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Job Time Frame

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sim133

Technical User
Sep 14, 2004
85
US
I don't like to wait on things. So when I am assigned to do a job, I like to finish it right a way. Is this not a good thing? Some people tell me that even if it is very simple to do, you have to hold it for some time. How do you see this?
 
Sim,

To respond to such a situation, one must consider what seems to compel that type of behaviour. What is your assessment of why someone might want to delay the resolution of an assignment? If there is a good business reason for doing so, then a delay is appropriate. The fundamental method by which to assess whether it is a good business decision is, "Does the behaviour either increase revenue or decrease expenses?" If the behaviour does not do either, then there must be some sort of alterior motive for the behaviour. But, until you identify the motivation for the delay, we cannot clearly determine its ethical quotient.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[ Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.
 
Why would you hold it? Sounds to me like slackers covering themselves or trying to lower expectations.

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]
 

Some people tell me that even if it is very simple to do, you have to hold it for some time.

To answer this, it's important to understand, who are those people. You coworkers? Friends? Family? Your boss?

If it's your boss, you should probably listen. There might be valid reasons to hold the job for some reasonable time.
How often it happened to you that after you've done something, you were told, "Oh, you are done already? The customers decided they don't need it after all", or something to that effect. Or your boss may give you that assignment in advance, for you to think it over, or to prioritize your work, but not to start until it's final that you actually need to do it.

On the other hand, if it's your coworkers tell you that, first think about their motives. (See posts above.)

If it's friends and family, they might want to teach you how to look "busy and important" - you don't have time to do such a small task right away, you have other priorities. Or to make a task small to you to look more difficult and time-consuming to the "outside" people. You can always ask them what they mean, and, of course, decide for yourself.
 
Dave and Stella, good points. I was simply assuming this would be coming from friends/co-workers, etc.

If I were getting something from management that I wasn't supposed to dive into, I would expect to be informed upfront that I was getting it for informational/planning purposes only and that I would be informed if/when it became active and I was supposed to go forward.

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]
 
I am more concerned when your boss says "Oh, you are done already?" I think it is always good to act like you have some priorities and do the job in the average time frame.
Thank you all for all your suggestions.
 
I don't like to wait on things. So when I am assigned to do a job, I like to finish it right a way.
I think it is always good to act like you have some priorities and do the job in the average time frame.

Aren't these divergent views?

The answer has always been 42
 
Stop over-analyze.. you do what you have to do, sometimes quick and sometimes slow, just get it done.
 
I had a similar situation when I first moved to the area I'm living now from Chicago.

I actually had a person come up to me and say "You need to slow down, you're making the rest of us look bad."

The reality of it is, IMHO, that people who have become "lax" in their jobs, milking them out to take longer, are feeling like you're "Raising the bar".

There's an old saying up here (I live in a mining community)... "Today's records are tomorrow's expectations". It's very true. It's a double-edged sword... on the one hand, you're looking good to management because you can do a job in a timely, even expedient manner. On the other hand, if management comes to expect that kind of performance from *everyone*, it can lead to some hard feelings from your co-worker.

Plus, keep in mind (and I'm not telling you to slow down, I'm not giving advice either way on this, just to make that clear....) but you're "setting the pace" for future projects. Be prepared (and perhaps you are) to continue doing just what you're doing.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg
 
Was it Oliver Wendel Holmes who was told he was returning judgments too fast?

So he continued to make his judgements in the usual 3 days, then left them to mature in a drawer of his desk for 3 months.

 

So he continued to make his judgements in the usual 3 days, then left them to mature in a drawer of his desk for 3 months.

Very smart move, by the way. Just take it out three days before the three months are over, and review it again. Do you still think the same way you did three months earlier? If not, you still have the usual three days to change it.

 
I dunno.

I recently had a coworker make the same comment at my new job (hers was along the lines of "around here nobody lives up to deadlines"). In this case, it was clear to me that she had motives. I later found out that she's the type who would eat her own young just to get ahead.

I've always found it works best to keep a very open channel of communication w/ my boss, and disregard outside opinions unless they have a direct impact on my position. For the most part, I work as best as I can in every situation. If anything goes awry, it's nice to always have that to fall back on.

 

The reward for doing good work is more work.

Some see that as a good thing. others as a bad thing. How each of us views this is very like looking in a mirror.


Frank Clarke
Tampa Area REXX Programmers' Alliance
REXX Language Assn Listmaster
 
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