Joel;

Congratulations.

Remember there are more Indians then Chiefs. I have had positions in management but never again!

You state, “I need to communicate company expectations to employees”. What are those expectations? Are they in an employee manual? Does the company stand behind those expectations? What are the consequences if those expectations are not met?

Are you classified as a supervisor or manager? If so you have a number of responsibilities and liability, which could lead to you being sued for a number of reasons.

People hate change and if you have an established crew in all likelihood they will not appreciate stern measures. Trying to find balance in what is perceived as employee productivity is a problem.

You cannot base productivity on lines of code created in a day. That is not what OOP is about. Creativity and problem solving are an interesting topic.

When I took my first OOP class for VFP in 1995, it was stated, “Traditionally, managers expect you to think 20% of the time and code 80%. OOP changes that. You will spend 80% of your time thinking and 20% at the keyboard! This will be a problem for many managers”! Thoughts of Dilbert over the years come to mind.

During the early 1960’s I had a boss who stated the following, “If I get 6.5 hours of work out of an employee in an 8 hour day I am satisfied”! This was in the electronics hardware industry. It seems like a good number.

Now you should attempt to balance the company and employees on equal terms in my opinion. Consider what rules or expectations are in place and reasonable. Next consider how to make incremental improvements.

One technique I used with great success is to define an agenda and hold a meeting. The subject of the meeting should revolve about the employees discussing how to improve productivity. What can be done and how? Hopefully, such action will result in concepts that will be positive for the employees and management. Let the employees offer suggestions.

What is important to employees is understanding expectations, and goals in a clear manner. Having a voice in how your job is accomplished makes people more inclined to be team members. Be positive and not threatening.

Never reprimand employees in public – do so in private and be courteous. Always congratulate an employee for work well done in public amongst his/her peers.

I have many examples I could share with you. One approach is to visit each employee early every morning. Say good morning and ask if they have any programming problems or need the tools to do his/her job. Be aware of your employees and let them know you are there to support them.

The above comments are my own and how you interact with employees is entirely your choice.

Tom


>In a typical 40-hour work week, what is the minimum number of "productive" hours you would consider acceptable from an employee? My definition of "productive" would be any time doing work for the company: working on assigned tasks, helping others, answering phones, whatever. I would also include a reasonable amount of time spent improving skills, such as reading books, magazines, and forums such as UT. "Non-productive" time is essentially time not doing work: taking breaks, surfing the net, shooting the bull with other employees, etc.
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>I was recently promoted, and I need to communicate company expectations to employees. I want to be sure that my expectations are reasonable and not out of line. I know this is subjective, but I would appreciate your opinion. Please be honest. It would be very easy to take the hard line and demand 100% productivity, but I don't think that is realistic. A certain amount of non-productive time is to be expected and is healthy, IMO. The question is how much? Thoughts would be appreciated.