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RE: Wasting Time

TravisDBA — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:58:52 GMT

[quote][b]Eric M Russell (10/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]SQLRNNR (10/17/2012)[/b][hr]I had never considered scheduling a block of time for interruptions by coworkers. Interesting concept. I'm not sure I could do that. But I agree that many times it would sure be nice to not be interrupted when in the middle of something intense.[/quote]Where I work, we use Microsoft Lync (formerly knows as Microsoft Communicator) for sending instant messages and group conversations. We can set our status 'Available', 'Away', etc. When we schedule a meeting or appointment in Outlook, it automatically shows our status during as 'Busy' during that time block, and we can also set status to 'Do Not Disturb' to let everyone know we've got our head down working on some issue, so please just send email instead of dropping by our desk.[/quote]We use that MS product as well and I have done the same thing, put a Do Not Disturb sign on Microsoft Lync and I can tell you from experience it has absolutely no effect at all. People are people, and little red dots next to your name in Outlook or MS Lync are not going to stop them from interrupting you, and expecting you to drop everything and service their needs. That's almost laughable. :-D

RE: Wasting Time

Eric M Russell — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:13:25 GMT

[quote][b]SQLRNNR (10/17/2012)[/b][hr]I had never considered scheduling a block of time for interruptions by coworkers. Interesting concept. I'm not sure I could do that. But I agree that many times it would sure be nice to not be interrupted when in the middle of something intense.[/quote]Where I work, we use Microsoft Lync (formerly knows as Microsoft Communicator) for sending instant messages and group conversations. We can set our status 'Available', 'Away', etc. When we schedule a meeting or appointment in Outlook, it automatically shows our status during as 'Busy' during that time block, and we can also set status to 'Do Not Disturb' to let everyone know we've got our head down working on some issue, so please just send email instead of dropping by our desk.

RE: Wasting Time

SQLRNNR — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:56:38 GMT

I had never considered scheduling a block of time for interruptions by coworkers. Interesting concept. I'm not sure I could do that. But I agree that many times it would sure be nice to not be interrupted when in the middle of something intense.

RE: Wasting Time

Freddie-304292 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:35:14 GMT

[quote][b]TravisDBA (10/12/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]Miles Neale (10/12/2012)[/b][hr]Meetings can be good. However, they need to be short, to the point, make decisions, and not be rambling sessions where everyone gets their say three or four times, a round table, a role call vote and then table it till the next meeting when the same thing happens. And then there are those wonderful meeting where two do not agree and it is not taken off line but worked out over the next hour and a half with 15 people in the room. And in the end the resolution is that the two agree to disagree and really it is only semantics, and it does not really matter. But a good short to the point meeting works. And it works very well if there are not too many of them. M.[/quote]TBF I've worked in Government and for a few large organisations, and you get the same thing. There are other advantages to large organisations with regards to resources etc, which do apply to Governments as well. But there is always extra bureaucracy. Most of it pointless. [/quote]Did have one manager in the Civil Service, though, who seemed to think one of her staff didn't have much to do purely because he didn't go to many meetings ;-)Miles, there are many people in the government sector that do nothing but attend meetings. They don't produce a darn thing and they are still there. It's no small wonder why the government is in the state that it is in today. We have a wide-spread saying in the government sector: "You have 20% of your department doing 80% of the work.". :-D

RE: Wasting Time

TravisDBA — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:02:42 GMT

Got to agree with you there Eric. In the immortal words of Will Rogers: "This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer." Man, that is more true today than ever. :-D

RE: Wasting Time

Eric M Russell — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:30:36 GMT

[quote][b]TravisDBA (10/12/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]Miles Neale (10/12/2012)[/b][hr]Meetings can be good. However, they need to be short, to the point, make decisions, and not be rambling sessions where everyone gets their say three or four times, a round table, a role call vote and then table it till the next meeting when the same thing happens. And then there are those wonderful meeting where two do not agree and it is not taken off line but worked out over the next hour and a half with 15 people in the room. And in the end the resolution is that the two agree to disagree and really it is only semantics, and it does not really matter. But a good short to the point meeting works. And it works very well if there are not too many of them. M.[/quote]Miles, there are many people in the government sector that do nothing but attend meetings. They don't produce a darn thing and they are still there. It's no small wonder why the government is in the state that it is in today. We have a wide-spread saying in the government sector: "You have 20% of your department doing 80% of the work.". :-D[/quote]When it comes to Congress passing new laws and regulations, I wish they were less productive.

