RE: Accounting for TW time (Was Re: Most dreaded part of the job? )

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

Laura A Mac Lemale [mailto:lmaclemale -at- paychex -dot- com] asked:

>how many TWs 
> out there have to keep a
> formal report similar to the one Karen mentioned?

I do TWO reports each week.
One is a timesheet, in which I list daily chunks of 
time against charge codes.
The other is a wee bit of prose, in which I summarize 
what I actually did during that week. It's supposed to 
justify any charges I might have made against "qualifying" 
projects, and to give the bosses a notion of where I'm 
at, what problems I might encounter, and what I expect 
to do in the coming week... sometimes the "week that 
was" actually bears some resemblance to the previous 
week's "The Week That's Yet to Come"... sometimes.  :-)
 
> And if you do, a few questions if you have a moment:
> 
> __Do you work for small/medium/large company?__

Small. Downsized to about 75 people from 180+ last 
summer.

> __What is your role in TW (i.e., "captive," contractor, 
> manager, company owner, or
> other)?__

Captive.

> __Is this required of other groups as well as TW (i.e., 
> Development, Project Management,
> etc.)?__

Yes. 

> __Are you a lone TW or TW working in a group?__

Lone.

> __What is your geographical locale?__

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

> __Is the report information used by management to measure 
> productivity and/or ROI-type*
> statistics?__

Not that I've seen. It's more of a general: "How much 
do we spend in various departments to make these kinds 
of projects happen.
> __Any other comments?__
> 
> I have heard rumblings on this issue recently, and wondered 
> if it was becoming standard
> procedure. 

Like Sean, I worked for Ericsson (but in Montreal) 
before I moved here, and we did the same thing 
there, but it didn't translate really well to 
Customer Support. The developers certainly fit 
the profile for which that sort of reporting was 
intended, though.  Oh, and I wasn't really a TW 
there. More like Customer Support Support...

> I'd like to hear any of your comments on this topic....

It's pretty standard. It's also not a good fit for 
many people, so we end up fudging... a lot.

For example, I work a 37.5 hour week, every week, 
all year... well, I do if you read my time sheets...
In reality, I never put in less than that, and I work 
some lo-o-o-ng days when deadlines get tight -- 
including taking my laptop home for evening and 
weekend struggles. 

I just don't bother to report it. I'd only get paid 
for it if the overtime was pre-approved, which 
usually it isn't (because usually I don't bother 
applying -- this way, I'm a dedicated team player, and 
my glowing evaluation says so   <grin>).

My boss seems to realize that the numbers on my 
timesheets are really just indicative of percentages 
of my time spent on this and that.  
Since they don't have to pay more, they don't push 
for real accuracy. Maybe when business picks up a 
bit, and I'm trying to justify hiring a little TW
helper...  Come to think of it, business IS picking 
up... maybe I'd better start making those hours look 
a tad more true-to-life.

Cheers,

/kevin

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