It's About Time: Overtime and the Work/Life Balance

  PM Network  

The subject of working overtime is a common, and often emotional, topic. Views can differ from person to person and organization to organization. As project, program and organizational leaders, we need to come to terms with this valuable, yet often misunderstood and abused tool, and ensure it is appropriately handled. This includes understanding what overtime means to the business, to ourselves and to those we lead. Here are some thoughts that can serve as a baseline for consideration and discussion of this important topic in your organization.

Most organizations rely on and expect some overtime from their employees in order to meet business objectives. But every organization has its own overtime work culture. Some want overtime to be a rare occurrence, others require approval from higher-ups. Some organizations compensate their employees for overtime and some are subject to collective bargaining rules.

How much?

A team member should typically expect to work up to 10 hours a week of overtime—sometimes for many weeks or months—if needed. And there will likely be times when a he or she must work more than that in a given week.

If the situation continues for extended periods of time, however, something may be amiss. Team members might be unreasonably overloaded, require additional training, have unproductive work habits or be in the wrong job. …

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