Why do managers care about time you start work?

Question

As it says on the tin - why do managers care what time I start work? I want to try to understand this, so I can accommodate them better.

As far as I am concerned, as long as the person does the job by the deadline, there is nothing to worry about.

Answer 1

Maybe because you may be working with a team ? or maybe you may have to pick up your phone from time to time to answer calls?

Answer 2

Depends on what you mean by what time you start. If you start at 9-9.30, I know I wouldn't care. If you turn up at 11 I most definitely would (and no I don't care if you stay til 9pm).

Why? Because there is hardly any programming job on earth that doesn't require you to interact with the three dimensional people. This is typically a more important part of your job than turning ideas and requirements into code. After all, it's the three dimensional people that define what's required.

Answer 3

1. It's easy to measure. Easier than some abstract "quality".
2. It makes you more predictable, and predictability is easier to depend on.
3. It makes you a team player, if everyone is there at the same time then they can communicate better.

Answer 4

In some places there are regulation that dictate that you should be paid more when you work out of regular working hours.

Also when working in a team, the team might need you to do something and if you are not there, you might stop everyones work

Answer 5

You manage code and you demand that the framework on you which you develop returns consistent results, managers manage people and demand that those people return consistent results, same thing

I wouldn't take it personally and if you feel uncomfortable with it, talk about it and arrange something else or seek employment with a company that doesn't mind what you do. Don't stay and hate it though

Answer 6

Unless you work completely alone on a project (and that means with no coworker, no client, no manager, ...) communication is usually the hardest part of a project. Working together, in the same room at the same time helps a lot.

Not all managers are that strict on when you start to work. But having at least some times during the day helps you planify meetings, exchange informations ... The most important is not that you start at 8am or 10am, it is that everybody starts more or less at the same time.

Starting work at the same time also means that you can start the day by having a coffee with all the team and exchange informations informaly in a more pleasant way than a formal meeting.

Answer 7

Mostly it's just a necessity. Sometimes team members, coworkers and your boss need you at a certain time.

Sometimes having ludicrously strict work times could be a sign of a control issue. It gives the boss the impression (or illusion) that he/she is control. (See Peopleware for more on this subject)

If that's the case, you can probably find other ways to ensure your boss, that he's in charge. Perhaps by giving weekly reports.

Answer 8

It depends.

Some managers without technical background will review your performance by other aspects. e.g. if you start on time, finish early or long lunch break.

Technical managers will look more into your work at low level, so time is the second to them. However, they do take time into account as well to determine if you are a self-discipline person.

All in all the time of start work is important, It'd be good if you can ask for permission to start late and work late with the manager you directly report to and stick to it.

Answer 9

Communication. You need to speak to other people, and so they want you working at the same time as those people.

Logistics. If the office gets cleaned between 6:00pm and 7:30pm, then managers may not want other employees getting in the way. There's also issue about parking, extra lighting, alarm systems, backups, etc, etc.

Keeping an eye on you. If you start and finish three hours after them, there's going to be three hours when you're doing stuff they don't know about and can't monitor.

Friction. It's seen as usual that people start at about 9:00, and finish at about 5:30, and so - anyone that doesn't do this will be deemed as "different". It's stupid, but coworkers and managers will see an adherence to petty historical rules as being "part of the job". By working the hours you want (or not wearing a suit), you'll be sending the signal that you're special. Managers may also not be able to grok flexible working hours.

Answer 10

Managers cannot force you to work, so they try to make you attend at the office at the particular time

Answer 11

For communications, it's easier if people working on the same project are around at the same time. It's better to have face-to-face discussions than to try to communicate by leaving e-mails and voice messages.

Manager: We need bug B fixed by the end of the day.

Developer: I can't start it until John has finished feature A

Manager: When will that be?

Developer: Don't know, I'll ask him when he gets in a couple of hours.

Manager: OK, you just sit there and do nothing until 11am.

Because the developer can't start yet, should he/she then work late to finish off the work that has been held up by John? Should the manager have to stay behind to make sure everything's done by the end of the day?

It's also a matter of perceptions, both within the company and externally. A similar exchange with a customer would not create a good impression. Customers expect people to be available during normal office hours. If they can't get an update on when their critical bug will be fixed because you don't do mornings, it doesn't go down well.

Answer 12

I don't mind if a guy shows up late if he's good. By that I mean, he understands what's required of him, delivers good results in a reasonable time, and stays in touch and is available early if there are meetings or whatever required of him. He's a professional, and I shouldn't have to manage his time.

That said, it's definitely better if he's there by say 9:30 at the latest, all other things being equal. It's just that there's more opportunity to interact spontaneously if something comes up.

Answer 13

Having been on the receiving end of people who think they don't need to follow the same time rules as everyone else I can tell you some of why management hates it when you don't come in on time:

1. Project delays because people are not all around at the same time. Decisions that could be made at 9 get delayed until 11:30 when someone bothers to show up for work. In the meantime, 5 or 6 other people are delayed. They tend to resent this and the person who delayed them. Enough of these delays can make the deadlines slide a good bit. Customers don't like that.

