June 14, 2008 at 11:24 pm
If I'm taking a few days off and staying at home, I'll check email a few times jsut to make sure there's nothing catastrophic hapening. If I leave town, I don't take a laptop, and try not to asnwer my cell. One thing that helps at work is that our voice mail system has an option for extended absence that plays the message to callers, then hangs up without allowing the caller to leave a message. That means there aren't a bunch of voice mails waiting when I get back.
June 15, 2008 at 5:53 am
My policy is "Vacation is Vacation", period. If it isn't a real emergency, then I don't want to hear about it and I won't interrupt someone else's vacation with it either.
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June 15, 2008 at 9:47 am
We all work too hard and deal with too much competition in this industry to safely say that it is okay to not get it done before we leave. I totally agree that we should let it go and enjoy the vacation. I'd like to know more about the reality of this concept. I generally don't feel comfortable leaving at all, but there are others in my organization who are even more uncomfortable leaving for something as simple as the birth of a grandchild. I suspect we have to address this one from a different perspective based on who we are and what we are doing.
Jamie
June 15, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Vacation is vacation. You could be anywhere on the planet, with an empty battery.
June 15, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Yep, vacation is vacation. Shouldn't need to be bothered, and I don't think there's a lot of competition for good people. Not enough to go around.
June 15, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Steve Jones - Editor (6/15/2008)
Shouldn't need to be bothered, and I don't think there's a lot of competition for good people. Not enough to go around.
I agree, but many managers seem to think developers are easy to replace... until they actually have to do it. My company freaked out when i told them i was leaving. They have been paying me a retainer fee every month for over a year now. I do about 1 hour of work for them a month, because I negotiated the contract down to the most minor detail and they have to pay me per hour for anything i deem outside of the contract (or above a set number of hours per week).
June 16, 2008 at 2:51 pm
DavidB - you have it right on the money. I make it a point to be home for dinner every night with my family and put off any after-hours work until my wife and kids are in bed. Knowing that they come first makes it easier if a situation arises that I have to be away from them. They understand that it must be important or I would be home, rather than just one more time that daddy wasn't there. I'm lucky enough that the interuptions are the exception and not the rule. I try to plan vacations in advance to be fair to my family and my company.
That said I try to get as much of my work finished as possible before taking time off and accept that there will be a backlog of catch up when I get back. Asking your team to do your job(s) and theirs for a couple of days is one thing, but to leave for a one or two week vacation without preparation or expecting to have a clean slate when you return is just crazy. If you get to the point where you can come and go for days at a time and you are not missed then you may want to ask yourself how much value you actually add - before your boss asks.
However, as I said, I am lucky in that I have a good team and a stable system. That combination provides me with peace of mind that 1) the team can take care of most requests and problems while I am away, 2) most of the issues they cannot resolve are not critical and can wait for my return and 3) they know when a situation is critical enough to call me. Good judgement goes a long way.
June 17, 2008 at 4:19 am
I reckon you just go on leave coz before you leave there's a pile of work and when you get back there will still be a pile of work.:D
June 17, 2008 at 9:05 am
There's always more work. Remember that when you think you have to finish something up to clear the decks.
June 18, 2008 at 12:38 am
I work from 8 to 16:30 and that's it. I have no problem doing overtime to get things done. nor do i have a problem checking on tasks that are running from home.
But, if you see yourself having to put in 12 hour days on a regular basis to get the work done ... You need more colleges to assist you or to keep an eye on your automated tasks.
This way you can enjoy your 3 week vacation in the south of France while your college gives you a buzz to ask you where he can find your well documented procedures.:cool:
rg Dimitry
June 20, 2008 at 9:40 am
I always do my best to close out any problems that I am working on. However, if I can’t, I usually won't work extra to finish them. I will let my coworkers know about the problem and what I have done so far.
As many have said, having someone in a position that basically is a "single point of failure" is a bad thing. I currently work with someone that fills that type of position. Our system has 2 versions that our clients use and my coworker knows more about the older system then anyone else. There have been a few times I have had to call her when she was off to either walk me through something or have her log in and fix it. Always felt bad having to do that.
Ian.
"If you are going through hell, keep going."
-- Winston Churchill
June 20, 2008 at 9:43 am
Ian, all you can do is document as best you can. If no one will pick up the slack to learn the older system, at least you've done something.
I'm trying to make sure things are done for my vacation next week, but I'll get done what I can today and then leave things.
June 25, 2008 at 6:25 am
Vacation to me is being alone at home and relax or going to a resort by myself that I don't have to do anything. So far I don't have the luxury to have this type of vacation. Hopefully one day....
Maybe it sounds surprise to some of you but I used to have a job that I liked very much and it is liked a vacation to me.
Going on vacation with my family most of the time are not relaxing, I always say I need a vacation after my vacation. Just liked this weekend, we are going camping with five families. First I hate camping. Actually we are staying in a big cabin. However it still means I will sleep in a lousy bed, can't take a good shower plus I have to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. It sounds more work to me than vacation. However the kids like it.
June 25, 2008 at 9:32 am
Just got back from 3 days of "vacation" at Scout camp with my two little kids. After some bad food, lots of sun, and sleeping on the ground, I need a vacation! Especially after seeing a pile of email.
At least someone else did me "work" for me while I was gone 🙂
April 26, 2013 at 2:09 am
This thread is almost 5 years old. Is this when you had your last real vacation?
Its really the same here. Extra work before the vacation AND afterwards.
Nothing of the my stuff gets done during vacations. Thats really bad.
Also as you stated already in the editorial this implies a stressfull time without really being able to enjoy.
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