16:04 Gulf News: Overworked employees are less productive.
16:05 Samina Kausar: I believe in working on your assigned duties and tasks on a daily basis and finishing them on time. There are some people who finish their work on time and they are at peace. However, those who always wait for the last hour to start working and extend their timing just for nothing are creating problems for others as they have to overwork. In such cases, both employees, the one who is productive and works on time as well as the less productive employee, have to overwork.
Sudha Kathuria: I would like to remain neutral as there are employees who are productive enough even when they work half-time but at the same time, there are those who might sit on the same job the whole day. They seem to be glued to their chair and system but at the end of the day, many of the tasks are still untouched. With that in mind, many of the overworked people are sometimes overworked because they fail to multitask, whereas others manage to deal with the tasks in no time as they organise and prioritise their jobs accordingly. Hence, in such cases, I would say that less productive employees feel that they are overworked because they fail to manage their time well.
16:07 K.Ragavan: Overwork is never a good thing as it will result in stress, tension and lack of delivery. In turn, this can jeopardise with your health.
16:08 Richard Joel Kamanyiro: Overworked employees are less productive with time because they loose the zeal and energy.
16:08 Salim Mohammad: I agree and essentially those who are overworked are also stressed, and no one is productive while stressed. However, at the end of the day it also depends on the nature of the work and the person in question. There are tasks that I might be able to finish in a day while my colleague can finish it in an hour.
16:08 Sumera Malik: I agree as overworking simply adds stress to our personal and professional lives, which in turn, makes it harder for an individual to work productively.
16:08 K.Ragavan: Some will end up staying late just to show others that they are working more hours in order to create an impression among their subordinates.
16:20 Sudha Kathuria: If one loves his or her job and enjoys what he or she is doing, then there is nothing called ‘overwork’.
16:12 Salim Mohammad: Yes, there are people who stay late, and that will be according to the nature of their work. Say, in an IT company there is an important release to be done within a day, and there is no other option than to pressure the employees to meet the deadline. If you ask whether the employees are productive, well they have the task laid out for them and they just need to meet the deadline.
16:13 Gulf News: Working lesser hours is the secret to higher productivity.
16:13 Sudha Kathuria: I think productivity of any task depends on the ability of a person. If the same task is handled by two different people, it can be managed in two different ways. For one it’s a lot of work, which cannot be handled in a day, whereas the other finishes his or her task well within the stipulated time given for the same. So, it’s not the question of hours but the question of capabilities. Overworking in any case has nothing to do with the tasks on hand but about your mindset and whether you want the task to be completed on time or would prefer to stay late to complete it?
16:13 Sumera Malik: I agree because staying late thinking that we will finish up the work efficiently is a wrong idea. In my opinion, I feel working for long hours makes one work slowly and inefficiently.
16:13 Samina Kausar: Each individual should perform the assigned duty aligned with the time efficiency to increase the effectiveness and productivity.
16:14 Sumera Malik: I think working less hours gives us more time to work on each task and we then have time to do that task with full attention. Furthermore, we don’t lose our energy, which helps us be more alert and attentive
16:14 K.Ragavan: I have seen many top executives of various sectors who work limited hours, however, their input and quality is excellent.
16:15 Salim Mohammad: I disagree because my strategy is to always work within the allocated time. According to me, whether you overwork or don’t, it reflects on your capabilities and shows that you are not able to present quality work as you are not able to cope with the deadline given to you.
16:16 Samina Kausar: Organisations should allocate the duties along with a specific time line so that overwork and productivity can be monitored at the same time.
16:16 Sumera Malik: I agree with you K Ragavan as instead of working late hours, the whole idea of productivity should be based on an individual level. Not everyone is an expert or can handle the stress of working for several hours. I think that working for less hours gives an individual time to reflect on the tasks that he or she has completed during the day.
16:17 Richard Joel Kamanyiro: Working less hours is the secret to higher productivity because you give your body more than enough time to refresh itself for the following day but this also depends on the age group.
16:18 K.Ragavan: Lesser hours reflects on a person’s time management and implementation.
16:19 Gulf News: Overworking dulls creativity and problem solving skills.
16:20 Samina Kausar: Not really, creativity and problem solving skills cannot be related to working for long hours or overworking. Sometimes because of any distractions, our problem solving skills force us to overwork. If that is the case, how can you blame overworking on making any skill dull?
16:20 Sudha Kathuria: I completely disagree as it has been scientifically proven that to keep one’s mind and brain active at all times, he or she should always be working on a task. This also depends on the kind of work that you are managing. There are people who enjoy taking up challenges and try to keep a time limit for their growth and try to beat their own records on a regular basis. All this depends on the kind of work that you do. If you enjoy your work, you need not overwork, as you know how to execute the task and all gets done on time but even if such minds have to overwork, it does not bring dullness to them at any point. I have seen people who remain happy even after working for more number of hours as they feel content on completing the task on hand.
16:22 Sumera Malik: Due to overworking, I feel as though I space out very now and then. I feel as though I can’t think straight anymore. In my opinion, creativity comes when an individual feels fresh and alive. You can’t expect creativity coming from an individual working 12 hours a day.
16:23 K.Ragavan: Quality is always more important, irrespective of the work you do.
16:25 Richard Joel Kamanyiro: We are humans and our bodies can go any extra mile if we train them and let them do so. Therefore, if one’s body is trained or used to a certain routine, it is less likely to affect the work.
Facebook comments:
It is important for organisations to focus on helping their employees find their most productive selves rather than mandating an X-hour week or having policies about sending emails between certain hours. Let employees find out the best way for them to work, by doing so, it will create a healthy and productive environment. As a result, it will increase the company growth.
From Mr B. Biddy
UAE
Obviously... Lesser working hours don’t cause you to get tired! Working hours should not be more than 8 hours per day.
From Mr Shariq Ahmad Seddiqi
Manama, Bahrain
— Compiled by Donia Jenabzadeh/Community Web Editor
