More Working Hours Don’t Mean More Work Done

More Working Hours Don't Mean More Work Done

The 13th rule in the 50 Business Productivity Rules is that more working hours don’t mean more productivity. Is this rule valid, and why, if it is valid?

I’ve seen different persons working in the same places with different results and times they need to complete the same job. It is normal. But, why is this the case?

Before some time, I talked with an entrepreneur who told me how his employees, after 8 hours of working time, hurry to go home. I asked him can he make a difference in the speed and quality of work done by different employees. His answer was that difference exists, and different employees give a different performance in their working behavior.

This is normal. He cannot expect that each employee will need the same accomplishment time. Instead of that, he must find the reasons for this difference and try to fix it.

After some analysis of this issue, I come to the possible answer about business productivity. The answer depends on the four most important factors that influence business productivity.

1. Different Capacity Impact on Working Hours

Different persons, different teams, and different organizations have different performing capacities. This capacity will make some persons quickly finish their job with more quality compared to others. We cannot expect every person to have the same capacity for doing the right things in the right way.

2. Different Passion Impact on the Work Done

Persons can be passionate about something if they are exciting, have enthusiastic and compelling emotions, and have a positive affinity for that something. If a person has a passion for his job, he will do the work quickly and with more quality. Passion is the beginning of everything around persons and their working habits. Because of that, entrepreneurs, before deciding about selecting people as an employee, must try to recognize what those persons are passionate about.

3. Enjoyment Impact on the Working Hours and Quality of Work Done

If I enjoy the tasks that I must do, I will do those tasks at my best. Some persons will enjoy the work, but others will work without enjoyment and only because of salary. The productivity will be based on the level of enjoyment, and because of that, persons without enjoyment will need more working hours to finish the job.

4. Inspiration is Also Important to Required Working Hours

Different inspiration has a different impact on accomplishment. If I’m not inspired to give the best of myself in performing my daily job tasks, I cannot expect that the quality of the results will be at the desired level. Some persons will be inspired by money, some by ideals, but something that is important for entrepreneurs is that they must try to recognize employees’ different sources of inspiration.