4 Minutes Early
Previously I wrote about the Project leader who was cracking down on workers who were leaving work 4 minutes early. He felt they were stealing time. They were being unproductive. They we cheating. It’s easy to say that the four minutes weren’t really important. It easy to say he was right.
These workers, older and younger, seemed to be disconnected from the work. They were obviously anxious to leave.
The leader thought that by leaving early, they were demonstrating a carelessness for the “workday”. His second point comes from a different but similar view. This second idea is that “office workers” should not be so hasty to beat the traffic of the “field workers”. This is another idea of respect – not so much for the workday but for the craft worker. They work everyday in the cold and heat and dust and mud. Many of the office workers have had most of the day in the air conditioning or central heat working at a desk with a computer. Perhaps one is more important than the other?
20% Personal Projects
3M, Google and some other companies offer workers the opportunity to spend as much as 20% of their time on a personal Project that is not directly related to their primary work. That can seem outrageous and just another sign of those wacky dotcom people. But, Google actually reports that it has some tangible benefits. How does that compare with the idea of 4 minutes early?
Certainly it seems to many to take a different leadership mindset to even consider such a radical-sounding idea – allowing workers to spend “paid time” on any Project of their own choosing. Especially for someone who’s worried about the 4-minutes-early-rule. To implement such a concept requires a different view of people. It requires a different view of time. It requires even a different view of work.
Google is not a “construction Project”. You might say that Google is doing “really really creative work “and construction is not. Construction work is plagued by problems that have been struggles for many many years – injuries, lack of productivity, doing things the way we’ve always done them, and slow advances for new ideas. These are the very reasons that it would make sense for construction’s workers (office and field alike) to spend time doing creative things and working on side Projects to help solve the industry’s problems.
Then, There’s Gen Y
Penelope Trunk is CEO of Brazen Careerist, a career management tool for next-generation professionals. She writes and talks and thinks about how the next generation of workers views the idea of work. What do they expect in a job? Do they expect a job? How do they deal with bosses and coworkers? She says that the way they work and think about working is not the traditional way. They even think of learning in a different way – different from the old ways. Penelope also says that productivity (as seen traditionally) is not for these new workers. Not that they can’t or won’t be productive, but saying “be here at your desk from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday” does not in itself generate productivity. That idea may be more about control than about production.
So What?
Work and workers are changing. There are still those who worry about the 4-minutes-early rule. Still those who want to leave 4 minutes early. There are companies that are deliberately allowing what seems like a 20% gain in free time. And the newest generation of young adults that sees things in a new way. It’s a gradual but also a fast transition. We are moving away from “benefits” of controlling workers and work toward the workers having more control over their work. Moving toward the 20% option having more value than controlling the 4 minutes. Projects can benefit from accepting these new ways.