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IT Survivors - Staying Alive In A Software Job |
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Written by Harshad Oak
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Nov 03, 2005 at 12:21 PM |
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Page 4 of 19 |
Comment by amunix on 2005-11-10 06:40:17
Hi,
I agree to your points mostly, but I would like to stress here that Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and the likes are the real culprits - not that we don't wish to get exploited though.
Indian Software organizations have screwed up the entire thing for the following reasons -
1. They have too many mid-level managers' - jamindaars' - the biggest irony is the engineers sweat out to meet the ugliest schedules created, and the benefits are passed on to the manager.
2. Managers' acutely lack technology understanding - if you can manage a motor car production does not mean that you can manage a software project.
3. HR is the *most* corrupt and botched up arm of any software firm (at times they actually try to `buy' you out.) Matching the candidates' career plans, and the company's objectives - is something that they just can't think of.
4. Software, being intangible, it is not possible to fix a schedule at the beginning of the project and then try and stick to it. The schedule should always be in a process of modification as the project progresses. *This* is what managers' just don't understand. How can you predict when this project shall end, when so many undefined variables are there?
A manager estimates the schedule this way -
Total time = thumb rule time for project tasks + some buffer time.
It is assumed that all slippages can be (and should be) covered in this buffer! :)
5. We, the engineers', are are also *equally* responsible for it. The knack of `pushing back' or saying NO should be known to all, and practiced by all. Why can't you stand up and say a plain NO? WHY??
The choice has to be made - whether you ``Work to Live", or ``Live to Work" - and it should be made NOW.
Cheers,
Amarendra
http://www.livejournal.com/users/amunix/
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Comment by Noname on 2005-11-10 08:15:21
as |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-10 08:19:46
Let me digress. I found this article really terse yet comprehensive. Can you people comment on quality of code and work by an IT worker as compared to that from a westerner |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-10 13:00:39
Hi,
I think the employees are also responsible for this culture. Generally what happens is that most of the bachelors want to stay late because they don't have anything else to do at home. They might not work but still they want to stay to pass time, to chat or even free dinner. This then gives the manager the impression that he/she is working hard and others must follow suit. And only when the bachelor gets married, he realizes he has a life... which by then is too late as you have set a trend/culture of working till late now... So, basically the employee is also responsible to some extent!! |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-10 23:36:28
if a company has CMM level 5, how come the developer still has to put in 12 hours a day? or did they get it just because they are wipro and infy? |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-10 23:44:27
Very good article, and long due. There should be no 'you' and 'we' and 'them'. The initiative ideally should come from us all - the engineers, managers, HR, bodies like NASSCOM, and even the clients. It's true that usually HR departments in IT organisations in India are quite powerless. Also, not much can be expected from organizations like NASSCOM (in a country like India?).
The solution is really one of balance. No one should be pressured into putting in long hours for the sake of deadlines. Managers and Engineers alike have to realize that there is more to life than spending 80 hours a week in one's job. For those who have nothing else in life, it's really their prerogative to spend most of their time in the office, but that should not be taken as a reference for others.
A two-pronged approach should be used. On the one hand, Time Management should be encouraged. Companies should actively sponsor seminars and workshops to foster good time management and efficiency in employees. On the other hand, there should be more public discouraging from the top management about working late hours or coming in on weekends. The respective supervisors should be pulled up if employees' time-cards show them working ungodly hours.
An additional necessity to deal with this is to simply say 'no' to clients who expect these kind of time/effort estimates. IT companies who provide quality work should do so, and this actually builds their image as responsible employers who give credence to Human Values.
Cheers,
Rajath. |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-11 00:06:21
http://sudhakar.wordpress.com/2005/11/11/exhaustion-zero-innovationso-who-cares-about-it/ |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-11 00:55:38
Hello,
Here are my 2 cents on the same. Yes, I too have been in this industry for 9 years now, and see it happening all around me. However, here's the punchline: IT HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME !!!. I have always had good bosses who expected results in the form of work completed, rather than time spent in the office. Hence, now that I am a manager - I have made it a point to incorporate the points that harshad has mentioned. I am proud to say that - in my team - working late and being stressed out is more like an exception (happens only in case there is a genuinely critical issue) rather than a rule. My advice to all folks who have written comments here would be - when you go up the ladder, please dont be the same managers that you did not want your managers to be !!! Will that be difficult? Come on, what are we talking about? Should it be difficult for us humans to be a bit more human ??? |
Comment by Noname on 2005-11-11 05:10:25
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Comment by Noname on 2005-11-11 01:25:36
I hope this article and the comments has been written by a genuinely hard working person who has gone through such a trauma. As I know few people who write on this subject (especially blogs) but have never really worked hard or gone through this trauma, they just want to boasting that they are thinking on this topic and ...
Also interesting observation of such blog writers is they are not qualified as software professionals, come into IT field, earn their bread and butter in it, when they hardly have any knowledge about software development.
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