There's no one-size-fits-all solution. Understanding your work style, without being too rigid, will make things bearable without making sacrifices along the way
I loved the pendulum analogy, first time I’m hearing it and it fits well imo.
As a manager, I think it’s critical to acknowledge it, and not leave it under the table. So if someone needs to work a 20-hour week, they should be able to just tell you that.
Having the trust built with someone to talk openly is the enabler for that, IMO.
For me that trust is built when none of the sides are reactive (like I did once to my manager). Instead, look immediately into how to find a solution together. A 20-hour week may conflict with some deadlines and priorities of the team, but you can always find some arrangement that fits both needs.
One more important point is to dig into the rootcause (in a collaborative manner of course!). Someone may ask one thing, but that was just a proxy to solve the real situation that they are going through
I'm closer to a pendulum than anything else, but of course, with meaningful deviations. I'm available during core working hours, which is when most people work.
"Mr. I’m always available" is something I've seen others do, and besides creating terrible conditions for you, it can hurt the company as well. It hides the need for more resources or better organization. Everyone should stop doing it, or if you have to, please constantly tell your employer it's not sustainable, and you need more resources.
You make a very good point. The people that would ignore completely their lives to meet a deadline are just training leadership and stakeholders to ask anything they want. This is specially dangerous in senior positions. I have seen it and it creates an awful expectation. "If your Senior engineer is staying until midnight, why are you not doing so?"
Sometimes letting something fail is the stressor needed to improve the process. And having engineers work overtime is just hiding an improvement opportunity
I like the idea of budgeting over the whole year instead of on smaller timescales. That way you can still achieve balance but it could be seasonally instead of daily or weekly.
Most jobs need us to adapt to their seasonality. For example when I had been working on the retail side of Amazon, the big shopping events (prime day and black friday) were a very different season that other moments of the year
Closer to pendulum but my pendulum has a floor of 40 hours / week 😂 . I wish I could average it out to even
Loved the way you shared to think about each of the 4 approaches, Fran. Thanks as well for the article shout-out 🙏
Well, nobody said that the average had to be exactly 40 hours per week :)
For me what matters is having the awareness of when you are pushing and when to slow down to avoid burning out
I loved the pendulum analogy, first time I’m hearing it and it fits well imo.
As a manager, I think it’s critical to acknowledge it, and not leave it under the table. So if someone needs to work a 20-hour week, they should be able to just tell you that.
Having the trust built with someone to talk openly is the enabler for that, IMO.
For me that trust is built when none of the sides are reactive (like I did once to my manager). Instead, look immediately into how to find a solution together. A 20-hour week may conflict with some deadlines and priorities of the team, but you can always find some arrangement that fits both needs.
One more important point is to dig into the rootcause (in a collaborative manner of course!). Someone may ask one thing, but that was just a proxy to solve the real situation that they are going through
Thanks for sharing their thoughts
Good addition about digging a bit deeper - I agree.
I'm closer to a pendulum than anything else, but of course, with meaningful deviations. I'm available during core working hours, which is when most people work.
"Mr. I’m always available" is something I've seen others do, and besides creating terrible conditions for you, it can hurt the company as well. It hides the need for more resources or better organization. Everyone should stop doing it, or if you have to, please constantly tell your employer it's not sustainable, and you need more resources.
You make a very good point. The people that would ignore completely their lives to meet a deadline are just training leadership and stakeholders to ask anything they want. This is specially dangerous in senior positions. I have seen it and it creates an awful expectation. "If your Senior engineer is staying until midnight, why are you not doing so?"
Sometimes letting something fail is the stressor needed to improve the process. And having engineers work overtime is just hiding an improvement opportunity
I like the idea of budgeting over the whole year instead of on smaller timescales. That way you can still achieve balance but it could be seasonally instead of daily or weekly.
Most jobs need us to adapt to their seasonality. For example when I had been working on the retail side of Amazon, the big shopping events (prime day and black friday) were a very different season that other moments of the year
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jack!
I can only imagine the chaos at an Amazon sale, so many customers
No problem!