Question regarding "work time" efficiency
Question regarding "work time" efficiency
(OP)
All,
I know we're all in different industries and different office environments - but terms my boss always throws around are "efficiency" and "economies of scale" when talking about billable hours.
Just curious - how efficient (% of total time spent at work actually working) would each of you say you are in your respective position?
I know it ebbs and flows based on workload and projects and deadlines and health and whatnot - but I'm curious on average, including smoke breaks, bathroom breaks, that rare phone call from the spouse to talk about dinner, ect. ect. - what is one's efficiency at work?
I'm guessing I'm at anywhere from 70% (things are slow in my department and maybe I'm not feeling well) to 95% (deadlines loom on multiple projects but that annoying guy in the next cube keeps wanting to chat).
Is this reasonable? Obviously 100% is not reasonable (or attainable, I don't think....)
I know we're all in different industries and different office environments - but terms my boss always throws around are "efficiency" and "economies of scale" when talking about billable hours.
Just curious - how efficient (% of total time spent at work actually working) would each of you say you are in your respective position?
I know it ebbs and flows based on workload and projects and deadlines and health and whatnot - but I'm curious on average, including smoke breaks, bathroom breaks, that rare phone call from the spouse to talk about dinner, ect. ect. - what is one's efficiency at work?
I'm guessing I'm at anywhere from 70% (things are slow in my department and maybe I'm not feeling well) to 95% (deadlines loom on multiple projects but that annoying guy in the next cube keeps wanting to chat).
Is this reasonable? Obviously 100% is not reasonable (or attainable, I don't think....)





RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency
There have been times when deadline is looming that I've done 55 or more hours most of it pretty work related so in those cases I'd guess I've hit 137%.
Then there have certainly been times, such as around lay-offs or when pay cuts wher announced etc where my motivation just hasn't been there and I might have struglled to hit 50%. - I posted about this some time back.
In terms of an overhead, my last place actually had efficiency factors they used in man loading. I think at one point they were up in the 80's but then they reduced them to around 75. Now the missing 25% wasn't just bathroom breaks it was also non billable tasks of various kinds.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency
corus
RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency
Hg
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RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency
If my "boss" or a "salesman" or "planning engineer" or VP or President is contacting current and future customers, then HIS charges must be balanced against my efficiency working. If I am NOT supporting admin, time recording, copying, "taxes, title and license" or other non-productive issues properly, then collectively we go out of business.
You have to balance the bottom line.
RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency
But I don't have to bill my time closely which is a plus.
Not to mention I don't get OT, and get paid the same regardless of hour much, or how little I work.
RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency
Right now we're going through an acquisition and the myriad of issues associated with that. Add to that the fact that we're doing it on a reduced engineering crew size to keep overhead down. My day consists of troubleshooting on the floor from 8AM until about 2PM. I consider that an inefficient use of my time, yet necessary to keep the scrap rates down and get the new operators trained. My productive work day getting the instructions written, studies compiled and analyzed, goes until 8 or 9PM That's my productive "efficient" time as calls on 2nd and 3rd shifts are generally less...not to mention the time I spend in teleconferences during the day with various customers and suppliers.
I'm just hoping there is a raise or bonus at the end of this 8-month tunnel. Hell, getting the 401K contributions back would be a welcome change. =)
RE: Question regarding "work time" efficiency