40-hour weeks (was Re: FWD: Lack...)

[Gene Kim-Eng]

I think it also assumes that when "Anonymous" said the rest of the team
"works" 45 hour weeks he/she actually meant hours of work and not just 
hours spent on the premises.  In just about every company I've ever
worked we've managed projects on the basis of everyone involved 
doing a 40 hour week, but it's been 20 years since I worked anyplace 
where people were actually expected to arrive at the office at a specific 
time and keep their noses to the grindstone for exactly eight hours plus 
the government-mandated 30 minute lunch and other breaks until 
"quitting time" rolled along.  Between flextime, lunches out, morning 
coffee klatches, wandering in and out of the break room to score 
leftovers from the customer meeting trays and checking our personal 
email and active eBay items, I would guess that my average day from 
morning start to evening shutdown over the years has been somewhere 
in the neighborhood of 8.5-9.5 hours daily, but actual hands-on 
working time hardly ever more than 8.  I think most of us spend more
time at the office than we used to in the "old days" because we're
finding that it's easier to do some things there that working people
used to do at home.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Connie Giordano" <connie at therightwordz.com>
>This whole debate rests on the assumption that a 40-hour work 
>week is somehow the golden measure.