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Speech on
Late Sitting in Office - A
need or habit ?
Many a times I wonder
whether sitting late in
office is a need or a habit?
This article answers it
well. Hope that many of us
start leaving early for home
after reading this...
Infosys' Chairman and Chief
Mentor Officer (CMO) - Mr.
Narayana Murthy's Speech on
Late Sitting in Office:
I know people who work
12hours a day, six days a
week, or more. Some people
do so because of a work
emergency where the long
hours are only temporary.
Other people I know have put
in these hours for years.
I don't know if they are
working all these hours, but
I do know they are in the
office this long. Others put
in long office hours because
they are addicted to the
workplace. Whatever the
reason for putting in
overtime, working long hours
over the long term is
harmful to the person and to
the organization.
There are things managers
can do to change this for
everyone's benefit. Being in
the office long hours, over
long periods of time, makes
way for potential errors. My
colleagues who are in the
office long hours frequently
make mistakes caused by
fatigue.
Correcting these mistakes
requires their time as well
as the time and energy of
others. I have seen people
work Tuesday through Friday
to correct mistakes made
after 5PM on Monday.
Another problem is that
people who are in the office
for long hours are not
pleasant company. They often
complain about other people
(who aren't! working as
hard); they are irritable,
or cranky, or even angry.
Other people avoid them.
Such behavior poses
problems, where work goes
much better when people work
together instead of avoiding
one another.
As Managers, there are
things we can do to help
people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set
the example and go home
ourselves. I work with a
manager who chides people
for working long hours. His
words quickly lose their
meaning when he sends these
chiding group e-mails with a
time-stamp of 2AM, Sunday.
Second is to encourage
people to put some balance
in their lives. For
instance, here is a
guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good
breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for
eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the comics, watch a
funny movie, dig in the
dirt, play with your kids,
etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.
This is called recreating.
Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5
enable step 2. Working
regular hours and recreating
daily are simple concepts.
They are hard for some of us
because that requires
personal change. They are
possible since we all have
the power to choose to do
them.
In considering the issue of
overtime, I am reminded of
my eldest son. When he was a
toddler, If people were
visiting the apartment, he
would not fall asleep no
matter how long the visit,
and no matter what time of
day it was.! He would fight
off sleep until the visitors
left. It was as if he was
afraid that he would miss
something. Once our
visitors' left, he would go
to sleep. By this time,
however, he was over tired
and would scream through
half the night with
nightmares.
He, my wife and I, all paid
the price for his fear of
missing out. Perhaps some
people put in such long
hours because they don't
want to miss anything when
they leave the office. The
trouble with this is that
events will never stop
happening. That is life!
Things happen 24hours a day.
Allowing for little rest is
not ultimately practical.
So, take a nap. Things will
happen while you're asleep,
but you will have the energy
to catch up when you wake.
Hence " LOVE YOUR JOB BUT
NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR
COMPANY (Because you never
know when it stops loving
you)" - Narayana Murthy |
