| Topic Name: |
Consulting hours |
| Message Name: |
bad project management = long hours |
| Date Posted: |
12/15/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
With the understanding that hours will vary considerably depending upon the project one is working on, is there a way to get an idea of the hours that consulting requires in the first few years?
I'm perfectly prepared to work 9am-9pm on average. I'm just wondering if those hours are reasonable expectations (again, taking unusual circumstances into account) or are you veteran consultants chuckling to yourselves as you read those numbers? Also, are 6 day work weeks to be expected, or does the industry actually respect the concept of the weekend?
Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks |
| Message: |
I've been in consulting for about 4 years, working on very large technology projects for a big 4 firm. Here are my observations:
Everyone knows that if people are working long hours for extended periods of time, it's due to bad management. At my firm, managers get dinged for this. Everyone hears about the bad projects and the best people will avoid them unless they've been stuck on the bench for a while.
Of course, it's a bigger deal for the project to come in on time and budget. No one will say anything to the manager if they meet their profit goals, the client is happy, and there is add on work coming in.
Typically, every project has crunch time and everyone works long hours to meet a deadline. You will also have some weeks where you only have 30 hours of work. Treasure those weeks and don't kill yourself trying to turn a 30 hour week into a 55 hour week. The client could throw 90 hours of work at you the next week.
Small projects are more likely to have long hours and weekend work. They typically have tighter deadlines and are seen by managers as a sprint rather than a marathon. Anyone can take 4-5 weeks of long hours, but productivity suffers and people quit if they are working 3-4 months of long hours.
Different roles will have more/less hours at various times of the project. For instance, during elaboration, the analysis guys will work lots of hours, but the testing guys will have nothing to do. I, personally, would never be a DBA or a network admin. Those guys always have to work after hours to set stuff up or fix stuff while everyone else is sleeping.
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