get blocked. Sometimes more frequently than is desirable. When this happens, managers need to get involved in order to work with others in the organization to alleviate the block and potentially alter processes for the long-term.
thrower123 7y ago
Quite frankly, the time in the office is some of my least productive time, and I'm sure that is the case for a lot of other people as well. Most of the real work gets done in the car driving in, or in the shower, or laying in bed trying to get to sleep. The time to get worried is when you see that people are spending big chunks of time on LinkedIn or Indeed, or they start unexpectedly coming to work in attire that is one or two levels up from the normal day-to-day. The end is nigh when that starts to happen, and clamping down with poorly conceived attempts to wring more blood from the stone is a great way to accelerate the effect.
- Joof 7y ago
  This is helpful. I check linked-in just to see what exists fairly frequently and dress in random attire depending on what laundry is done (sometimes really nice, sometimes shorts). I'd never really considered it as something that meant that I would be leaving.
breckenedge 7y ago
There are many resources describing how to have this conversation and do it well. I particularly liked Crucial Confrontations, now titled Crucial Accountability. I use its techniques daily with my team and it’s obvious that my boss uses the techniques with me.

knightofmars 7y ago

"I think it could be around 40% more productive." Why do you think this? What metrics do you have to support this thought? The one thing I wish managers everywhere would burn into their memory is this, "If you can't measure productivity outside of time spent in chair (looking at code), then you're not actually measuring productivity." Productivity should be measured based on whether or not a team is meeting both their team goals as well as the team's individuals meeting their own goals. These goals need to be clear and realistic. A manager that is setting unrealistic, vague, or otherwise unclear goals is a problem. When teams and individuals repeatedly meet their goals then you can increase the amount and/or difficulty. Or if it is an agile shop, the team should be increasing their "velocity" or whatever metric is used to determine work done, you shouldn't be left with too many empty days in a sprint. If you increase the amount of work or difficulty of work and these individuals are still looking at investment/finance websites after accomplishing their goals, then it is likely that you as the manager were under-utilizing the skills of the individuals on your team. The other important thing to remember is that engineers get blocked. Sometimes more frequently than is desirable. When this happens, managers need to get involved in order to work with others in the organization to alleviate the block and potentially alter processes for the long-term.

thrower123 7y ago

Quite frankly, the time in the office is some of my least productive time, and I'm sure that is the case for a lot of other people as well. Most of the real work gets done in the car driving in, or in the shower, or laying in bed trying to get to sleep. The time to get worried is when you see that people are spending big chunks of time on LinkedIn or Indeed, or they start unexpectedly coming to work in attire that is one or two levels up from the normal day-to-day. The end is nigh when that starts to happen, and clamping down with poorly conceived attempts to wring more blood from the stone is a great way to accelerate the effect.

Joof 7y ago
This is helpful. I check linked-in just to see what exists fairly frequently and dress in random attire depending on what laundry is done (sometimes really nice, sometimes shorts). I'd never really considered it as something that meant that I would be leaving.

breckenedge 7y ago

There are many resources describing how to have this conversation and do it well. I particularly liked Crucial Confrontations, now titled Crucial Accountability. I use its techniques daily with my team and it’s obvious that my boss uses the techniques with me.