RE: Wasting Time

TravisDBA — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:26:02 GMT

[quote][b]Miles Neale (10/12/2012)[/b][hr]Meetings can be good. However, they need to be short, to the point, make decisions, and not be rambling sessions where everyone gets their say three or four times, a round table, a role call vote and then table it till the next meeting when the same thing happens. And then there are those wonderful meeting where two do not agree and it is not taken off line but worked out over the next hour and a half with 15 people in the room. And in the end the resolution is that the two agree to disagree and really it is only semantics, and it does not really matter. But a good short to the point meeting works. And it works very well if there are not too many of them. M.[/quote]Miles, there are many people in the government sector that do nothing but attend meetings. They don't produce a darn thing and they are still there. It's no small wonder why the government is in the state that it is in today. We have a wide-spread saying in the government sector: "You have 20% of your department doing 80% of the work.". :-D

RE: Wasting Time

Miles Neale — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:25:18 GMT

Meetings can be good. However, they need to be short, to the point, make decisions, and not be rambling sessions where everyone gets their say three or four times, a round table, a role call vote and then table it till the next meeting when the same thing happens. And then there are those wonderful meeting where two do not agree and it is not taken off line but worked out over the next hour and a half with 15 people in the room. And in the end the resolution is that the two agree to disagree and really it is only semantics, and it does not really matter. But a good short to the point meeting works. And it works very well if there are not too many of them. M.

RE: Wasting Time

TravisDBA — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:39:53 GMT

[quote][b]dogramone (10/11/2012)[/b][hr]I have a very strict self rule on working from home, I won't. Two key reasons. Firstly as a project manager I feel I need to alwaays be available to help resolve issues. Much easier to co-ordinate things from the office where 60% of the people and resources reside. Secondly I like the seperation I get by keeping home for fun and work for work. Sure work can be fun but home is where I refresh and re-charge. I'm also known as a bit of a ludite and "old school".[/quote]Believe me you are not alone. Many managers still feel that way today. This is why working remotely from home is not, and will not be widely accepted in the marketplace anytime soon. Many managers today still feel that working in your robe is not working. It's a strange perception, I know, but I know many that feel that way. They are two totally different environments and as you stated, should be kept that way for a reason. :-D

RE: Wasting Time

Eric M Russell — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:21:16 GMT

Fortunately where I work we have few corporate or department wide meetings where attendance is required, maybe we'll get that once a month or every three months. There is a weekly team meeting that is kept to the point. It's good for everyone on the team to know what everyone else is working on, because you never know when a team member may leave or step in front of a bus, and then you'll be tasked with taking over their project tasks. Aside from that, there may be a half dozen other meetings, but they are collabortive in nature, typically about some specific issue or change in the requirements, and last no more than 1/2 hour. I'd hate to work for an organization where people feel compelled to sleep through meetings, and I'd hate to work with team members who don't care enough to stay awake when something important regarding the project is being discussed.

RE: Wasting Time

call.copse — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 03:28:46 GMT

I am not a PM dogramone but I completely agree with you and for exactly the same reasons - essentially a compartmentalist outlook. Or just mentalist. Also, I'm crap at working from home and easily distracted :-)I've found meeting time seems to increase (and effectiveness decrease) with size of business. We just have short focussed meetings here in a smallish shop. I can see though that as we have grown there are more opportunities to get your ear chewed by those enjoying the sound of their own voices.

