Plamen’s Hacks #1: The Timesheet Indicator

If you’ve ever worked for an organisation in exchange for money, the chances are you have had to go via an interview process. As your career progresses, you begin to realise that the interview process works both ways. You choose the organisation as much as it chooses you.
    
    I don’t claim to have been very wise with some of the roles I’ve agreed to do in the past. Quite the opposite, I had made some awful choices on the basis of my interview experience, only to discover later that I should instead have ran away as fast as I can. Is this just me? I don’t think so.


    Over time and after several spectacularly bad attempts, I believe, I’ve finally learned some pointers to guide me as I choose a new role and a new organisation. Now, I have specific roles that I do and there’s a certain type of organisations that I usually work for. Some of my tips will be very niche and not applicable to most. Others however are very generic and that is the case with this one.


    As I write this post in July 2020, timesheets are still a fact of the workplace. Regardless of the overwhelming evidence that tracking time is largely a wasteful activity in most organisations, the reality is that businesses work with timesheets and they are so ingrained in their operations, that it may take a couple of more decades (if not longer) to replace. Yes, you guessed it, I’m not a fan.
    
    But for all my dislike for timesheets and whatever purpose they serve, I think I’ve uncovered a useful application of the nature of the timesheet process in your future organisation. What I mean is that the way an organisation collects and uses timesheet information can tell you a lot about the culture in the organisation. And if you’re picky like me, you’d want to make sure that said culture is at very least bearable if you you’re going to spend a lot of time ingrained in it.


    To make this easier to understand I have created a small table with a set of indicators and a scale based on your score. You can easily learn this information about an organisation during your interviews because the timesheet collection is typically seen as a chore and people like complaining about it. Unless the organisation doesn’t use timesheets or have made it almost painless in which case your interviewers will proudly let you know about it.

• Level 1- If your total is 5 points or less - while this doesn’t guarantee you’ve found the perfect organisation and you should still trust your gut, this is as good as it gets on the Timesheets indicator scale. The signs are good!
  
• Level 2 - If your total is between 6 and 10 points - These are usually OK. Most of the organisations I’ve worked for were at this level and many of them were fine. It’s not great but it could be worse, much worse!
  
• Level 3 - If your total is between 11 and 15 points - At this level things are starting to get too much Big Brother like. I’ve seen this once or twice and I have to tell you, it’s not pretty. Expect tough controlling managers and a culture that may be nice on the surface but not very pretty underneath.
  
• Level 4 - If you score 16 or more points - Yes, you guessed it. Don’t bother really. If you decide to join this organisation, you’re in for a shock. I would avoid at any cost.

 This is The Timesheet Indicator that I use when choosing organisations to work with. If you find it useful please share your experience in the comments section. Happy organisation hunting!