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We've pretty much removed all incentive to work long hours, or even just 8 hours, because or "collective" starting time is around 10-ish, but all of management

We've pretty much removed all incentive to work long hours, or even just 8 hours, because or "collective" starting time is around 10-ish, but all of management is usually gone before half past five, and I actively encourage people to go home. On rare occasions does someone who's really in the zone stay past six. The problem I don't have any grip on is people working from home. Because we're pretty flexible and developers enjoy their work, I often see them working in the evenings or in the weekend, when there is really no need for it. Also, people who work from home all day invariable tend to make longer hours. This worries me a bit, but I'm not sure how to address that.

hkarthik 13y ago
That's awesome, you seem to have a much better grip on this than 99% of your peers in leadership positions at technology companies. You should put your contact info your profile as I'm sure lots of people would love to work for you! As for the late night work at home, I would recommend you do one-on-ones (or have their managers do one-on-ones) with the late night workers to make sure they aren't being overwhelmed without saying anything. Showing that you're proactive about it helps build that trust. Another thing I've noticed is that when you have a strong in-office culture (which it sounds like you have), sometimes it's difficult to stay on top of individual tasks while you're in the office. There are always side conversations, ad-hoc discussions, or even a higher frequency of in-person meetings during the day. These things are important to maintain culture, but often eat into a person's time so much that they have to get caught up at night. Sometimes the late night work is simply catching up on emails from the day or it's finishing up a minor coding task. But in worst case scenarios, people can't get anything done in the office so they resort to early morning work (before anyone shows up) or they always work late regularly. Keeping a pulse on that and handling it before it becomes a cultural problem is very important.

hkarthik 13y ago

That's awesome, you seem to have a much better grip on this than 99% of your peers in leadership positions at technology companies. You should put your contact info your profile as I'm sure lots of people would love to work for you! As for the late night work at home, I would recommend you do one-on-ones (or have their managers do one-on-ones) with the late night workers to make sure they aren't being overwhelmed without saying anything. Showing that you're proactive about it helps build that trust. Another thing I've noticed is that when you have a strong in-office culture (which it sounds like you have), sometimes it's difficult to stay on top of individual tasks while you're in the office. There are always side conversations, ad-hoc discussions, or even a higher frequency of in-person meetings during the day. These things are important to maintain culture, but often eat into a person's time so much that they have to get caught up at night. Sometimes the late night work is simply catching up on emails from the day or it's finishing up a minor coding task. But in worst case scenarios, people can't get anything done in the office so they resort to early morning work (before anyone shows up) or they always work late regularly. Keeping a pulse on that and handling it before it becomes a cultural problem is very important.