Overtime? What about the results?
For your attention the translation of the article by the senior lecturer of the Harvard Business School, Robert Pozen (Robert Pozen) , They Work Long Hours, but What About Results? , published in The New York Times on October 6, 2012.
5 pm. Working quickly, you have completed all your tasks and want to go home. But so far none of your colleagues have gone, which makes you stay for another couple of hours, wasting time on the Internet and re-reading mail. But no one would think that you - lazy.
The harsh reality is that efficiency is often not rewarded. I often came across this when I worked at a law office in Washington. Thanks to my experience, I was able to quickly answer customer questions, saving time for myself and them. But since my office (like most law firms) had an hourly rate, my efficiency worked against me.
')
From the point of view of the law firm, hourly pay has its own attractiveness: it transfers risks to the client’s shoulders if the work lasts longer than expected. But on the other hand, lawyers have an incentive to exaggerate the real scope of tasks. For me, the hourly rate was simply dishonest. I risked not getting a full salary just because I answered questions too quickly.
But not only hourly companies shift the focus from the result. During a study conducted in 2010 under the direction of Kimberly D. Elsbach , a professor at the University of California, 39 managers of various companies were interviewed. They were asked questions regarding their perceptions of subordinates. Managers rated employees who are in the office during regular business hours as “reliable” and “trustworthy”. Managers also called "devotees to the idea" and "dedicated themselves to work" those who work on weekends or late hours.
One manager said: “Take, for example, this guy: he did not miss a single rally. Basically he says nothing, but he is always on time, people notice this. Undoubtedly, he is hardworking, you can rely on him. " Another manager remarked: “Work on weekends makes a great impression. This suggests that you are committed to work and strive to make a greater contribution to the common cause. ”
The train of thought of such managers is the echo of the industrial age, where it was easy to standardize work at the machine. But a time-based measurement system is not applicable to knowledge workers. Such work should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits that their contributions and ideas bring.
Due to the application of the approaches of the industrial age, companies do not have an understanding of the true motivation of employees. For example, an employee stays up late to impress the boss, but who can guarantee that he is interested in working during the daytime?
This problem has no general solution. Try instead of counting hours to judge your work by results. Have you achieved the goals set by the customer? Have you come up with a solution for a complex task? Have you written at least a draft of an article due next week? Obviously, it is these achievements, and not the hours that you recorded in the journal that ultimately lead to the success of the company.
Of course, result-oriented strategies will be specific to your particular job, but there are still a few general approaches that professionals in various industries use to increase their effectiveness.
Internal meetings often waste time. Short discussions are useful for discussing controversial issues, but long meetings - from 60 to 90 minutes - are usually not productive. Leaders spend a lot of time on introductory material, losing the attention of participants.
Try to avoid rallies that can drag on or become unproductive. If possible, politely decline the invitation to the rally, citing deadlines. If this is not possible, explain at the beginning of the rally that you can only be present at the first hour. And think twice before creating a new rally, because most of the issues can be resolved by phone and mail.
If you still need to create a rally, try to make it productive. Create a clear and precise meeting plan and send it out at least one day in advance. Appoint a person who will ensure that all controversial issues are voiced ( in the original “devil's advocate”, approx. Lane ). At the end of the rally, make sure that the rally participants came to common decisions, discussed and distributed the tasks ahead, assigned them deadlines.
You do not need to read the entire letter, even if it was sent by your boss. After reading a large article from cover to cover, you can feel productive. But perhaps you could use your time and more profitably. Most likely only a small part of this article was really important for your work. You could have enough basic ideas or a couple of examples, without tangled details. Starting to read, set a goal to find something important. If you don’t focus on the essentials, the details will devour your time.
And stop reading your mail. I am a big proponent of the OHIO principle ( Only handle it once - can be translated as “Take it at once,” approx. Lane ). While reading the letter, decide whether you will respond to it, and if so, do it immediately. I noticed that about 80% of incoming and outgoing mail do not require any reply. Do not allow unnecessary correspondence to litter your inbox and waste your time.
Even if you need to do something on “5+”, this does not mean that your work should be perfect from the very beginning. Many people when writing a letter try to bring each sentence to perfection. My experience suggests that this leads to a significant decrease in speed.
