Why We Don't Work Overtime

Ok, I sort of see where you're coming from. But what am I trying to get them to comply to? I suppose I am trying to get them to comply when it comes to being disciplined in their approach to being productive at the office. I'm also trying to get them to comply in leading active, healthy, balanced lifestyles. But since the intent of this strategy is really in the best interest of the team member, I don't see it as a typical compliance tactic, which tends to promote the best interest of the employer at the expense of the staff member.

You do bring up an interesting point. One of the guys that we're hiring now brought this point up and said, 'what if I really want to work overtime for the following reasons..." And he brought up some good points. It was a great conversation and probably deserves its own blog post.

I'd be curious to ask you though: why did you have a desire to work excessively, and what did you get out of it?

Hey there,

Thanks so much for the kind words. It took us a long time (and a crisis) to articulate it properly. When you burned out, how did you get over it?

Max

That's really unfortunate. Were the employees able to just take a few months off to relax?

Hey milang,

I'm Max's business partner. We do things that only really make sense to to outside of business hours right now. For instance every Monday before work we review all the projects the company has on its plate so we can be prepared for any conversations with staff at 9:00am.

Another example is that once a month we review every financial expense the company has so that we can build cash flow projections etc. Even as we grow we intend to keep our eyes in the back end of the business.

Another example might be research for a new product or service that is not currently generating revenue. Until we are willing to make a cash investment in the idea, the founders typically do interviews and customer development activities outside of business hours.

I completely agree. As long as we can recognize that these types of failures are the failures of management and the owners, not the employees. They shouldn't have to work overtime for the poor management of their leaders.

Hey Bijan,

We had this baked in from the get-go, although I don't see why a company couldn't start any time. We've always been protective of work-life balance, but it was hard to articulate why until recently.