3 ms·

Working overtime is usually an antipattern

by camjohnson26 5y ago

mdp2021 5y ago
> an antipattern Not clear, could you explain?
- hurflmurfl 5y ago
  I think the poster means that it's a symptom of (and a temporary solution to) underlying issues. Sometimes I have to do a bit of overtime to fix a time-sensitive issue, and I'm fine with that. The underlying issue, though, might be lack of code review, insufficient testing, fatigue or anything else. It's good to remember that overtime is a viable solution, but as any solution it has its costs. This can build resentment among employees (making them quit earlier), increase fatigue (this requiring even more overtime to fix issues caused by fatigued employees), build dissatisfaction (resulting in loss of motivation), etc. In other words, if you're finding yourself plumbing leaks every week, a better solution for the long term might be to replace the whole pipe :)
- markstos 5y ago
  An anti-pattern is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  There are two reasons to use OT (IME): The occasional and unpredictable issue. Construction crews took out the internet for half the city (happened to us a few weeks ago, maybe not half the city but it was bad). This broke a lot of communication systems (how can you deploy your work even working remotely when the systems you need aren't reachable?) and other things. Once service was restored, this forced a scramble the next week to get things done that had to be delayed and also hit the expected deadlines for that week (or risk a cascade effect of everything being delayed). One week of OT for a few people, everything was back in order. This is rare, unpredictable, and so not an anti pattern. It's a thing that happens. Regular OT is the anti pattern. If your team is working long hours every day, regularly coming in on the weekend, if deployment always runs long and the team has to stay all weekend (even if this is an annual thing because you didn't get the memo on CI/CD), you have a problem. It could be understaffing. It could be just lousy work. Working long hours seems to induce a decline in quality on its own. It could be a cultural problem. It could be abuse of the system (especially if OT is paid at a higher rate). It could just be bad processes. But regardless, if it happens regularly it warrants investigating.
- P_I_Staker 5y ago
  Except for maybe rare exceptions of temporary pushes to get a project further along, working overtime is more of a symptom of mismanagement, than a sign of dedication. The days just keep coming. You need downtime, and off days. There's a strong case to be made that we don't get nearly enough, at least in the USA. Trying to mortgage that time because you didn't set appropriate goals, have appropriate staffing, or make good use of your time will only result in burnout. Often times you don't even get the extra work, because productivity goes down, but everyone must pretend to work, so they're not one of the bad ones. You will pay for these mistakes eventually. You will not be able to retain people. They will leave, end up in the hospital, or have a meltdown and get fired. Or everyone is just miserable, but things go the same speed, or slower.

Working overtime is usually an antipattern

mdp2021 5y ago

> an antipattern Not clear, could you explain?

hurflmurfl 5y ago
I think the poster means that it's a symptom of (and a temporary solution to) underlying issues. Sometimes I have to do a bit of overtime to fix a time-sensitive issue, and I'm fine with that. The underlying issue, though, might be lack of code review, insufficient testing, fatigue or anything else. It's good to remember that overtime is a viable solution, but as any solution it has its costs. This can build resentment among employees (making them quit earlier), increase fatigue (this requiring even more overtime to fix issues caused by fatigued employees), build dissatisfaction (resulting in loss of motivation), etc. In other words, if you're finding yourself plumbing leaks every week, a better solution for the long term might be to replace the whole pipe :)
markstos 5y ago
An anti-pattern is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern
Jtsummers 5y ago
There are two reasons to use OT (IME): The occasional and unpredictable issue. Construction crews took out the internet for half the city (happened to us a few weeks ago, maybe not half the city but it was bad). This broke a lot of communication systems (how can you deploy your work even working remotely when the systems you need aren't reachable?) and other things. Once service was restored, this forced a scramble the next week to get things done that had to be delayed and also hit the expected deadlines for that week (or risk a cascade effect of everything being delayed). One week of OT for a few people, everything was back in order. This is rare, unpredictable, and so not an anti pattern. It's a thing that happens. Regular OT is the anti pattern. If your team is working long hours every day, regularly coming in on the weekend, if deployment always runs long and the team has to stay all weekend (even if this is an annual thing because you didn't get the memo on CI/CD), you have a problem. It could be understaffing. It could be just lousy work. Working long hours seems to induce a decline in quality on its own. It could be a cultural problem. It could be abuse of the system (especially if OT is paid at a higher rate). It could just be bad processes. But regardless, if it happens regularly it warrants investigating.
P_I_Staker 5y ago
Except for maybe rare exceptions of temporary pushes to get a project further along, working overtime is more of a symptom of mismanagement, than a sign of dedication. The days just keep coming. You need downtime, and off days. There's a strong case to be made that we don't get nearly enough, at least in the USA. Trying to mortgage that time because you didn't set appropriate goals, have appropriate staffing, or make good use of your time will only result in burnout. Often times you don't even get the extra work, because productivity goes down, but everyone must pretend to work, so they're not one of the bad ones. You will pay for these mistakes eventually. You will not be able to retain people. They will leave, end up in the hospital, or have a meltdown and get fired. Or everyone is just miserable, but things go the same speed, or slower.