Try to divide the process of creating letters in stages. First, think about what exactly you want to say and in what order. Then create a sketch, albeit far from perfect. After that you can return to the beginning and make adjustments.
In general, do not waste time creating a letter to “5+”, when “4” is enough. The free time can be spent on tasks that really have to be performed on the "5+".
After trying these and some other result-oriented strategies, you will notice that you have been spending less time in the office. Your boss may be nervous, because managers easier to calculate how many hours you spent at work, rather than what results achieved. That is why you should change the relationship with your boss.
Make him believe that you can do more in less time. Look at your company more closely. Ask yourself: which of my team’s tasks is most important? What is my boss thinking? About expansion, about new products, about cost reduction or about something else?
Of course, just watching and thinking will not be enough. It is also necessary to actively communicate. Once a week make a list of your tasks - short-term and long-term, ranking them by importance from your point of view. Then ask your boss to prioritize this list.
You and your boss need to come to a single decision regarding the metrics for each project. If your boss does not have such metrics, help him create them. Metrics can include both quantitative and qualitative indicators. This will help your boss focus on the result, not on time. In addition, the process of developing these metrics will allow you to clarify how to make the project better.
As soon as your boss believes that you know what to do and how to do it, show that you can consistently create high-quality results on priority projects. There are no secrets here: do your job well and achieve your goals. And remember that most projects do not run smoothly. Try to quickly report problems to the boss and suggest possible solutions. Do not exclude the revision of the metrics set earlier.
I KNOW that shifting focus from time to time will not come easily in most companies. But your boss is likely to be interested if you politely raise the issue of productivity and show more interest in the result than in working hours.
Do not forget that even if your company is focused on results, you still have to physically be present at the office sometimes. Practically in any workplace, colleagues sometimes need to get together to discuss problems and ideas, make decisions together. Of course, these meetings do not have to drag out for a long time.
Being focused on results, and not on the number of hours worked, I can return home by 7 o'clock in the evening, just a family dinner. The only exception can really be an emergency. This has a positive effect on my family and, moreover, I get a long psychological break.
Working for a result, not for a while, will help you achieve more at work and free up time for your personal life. And do not be afraid to talk with your boss about these changes. Management guru Peter Drucker ( Peter Drucker ) says: Do not like your boss, but to achieve a successful career you need to manage it.
5 pm. Working quickly, you have completed all your tasks and want to go home. But so far none of your colleagues have gone, which makes you stay for another couple of hours, wasting time on the Internet and re-reading mail. But no one would think that you - lazy.
The harsh reality is that efficiency is often not rewarded. I often came across this when I worked at a law office in Washington. Thanks to my experience, I was able to quickly answer customer questions, saving time for myself and them. But since my office (like most law firms) had an hourly rate, my efficiency worked against me.
')
From the point of view of the law firm, hourly pay has its own attractiveness: it transfers risks to the client’s shoulders if the work lasts longer than expected. But on the other hand, lawyers have an incentive to exaggerate the real scope of tasks. For me, the hourly rate was simply dishonest. I risked not getting a full salary just because I answered questions too quickly.
But not only hourly companies shift the focus from the result. During a study conducted in 2010 under the direction of Kimberly D. Elsbach , a professor at the University of California, 39 managers of various companies were interviewed. They were asked questions regarding their perceptions of subordinates. Managers rated employees who are in the office during regular business hours as “reliable” and “trustworthy”. Managers also called "devotees to the idea" and "dedicated themselves to work" those who work on weekends or late hours.
One manager said: “Take, for example, this guy: he did not miss a single rally. Basically he says nothing, but he is always on time, people notice this. Undoubtedly, he is hardworking, you can rely on him. " Another manager remarked: “Work on weekends makes a great impression. This suggests that you are committed to work and strive to make a greater contribution to the common cause. ”
The train of thought of such managers is the echo of the industrial age, where it was easy to standardize work at the machine. But a time-based measurement system is not applicable to knowledge workers. Such work should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits that their contributions and ideas bring.
Due to the application of the approaches of the industrial age, companies do not have an understanding of the true motivation of employees. For example, an employee stays up late to impress the boss, but who can guarantee that he is interested in working during the daytime?
This problem has no general solution. Try instead of counting hours to judge your work by results. Have you achieved the goals set by the customer? Have you come up with a solution for a complex task? Have you written at least a draft of an article due next week? Obviously, it is these achievements, and not the hours that you recorded in the journal that ultimately lead to the success of the company.
