> Because we have different energy levels at different times,
> it would be counterproductive for my co-founders to work at
> 9AM (just like it would be inefficient for me to be
> working at 2AM).
Here in The Netherlands, this is a tough sell. It's hard to come by a company that REALLY implements this policy. I've heard the "Just put in your 8 hours" and it often will have the side-clause "But we would like you to put them in as we do".
Even at my previous company, where we were not customer-bound, and most of our contacts were in the U.S. It made sense I'd come in later, and work later.
But they didn't see it that way, and got in a lot of fights with management about it. They didn't "see" all the hours I often put in late nights at home, only the next day I might got in the office with a full day without conversions ..
There were a few people who would make jokes or "annoyed complaints" to management about me coming in a few hours later than them.
Being a misfit is often met with ill repute.
Man, being at work at 11:00 AM instead of 9 made all the difference for me:
- I got my social time in, which was most of the time late nights at the bar, or at the Dojo.
- I didn't get upset when I had to talk to contacts in the U.S. when they'd come online around 17:00-18:00 or discussing technical implementations even later.
- Our peak hours were U.S. targeted even, so I was having NewRelic sessions every some other night around 23:00-02:00.
Obviously, every next day when there were server/app outages, I would tell about my 3 hour fit to optimize query x by a factor 100. But in the end these moments seemed to be lost to management quite easily.
They will remember the times you will come in late though..
I was putting in 50 hours in a 40 hour week.
For these reasons I now freelance :) I enjoy working in start-ups and with people in general. I think a lot of talent is left on the table by companies because they can't adapt to how developers are generally wired a bit different than other people ..
Some people need strict guidelines to be able to trust they put in the 8 hours.
For me that comes naturally with having fun and sense of responsibility and being trusted.
> it would be counterproductive for my co-founders to work at
> 9AM (just like it would be inefficient for me to be
> working at 2AM).
Here in The Netherlands, this is a tough sell. It's hard to come by a company that REALLY implements this policy. I've heard the "Just put in your 8 hours" and it often will have the side-clause "But we would like you to put them in as we do".
Even at my previous company, where we were not customer-bound, and most of our contacts were in the U.S. It made sense I'd come in later, and work later.
But they didn't see it that way, and got in a lot of fights with management about it. They didn't "see" all the hours I often put in late nights at home, only the next day I might got in the office with a full day without conversions ..
There were a few people who would make jokes or "annoyed complaints" to management about me coming in a few hours later than them. Being a misfit is often met with ill repute.
- I got my social time in, which was most of the time late nights at the bar, or at the Dojo.- I didn't get upset when I had to talk to contacts in the U.S. when they'd come online around 17:00-18:00 or discussing technical implementations even later.
- Our peak hours were U.S. targeted even, so I was having NewRelic sessions every some other night around 23:00-02:00.
Obviously, every next day when there were server/app outages, I would tell about my 3 hour fit to optimize query x by a factor 100. But in the end these moments seemed to be lost to management quite easily. They will remember the times you will come in late though..
I was putting in 50 hours in a 40 hour week.
For these reasons I now freelance :) I enjoy working in start-ups and with people in general. I think a lot of talent is left on the table by companies because they can't adapt to how developers are generally wired a bit different than other people ..
Some people need strict guidelines to be able to trust they put in the 8 hours. For me that comes naturally with having fun and sense of responsibility and being trusted.