My clock is not corporate

[Shari]

I have been doing my job for 20 years. Not at the same place, but basically the same job.

And my "clock" is no better adjusted to it now than the day I started. In fact, it might be worse.

I wake up between 4 and 530 every morning, wide awake and ready to go. If I get up, I'm dead tired before the end of the day. If I manage to get myself back to sleep, getting up at 630 to get ready? Dang near impossible.

I'm tired of being tired. lol

 

[Suz]

Shari, I'm the same way. We need to find jobs with "flex time" so we can go in early and leave early.

Suz

 

[Shari]

We have flex time, but Wee's schedule doesn't allow me to make use of it.

But I have been given the ok to work from home some to make up Wee time off....so maybe I could talk to them and those hours would be ok...?? You gave me an idea! lol Thanks!

I can't get up and be productive around the house, cause our house is so small, I'd wake everyone up. But I could log onto the computer and work! WOOHOO!

 

[Suz]

But I could log onto the computer and work!

You sure could. Let me know how it goes when you broach this with your boss. Good luck!

Suz

 

[Wiped Out]

I'm very similar! Our school used to be an early start school and it was great! I'd be done at 3:05 every day (kids were done at 2:30). Now that we are a late start, I'm so much more tired by the end of the day!

 

[trinityroyal]

My clock is similar. I'm usually awake by about 4:30 or 5 am and ready to get going. I work out, do laundry and cleaning first thing, and then head out to work. I work from about 7 am to 3 pm most days...stay later when the workload is heavy, leave a bit early when it's lighter. I have had this schedule for years, and none of my bosses have ever complained about it.

Here's how I approached changing my schedule:

1. I made sure that I was available during core hours for meetings, collaboration, and other activities for which I need "face time" with my co-workers.
2. If someone needs something from me and the request comes in late in the day, I make sure that I get it to them before their start time the next day. People don't seem to resent my leaving at 3 or 3:30 when they see e-mail messages from me timestamped 5:30 or 6:00 am.
3. If I have a deadline, I will work whatever overtime I need to in order to meet it. Including working very late and working weekends if I have to, neither of which is in my job description.
4. This is the biggest one: I never asked my boss for permission. I just changed my schedule and taught people what to expect from me.

People have adapted and know when to find me at my desk, when to phone me or e-mail me, and when they will likely hear back from me. My boss is pleased with my productivity and responsiveness, so he just doesn't worry about what time I show up or what time I leave. Bosses can be reluctant to try something new and different, especially if it's never been done before in the company. If it fails, their department looks bad to senior management. If it works, no one notices. So there's a lot of risk and little reward for them to take the chance. Now, if you just do it and prove that it works, then you can make a case to your boss that your productivity has improved, absenteeism has gone down or whatever will best sell it for you.

Now, you both know the corporate cultures of your company, and you'll have a better sense of what will and will not fly in your workplaces. However, I've always found that if my work is good, especially if it makes the bosses look good, then they are pretty flexible about everything else.

 

[Suz]

What's really annoying for me is that the company I work for has "Flex Time" in its HR policies, but the Big Cheese put the kibosh on it for my department because we work with outside customers. So every other department can have flexibility but mine. Grrrr.

Suz

 

[trinityroyal]

Suz, I'm thinking that if your department works with outside clients then your time is likely tracked in "billable hours". If so, then your group directly affects the company's profitability. That could be a huge bargaining chip. If your client work doesn't require you to be onsite during specific hours, and your profitability percentage is high, then the company should be bending over backward to keep your department happy rather than putting additional restrictions on you.

If you're a profit centre, you have much more power within the organization than most other departments that are cost centres.

There's got to be some way to pitch that to senior management...

 

[Suz]

Trinity, you are "dead on". I head up 6 nonprofit associations with 6 sets of staff and 6 boards of directors/bylaws/missions, etc. My time is billed by the quarter hour. I get emails all night/day long so my hours could certainly be maneuvered. I guess in the old days it was more flexible than it is now. For some reason, the big cheese is ok with moving our hours later but not moving them earlier. Provide me with a guaranteed bargaining chip to talk them into it- I'd love it.

Suz

 

[susiestar]

For those of you who end up really tired, try a vitamin B supplement. I have NEVER functioned well in the morning. Not as a kid, not as an adult. I do pretty well late at night until about 2:30 am. If I can sleep late and work a night shift I do wonderfully. My dad's mom was exactly the same until she was in her sixties. Then she stopped sleeping more than 3-4 hours at a time.

I have found that adding a vitamin B supplement really increases my alertness and doesn't fog my mind or make me jittery the way too much caffeine does. It also can help prevent migraines, which is the reason I first tried it. Just be aware that your urine will be bright yellow as long as you are on the supplement.

 

[KTMom91]

I struggle with this constantly. As far as I'm concerned, 2 am is the best time of the day. If I could stay up till 4 am and sleep till 10 or 11, I'd be a happy camper. Since schools don't run on this timetable, I'm out of luck. Having the phone ring at 5 am to offer me a job just kills me, and most of the time I sleep through the phone ringing. Even though school's out for the summer, it takes me so long to get back in the groove once Sept gets here that I'm trying my best to stay on a school schedule.

 

[trinityroyal]

For some reason, the big cheese is ok with moving our hours later but not moving them earlier. Provide me with a guaranteed bargaining chip to talk them into it- I'd love it.

Suz, it sounds to me like the Grande Fromage at your company prefers a later schedule, and so he's imposing that on everyone regardless of what works best for them. Is he the sort who believes that you can't be working unless he can see you working? I've dealt with that sort before.

My strategy is to negotiate clear deliverables and timelines, and make sure that the boss has no input into how--or when--I do the actual work. As long as I produce the work on time and up to the standard, they have no argument. I wonder if that might work for you as well. It could be a test case of sorts. If he realizes that the department functions more efficiently and it improves operations, saves money, or whatever the most important corporate goal is, then maybe he'll bend.

 

[Suz]

Trinity, yes and no.

The BC made this decision based on a couple of things... (1) the number of phone calls our department averages every day. Most occur later in the afternoon as opposed to early morning. The fallacy to this is that most of those calls were families checking in....kids home from school who call Mom, spouses checking in, figuring out schedules for afternoon activities. We work with physicians..........physicians RARELY call us- most of our communication is via email. The second contributor to the decision was that it was perceived like you said....that the early birds were meeting at the coffee pot and not going straight to work.

I brought it up again this morning at a meeting with our Department Head. I told her that agreeing to move people to later hours because they can't arrive at the regular time is rewarding them for tardiness.....and why aren't the early birds getting rewarded for doing things right? I stumped her with that one and she agreed to bring it up to the BC again. I don't think it will change but I know it won't change if no one asks. We'll see.

Suz