OT: Load management in real life work

[Iamphilhughes]

I know this is a weird question but curious to get thoughts. Do you think companies would be more productive/efficient if they implemented load management like the NBA? For example, you may have a top performer and a real difference maker but gets burnt out easily (like Embiid).

You can say that there is paid time off, national holidays, etc., that act as “load management” but personally speaking, it doesn’t feel like it. I feel like if I was able to have a week and a half off every  2 months I would be much more productive. 

Thoughts? 

[DOT]

Everybody should have more time off and be paid more

We need more and stronger unions. Your enemies are not your fellow workers but the rich owners who privatize profit and socialize losses. Class warfare 101.

[Capn'O]

4-day, 32 hr work week por favor.

[FrozenEnvelope]

You need a hybrid setup (3 days at the office, 2 work from home) and at least a month/month a half of vacation time. I'm not much of a traveler but I take a week off every 2-3 months and have a hybrid schedule. It works for me.

I cannot do the 5 days a week, 40-50 hours at the office ever again. That was awful!

[Jalen Bluntson]

4-day, 32 hr work week por favor.

I had a 3 day 36hr week at one point. Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 12 hrs each. A lot of driving time in there but...perfect work week. Four day weekends every week and a good check every week. I miss that job. The next best was Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Saturday work week.

[thebuzzardman]

I thought there would be porn jokes in here

[Stannis]

Apparently Greece just adopted a 6-day work week lol.

[Stannis]

I know this is a weird question but curious to get thoughts. Do you think companies would be more productive/efficient if they implemented load management like the NBA? For example, you may have a top performer and a real difference maker but gets burnt out easily (like Embiid).

You can say that there is paid time off, national holidays, etc., that act as “load management” but personally speaking, it doesn’t feel like it. I feel like if I was able to have a week and a half off every  2 months I would be much more productive. 

Thoughts? 

Yeah, that's is an issue, especially if you have an office job. The work doesn't get done while you are gone. It just stockpiles after your vacation; and then when you return, you start to regret taking that vacation. Obviously, this isn't a vacation at all. Vacations should be our "load management".

A 4-day work week + more employees could work here. That way the workload can actually be taken care of when somebody else is on leave.

[BKlutch]

Many companies, such as mine, are already doing this. They have initiatives around work-life balance and have $$ subsidies for healthy activities -- they will pay for a basketball, shoes, and uniform, and renting a court, but they won't provide tickets to watch the NBA. They pay for other athletic expenses, as well. Most of us would have opted to just take the $$ as more salary, but they won't do tht. So intead of them paying me enough to drive a car in the City, I just had a 10 mile trip using my employer-funded bicycle instead of a car. If I have to burn out, I hope to be in better shape when it happens.

Oh, and the whole company has the day off today for Independence Day.

[Ghetto Gospel]

I know this is a weird question but curious to get thoughts. Do you think companies would be more productive/efficient if they implemented load management like the NBA? For example, you may have a top performer and a real difference maker but gets burnt out easily (like Embiid).

You can say that there is paid time off, national holidays, etc., that act as “load management” but personally speaking, it doesn’t feel like it. I feel like if I was able to have a week and a half off every  2 months I would be much more productive. 

Thoughts? 

to answer your question, i think it depends on the type of work you do.

i think for most desk jobs (me) that work the standard 40ish hour weeks, i don't think 40 hour weeks is optimal, and i certainly spend some hours everyday pretending to work. objectively, there is value in "availability" for more hours during the day, especially when customer service is involved that isn't really going to be solved by hiring more workers. i do think your idea of taking a week or so off every 2 months could be more productive for some, but honestly, i'm not sure that'd be true for everyone, just looking at some of my coworkers lol

i also think there are some jobs where that might not be possible because of worker shortage like for example surgeons. i do think surgeons can benefit from more rest but speaking to family in healthcare, surgeons are in high demand and there aren't very many good ones, so it's hard to just load manage when their work is essential. i get the idea of well just pay surgeons more and more people will opt to become surgeons, but i'm not sure that's really the solution either because if we create more cushy desk jobs, naturally people will tend to shy away from the harder, more stressful and actually really important jobs within healthcare

idk, i think it's tough, even teachers couldn't really be load managed in that way unless you change school calendars to also compensate

[HarthorneWingo]

Many companies, such as mine, are already doing this. They have initiatives around work-life balance and have $$ subsidies for healthy activities -- they will pay for a basketball, shoes, and uniform, and renting a court, but they won't provide tickets to watch the NBA. They pay for other athletic expenses, as well. Most of us would have opted to just take the $$ as more salary, but they won't do tht. So intead of them paying me enough to drive a car in the City, I just had a 10 mile trip using my employer-funded bicycle instead of a car. If I have to burn out, I hope to be in better shape when it happens.

