What's worse: lazy or slow? [modified]
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I'm a surfer. :cool: I wouldn't want to make the others look bad. :-\
Help a brotha out and vote Managing Your JavaScript Library in ASP.NET as the best ASP.NET article of May 2011.
:laugh: You're so kind
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Productivity is, as always, the key issue. If your work is done on time and it meets good standards, you can surf the net as much as you like -- you've done your share. If you don't do your share, then you and I may have a problem.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Mark Wallace wrote:
Productivity is, as always, the key issue.
I agree, but I've seen corner talks about how much someone "is so much on the web", yet always delivers.
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That's also my opinion, but you know, the lazy one might look bad when people see he's surfing all the time...
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Ya but I'm coding too... :-O
The marvels of two or more monitors...
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Of course you need to give people a heads up and try to encourage them, you don't just fire someone. In this country, you can't legally do that anyhow.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Heh... In THIS country, you can fire someone just because. No reason necessary... Well, aside from government and union shops... They might have rules.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels) -
What do you guys think it's worse? Someone that spends half of the day surfing the web because he can work faster than the others, or the others that can't work fast enough? [Edit] The main reason I'm asking is because the lazy guy might look bad because he's seen by others surfing all the time, but yet, produces the same amount of products. While the slow guy could actually look like a much more dedicated employee and look better in the company.
modified on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 4:43 PM
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:laugh: You're so kind
I am a merciful cog.
Help a brotha out and vote Managing Your JavaScript Library in ASP.NET as the best ASP.NET article of May 2011.
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The slow guy is worse... The "lazy" one might not be lazy... It's called "managing expectations." Unless you report to another developer, your boss probably has no idea how long a programming task should take. Therefore, you can usually afford to pace yourself... Why? The faster you work, the more work will be assigned to you or expected from you, until you end up rushing constantly to meet your deadlines. A few weeks/months of this, and you'll be stressed out, eager to quit, and generally in a horrible mood. If you take it easy, you can go longer without "burning out" and desperately needing a vacation If you're not rushing, you can give your work more thought, and probably write better code, which could save you a lot of trouble later. Less stress means you like your job more (Or hate it less), and aren't (as) miserable all day. This will affect how you interact with your coworkers. When a surprise deadline pops up, or you get into crunch time, you can put in the extra effort and speed, temporarily, to meet it. Obviously, this only works if you're talented enough that your normal speed is faster than necessary... If you're actually a slow worker, slowing down like this probably just gets you fired.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)Great points you made! The problem that the guy that actually can accomplish stuff with good quality really fast, may actually look bad because he's seeing "not working" too often, which might render him an unfair reputation.
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Christian Graus wrote:
seeing ebay a lot
:laugh: That's actually the point I was trying to reach. Won't seeing the guy that is on ebay a lot actually make him look worse than the one that is slow?
No, b/c when you ask him, his assigned tasks are done. The other guy is just struggling. Of course, when I worked in that sort of environment, I moved on to the other guy's tasks, rather than surfing the web all day.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Heh... In THIS country, you can fire someone just because. No reason necessary... Well, aside from government and union shops... They might have rules.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)It is employment at will, but there is a difference between firing and laying off. If you layoff someone (which requires no reason) you will pay unemployment. You do need proper reason to fire someone though, violation of policy, poor performance, etc. So no, you can't just "fire" someone for no reason, unless you plan on paying their unemployment benefits.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
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No, b/c when you ask him, his assigned tasks are done. The other guy is just struggling. Of course, when I worked in that sort of environment, I moved on to the other guy's tasks, rather than surfing the web all day.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
I moved on to the other guy's tasks, rather than surfing the web all day.
There are 400,000 reasons I don't believe you.
Help a brotha out and vote Managing Your JavaScript Library in ASP.NET as the best ASP.NET article of May 2011.
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What do you guys think it's worse? Someone that spends half of the day surfing the web because he can work faster than the others, or the others that can't work fast enough? [Edit] The main reason I'm asking is because the lazy guy might look bad because he's seen by others surfing all the time, but yet, produces the same amount of products. While the slow guy could actually look like a much more dedicated employee and look better in the company.
modified on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 4:43 PM
I am responding to your edit. That is exactly the case, only the person that see's the output knows the truth. Higher ups and HR probably think the "lazy" guy is horrible.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
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It is employment at will, but there is a difference between firing and laying off. If you layoff someone (which requires no reason) you will pay unemployment. You do need proper reason to fire someone though, violation of policy, poor performance, etc. So no, you can't just "fire" someone for no reason, unless you plan on paying their unemployment benefits.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
Sorry, terminology... In the places I've worked, we've called it "firing" (laying off) or "firing for cause" (firing). But you're right.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels) -
Sorry, terminology... In the places I've worked, we've called it "firing" (laying off) or "firing for cause" (firing). But you're right.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)Yeah, it's like you can let anyone go, for a price! My brother was terminated, the employer claimed he broke a rule, he claimed it was a retaliatory firing (he basically whistle blew on an illegal activity). He fought for 6 months and won, got some back pay and eventually unemployment from the company.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
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Christian Graus wrote:
I moved on to the other guy's tasks, rather than surfing the web all day.
