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Meh, I feel like it's probably healthy to minimize work, not dishonestly, but especially if the alternative is going into the office and not being productive fo

Meh, I feel like it's probably healthy to minimize work, not dishonestly, but especially if the alternative is going into the office and not being productive for those hours anyway.

PragmaticPulp 7y ago
> Meh, I feel like it's probably healthy to minimize work That’s missing the point. I don’t expect people to do work for the sake of doing work. We’re trying to get something done. The problem comes when individuals on the team try to minimize their own workload at any cost, which inevitably creates more work for other team members. They either find ways to shift difficult tasks to other people on the team, or they cut corners and saddle the team with technical debt. I know the popular framing is to think of workers vs. big evil corporations, but in reality most of these people end up hurting their coworkers far more than the company by selfishly minimizing their own workloads. > if the alternative is going into the office and not being productive for those hours anyway In a properly functioning team, that should never happen. I can’t think of any time in my professional career where our work backlog has literally gone to zero. A properly managed roadmap and backlog means there should always be something to work on. I don’t expect employees to work extra hours to chip away at the backlog, but if someone finishes their assigned tasks early then they need to step up and help the team or work on the next tasks in the backlog. If someone is constantly running out of work and finding themselves spending unproductive hours at the office, their team is likely oversized in the first place. Those people are either moved to another team or at the top of the list when it’s time for layoffs, sadly.
- brailsafe 7y ago
  I think it's only sometimes healthy to take on more stuff after you've completed what you set out to that day. In my mind, the reward for productivity should not be more work. Fuck that. At the office or not, most of the time I'll try and get what I set out to do that day done, and then leave unless there's something pressing. Mostly though, if there was something pressing, then it would have been part of my goal for that day anyway. You'd put someone on the chopping block for being too efficient? That doesn't sound sensible.

Meh, I feel like it's probably healthy to minimize work, not dishonestly, but especially if the alternative is going into the office and not being productive for those hours anyway.

PragmaticPulp 7y ago

> Meh, I feel like it's probably healthy to minimize work That’s missing the point. I don’t expect people to do work for the sake of doing work. We’re trying to get something done. The problem comes when individuals on the team try to minimize their own workload at any cost, which inevitably creates more work for other team members. They either find ways to shift difficult tasks to other people on the team, or they cut corners and saddle the team with technical debt. I know the popular framing is to think of workers vs. big evil corporations, but in reality most of these people end up hurting their coworkers far more than the company by selfishly minimizing their own workloads. > if the alternative is going into the office and not being productive for those hours anyway In a properly functioning team, that should never happen. I can’t think of any time in my professional career where our work backlog has literally gone to zero. A properly managed roadmap and backlog means there should always be something to work on. I don’t expect employees to work extra hours to chip away at the backlog, but if someone finishes their assigned tasks early then they need to step up and help the team or work on the next tasks in the backlog. If someone is constantly running out of work and finding themselves spending unproductive hours at the office, their team is likely oversized in the first place. Those people are either moved to another team or at the top of the list when it’s time for layoffs, sadly.

brailsafe 7y ago
I think it's only sometimes healthy to take on more stuff after you've completed what you set out to that day. In my mind, the reward for productivity should not be more work. Fuck that. At the office or not, most of the time I'll try and get what I set out to do that day done, and then leave unless there's something pressing. Mostly though, if there was something pressing, then it would have been part of my goal for that day anyway. You'd put someone on the chopping block for being too efficient? That doesn't sound sensible.