Strict office hours and the developer’s mind

About 5 years ago i was working for a very big company that used to make laptops, desktop computers, racks and servers, we didn’t have what most people identify as fixed office hours, but we did had to be at work early or to send an email with the subject W@H so that anyone knew we were, well, working at home :), most people were on their desks at 9 am, some came a little late, 9:30 to 10 am, and even there were those who arrived at 7 or 8 am, the usual workaholic type.

This lack of fixed hours caused some issues, not really something that could disrupt the project, but still it seemed, sometimes, that nobody was around when you needed them the most, so our project manager decided to set a fixed hour for anyone to be at work, since some of us were too lazy to come exactly at 9 am or earlier, the hour was set to 10 am, which was a really good hour to get to work, nobody had to wake up early and we had plenty of time before work for any extra activities we wanted to do, it all was perfect.

Next day, people who used to get to office at 7/8 am got to work at 7/8 am, people who used to arrive at 9 am arrived, as expected, at 10 am, and people who used to arrive at 9:30/10 am, simply arrived at the office at 10:30/11 am…

Never underestimate a developer’s mind..