Microsoft's CEO Warns of the Impact of All Those Late-Night Emails (bloomberg.com) 41
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella warned that employee well-being could suffer from an ever-expanding workday that often now creeps well into the night. From a report: Nadella, whose company has studied how remote work impacts collaboration in an effort to improve its Teams software, cited Microsoft research showing that about a third of white-collar workers have a "third peak" of productivity late in the evening, based on keyboard activity. Productivity typically spikes before and after lunch, but this third peak illustrates how remote work has broken down already-blurred boundaries between our job and our home lives. Nadella, speaking Thursday at the Wharton Future of Work Conference, said managers need to set clear norms and expectations for workers so that they're not pressured to answer emails late at night.
"We think about productivity through collaboration and output metrics, but well-being is one of the most important pieces of productivity," he said. "We know what stress does to workers. We need to learn the soft skills, good old-fashioned management practices, so people have their wellbeing taken care of. I can set that expectation, that our people can get an email from the CEO on the weekend and not feel that they have to respond." Two out of 3 employees who consider leaving their job say their employer has not followed through on early pandemic promises to focus on employee mental health, according to a Harris Poll commissioned by online therapy provider Talkspace.
"We think about productivity through collaboration and output metrics, but well-being is one of the most important pieces of productivity," he said. "We know what stress does to workers. We need to learn the soft skills, good old-fashioned management practices, so people have their wellbeing taken care of. I can set that expectation, that our people can get an email from the CEO on the weekend and not feel that they have to respond." Two out of 3 employees who consider leaving their job say their employer has not followed through on early pandemic promises to focus on employee mental health, according to a Harris Poll commissioned by online therapy provider Talkspace.
On Call (Score:1)
Are you paid to be on call or not?
If your working more than 8 hours a day... (Score:3)
you should also see a psychotherapist (unless in upper managment)
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you should also see a psychotherapist (unless in upper management)
Upper management folks (and Board members) are usually easy to diagnose: [_] Psychopath, [_] Sociopath
It's ok to work late at night but (Score:4, Insightful)
It's ok to work late at night precisely because it is a time where one does not get interrupted by emails, calls, skype, teams, whatever, and it's possible to do the kind of work that requires concentration. If you end up checking your email, then maybe it's better to go to sleep?
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On the days I work from home, I often find myself putting a few hours in during the evenings - it really is when I'm most productive. But I've also (somewhat belatedly) started taking an hour or so off during the middle of the day, whenever possible, and do personal stuff - e.g. mow the yard, go to Costco.
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Re: It's ok to work late at night but (Score:2)
I telecommute (WFH). (Score:1)
I'm pretty sure M$'s execudroid meant "late night emails are a bad id
Not realistic (Score:2)
If I got an email from the CEO of Microsoft at 2am, it would be handled at 2am.
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Yeah -- if you were already holding an important enough position in the company so the CEO was emailing things to you directly.
I think the point is that most correspondence a typical employee would receive at 2AM is just from someone who was awake at that hour and felt like it was a good time for THEM to compose the message. The expectation is that you won't read or act on it until the next business day.
Re:Not realistic (Score:4, Interesting)
I would not the CEO can wait, I see no expectation or obligation that I should answer immediately, if it is urgent the CEO could ring. Email is not an immediate conversation format.
If I happened to look at my work emails out of hours, which I hardly ever do (maybe once a year) I may choose respond however it will be based on the need the person has not their title.
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I honestly wouldn't even see the email until the morning. My phone is on quiet after 9 PM.
Now if I was on-call, that would be different.
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If I got an email from my CEO at 2am, I would not even know it existed until I turned on my work computer at 9am. He also would not expect a response outside of working hours, because I work in a place that treats employees as actual human beings that are only available for work during working hours.
If there's an actual emergency, like the office burned down and we need to get started on recovery from off-site backups, he has my number. Granted, he wouldn't get a hold of me there until the morning either, b
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If I got an email from the CEO of Microsoft at 2am, it would be handled at 2am.
Yeah, you gotta block that shit in a hurry. I would be seriously worried that my filter that blocks everything from microsoft.com, has obviously failed. Gotta look into that right away.
Work-Life Balance Announcement. . . (Score:1)
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Satya Nadella is not Bill Gates.
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time for an union! (Score:2)
time for an union!
Cynical take... (Score:3)
This is all fine and good, but until or unless there is a specific change to Microsoft company policy (like to the employee handbook or at the HR level), nothing will change.
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I doubt they put in writing that you must answer emails at 2 AM
What time was it for the sender? (Score:2)
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I see this a lot. I have a coworker that never gets off on time because he feels like he needs to answer all emails before he leaves. Most things do not need an immediate response where I work.
Whose fault is this? (Score:3)
I can set that expectation, that our people can get an email from the CEO on the weekend and not feel that they have to respond.
Couldn't the CEO just not send those emails on the weekend?
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If you are handling multiple things, you probably send the email while it is fresh on your mind or it will be forgotten.
based on keyboard activity (Score:3)
surprised no one has commented about that yet. ms publicly stating they monitor their employees keyboards?
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they're monitoring everyone's keyboards aren't they? I mean I removed windows from my work laptop ASAP, but with the amount of telemetry in that piece of shit OS, their constant pop-up's asking for feedback as well as extremely creepy 'innovations' like trying to complete my emails, or tell me how many meetings I had last week... this stuff is an absolute gold mine, plus they get to act all sanctimonious about how we should behave.
I'll work whenever I feel like it, thank you, now get the fuck out of my inbo
Just ignore it (Score:2)
One very important thing I have learned over the years in my career -- just ignore any text or email messages after office hours. If the thing is really important, people will call.
By ignoring all messages after office hours, you are setting the right expectation for people to either message you within office hours, or they have to wait until next morning. If your boss pester you for not replying to after office hours messages, it is time to look for another job.
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This is true. If you always answer these things immediately, people expect it. You need to set the proper expectations quickly as that shapes perception.
My last job, I worked 7 am - 330 pm. I always stayed until 5 working like a good worker bee. The downside was that people assumed that was my hours. When I would leave at 330, I would hear comments that I was always leaving early because people were use to me working until 5 pm. Reality, unfortunately, matters less then perception at most places.
Asynchronous Communication (Score:4, Insightful)
I will send an email whenever is convenient for ME. You can read/respond whenever is convenient for YOU.
It is not an urgent demand for immediate response -it is an email, and not a text/phone call.
Good Ol Fashioned Management (Score:1)
Schedule it for later (Score:2)
Yeah, I like working at night ... I can get into a coding groove without a bunch of meetings and Slack messages.
But when I send an email, I schedule it (Outlook and Gmail both support this) to be sent the next morning ... I found people get wigged out seeing an email that was sent at 3am ...
Patriarchal, much? (Score:1)
"... well-being is one of the most important pieces of productivity," he said. "We know what stress does to workers. We need to learn the soft skills, good old-fashioned management practices, so people have their wellbeing taken care of".
Is it just me, or is Nadella patronizing in the extreme? He seems to fancy himself a benevolent god of some kind showering his subjects with care and concern. The bloated sociopathic fuck.
In other news, some feedlot owners take good care of their animals.
The solution to this is complex in a global org (Score:2)
I work in a global company, and interact daily with colleagues in San Francisco, Austin, Denver, Toronto, Ireland, the UK, the EU, and Australia.
In any conversation, one person's morning is another persons's afternoon is another person's evening.
To expect *the sender of the action* to always accommodate this in a global org, is IMO impractical and unworkable. Rather, the recipients of actions need to take more accountability for how they choose to prioritize things.
Email from the CEO? (Score:2)