2. Customers don't like being told that their urgent bug fix will have to wait until someone comes in. "What time does does he get there?" they ask. "Oh when ever he feels like it" is the response. Customer decides to go with a company with a more professional attitude.

3. Non programming employees often have no flex time available to them. This creates hate and resentment in the workplace which is entirely avoidable.

4. If you are paid overtime, then there are labor laws that the manager must adhere to. These could require that a published normal set of hours be adhered to before overtime can be paid. Also coming in early or staying late can result in a situation where overtime must be paid even though the manager did not authorize it. I realize fewer and fewer of us are in a position that pays overtime, but I have seen it happen where people couldn't be paid for genuine overtime becasue they weren't there during all of their defined work hours and I have seen it happen when overtime was forced to be paid even after a manager had specifically told an employee that he or she was not to work extra hours withouth advance permission. I have also seen employees who were not actually working all those long hours put in for overtime by counting on the fact that no one would be able to prove if they were actually there at midnight or 5 am.

5. Even if you are actually working more than 8 hours a day, many companies have had the experience of people who came in late and who didn't actually work all the ours they said they were working (who is there at 8 pm to check if you are still there?) As a result, they have requirements because you can't grant exceptions for some people but not for others and win a labor law case. The larger the company, the more likely they have been caught by this (or they have lawyers who are aware of these cases) and had to pay back pay for an unfair firing.

6. Many of the people who want the flexibility to show up whenever they feel like it are not actually the most valuable employees. In the last ten years or so, I've seen too many people coming in who haven't done anything at all to show they are contributing to the bottom line who want all kinds of special privileges but don't want to do anything extra on their part to get them. Why should I allow the mediocre emplyee to "work" from home, especially when he or she doesn't seem to produce much when doing so? Why should I allow the junior trainee developer to waltz in at 11:30? There is almost always more flex for employees who have shown their value but currently many brand new or trainee people seems to think they should have more privileges than long-term extremely valuable people. Why would a company care what you want when you haven't contributed anything yet? If the manager has to hold the line for these new people, he will end up holding a more strict line for the more valuable employees as well. This is esepcially true when you grow from a small shop to a large shop. The larger the organization the more likely you are to have someone who wants the benefits without putting in the effort and the more likely that policies have to change for everyone as result. It only takes one bad apple to ruin the flexibility for all the other employees.

Answer 14

Best Buy Corporate lets all employees come in whenever they want. They've got a work system where they pretty much converted the work environment to a more college-style, where nobody cares how you get the job done as long as it gets done on time. If someone needs info from you, they call your cellphone or email. Overall, it resulted in a 30% boost in productivity and a 90% drop in turnover!

The big problem is that such a change is a cultural-shift and you have work at changing people's thinking. For example, they label making judgments against a person for the hours they work 'sludge' and talk about ways to respond to sludge by turning the conversation to results, instead of how long your butt wasn't glued to your chair.

I'm trying to push this "Results-Only Work Environment(ROWE)" at my job now.

Here's the website: www.culturerx.com

Answer 15

Another concern is when you have a team that contains both young folks and people who have families. The younger folks (to which I used to belong... :( tend to show up very late, say around noon, whereas the older folks (to which I will soon belong... :) have to get up early, make breakfast for the kids and send them to school, and are then out the door by 8am or so. As a result, the time that both sides of the team are collocated is much shorter.

That being said, I would much prefer to start late. Especially if I'm commuting.

Answer 16

Mostly it’s compensation for non-planning-ahead management style. You have to be in the office to answer the call, fix the customer issue, etc. Right now, most of developers are managers for themselves: they schedule work, manage tasks priorities, communicate with peers. Bottom line: unless you are on contract or performing some "leaf"-level (such as typing code lines) task, you are paid to be available to perform non-scheduled work.

Answer 17

My director recently started this policy for us due to pressure from senior management. Most managers, being employees themselves, take cues from the command chain. Developers at their desks by 8AM achieve three things.

1) Mornings overlap with work days for teams in India and Russia. Emails don't sit all day waiting for an answer, something that's lousy for effectiveness AND morale.

2) Major customer issues get handled on their time, so they stay major customers

3) Being reliable about 1 & 2 saves your manager from senior management crap

Small groups might avoid this 8AM mandate, but it's also possible they're working earlier and later in an all-out startup mentality. In that case, they probably didn't hire someone who starts at 10AM in the first place!

Answer 18

Everybody has said communication so far, but I think perception is a bigger issue -- if you're in a non-IT business. My boss has been pretty flexible about my start time: I chose it (9.30am), but have to stick to it. If someone in a more time-critical job gets in late they'll attract his wrath, so why should I be allowed to wander in whenever I feel like?

It's certainly not that I don't do the hours -- but people working 9-5 don't always see the fact I'm still here at 7 or 8pm finishing things up :-)