The Trouble with Overtime
interpolator
Just read a fantastic article by Nicholas Boughen, an old teacher of mine.
It's a pretty great read.
http://academy.cg-masters.com/nicks-rants-and-raves/the-trouble-with-overtime/
It's a pretty great read.
http://academy.cg-masters.com/nicks-rants-and-raves/the-trouble-with-overtime/
I cant help smiling when I discuss this topic with certain visual effects production people, especially the managers who havent had to do 12 18 hours straight busting their brain at a computer work station for five months of 6-day weeks. The conversation will usually revolve around me stating the financial, morale, health and quality benefits that come with working an 8 hour day followed by someone else saying something like Onset crew works 14 hours a day, so whats your problem? or Well never make our deadlines without working 14 hours a day. Or We (cant afford) (dont have the power for) (cant fit in) any more workstations so everybody has to work longer hours. Or You cant predict what is going to change, so we need to be able to increase capacity quickly. OT is the best way to do that. Well examine all four of these in a moment, but first lets chat about the concept of overtime...
Replies
Great article, nice to see this from the side of someone who actually has experience managing teams.
Short concentrated crunches happen it happens in any industry worth working in, but again before blaming the crunch culture on companies think about it... did anyone put a gun to your head.
The change is possible... if you stop it... people/companies will have no choice, it is either that or firing you which puts them in a hard situation of wasted time to replace you... So the likelihood with anyone with half a brain will not fire you due to no crunch time put in, it is just expensive and does not help the schedule.
I have seen when you make it clear to your managers about time worked most of the time those same hard ass managers actually respect you. Sometimes standing up is the right thing.
If you let it happen that is all that will happen.
Empowerment of any employee comes down to straight discipline. (This applies anywhere.) Come in on time, work hard and leave on time. Soon you'll build a reputation as a hard/professional worker. If management doesn't listen when an employee like that speaks up, they REALLY don't deserve to keep you. What's more is that reputation will follow you, and you'll always have references when looking for another job more worth your skills and professionalism.
It's also a good idea to save your money. Many people have what's called a "F### You Fund". I've tapped into mine before and my life/health is a lot better for it.
One thing the author overlooked about onsite crews is that many are also unionized. They still work long hours but are also guaranteed breaks and financial benefits for putting in that kind of time.
I also definitely agree with the point about everyone in a managerial position needing proper training.
Great article. I know these discussions pop up all the time but the more they do, the more alert people will be of the issue which makes change more likely to happen.
edited for length
The problem with the money argument though is that it opens the door for some bad practices. Some companies have figured out how to put their crew on OT, while essentially paying the same as they would have otherwise. They bite off more than they can chew, sometimes knowingly, and basically leave the problem of finishing the project on time for their crew to solve. Doing it on 8 hours a day is impossible, so they'd normally have to either hire more people, or outsource the work to freelancers or an outsourcing studio. That's money right there that they're saving. About paying extra for longer hours? Guess what, you've just been "promoted" so you're now on a flat salary. You make more, but since you're not hourly, you don't get paid OT. I've seen this happen quite a lot.
Really at the end of the day OT is bad simply because it's wrong to treat people like that. For me personally, I don't need any reason to dislike OT other than it's just not right. But the financial argument sure helps too.
The other issue, which is worse here in Japan (in fact, maybe only Japan?) is that people assume that doing overtime equals being a great worker, so they'll drag their tasks until 10 at night just to show how good of a worker they are. I usually go back home at 6:30 unless I have a lot of tasks that got delayed because I spent more time doing something that I thought would take less.
So yeah... overtime and going to work during weekends... quite crazy here in Japan. Thankfully I can play my foreigner card and just get my stuff done from 9 to 6 and go straight home without worrying (if I can help I'll stay until later though).
Pretty surprising that so many studios get away with getting workers to do crazy overtime and not properly compensating them for it.
I was down the ramp and at the precipice of constant overtime till i pulled a 14 hour shift in graphic design, to meet a unruly deadline (UK 'flat rate'). I told my boss it wasn't happening again. Public transport had obviously stopped so i was trapped in a £30 taxi to get home at midnight.
Got chewed out by the misses as well for working so late ;')
Not many issues after that, pretty decent guy.
I am a firm believer of this. Working beyond the usual hours just lessen the productivity because of the tiredness that people experience.
Most definitely not only in japan. I've seen quite often, and I mean very, very often, the thought process that if someone is working later, then they must be working harder/better. Which is merely an assumption and nothing more. A worker should be judged on their productivity and not # of hours worked. Some hours are much more valuable than others.
I myself am guilty of work 'socializing' as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but I make up for it by staying a little later than usual in those cases. I have a hard time doing the '8 hours straight focused work' thing, so I don't go nose to the grind 100% of the time, but I always make sure to get my work done (and then some) in the agreed upon timetable.
true, but at the same time, it shouldn't be a necessity. It's typically a result of poor planning or lack of scope control. And if overtime happens, people should be compensated for it, but as others have mentioned the usual workaround is to "promote" someone to a salary get around paying them OT
My hope is that one day it will dawn on managers that overtime is what's killing their business. When that happens, artists and TDs won't even be ALLOWED to work OT unless it's a rare, unforseeable event.
Nicholas Boughen
Owner
CG Masters School of 3D Animation & VFX