Business Casual

Recently, I've had a few discussions about Flex Time. I've never hid the fact that I am a burst worker. By that, I mean that, at times, I can complete a week's worth of productivity in one day. That sounds great, but then, the rest of the week will come, and it will feel like I've barely accomplished a day's work in those other 4 days. For the most part, most of my employers have had the gracious attitude of "as long as you get the job done right and on time, we don't care about the process you go through to complete the work." And that's been great.

Also, burst employees really should try to ride the wave of productivity for as long as they can. If I'm in the groove with a project, I don't mind staying a couple of hours later and cranking out some more work in rapid-fire mode. Sometimes, it works better that way because it can be a crapshoot that I'll be able to pick up the same pace of work the next day. I may stumble on something for hours that I could have solved in minutes had I just kept working the previous day.

So what does this have to do with flex time? A lot actually. See, if it worked properly, flex time would be a burst worker's dream. If the employee wants to put in a 20 hour day and churn through multiple requests, then more power to him. He can then work a bit more casually the rest of the week, saving the energy for the next burst. And without an expectancy of an 8 hour day, the employee can keep a positive attitude in his job. As long as the work is done right and on time, an employee really shouldn't be constrained by the expectations of a certain number of hours in a work week.

Overall, it's a benefit for both employee and employer. I think the overall work production of a burst worker would actually increase if he was given a true flex schedule. The employer could watch the burst waves and enjoy the productivity surge when it hits. And then, even though the burst employee would cool down a bit during the causal time, he would still be working on things even though he's technically not putting in the "normal work day hours".

The real caveat of this setup is that to truly work beneficially, a project needs to be clearly defined well ahead of schedule. That way, the burst can happen at the start of a project when the atmosphere is less stressful and the extra time gained from the burst is beneficial. Utilizing this burst would allow the project to see more testing time, ensuring a better quality product overall.

However, if you have to wait for the project to be defined until the week before a release, then the system breaks down. The burst will still have to happen to meet the deadline. Only now, there's loads of stress involved because of people wanting immediate results. The burst worker also is probably not at his peak because he's been working normal hours for the whole time leading up until this deadline. He doesn't have that same charge in him that he would have had the proper lead time been given.

Really, that's my thoughts. I would love to actually work flex time, but until I know that it work as it should, I'm hesitant to actually pursue it.

PS - Business Casual also comes to me in bursts. I can come up with 15 comic ideas in a day, and then hit a dry spell for weeks. It's the same with my art. Some days, the lines come out smooth and close to what I was actually wanting. Other times, it's like I'm trying to draw with my foot. And in those bad times, you get a Paul working the HelpDesk comic. They're easier to do, and they don't require as many art changes.