Of course, result-oriented strategies will be specific to your particular job, but there are still a few general approaches that professionals in various industries use to increase their effectiveness.
Limit rallies.
Internal meetings often waste time. Short discussions are useful for discussing controversial issues, but long meetings - from 60 to 90 minutes - are usually not productive. Leaders spend a lot of time on introductory material, losing the attention of participants.
Try to avoid rallies that can drag on or become unproductive. If possible, politely decline the invitation to the rally, citing deadlines. If this is not possible, explain at the beginning of the rally that you can only be present at the first hour. And think twice before creating a new rally, because most of the issues can be resolved by phone and mail.
If you still need to create a rally, try to make it productive. Create a clear and precise meeting plan and send it out at least one day in advance. Appoint a person who will ensure that all controversial issues are voiced ( in the original “devil's advocate”, approx. Lane ). At the end of the rally, make sure that the rally participants came to common decisions, discussed and distributed the tasks ahead, assigned them deadlines.
Read less.
You do not need to read the entire letter, even if it was sent by your boss. After reading a large article from cover to cover, you can feel productive. But perhaps you could use your time and more profitably. Most likely only a small part of this article was really important for your work. You could have enough basic ideas or a couple of examples, without tangled details. Starting to read, set a goal to find something important. If you don’t focus on the essentials, the details will devour your time.
And stop reading your mail. I am a big proponent of the OHIO principle ( Only handle it once - can be translated as “Take it at once,” approx. Lane ). While reading the letter, decide whether you will respond to it, and if so, do it immediately. I noticed that about 80% of incoming and outgoing mail do not require any reply. Do not allow unnecessary correspondence to litter your inbox and waste your time.
Write faster.
Even if you need to do something on “5+”, this does not mean that your work should be perfect from the very beginning. Many people when writing a letter try to bring each sentence to perfection. My experience suggests that this leads to a significant decrease in speed.
Try to divide the process of creating letters in stages. First, think about what exactly you want to say and in what order. Then create a sketch, albeit far from perfect. After that you can return to the beginning and make adjustments.
In general, do not waste time creating a letter to “5+”, when “4” is enough. The free time can be spent on tasks that really have to be performed on the "5+".
After trying these and some other result-oriented strategies, you will notice that you have been spending less time in the office. Your boss may be nervous, because managers easier to calculate how many hours you spent at work, rather than what results achieved. That is why you should change the relationship with your boss.
Make him believe that you can do more in less time. Look at your company more closely. Ask yourself: which of my team’s tasks is most important? What is my boss thinking? About expansion, about new products, about cost reduction or about something else?
Of course, just watching and thinking will not be enough. It is also necessary to actively communicate. Once a week make a list of your tasks - short-term and long-term, ranking them by importance from your point of view. Then ask your boss to prioritize this list.
You and your boss need to come to a single decision regarding the metrics for each project. If your boss does not have such metrics, help him create them. Metrics can include both quantitative and qualitative indicators. This will help your boss focus on the result, not on time. In addition, the process of developing these metrics will allow you to clarify how to make the project better.
As soon as your boss believes that you know what to do and how to do it, show that you can consistently create high-quality results on priority projects. There are no secrets here: do your job well and achieve your goals. And remember that most projects do not run smoothly. Try to quickly report problems to the boss and suggest possible solutions. Do not exclude the revision of the metrics set earlier.
I KNOW that shifting focus from time to time will not come easily in most companies. But your boss is likely to be interested if you politely raise the issue of productivity and show more interest in the result than in working hours.
Do not forget that even if your company is focused on results, you still have to physically be present at the office sometimes. Practically in any workplace, colleagues sometimes need to get together to discuss problems and ideas, make decisions together. Of course, these meetings do not have to drag out for a long time.
Being focused on results, and not on the number of hours worked, I can return home by 7 o'clock in the evening, just a family dinner. The only exception can really be an emergency. This has a positive effect on my family and, moreover, I get a long psychological break.
Working for a result, not for a while, will help you achieve more at work and free up time for your personal life. And do not be afraid to talk with your boss about these changes. Management guru Peter Drucker ( Peter Drucker ) says: Do not like your boss, but to achieve a successful career you need to manage it.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/154627/
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