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I worked at a place that had explicit “20% time” to work on “whatever” and it (incredibly) turned into more micromanaged bullshit. Now I had to set separate goa
by pram 5y ago
I worked at a place that had explicit “20% time” to work on “whatever” and it (incredibly) turned into more micromanaged bullshit. Now I had to set separate goals and milestones for that project too, and report it in one-on-ones with my manager. I just dropped the whole thing because it was literally more work than doing my regular job!
- jart 5y agoTry saying, "I work on this project every fifth business day, so how about we discuss it at every fifth meeting?" Micromanagement is when a manager tells you how to do your work. Goals and milestones is a management task, so it's not an unreasonable ask. If they're asking you to write those yourself, then maybe they're wondering if you'd make a good manager. Imagine yourself as the 10x developer who needs to report to the director on what the other 9 developers are (1) doing and (2) intend to do. Also, who cares if it's more work? Programming for me is not just a job but also a hobby. So if I'm working a job where the employment contracts states the company owns everything I do during the 168 hour work week, then my 20% time usually becomes 160% time (80% + 80%). You have to be willing to go to great lengths to keep people happy. Particularly the people who end up working on your project as part of their 80% time.