April 27, 2011 at 10:58 am
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
I know one that likes to walk into the developers area "Why aren't you working?", "This had better be work" and similar statements. Any wonder she doesn't let me work away from the office?
Can't fight that. It's moronic and you can't teach anti-moronic behavior.
April 27, 2011 at 11:10 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/27/2011)
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Sure, these are all just my anecdotes, but they're what inform my perception of the state of management today. I've also had some great managers who understood what they're doing and who contribute to the company instead of being a hall monitor, but those are fewer and further between than I'd have thought 20 years ago.They are valid anecdotes, and I've dealt with those managers as well. However I've dealt with many others, and ask friends about their experiences. That attitude, while it still exists, is dwindling and I'd like to think it's the exception.
I hope you're right. Much as I like to complain, I still prefer working with good managers. : -)
All this said, I'm not convinced 100% telecommuting is a good idea either. Sure, in some cases it can be, but if you're working with the business people or collaborating with co-workers on a project, nothing really matches face to face conversations. Conference calls lack all the visual cues we rely on, teleconferences don't work all that well yet and may never since you're dividing your attention between screens instead of looking at a group of people. Email is nice, but slow and it can be hard to convey the same thing in text that you easily impart in person. Chat is still frowned upon in many places and though faster, has many of the same limitations of email.
--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams
April 27, 2011 at 11:16 am
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/27/2011)
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Sure, these are all just my anecdotes, but they're what inform my perception of the state of management today. I've also had some great managers who understood what they're doing and who contribute to the company instead of being a hall monitor, but those are fewer and further between than I'd have thought 20 years ago.They are valid anecdotes, and I've dealt with those managers as well. However I've dealt with many others, and ask friends about their experiences. That attitude, while it still exists, is dwindling and I'd like to think it's the exception.
I hope you're right. Much as I like to complain, I still prefer working with good managers. : -)
All this said, I'm not convinced 100% telecommuting is a good idea either. Sure, in some cases it can be, but if you're working with the business people or collaborating with co-workers on a project, nothing really matches face to face conversations. Conference calls lack all the visual cues we rely on, teleconferences don't work all that well yet and may never since you're dividing your attention between screens instead of looking at a group of people. Email is nice, but slow and it can be hard to convey the same thing in text that you easily impart in person. Chat is still frowned upon in many places and though faster, has many of the same limitations of email.
Good points, but try justifying that against losing 23 000$ per YEAR per employee in billing on the COMMUTE alone.
Face to face is nice, but I don't see it as a requirement 5 days / week without any exceptions. There's got to be a better way.
As Always... it depends! 😀
April 27, 2011 at 11:24 am
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Any wonder she doesn't let me work away from the office?
If you were a little under the weather, would your manager expect you to:
A. Telecommute, and do a day's work
B. Call in sick, and do no work
C. Come in to the office and infect everyone
April 27, 2011 at 11:25 am
Ninja's_RGR'us (4/27/2011)
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/27/2011)
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Sure, these are all just my anecdotes, but they're what inform my perception of the state of management today. I've also had some great managers who understood what they're doing and who contribute to the company instead of being a hall monitor, but those are fewer and further between than I'd have thought 20 years ago.They are valid anecdotes, and I've dealt with those managers as well. However I've dealt with many others, and ask friends about their experiences. That attitude, while it still exists, is dwindling and I'd like to think it's the exception.
I hope you're right. Much as I like to complain, I still prefer working with good managers. : -)
All this said, I'm not convinced 100% telecommuting is a good idea either. Sure, in some cases it can be, but if you're working with the business people or collaborating with co-workers on a project, nothing really matches face to face conversations. Conference calls lack all the visual cues we rely on, teleconferences don't work all that well yet and may never since you're dividing your attention between screens instead of looking at a group of people. Email is nice, but slow and it can be hard to convey the same thing in text that you easily impart in person. Chat is still frowned upon in many places and though faster, has many of the same limitations of email.
Good points, but try justifying that against losing 23 000$ per YEAR per employee in billing on the COMMUTE alone.
Face to face is nice, but I don't see it as a requirement 5 days / week without any exceptions. There's got to be a better way.
As Always... it depends! 😀
You mean the employees not being compensated? 'cause I don't know anyone who gets to bill for their commute. I think a combination of the two is best. A few days a week/month in the office depending on how often you need to talk things over and it could vary over the course of a year. Flexibility is key.
--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams
April 27, 2011 at 11:26 am
Peter Maloof (4/27/2011)
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Any wonder she doesn't let me work away from the office?If you were a little under the weather, would your manager expect you to:
A. Telecommute, and do a day's work
B. Call in sick, and do no work
C. Come in to the office and infect everyone
In my experience, managers love C. They tend to be quite poor at risk assessment. That's why so many places don't have proper backup/failover, UPS on all important systems, separarte development/test/production environments, etc...
--------------------------------------
When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
--------------------------------------
It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams
April 27, 2011 at 11:27 am
Peter Maloof (4/27/2011)
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Any wonder she doesn't let me work away from the office?If you were a little under the weather, would your manager expect you to:
A. Telecommute, and do a day's work
B. Call in sick, and do no work
C. Come in to the office and infect everyone
C... and that alone makes me sick. We had a manager basically risk infection to 100s of people (counting people living with us) just to get "urgent" stuff done. I had to cancel important stuff on my end so that I didn't infect 2 of my friends and their babies.
Let's just say I was a little pissed off!