RE: Wasting Time

Stephanie J Brown — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:07:21 GMT

I'm constantly amazed by how many people think meetings are a waste of time.The whole point of having a meeting is to exchange information - whether it's a staff meeting, a brainstorming meeting, a "how do we recover from this disaster" meeting, or a Scrum meeting.If you are in a meeting and find yourself daydreaming or becoming sleepy, it might be for one of the following reasons, and you might be able to do something about it.- you aren't paying attention. The people who invited you thought your input would be valuable, or that there is information you need to know. It's up to you to determine what your role is - ask questions, even if only to jot them on paper. Find ways to stay engaged without disrupting others (i.e. no under-the-breath running commentary unless that's normal at your workplace ;-) )- the meeting really is that boring. (For instance, a sales pitch for the latest in vapor-ware.) If it's putting you to sleep, it's likely having that effect on others in the room. Take pity on them an yourself and raise the red flag (gently) to the presenter. Let them know what would work better: "It would really help me if you could show how your product can <insert your need here>."- if it's a regularly scheduled meeting (staff, Scrum, etc) and it's always that uncomfortable, try a little one-on-one with the facilitator or manager and make suggestions for improvement. Challenge yourself - what would you change if you were running the meeting to make it More Productive?- you only have a small part in a very long meeting. This may occur because you are a subject matter expert and need to be on hand in case a question should arise. Here's where telecommuters or distributed team members have an advantage; just announce that while you are "listening with one ear" you really won't be following the conversation closely - you'll be multi-tasking and working during the meeting. If they need your input someone needs to get your attention by calling your name - they can ask the question once you respond. (Yes, I telecommute and this has worked very well for me in this type of meeting.)- you don't belong in the meeting. This doesn't happen very often in my experience (your reality may differ), but if it does, raise your hand (virtual or physical) and excuse yourself. "I'm sorry, this meeting doesn't seem to pertain to me. Do I really need to be here? I have other projects that could use my attention right now..."I'm sure everyone can think of other examples and solutions to the dreaded non-productive meeting - and that's the kind we should all avoid. Productive meetings, on the other hand, contain great value and should be cherished, IMHO.

RE: Wasting Time

Jeff Moden — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:40:30 GMT

[quote][b]dogramone (10/11/2012)[/b][hr]Firstly as a project manager I feel I need to alwaays be available to help resolve issues.[/quote]dogramone for President!This is the first time in a very long time where I've seen a Project Manager speak about being a resource and enabler rather than just a "controller".

RE: Wasting Time

dogramone — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:04:28 GMT

I have a very strict self rule on working from home, I won't. Two key reasons. Firstly as a project manager I feel I need to alwaays be available to help resolve issues. Much easier to co-ordinate things from the office where 60% of the people and resources reside. Secondly I like the seperation I get by keeping home for fun and work for work. Sure work can be fun but home is where I refresh and re-charge. I'm also known as a bit of a ludite and "old school".

RE: Wasting Time

TravisDBA — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:51:43 GMT

Actually, I have known people, with children particularly, that actually come to work because it is less noisy and less interuptions than being at home. Again, it all depends upon your situation. You can't just apply stuff like this across the board for everyone, but I can bet if you give this option to some rather than others because they can do it, there will be crap over it from the ones choosing coming to the office, for whatever reason. This kind of stuff tends to cause more dissension and strife among people at the workplace than it causes overall benefit, in my experience anyway.. :-D

RE: Wasting Time

Derek Williams-298391 — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:28:08 GMT

I've thought about this topic for years because unlike other disciplines, software development requires a person to do what I like to call going into the mine. It takes a while to get all the way in and it takes a while to extract yourself. Personally, I like the idea of office hours the way professors do it.There should be a set time of day in which meetings are held. There should be no more than one meeting per day in which developers are involved. Meetings must be scheduled at least one day in advance of having them. It is important for any professional person of any discipline to be able to plan their day at the beginning of the day and prioritize what they are going to focus on and for how long.Rapid fire meetings and requests are the consequence of organizational reaction rather than response; it demonstrates lack of control.Lack of control is always counterproductive.

RE: Wasting Time

Miles Neale — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:02:23 GMT

Tao - 6.2 [i]Why are programmers non-productive? Because their time is wasted in meetings. Why are programmers rebellious? Because the management interferes too much. [/i]M.

