Some of my coworkers seem to keep their online status as available until late at night, even when they are not working. I suspect they use some tricks to prevent their computer from going to sleep mode (like using something to keep a key pressed). This creates a false impression that they are wor...
Note that I work from home, and leave my workstation unlocked, my online status seems to never to be "away". You shouldn't assume your co-workers are using tricks.
Where in the world are you? In Europe employers are required to keep timesheets for employees, what do those say? Do they get paid by their icon color, or do you track hours somewhere else?
There are several posts about those who wrote short scripts to press the shift key to fool some managers... But the real question is is "uptime" an effective kpi? or would a ratio of errors per x lines of code be better?
(Almost) everyone is aware an "online" status is meaningless. Don't sweat it - when you are not supposed to be working, don't be working. You might even start a trend to show "offline" during your off hours.
As people say: refuse to play that game. In fact, try to prevent it! I make a point of informing new colleagues, if it comes up, that we're not expected to work long hours, that IM statuses can be very unreliable (and their colleagues probably aren't working long hours even if it looks so), and that we value work/life balance and quality work. (I'm lucky to be in a company where that's true!)
@JasonGoemaat Of course there are, but should we be encouraging people to play their games? It's not good for anybody (including management!) to have employees trying to be online 24 hours a day.
@Auspex It seems you are recommending just to 'not play the game' and ignore it. Some bad manager that just uses metrics like this will just think you're not working enough then. If you want to talk to them about it directly, that's one thing, but one thing that probably won't actually make any difference. "Playing the game" and seeming to be online 24 hrs a day will make the metric meaningless.
Have you tried asking management what their expectations are? It could be that you are the only one assuming the online status means anything. The IM client on my phone shows I'm "online" 24/7, but "online" doesn't mean "available to chat right now" in my organization.
@spuck: 'but "online" doesn't mean "available to chat right now" in my organization' - along the same lines, "online" can mean exactly that, and nothing beyond: When I'm "online", it means "I'm here, ping me if you need anything." It does not mean that I'm currently working, or counting the time as work. I might just be at the computer, watching something on Netflix, but willing to interrupt that if a co-worker needs my support. The gist is the same as in your message - the interpretation of "online" by the OP may well be mistaken.
I published a screenshot of me working while the indicator showed me as away. Funny how nobody asked why I wasn't shown as active all the time anymore.
This is why, when we introduced an online chat system, our workers' council at work insisted that online status must not be visible to other employees.
Are you sure they are doing this intentionally? I have slack on my phone and as a result I think I look online all the time unless I actively manage it
I do this as I have a work messenger on my gaming machine. It doesn't mean I expect anyone else to be online, nor that I'm paying any attention to those who are...
@nvoigt timesheets are far from being systematic, and Europe is a big place with a lot of countries that have their own regulation. It also depends on the industry
Discussion on question by Catiger3331…
Discussion on question by Catiger3331…