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The author, Ilya Pozin, has worked in exactly 1 company that he founded for 13 years. This is not a ad hominem attack, I just don't think it's possible to make

by gav 13y ago

The author, Ilya Pozin, has worked in exactly 1 company that he founded for 13 years. This is not a ad hominem attack, I just don't think it's possible to make such sweeping generalizations with such a narrow range of experience. There's two reasons hours are useful, internal and external teamwork. Nobody works alone, if you have somebody in 7-3 and somebody 11-7, there's a significant period without overlap. This can be even more problematic if your team doesn't have regular hours at all so that you can't even plan for this. For external parties, your clients, customers, etc., you want to be responsive to their needs. Most companies work 9-5, though timeszones can make this tricky.

heliodor 13y ago
Plenty of people say that the most productive time is when there's no one else in the office. Four hours of overlap should be enough for a range of jobs (at least software development). At the very least, it will force those people who need to work together to plan. I agree that there should be a routine and there probably is. I would think in general young urban folks would prefer to come to work at 11am or noon while family and older folks would prefer 8 or 9am.
- gav 13y ago
  I've heard the argument about people only being productive when nobody else is around before, sometimes it's even been me saying it. With the benefit of hindsight I know that it's just another symptom of bad management. It tends to be caused by people being responsible for both support and new development, and the latter gets squeezed out by the needs of the former; or domain knowledge being concentrated in a few employees, who feel they are swamped helping others instead of doing the work they should be doing. Being too busy is a problem in itself, people who are busy are less efficient in the long run because they are focused on short-term goals. It's why you see people fighting with terrible build systems, they don't have the time to fix them even though they are wasting time every day due to them. There's no right or wrong answer with things like hours, we operate in the big grey area in the middle. It's about finding the best compromise where the happiness of the group is maximized without negatively impacting the business.
- papsosouid 13y ago
  >Plenty of people say that the most productive time is when there's no one else in the office. Yes, but that is not inherent to having other people in the office, it is a symptom of a bad office. Intellect workers require a quiet space where they can work without distraction and interruption. In most offices, the only way to get that is to be there when nobody else is there. In an office where management isn't clueless, people could get that all the time.
  - heliodor 13y ago
    So true. I forgot there's a better way than the typical office!
samolang 13y ago
And if you are in the financial industry you often need to be in the office when relevant markets are open.

by gav 13y ago

heliodor 13y ago

Plenty of people say that the most productive time is when there's no one else in the office. Four hours of overlap should be enough for a range of jobs (at least software development). At the very least, it will force those people who need to work together to plan. I agree that there should be a routine and there probably is. I would think in general young urban folks would prefer to come to work at 11am or noon while family and older folks would prefer 8 or 9am.

gav 13y ago
I've heard the argument about people only being productive when nobody else is around before, sometimes it's even been me saying it. With the benefit of hindsight I know that it's just another symptom of bad management. It tends to be caused by people being responsible for both support and new development, and the latter gets squeezed out by the needs of the former; or domain knowledge being concentrated in a few employees, who feel they are swamped helping others instead of doing the work they should be doing. Being too busy is a problem in itself, people who are busy are less efficient in the long run because they are focused on short-term goals. It's why you see people fighting with terrible build systems, they don't have the time to fix them even though they are wasting time every day due to them. There's no right or wrong answer with things like hours, we operate in the big grey area in the middle. It's about finding the best compromise where the happiness of the group is maximized without negatively impacting the business.
papsosouid 13y ago
>Plenty of people say that the most productive time is when there's no one else in the office. Yes, but that is not inherent to having other people in the office, it is a symptom of a bad office. Intellect workers require a quiet space where they can work without distraction and interruption. In most offices, the only way to get that is to be there when nobody else is there. In an office where management isn't clueless, people could get that all the time.
- heliodor 13y ago
  So true. I forgot there's a better way than the typical office!

samolang 13y ago

And if you are in the financial industry you often need to be in the office when relevant markets are open.