Before I started this consulting practice in 1993, I had, like many, worked at other businesses. In general, I started work at some time between 07:30 and 08:30, had a tea break and a lunch break and finished at 16:30 or 17:00.
Before and after work, there was a drive in traffic which, depending on the location, could vary from 90 minutes to 20 minutes. The hours I worked were such that the lunch break was considered “your time” – so, in working from 08:30 to 17:00, the time at work was, in fact, eight-and-a-half hours, and not eight hours. Add travel time, and I spent at least nine hours a day involved in work.
In the office, we were generally left to work but every so often some training course would take away a day or two of your time and there were time-wasting management meetings. I think I could not have been more than 50% efficient. Unkind people would say even less.
I thought that this was unproductive and backward; so, when I started my consulting practice, I set staff working hours as 09:30 to 15:30. No lunch break as such. No “popping out of the office” or “slipping down to the bank” or “dropping off the car”. Also, nobody to be late or leave early. Rigidly enforced. No training meetings (but I did send staff on first aid courses and to get medicals). When I told people our working hours, they wouldn’t ask me how much I paid; they’d ask for a job.
I aimed at making everybody efficient. We bought fast computers and gave everybody two screen displays so that working on two documents was easy. We set up a super central storage (called The Drive) and gave everybody a folder on The Drive to keep their stuff. We set up folders in The Drive for everything. We scanned and stored documents. We forbade the use of passwords: everybody had to use the same one for work documents. We made sure we all used the same software version. We gave everybody laptops and organised that they could log on to their computer (and The Drive) from home. I made sure that a copy of The Drive was stored in the office and also off site. We fixed a UPS for the office WiFi and The Drive (and other important things). We arranged for a standby generator (hand-started, manual changeover).
And then lockdown.
We all have cellphones, so we arranged that we would log in every morning at 09:00, say hello on WhatsApp, and log on at 10:00 through WhatsApp video. Thus, now we work as follows: at log-on we discuss the progress on various projects, set tasks, request information, discuss payments and invoices (yes, we do this with staff, in detail). Apart from log-on, no set working times, but you must have your cellphone on and answer it between 09:00 and 17:00. Once a week, we gather in the office, behind our masks, and go through a detailed project list.
Does it work? Like a dream. I have a much better grip on what is going on because at log-on we are constantly seeing how things are going and staff can’t make excuses for falling behind. Nobody can do private jobs, since I can see all the screens in the office. There are other benefits – when the surf is good near our lead engineer’s house, off she goes (after telling me). Our tech can pick up children from school. I also benefit. I greatly prefer working in a split shift, so I knock off at 13:00 and sleep until 14:30 and work until 17:00.
The question is: Will it stay like this? In our case, I cannot see why not. In the general case, no. My staff are mature and responsible. Doesn’t apply to everybody. But, if you do as we have done, there’s a fair chance it will work and, trust me, so much more relaxing.