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Comment by haskal | Hacker News Reader

I thought "office hours" is a common term in universities?

Some people didn't go to university, or are too young (I'm 15 but I wanna go one day)

I went to University in Australia and I don’t recall this term being in use. (Could be my faulty memory, though. It was a long time ago!)

I’m still a little puzzled by exactly what is meant when people and orgs offer an “office hours” concept.

I’d love a clear but concise definition that’s not simply “like office hours in university”.

I’ve come across it in various largely-Americentric writing and figured out the concept, but yeah, it’s not something I’ve seen practised in Australia.

It means “I will always be available in my office during such-and-such hours every week, for anyone to come and talk to.” I think it’s normally a walk-in affair rather than involving making appointments. First come, first serve, but now you don’t have to go through the bother of making appointments and such and comparing your timetables. Makes life easier for both parties. This article is talking of making appointments, but most of the benefits still remain of having a known block of availability.

It's common in Germany, called "Sprechstunde" ("speaking hours").

"Consultation hours" in some EU countries.

That's a better name for it than "office hours" I think!

I went to university in the UK 20 years ago.

A few of our lecturers had "office hours". It was a new phrase, and invariably they were younger and had worked in US universities. We could drop in between 3 and 5 one day a week to ask questions.

We thought them snooty.

The other faculty staff had an open door policy.

Now I'm their age, I appreciate how sticking to office hours helped these researchers to be productive. But as a student, open door flet more friendly.

In my experience, US professors generally were open door as well but it was about catching them being in their office. They could be lecturing, faculty meeting, lunch, etc, etc, etc.

Office Hours is a way of saying I will DEFINITELY be in my office at my desk during this block of time.

Beyond unversities, it's also a term sometimes used by Y Combinator, which also contributes to its spread.

(That's how I learned it can mean something else than "when the workplace is open". English is not my first language.)

I think in this case it’s meant to be ‘hours when I’m guaranteed to be in my office’.

Mostly applicable to academia, because who the hell has their own office right now.

Well, at the moment my office hours are 24/7, but I'm not going to be pleased if somebody drops by.

It is a common term in different areas, however not everybody here comes from an English speaking country and is knowing all English terms. For many English is second or third language.

In this case, you need to be American to make sense of this. And possibly you need to have been to a US university. Took me years of seeing people put a confusing number 101 on the end of guides on blogs or whatever before I realised that meant introduction to Americans.

I've never come across the phrase "office hours" outside of describing contractual work hours for a job.

UK if it helps but also I only work for smaller startup sized companies maybe it's a corporate thing

Back in my day I.T was learning how to use microsoft word.

That is how I took it.

I suspect it might also be a synonym for "working hours" or 9-5, aka a job.

It is where I went at least

that means they have to commit to those hours on a regular basis

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