Oh, and the whole company has the day off today for Independence Day.

BK FTW!

[HarthorneWingo]

How about a 4 day work week every other week? Just for starters. That way we can ease our way into it.

Or ... you get Fridays off if you get a certain amount of work done (quota?) each week?

[Ghetto Gospel]

How about a 4 day work week every other week? Just for starters. That way we can ease our way into it.

Or ... you get Fridays off if you get a certain amount of work done (quota?) each week?

you still working..?

[Meat]

I work for a uk based company, i get 40 days off a year(sick and holiday) and we're 100% remote, most of the time if i'm also able to set my own hours, as long as the work is done they dont care if it happens 9-5 or 5-1 or 1-9 w/e. Every year we're given the option of a bigger raise or extra days off or some combo of the 2

[HarthorneWingo]

How about a 4 day work week every other week? Just for starters. That way we can ease our way into it.

Or ... you get Fridays off if you get a certain amount of work done (quota?) each week?

you still working..?

Part time for now.

Old lawyers never retire.

Speaking of which, we haven’t seen much of Tron Carter since he became an attorney.

[HarthorneWingo]

I work for a uk based company, i get 40 days off a year(sick and holiday) and we're 100% remote, most of the time if i'm also able to set my own hours, as long as the work is done they dont care if it happens 9-5 or 5-1 or 1-9 w/e. Every year we're given the option of a bigger raise or extra days off or some combo of the 2

That’s the way to do it.

[MrDollarBills]

You need a hybrid setup (3 days at the office, 2 work from home) and at least a month/month a half of vacation time. I'm not much of a traveler but I take a week off every 2-3 months and have a hybrid schedule. It works for me.

I cannot do the 5 days a week, 40-50 hours at the office ever again. That was awful!

My job tried a return to office and they failed. There is no way I can ever do 5 straight days of that crap ever again.

People who love going to the office weird me out tbh. You see dudes on LinkedIn talking about the joy of the morning commute, being in the office with their coworkers, having lunch together, and after 5pm hitting the bar for happy hour.

I'm sorry, I'm not remotely anti social but I have no interest in being around coworkers more than necessary. We're all respected colleagues, and that's where it ends. Just because your home life is miserable to the point where you use the office as a refuge doesn't mean that everyone else lives that way.

[MrDollarBills]

I work for a uk based company, i get 40 days off a year(sick and holiday) and we're 100% remote, most of the time if i'm also able to set my own hours, as long as the work is done they dont care if it happens 9-5 or 5-1 or 1-9 w/e. Every year we're given the option of a bigger raise or extra days off or some combo of the 2

40? Christ. My job caps us out at 20 if you're less than 10 years in.

20 vacation days, 3 floating holidays and standard sick time

'Murica!!

[thebuzzardman]

I work for a uk based company, i get 40 days off a year(sick and holiday) and we're 100% remote, most of the time if i'm also able to set my own hours, as long as the work is done they dont care if it happens 9-5 or 5-1 or 1-9 w/e. Every year we're given the option of a bigger raise or extra days off or some combo of the 2

40? Christ. My job caps us out at 20 if you're less than 10 years in.

20 vacation days, 3 floating holidays and standard sick time

'Murica!!

I worked with people from all over the world.

One German guy said: "Germans work to live, Americans live to work".

He meant it more about the rules companies follow in the USA, but clearly there was some cultural commentary in it as well.

[Meat]

I work for a uk based company, i get 40 days off a year(sick and holiday) and we're 100% remote, most of the time if i'm also able to set my own hours, as long as the work is done they dont care if it happens 9-5 or 5-1 or 1-9 w/e. Every year we're given the option of a bigger raise or extra days off or some combo of the 2

40? Christ. My job caps us out at 20 if you're less than 10 years in.

20 vacation days, 3 floating holidays and standard sick time

'Murica!!

I worked with people from all over the world.

One German guy said: "Germans work to live, Americans live to work".

He meant it more about the rules companies follow in the USA, but clearly there was some cultural commentary in it as well.

That’s a bingo, most of the new American hires are downright afraid to take the time off, we had to start having people-ops threaten them into taking it