Re: Wasting time??

[Ron Rothbart <ron -dot- rothbart -at- DOCUMENTUM -dot- COM>]

I accidently sent a message to the list before I finished writing it. Here's
the final version:

Familiar with Management By Objectives (MBO)? I find that it works pretty
well. Each writer makes a list of goals for the coming quarter. We usually
have one section for company project deliverables, another for Tech Pubs
internal group projects, and another for "personal growth" (learning
software, taking a course). I also write up quarterly goals for the Tech
Pubs group as a whole, and the group discusses and reaches consensus on
them. Then, I meet with each writer to review how the writer did on last
quarter's goals and to reach agreement on the coming quarter's goals. I
don't necessarily expect achievement of every goal. For one thing, in the
software industry everything is in flux and plans change continuously. The
point is that we have something definite on paper to discuss and evaluate.

This way we can focus on accomplishments rather than work habits, such as
net surfing, thumb twiddling, or the regularity or irregularity of work
patterns. I don't want to be spying on the people who work for me. I don't
really care how much they surf the web, as long as they do their job and do
it well. I want to treat them as professionals just as I expect to be
treated as a professional. I would not appreciate my boss looking over my
shoulder right now. As our participation in this mailing list attests, all
kinds of activities contribute to professional development, the creative
process, and ultimately the documents that we produce.

>Here are some of my indicators that people
>are spending their time inappropriately:
<snip>
>phillipw -at- allensysgroup -dot- com

>>Susan W. Gallagher wrote:
>> Well, I've managed to stay out of this discussion so far, but now I
>> have a question that I just have to have answered. When you're
>> managing the creative process, how can you tell when an employee
>> is wasting time?
>>

>And I wanna know, why do you care? As long as the work is getting done,
>does it matter if they're twiddling their thumbs or surfing the net?
>If a writer turns in
>projects that are late or of poor quality, of course you need to crack
>the whip.
>Steve

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html