ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609200023
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Working It Out
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER
Q. My promotions and salary increases have slowed in the past two years. I'm starting to get nervous. How do I know if it's "just the market" or if I've passed my prime?
A. In no case should anyone let two years pass without reflecting on their goals or without evaluating progress toward those goals.
Evaluate yourself and your performance against the highest performers in your industry and related fields. Compare your performance, including your attitude, against your performance and attitude three years ago. You may not be giving your best. If it's been years since you rated yourself, you may have unknowingly lowered your standards.
After your self-evaluation, meet with your supervisor and discuss your current situation and your future. Take the initiative; if you don't go forward with questions, your supervisor will continue to believe you're satisfied with the current arrangements.
Once you are past this crisis, incorporate self-evaluation in your schedule on a regular, frequent basis.
Finally, there are very few jobs where individuals move "past their prime" unless they've chosen to. "Prime" isn't about age, it's about performance, attitude, and staying current with change.
Q. I walked into my assistant's office today to find that the intense look of concentration directed toward the computer screen was, in reality, focused on a computer game. I don't want to let my anger grow out of proportion to the incident, but this is wasted time - my time and my money.
A. If little time is given to games, consider ignoring the distraction. If more than a little time is involved, get rid of the anger and talk with your assistant.
Cooperation and communication are necessary if you want this resolved. The alternative is an assistant who plays computer games during work hours - and utilizes the "boss key" to instantly switch the screen to a work-related program whenever you appear.
Explain why you have a problem with the games. Ask your assistant to explain why the games are played during work hours.
You may find the games are used to break from one task to another. Several workers turn to mindless computer games to signal a mental shift, clearing thoughts of one project and re-energizing them for the next. After a few minutes of playing, work begins again. If this is the case, consider supporting the activity.
If there's no acceptable explanation or no work-related benefit emerges, request that games be played only during nonwork hours - before and after work or during lunch and coffee breaks.
As a last resort, you could remove the games from the computer. Doing so will strain your relationship, but will clearly signal that all efforts should be focused on the job.
Q. Without realizing it, my work group has developed a pattern of working 10-hour days, even when there's no emergency or upcoming deadline. We're on salary, so there's no overtime benefit. I don't want to be the first out the door, and apparently no one else does either. The hours are beginning to get to me.
A. Extended work hours are occasionally necessary. The initial results are higher productivity, but the unavoidable negatives soon outweigh the positive benefit.
Working constantly leads to losing perspective on the work you're doing. A side benefit of going home, being with family, socializing, and exercising is that we have time to shift our focus. Mental activity becomes sharper after healthy "down" time.
Review what you're actually accomplishing by staying late. Generally, the more time we spend in the office the more work we find to fill that time; however, being busy is not the same as being productive. If you're doing busy work or spending more time than necessary preparing for projects, your time isn't productive.
Co-workers may be using after-hours office work as a substitute for a healthy social life. You're smart to recognize early that in the long-run you won't do your best work if the hours continue.
Make it known, each day, that you have some commitment after work and the time you'll be leaving. Then use that self-imposed deadline to organize time and tasks for optimal productivity. Once others see that you're getting the work done and leaving on time, they may follow suit.
Your office culture once valued leaving on time; it's possible to return to that norm.
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