What percentage of your time at work are you actually working? 18

[Christine74]

I was just reading the "How many hours per week do you work?" thread and would like to ask all of you what percentage of those hours you spend at work are you actually *working* at your job, meaning that you're not chatting with your coworkers, or pretending to work when you're not, or posting to online message boards .

Personally, I'm probably only working productively for around two hours of each eight-hour shift, which works out to 25%. How about you?

Thanks,

-Christine

 

[astructurale]

I agree with corus & maui.
Also, sometimes I mentally need more breaks to get my work accomplished. And then there are times when I am so in the groove with a task that I skip lunch or stay late to finish the task even if there is not a deadline to meet. I never miss a deadline due to dead time, but when my work load is slow I take the time to enjoy my work day and get to know those I work with a little better. Heck, even my boss's boss will stop by my desk and ask a question and then shoot the breeze for 30minutes.

My time on Eng-Tips counts as research and learning time! I do learn a lot on this forum.

 

[Haf]

While taking a cost estimation class about a year ago, the subject of productivity/efficiency was brought up in the context of accounting for it when drawing up project plans. The average productivity for American workers was somewhere near 40%. I don't remember the exact percentage, but it was in the high 30's.

Many people taking the course found it very difficult to accept this figure, I think mainly because they didn't want to admit that their efficiency was that low!

Personally, I have found my efficiency to be somewhat higher than this, maybe about 60-70%. With looming deadlines, my efficiency approaches maybe 80-90%. After deadlines pass, I probably fall into the 40% average for a little while.

As an aside, I have difficulty believing that anyone can possibly be more than 90% efficient for an extended period of time. 100% efficiency is strictly impossible.

 

[kchayfie]

As an ex-smoker, I am always entertained by people who complain about the extra breaks smokers take - they are assuming that their own productivity is higher simply because they are sat at their desk for longer. Its even funnier when the bitching starts (and work stops) the minute the smoker steps outside and continues way beyond the time when the smoker is back at his/her desk beavering away again. Even though I've quit smoking, I still take a 5 minute break outside every now and again when I've been staring at a problem for too long and need to clear my head - it makes the next hour much more productive than staying at my desk.

 

[bioengr82]

metengr: yes (by definition and law I think), a billable hour IS being productive and contributing to a project in a meaningful way.

 

[metengr]

bioengr82;
My original comment was meant to be sarcastic humor because of the role consultants have played in my previous job assignments. Let me be clear on this, the consultants I have been exposed to are basically large A/E firms, and organizational development (HR) firms. Oh yes, these consultants can stay very focused at the billable rates they charge. Some of the consultants we have dealt with have self-serving interests, as well.

It is amazing how people or companies view productivity or feel the need to justify how efficient their employees are on a daily basis.

For me, the bottom line is this, if I can go home at the end of each day knowing that I have completed what I intended to do from the start, learned something along the way and handled emergent work, I was productive. I don’t worry about percentages.

 

[DaveVikingPE]

I have yet to charge for thinking about work on the way home, while at home, etc. I also haven't charged for reading trade magazines on the way home - keeps the pencil sharp and all...

I did start to charge people for asking me "stupid" computer questions at work. I charged twenty-five cents a piece. I figure I was under-charging, but people got the message and are "afraid" to ask me the same question over and over again. The time taken away from my own work by these dolts (including the tranfer of frustration from them to me, since I now take on their problem) is worth a heck of a lot more than a quarter.

 

[rhodie]

The basic question to ask is not a function of time, rather a simple "value-added" question of economics:

1. Am I justifying my salary from the company?

I think most engineering types compensate the company far more than they are paid.

With that said, I maximize my contribution toward the company with 100% effort. The line is crossed, however from obligation to overachieving. It is very important that overachieving is rewarded accordingly, and when it is not, morale suffers as a result. Then you are faced with employees that may only put forth a 15% effort, because that is what they feel they are being fairly compensated for. I believe that a feeling of relevance to the goals of the company affects this as well; if an employee feels that regardless of their personal effort the outcome will be the same, then a lower morale is the resultant, and personal productivity drops accordingly.

The challenge is to see that a 100% effort in the eyes of the company is in line with what a 100% effort represents to the employee. Only then will questions like: "What percentage of your time at work are you actually working?" be a good metric to gauge personal productivity.

I am a firm believer that overachieving leads to a happier life.

My time on the forums is worth being compensated for, and personal development and education should be encouraged by respective organizations, as long as immediate job responsibilities are being attended to.

 

[jenn454]

I just finished this reading an artical on this top and then come here to find this thread. A survey conducted by AOL and Salary.com found that on average people waste about two hours at work (not including lunch). Here's a link to the article:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/extra/P123102.asp?GT1=6706

 

[EddyC]

I used to be a mechanic on a racing car. Sometimes when the car wasn't running fast enough, we would adjust it by changing the rear axle gear ratio. This would tend to make the car a little faster, at the risk of blowing the engine. Sometimes it didn't have enough effect so we would make a second axle ratio adjustment that theoretically should help more. We then got wheelspin and the car ran slower than it did without any adjustments. The same analogy can be applied to working.

 

[TPNY]

How about the hours spent driving to job sites! It's productive because I am doing something to get where I need to be to perform a certain task, but it feels so unproductive: you drive through traffic for an hour, spend an hour handling whatever emergency, and then another hour driving back.

For me, work comes in waves, so on the slow days I have to make up work for myself. Over time, I have discovered organizational tasks to fill up down-time; they make the busy days go smoother.

DaveVikingPE mentioned charging people for "stupid" computer questions. I think that's funny because I have the same problem. I actually tease my IT department that I am going to start billing them for my time spent helping others with their computers and programs.

 

[EngJW]

Travel time ought to be considered productive if it is done during working hours and not part of the normal commute from home to work. Just like the washer repairman charges you for the time to get to your house.

 

[katmar]

I think it was Eli Goldratt (author of "The Goal") who said that if your people are working 100% of the time it means that there is work that is not getting done. His logic is that it is impossible to perfectly balance work and resources, so if the resources are 100% utilized it means there is too much work, and some is not being attended to.

Probably around 80% is a good number to get value out of the workers without overtaxing them. However I believe that the claimed 40% is closer to the truth.

Myself? If meetings count as productive time then around 70%. If not, then I am part of the average on 40%.

 

[ivymike]

Of course, there is always some work which is not meant to be attended to - it will just go away on its own if ignored long enough... If there are too many of these tasks showing up, sometimes it's worth taking a hike "upstream" to find out where they're being generated, and see if they can be shut off at the source - otherwise it seems to me that a big part of effective time management is identifying as many of these "wasted" tasks as possible, and making sure that they fall out of the inbox and into the wastebasket as often as practical.

 

[bioengr82]

ivymike:

Are you having problems with your T.P.S. reports? Did you get the memo?

 

[SomptingGuy]

My previous boss had this grand motto:

"A problem postponed is a problem half solved."

Then again, his other favourite problem-solving tactic was similar:

"It'll turn out alright. It always does."

 

[EngJW]

All we need to do is change the baseline. If a typical person does useful work only 6 hours a day, then that becomes 100%. Sometimes he might have a good day and do more than that, and that is how we can make claims of putting in 110%. He He

"The best thing about being a pessimist is that things will always turn out better than you think"

 

[whyun]

bioengr82,

thanks for making me laugh. T.P.S. report should always have a cover. Read the memo.

 

[ewh]

Just hang on to that stapler...

 

[ChemFemme]

Ummm, Yeah, ... I've got a copy of the memo if you need another one; I'll email it to you!! )

 

[UcfSE]

(talking on the phone) And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were merry, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/quotes