There are 400,000 reasons I don't believe you.
Help a brotha out and vote Managing Your JavaScript Library in ASP.NET as the best ASP.NET article of May 2011.
ROTFL - and some guy at work came by one day to tease me about my CP post count. I said 'I work as a developer, and you're trying to tease me for being a nerd ?'. I did do some CP posting at work, but I was also doing fun projects at night, so I did a lot of CPing then, too.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Great points you made! The problem that the guy that actually can accomplish stuff with good quality really fast, may actually look bad because he's seeing "not working" too often, which might render him an unfair reputation.
I've been there! A couple of jobs ago, it seemed like every time the M.D. came to visit I would be sitting reading the paper, drinking coffee, with my feet up on the desk! It didn't matter that I'd just come in at 4am to fix a problem, having worked late the night before, the M.D.'s opinion was tainted. Fortunately I managed to bring it up in a lighthearted discussion, mentioning that the only reason he didn't get to see me working feverishly so often was because he was so rarely in the office outside of normal hours! Went down like a lead balloon!
MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
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What do you guys think it's worse? Someone that spends half of the day surfing the web because he can work faster than the others, or the others that can't work fast enough? [Edit] The main reason I'm asking is because the lazy guy might look bad because he's seen by others surfing all the time, but yet, produces the same amount of products. While the slow guy could actually look like a much more dedicated employee and look better in the company.
modified on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 4:43 PM
Assuming both are paid equally, then it should be fine to be in either camp (assuming it's really a case of comparing someone who is slow vs someone who is fast, but who both produce similar quality and volume over a period of time) As you say in your edit - it is really the effect that the surfer can have on general moral that becomes the issue. Staff have said to me before now, "it's not fair, Bill takes long smoke breaks, coffee breaks, and always comes in late and leaves on time, while I slave from early 'til late, but we both get paid the same." To respond "Yeah - but Bill gets the same amount of work done as you do!" doesn't tend to mollify - there's still a feeling of injustice. The best solution that I found was to respond "I don't think it is fair to stop Bills breaks - I don't want a stressed out employee. I'm happy for you to take equal breaks. Of course, if your productivity goes down, then you can't expect an equitable salary increase." I also had a word to Bill about making sure that he didn't appear to be being lazy - explaining that appearances are important, and that with more productivity would come better money - but the Bill's of this world tend (IMHO) to be less concerned with the financial gains than with enjoying the job.
MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
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What do you guys think it's worse? Someone that spends half of the day surfing the web because he can work faster than the others, or the others that can't work fast enough? [Edit] The main reason I'm asking is because the lazy guy might look bad because he's seen by others surfing all the time, but yet, produces the same amount of products. While the slow guy could actually look like a much more dedicated employee and look better in the company.
modified on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 4:43 PM
This should be a weekly survey question...
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I've been there! A couple of jobs ago, it seemed like every time the M.D. came to visit I would be sitting reading the paper, drinking coffee, with my feet up on the desk! It didn't matter that I'd just come in at 4am to fix a problem, having worked late the night before, the M.D.'s opinion was tainted. Fortunately I managed to bring it up in a lighthearted discussion, mentioning that the only reason he didn't get to see me working feverishly so often was because he was so rarely in the office outside of normal hours! Went down like a lead balloon!
MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
_Maxxx_ wrote:
Fortunately I managed to bring it up in a lighthearted discussion, mentioning that the only reason he didn't get to see me working feverishly so often was because he was so rarely in the office outside of normal hours!
:laugh: :laugh:
_Maxxx_ wrote:
lead balloon
A Led Zeppelin? ;-)
Silence is golden... but duct tape is silver!! Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
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Christian Graus wrote:
I moved on to the other guy's tasks, rather than surfing the web all day.
There are 400,000 reasons I don't believe you.
Help a brotha out and vote Managing Your JavaScript Library in ASP.NET as the best ASP.NET article of May 2011.
AspDotNetDev wrote:
There are 400,000 reasons I don't believe you.
ROTFL