Overtime Hurts Your Software & Your Team
At almost every company there is some level of pressure to work overtime. It gets couched in language about mission, impact, hustle, and other euphemisms. Positive employee recognition usually comes to people willing to work the extra hours.
“Joe really went that extra mile to help us meet our goal. Staying late, coming in on weekends. He really sacrificed for our mission.”
Thankfully, I’ve never worked anywhere where my aversion to overtime was denigrated. But, praising overtime is ridiculous. Overtime is a sign of problems that should never receive praise. Ever.
At its most basic the need for overtime reflects a breakdown in professionalism, priorities, and agility. I’m primarily concerned with overtime for software development organizations. But, the negative effects it has on productivity and quality can be observed in any context.
Professionalism
Professionalism comes down to discipline. Competence and skill are obtained through discipline, no matter the endeavor. Overtime represents a lack of discipline with relation to scheduling. It represents a lack of discipline in other areas too. But, fundamentally, it is a failure to confine our work in a way that prevents it from pushing out other things.
