Almost a decade back I joined the workforce. Until then, I was conditioned with advise such as “study hard, work hard”. It all felt right, so much that any good that came without struggle and burning the midnight oil seemed unworthy. I took these convictions with me to the workplace, and starting off in the software industry gave ample opportunity to slog hard. You were a good employee only if you came in first and left last. Even when it was really busy, you never said no, no matter how loaded you were anyways. I was starting off and had to prove a point, more to myself than to others, that I am hardworking.
I lived in my hardworking world for sometime, until I worked on a project that changed my perspective on hard work for ever. I was leading a small team to deliver a small software work-package. We had a decent team, a very supportive manager, and were all set to make a delivery on time, and that’s when the bugs showed up. Design flaws actually that could jeopardise the entire delivery. We were stretched for time, and so we started patching without looking at the whole picture. While we patched up one side, the other fell apart. Soon, we knew that we couldn't deliver on time, but the pressure to meet the delivery deadline was huge. More than anything there was a reputation to keep up. So we kept patching all weekend, till we had a mummy for a code delivery. When we finally left the office, there was a feeling of accomplishment. We met the delivery deadline. In your face – onwards testing team, we did it against all odds.
A few weeks later when I sat with management for the project review, I was expecting bouquets. What else ! There may have been a few good words, but what struck me hard, was when I was told that I and the team should have taken time to work out a systematic controlled approach to solve the problem instead of randomly patching and hoping it worked. I was then told something that would change my perspective on hard work for ever. I was told, work smart and then maybe you wont be spending weekends in the office. Of course that made no sense at that that point of time. Well, you don’t strategise when you are drowning....do you ? You kick and shout and scream. That’s what we did, and I still wanted my bouquet. What can I say – I liked bouquets – who doesn't !
I no longer work in software development, but it stayed with me, however, the work smart thing. When I finally started to see some sense in it, the never ending challenge was – how ? And what is working smart anyway ? Over the years, I have tried different approaches hoping to get close to one that might be smart. In doing that, I’ve realised that it’s actually easier to keep going without stopping, reviewing, and tuning plans, sometimes even scrapping them. Here are a few pointers I use which I find beneficial. Of course, there is no recipe, and you do have to use your own judgement based on context.
• Planning ahead – for things that could go wrong. Having buffers in any plan is crucial. It doesn't need to be advertised as a buffer, but it needs to be there.
• Frequent checkpoints – it’s easy to get carried away with the flow of things, but I have been surprised at how checkpoints bring back perspective.
• Delegating – I don’t have to do everything, even if I am in control. Agree on who is doing what and then let them do it.
• Being realistic with deadlines – This is a dangerous one to play with, but depending on circumstances, it could be better to shift a deadline. After all delivering something dead to meet a deadline is no good to anyone.
• Saying no – Not necessarily ‘No’, maybe ‘Not now’ or in other words- prioritisation.
It’s quite funny that trying to work smart may after all seem to be harder than just working hard.
It hasn't eradicated long working hours, they are still needed when they are needed ! But it definitely improves the chances of getting things at hand done, correctly, and without fumbles and tumbles.
And for the compliment “hardworking”. Well, whenever I get one, it gets me wondering – what have I done now – or rather not done !!!