RE: Wasting Time

Steve Jones - SSC Editor — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:51:41 GMT

[quote][b]majorbloodnock (10/11/2012)[/b][hr]Seems to me a classic case of mistakenly measuring productivity in terms of hours of work. I prefer to measure against results.[/quote]Completely agree, but improving work done and the amount of if ought to be goal of managers. Sticking people in unnecessary meetings and sending too many emails don't help here.

RE: Wasting Time

Freddie-304292 — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:37:45 GMT

[quote][b]majorbloodnock (10/11/2012)[/b][hr]Seems to me a classic case of mistakenly measuring productivity in terms of hours of work. I prefer to measure against results.There are people in my department who spend hours seemingly slacking, but produce far more results from their "half day" than some others who're keeping their noses to the grindstone from the time they arrive to the time they leave. I know which I prefer to have working with or for me.[/quote]Totally agree with that.What really annoys me when it comes to wasted time though, is meetings that are delayed at short notice. You know the kind of thing. You don't want to start a new task as you have a meeting in 10 minutes, they five minutes after it's due to start you're told it'll be in half an hour. Rude, really annoying, and a terrible waste of time.

RE: Wasting Time

majorbloodnock — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:26:32 GMT

Seems to me a classic case of mistakenly measuring productivity in terms of hours of work. I prefer to measure against results.There are people in my department who spend hours seemingly slacking, but produce far more results from their "half day" than some others who're keeping their noses to the grindstone from the time they arrive to the time they leave. I know which I prefer to have working with or for me.

RE: Wasting Time

Eric M Russell — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:06:39 GMT

[quote][b]Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/11/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]kevin.stevens (10/11/2012)[/b][hr]Personally I find it much more productive to telecommute than to work from an office. The only downside is that you get busy and move around a lot less frequent than you do in an office.[/quote]Me too, and I wish that were an option for more people.I do understand that some people don't work well alone, and offices can work, but they need to be built to work well.[/quote]The company I work for has has several aquisitions over the past few years, and we're in the process of closing regional IT offices and consolidating staff in Atlanta or in some cases allowing out of state staff to telecommute full time. Even those of us who have an office can at least telecommute a couple days a week. When at the office, I tend to get up and stretch my leggs about every 1/2 hour. When at home, I'll even do a few push-ups or talk to myself out loud while working through a problem, which is something I can't (or just won't) do at the office. Even on those days when working at the office, it's nice to have the things a little more quiet, there are a few less interruptions, and it's easier to find a parking spot. That will become even more important as more staff relocate here.

RE: Wasting Time

Steve Jones - SSC Editor — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:38:23 GMT

[quote][b]kevin.stevens (10/11/2012)[/b][hr]Personally I find it much more productive to telecommute than to work from an office. The only downside is that you get busy and move around a lot less frequent than you do in an office.[/quote]Me too, and I wish that were an option for more people.I do understand that some people don't work well alone, and offices can work, but they need to be built to work well.

RE: Wasting Time

Eric M Russell — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:58:34 GMT

I guess this infographic (sales pitch actually) makes a few points, but I doubt most of the actual numbers cited. [i]- The average employee checks their email 36 in an hour?[/i] But that's averages out to more than once every 2 minutes. Personally, I check mine about once every 10 minutes, and that assumes I'm not totally focussed on something. It could be once every 1/2 hour or hour. [i]- 16 minutes spent refocusing after handling incoming email?[/i] If someone checks their email once every 2 minutes (see above), then this estimate of time to recover is pointless. [i]- 39% slept during a meeting?[/i] Really? I'm surprised the employment rate for IT professionals to so high, because some managers would consider firing someone who slept through staff meetings. [i]- 91% daydreamed during meetings and 96% missed meetings.[/i] OK, fair enough. Been there done that.;-)

RE: Wasting Time

kevin.stevens — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 06:36:06 GMT

Personally I find it much more productive to telecommute than to work from an office. The only downside is that you get busy and move around a lot less frequent than you do in an office.

Wasting Time

Steve Jones - SSC Editor — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:14:14 GMT

Comments posted to this topic are about the item [B]Wasting Time[/B]