Narayana Murthy’s views on staying late in the office
It’s half past 8 in the office
but the lights are still on…
PCs still running,
coffee machines still buzzing…
and who’s at work?
Most of them??? Take a closer look…
All or most specimens are ??-something male species of the human race…
Look closer… again all or most of them are bachelors…
and why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!
Any guesses???
Let’s ask one of them…
Here’s what he says… “What’s there 2 do after going home… here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee.. that is why I am working late…
importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.
Bachelors “time-passing” during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they’ve nothing else to do…
Now what r the consequences… read on…
“Working”(for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.
With bosses more than eager to provide support to those “working” late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback,(oh, he’s a hard worker… goes home only to change..!!).They aren’t helping things too… To hell with bosses who don’t understand the difference between “sitting” late and “working” late!!!
Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.
So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family… office is no longer a priority, family is… and that’s when the problem starts… becoz u start having commitments at home too.
For your boss, the earlier “hardworking” guy suddenly seems to become a “early leaver” even if u leave an hour after regulartime… after doing the same amount of work.
People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled as work-shirkers…
Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays… though) leave on time are labeled as “not up to it”. All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on “working” not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they wuld have to regret at one point of time.
* So what’s the moral of the story?? *
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
* Never put in extra time ” *unless really needed *”
* Don’t stay back un-necessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.
There are hundred other things to do in the evening..
Learn music…
Learn a foreign language…
try a sport… TT, cricket………
importantly Get a girl friend or gal friend, take him/her around town…
* And for heaven’s sake net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.
Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *”Life’s calling, where are you??”*
Please pass on this message to all those colleagues And please do it before leaving time, don’t stay back till midnight to forward this!!!
ITS A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.
PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DONT KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME.
SIMPLE !!!
–
Regards
N R Narayanamurthy
#1 by Altaf - October 3rd, 2007 at 11:10
yups bharat very true, i do agree
#2 by Altaf - October 3rd, 2007 at 11:38
A man came home from work late again, tired and
irritated, to find his
5-year-old son waiting for him at the door. “Daddy,
may I ask you a
question?”
“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.
“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”
“That’s none of your business. What makes you ask
such a thing?” the
man said angrily.
“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do
you make an hour?! ”
pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking
up, he said, “Daddy
may I borrow $10.00 please?”
The father was furious. “If the only reason you
wanted to know how much
money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a
silly toy or some
other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to
your room and go to
bed.
Think! about why you’re being so selfish. I work
long, hard hours
everyday and don’t have time for such childish
games.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the
door. The man sat
down and started to get even madder about the little
boy’s! questioning.
How dare he ask such questions only to get some
money? After an hour or
so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he
may have been a
little hard on his son. Maybe there was something
he really needed to
buy with that $10.0! 0 and he really didn’t ask for
money very often. The
man went to the door of the little boy’s room and
opened the door. “Are
you asleep son?” he asked.
“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.
“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man.
“It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out
on you. Here’s that
$10.00 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank
you daddy” he
yelled.
Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some
more crumpled up
bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money,
started to get angry
again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, then
looked up at the man.
“Why did you want more money if you already had
some?” the father
grumbled.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.
“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of
your time?”
Share these stories with someone you
like……….but even better,
share $20.00 worth of time with someone you
love………..just a short
reminder to all of us working so hard for our
living. However, let us
not let time slip through our fingers without having
spent some quality
time with those who really matter to us.
#3 by Jijo Anthony - October 3rd, 2007 at 12:00
I agree with the above points discussed and i think we should follow it
#4 by kiran jagtap - October 3rd, 2007 at 12:20
It is reality. But it is not complete truth, It is applicable only for big organization not for small
companies.
In fact in small companies, bachelors are appointed for such project that require late
night working and they has to have give 100% commitment for that. But whom to they blame
for late night work……. no one……..
In fact this blog is best one……….
#5 by Amiteshwar Prasad - October 3rd, 2007 at 13:04
Ya its a Good Blog and Hope this Picture makes something clear ….
Great Thinking N R Narayanamurthy
#6 by Rohit - October 3rd, 2007 at 13:46
ya smart thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!this blog is really self explainatory
#7 by Pravina - October 3rd, 2007 at 15:42
cool one… very interesing…. Its very true as kiran says… employees are appointed on same basis….. Sometimes you get reason for rejection as you are a girl and probably will never be able to work late night……
I do agree with Bharat also…. it is considered that the person who seats late night, gives his 100% and the employee(Bachelors) take advantage of such situations…
#8 by Mahesh Wani - October 3rd, 2007 at 15:48
good one…
coin has two side….at a time you can see only one……
#9 by bharat - October 3rd, 2007 at 16:13
great to have some comments on my blog (atleast this time
)
what I think is,
If we are working late once or twice in a week, that can be considered as an emergency but
more than that, means- we need to improve our project planning and time management.
And some time we start working on our task like ‘Rahul Dravid’ (slow stater) and think that we
will complete our task at last moment like ‘Yuvraj Singh’ ( six sixes in an over).
————————————————-but its not a CRICKET
#10 by Yashodha - October 3rd, 2007 at 16:55
I quite agree with what has been said, the guys who stay late are either overloaded or don’t have anything better to do
.
#11 by dileep.gupta - October 3rd, 2007 at 17:42
You are right bharat ….
& its boss who need understand the difference between “sitting†late and “working†late!!!
So, we the bachelors should find some other stuffs to utilize their time..
Some case like every bachelors may not have gal/boy friends to njoy
so we need to do some creative stuff like learning Guitar, join music class…. & atleast
don’t spoil there life in such a boring stuff.
Gud job Bharat to remind us dat we (d bachelors) can do ???!!!…… [:)]
#12 by Ninad - October 9th, 2007 at 11:01
Its true.Everyone should finish his\her work on time & should leave for enjoing rest colours of life.
#13 by Vijay Bansod - October 15th, 2007 at 18:58
PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DONT KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME.
SIMPLE !!!
This line sounds good so try to improve your time management.
This is the Moral of the Story.
#14 by Claudian Fernandees - October 15th, 2007 at 19:16
I suspect that this article was by Narayanamurthy.
However this cannot be applied generically to all IT organizations and needs to be looked into closely.
#15 by bharat - October 15th, 2007 at 19:46
Hey Claudy,
Even I am not sure about this!!
But I think Content of this article is more important than the Author.
We should avoid this, if it’s happening in our organization.
Thats what I want to focus on.
#16 by Lisa - October 21st, 2007 at 14:09
At times it’s really a valid point, I mean, if there’s nothing to do, why do we get strange looks from some TL’s when we leave at 7:00?? I mean, would they prefer we just sit around and do nothing?! And of course when there is stuff to be done, I doubt anyone has too much of a problem….Great article tho Bharat!! Two thumbs up!!