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Depends on the kind of work. If your "job" is pure data entry or smashing out code without any thought, then this might be a way to measure. It's still not nece
by twodave 4y ago
Depends on the kind of work. If your "job" is pure data entry or smashing out code without any thought, then this might be a way to measure. It's still not necessary, though, since in that case it's a stupid job and you can therefore just measure something stupid like lines of code or data entries completed to get a sense of how well the job is being done.
As soon as your job involves thought work, there is rarely any connection whatsoever between where the job is done and productivity. For example, in software development it's common that NOT writing code right now is the best choice if you haven't done the other steps. For jobs like this, productivity is a cycle that involves first learning, then planning, then finally maybe writing some code. Or maybe learning some more first and then continuing to plan.
Planning is by far the most important piece, and it can be done literally anywhere and even while performing another task as long as it isn't a mentally-demanding one. So, at least in my experience you literally cannot plan while coding. Not anymore than you could write a novel. But you can do it while lifting weights, going for a jog, eating lunch, sleeping, taking a shower etc. etc.
Where's the most comfortable place to plan? It's okay for that to be answered differently by different people. For some people that's the office. For many more people it's sitting at home in pajamas or whatever.
- eptcyka 4y agoWhy would you ever measure butt-in-seat time for a data entry job when you could, you know, just measure the amount of data being entered?
- twodave 4y agoConvenience for managers is the only reason I can imagine, but I'm sure there are some others. I.e. you can easily tell who's working/not by looking around vs having to get somebody to build you a recurring report or whatever. Not necessarily an optimal choice in any of the cases.
- SuoDuanDao 4y agoOne other is if you're a consultancy and you're billing out 10X Tommy at the same rate as .1X Oswald. We don't always care about productivity!
- reidjs 4y agoSometimes the act of measuring productivity requires the same amount of work as just doing the job