April 27, 2011 at 11:32 am
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (4/27/2011)
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/27/2011)
Stefan Krzywicki (4/27/2011)
Sure, these are all just my anecdotes, but they're what inform my perception of the state of management today. I've also had some great managers who understood what they're doing and who contribute to the company instead of being a hall monitor, but those are fewer and further between than I'd have thought 20 years ago.They are valid anecdotes, and I've dealt with those managers as well. However I've dealt with many others, and ask friends about their experiences. That attitude, while it still exists, is dwindling and I'd like to think it's the exception.
I hope you're right. Much as I like to complain, I still prefer working with good managers. : -)
All this said, I'm not convinced 100% telecommuting is a good idea either. Sure, in some cases it can be, but if you're working with the business people or collaborating with co-workers on a project, nothing really matches face to face conversations. Conference calls lack all the visual cues we rely on, teleconferences don't work all that well yet and may never since you're dividing your attention between screens instead of looking at a group of people. Email is nice, but slow and it can be hard to convey the same thing in text that you easily impart in person. Chat is still frowned upon in many places and though faster, has many of the same limitations of email.
Good points, but try justifying that against losing 23 000$ per YEAR per employee in billing on the COMMUTE alone.
Face to face is nice, but I don't see it as a requirement 5 days / week without any exceptions. There's got to be a better way.
As Always... it depends! 😀
You mean the employees not being compensated? 'cause I don't know anyone who gets to bill for their commute. I think a combination of the two is best. A few days a week/month in the office depending on how often you need to talk things over and it could vary over the course of a year. Flexibility is key.
I know nobody gets paid to drive to work and that's exactly my point. The company I work for "wastes" millions $ per year in commuting time to come in to work. Time that could be spent with the family, not destroying our planet, air, water, infrastucture. Also just the taxes on that "income" alone would get the country out of debt in years.
The bottom line is that we have traffic jam simply because everybody builds their business in the same place and that is the choice / responsibility of the owners. Just spread it out evenly-ier and the problem goes away along with the trillions lost in that problem... not withstanding stress and polution.
Waste is waste, any way you look at it.
April 27, 2011 at 11:36 am
Peter Maloof (4/27/2011)
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Any wonder she doesn't let me work away from the office?If you were a little under the weather, would your manager expect you to:
A. Telecommute, and do a day's work
B. Call in sick, and do no work
C. Come in to the office and infect everyone
C.
I asked one afternoon if I could leave early and make up the hours over the weekend (I'm required to do 24 hours a week there, paid by the hour), because I was feeling terrible (dunno what it was, some quick onset cold. Went from feeling fine at lunchtime to feeling terrible by 3pm)
Answer: No. She's promised so many hours of my time a week and she can't allow me to work from home.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
April 27, 2011 at 11:44 am
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Peter Maloof (4/27/2011)
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Any wonder she doesn't let me work away from the office?If you were a little under the weather, would your manager expect you to:
A. Telecommute, and do a day's work
B. Call in sick, and do no work
C. Come in to the office and infect everyone
C.
I asked one afternoon if I could leave early and make up the hours over the weekend (I'm required to do 24 hours a week there, paid by the hour), because I was feeling terrible (dunno what it was, some quick onset cold. Went from feeling fine at lunchtime to feeling terrible by 3pm)
Answer: No. She's promised so many hours of my time a week and she can't allow me to work from home.
exec sp_update_resume
exec sp_distribute_resume
exec sp_bye_bye_<moronic>_boss(es)
GO
😛
April 27, 2011 at 12:01 pm
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
I asked one afternoon if I could leave early and make up the hours over the weekend (I'm required to do 24 hours a week there, paid by the hour), because I was feeling terrible (dunno what it was, some quick onset cold. Went from feeling fine at lunchtime to feeling terrible by 3pm)Answer: No. She's promised so many hours of my time a week and she can't allow me to work from home.
I would have scheduled a one-on-one meeting with that manager and coughed the whole time. At the end, I would have shaken her hand.
The number of people replying 'C' is appalling. Having to be on-site when you're sick trumps all the lame telecommuting rules I've ever encountered.
April 27, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Ninja's_RGR'us (4/27/2011)
exec sp_update_resumeexec sp_distribute_resume
exec sp_bye_bye_<moronic>_boss(es)
GO
Select employment_type, payment_status, contract_prognosis FROM MoronicClient
Contract Awaiting Feb payment Poor
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
April 27, 2011 at 1:54 pm
GilaMonster (4/27/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (4/27/2011)
exec sp_update_resumeexec sp_distribute_resume
exec sp_bye_bye_<moronic>_boss(es)
GO
Select employment_type, payment_status, contract_prognosis FROM MoronicClient
Contract Awaiting Feb payment Poor
I don't call those a client. I call those a liability that I fire from my company.
I know losing the cash is painful, but not as much as being unhappy in my career.
April 27, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Peter Maloof (4/27/2011)
If you were a little under the weather, would your manager expect you to:A. Telecommute, and do a day's work
B. Call in sick, and do no work
C. Come in to the office and infect everyone
The official policy is B, but unofficially they want exempt employees to do A (still using sick time), and want non-exempt employees to do C.
April 27, 2011 at 2:54 pm
UMG Developer (4/27/2011)
The official policy is B, but unofficially they want exempt employees to do A (still using sick time), and want non-exempt employees to do C.
They expect you to work, but still charge you a sick day?
I wonder if demanding that people come in when they're infectious violates any health codes.
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