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Yes, I think in general level 0 or level 1 companies need more hours from
their employees. They often have extraordinary needs, but can't hire to
fulfill them. These companies aren't always scatter-brained and stupid.
They're merely young, and the young are often ad-hoc, energized, and
experimental. In such organizations, nobody has a defined job and everybody
has to fill in everywhere. It's chaotic. At higher maturity levels, things
smooth out, opportunities become harder to find, jobs are more defined, and
hours drop.
I find that, like most workplace situations, what you enjoy is largely a
matter of what your personality is. If you're a gunslinger and enjoy chaos,
you're probably going to enjoy a 0 or 1. If you're more sedate and
process-oriented, higher maturity levels will appeal to you. It's been our
observation that there's often a high turnover as organizations grow through
level 2 and on to level 3. At about this time, a good many of the original
chaos-feeders leave, complaining of stultifying bureaucracy. They're
replaced by workers more conducive to the new order.
Even more interestingly, I think this applies to contractors, too. A
contracting company can be effective or ineffective based on whether it fits
well into the client's maturity level. Simply Written, for example, fits
extremely well into levels 3, 4, and 5, but not well below that. We're
highly driven by process and efficiency. Ad-hoc companies don't like our
approach. Larger, more experienced companies are our market.
Tim Altom
Simply Written, Inc.
Featuring FrameMaker and the Clustar Method(TM)
"Better communication is a service to mankind."
317.562.9298 http://www.simplywritten.com
>It has been my observation that, within the software industry, the average
>total hours worked per week is inversely related to the organizations
>Process Maturity Level. That is, as the Process Maturity Level decreases
>(moving from 5 to 0), the avg number of hours worked increases. Has this
>been your experience also?
>
>Note: If Process Maturity Level (also called Capability Maturity Level)= 5,
>the organization has (among other things) a very sophisticated project
>management system in place. If Process Maturity Level = 1, things are done
>in a very add-hoc fashion. Level 0 is anarchy.
>
