Wasting time while working

[gbelous]

yeah I like that method, I think I will try going that route once the standards are done and they have no excuse and can't say "well, I didn't do that this way because I didn't know I had to"

[TECHAUTHORBOB]

Have a word with your boss about using some form of keylogging or time management software on the office computers, so that the company can see exactly how many hours/days are done on each job.

 

How about a minor reward scenario for the best performer each wek/month to encourage work instead of play, we all like to have an easy running office, but no production no profits and then it's your job as well..

 

Good luck with this, not an easy situation, but be firm and professional.

 

Bob

[CJJ]

A TON of time is wasted online looking up non-work related stuff, playing games, chatting, etc.

 

You can find proxies and web filters that will address this. By routing all of your internet traffic through a proxy server, you can audit and control what sites are accessed. You can block certain domains and sites (Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, etc) that nobody should be looking at. Some products will let you run reports that show users' web habits, too. As a side note, tell them you're putting the proxies in place to block adware and virus activity.

 

Obviously, people will just find other ways to goof off, but at least this way they'll have to be more creative with their slacking.

[CJJ]

Another thought about standards: Get everyone involved in the creation process. Your draftsmen will never be able to claim ignorance if they were there during the meetings and were helping you write up your documents. It will be easier to get people use your standards if they all agree on them and understand the reason WHY you're doing it that way. Also, they will be much happier following rules that they helped write than rules that have just been forced on them.

[ReMark]

I once had a geotechnical engineer insist on doing his own drawings. I said fine...here are the company standards. He ignored them. When it came time to include his drawings with the rest of the package, for a 40% submission, the CEO of the company reviewed them prior to going out the door. Needless to say someone's drawing stuck out like a sore thumb. I wonder who? The boss told him to follow the standards. That was the end of that.

[cadgal]

Do you have a "standard hours per sheet" in your office? After a job, does all the hours logged on that job get added up and divided per sheet? At my office, the standard is 16 hrs per sheet (for cadd). We just this when creating budgets and such, but also to see how efficient people are being.

 

When I can get a job out at 9 hrs per sheet, I'm doing good. My boss turns a blind eye to me goofing off since he knows that I'm submitting quality drawings under budget. If I was coming in at 20 hrs per sheet, then, well, I'd better not ever!! be goofing off.

 

Also, the engineers look over their sheets. They know by now what they are supposed to look like (fonts, weights, ect) and can spot errors and send them right back to me.

 

Sometimes, we have a cadd coordinator to look over sheets and send them back to the original cadd tech to fix errors. It sounds like that's a job you're stepping into.

 

I say work with them to create the standards (most are probably already created, just need to be documented) then have your boss inform them of your new postition. They can't argue with you looking at their work if that's your new job. That, combined with documentation of their work productivy in the form of hours per sheet, should give a good indication of weather they need to be disclipened or not.