員工必須陪着上司加班嗎

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The problem: Every night, your workaholic boss is still glued to the computer when you need to leave. How to go home without looking like a slacker?

問題：每天晚上你想下班時，工作狂老闆都還粘在電腦前。怎麼才能下班回家又不表現得像個懶鬼？

Should you sneak out, hoping to avoid a six o'clock showdown in the hall? Guiltily apologize, promising to be on email all night? Or just walk straight toward the door in the most professional way you can?

你是懷着不會在大廳被上司撞見的僥倖心偷偷溜走呢？還是充滿歉意地道歉，承諾整晚都等着收電子郵件？還是以最職業的方式直接走向大門？

Many hard-working employees have an even harder-working boss who toils late into the night. Career coaches and employees who have been there say the first priority should be conveying that you are still working hard -- and good at your job. That requires communicating clearly and frequently about your progress and results. Ideally, you want to figure out what the boss really needs and deliver it consistently enough that your hours become a non-issue.

許多辛勤工作的員工都有一個更加辛勤工作、經常加班到深夜的老闆。職業諮詢師和老員工稱，最重要的是表現出你仍在辛勤工作──並且表現出色。這需要經常明確地彙報你的工作進度和工作業績。最理想的做法是，弄明白上司的真正需要並持續交出滿意的答卷，這樣你的工作時間就不再是個問題了。

Many employees assume managers value people for working day and night, and workplace trends support that belief: Two-thirds of workers are putting in much longer hours on the job than five years ago, according to a poll of 325 employees last fall by Right Management, Milwaukee, a talent and career-management company.

許多員工認爲，上司青睞沒日沒夜工作的人，而職場趨勢也證明了這個觀點：根據密爾沃基(Milwaukee)的人才與職業管理公司Right Management去年秋天對325名員工進行的一項調查，三分之二員工的工作時間多於五年前。

But before you get too hung up on work hours, check your assumptions about what the boss wants, says Cali Williams Yost, chief executive officer of Flex + Strategy Group, a Madison, N.J., training and consulting firm. Managers work long hours for a variety of reasons: It may be a personal habit or preference, or perhaps they just don't want to go home. 'People make way too many guesses about managers' expectations that are just wrong,' Ms. Yost says.

但新澤西州麥迪遜(Madison)的培訓與諮詢公司Flex + Strategy Group的首席執行長卡利・威廉斯・約斯特(Cali Williams Yost)說，在你過度關注工作時間之前，請確認上司真正的期望。上司加班有各種原因：可能是個人習慣或偏好，也可能只是因爲他們不想回家。約斯特說：“人們對上司期望的許多猜測都是錯的。”

Bosses are often taken aback by employees' focus on their schedules. Betty Enyonam Kumahor often works 14-hour days, emailing and calling contacts around the world. 'My teams started tracking how many hours they thought I slept each night, based on my email 'send' times,' says Ms. Kumahor, a regional managing director in Atlanta for ThoughtWorks, a software-development company. 'They asked me jokingly, 'Do you ever sleep?'' She assured employees she would stop sending so many late-night and early-morning emails so they didn't have to extend their hours to respond.

上司們常常驚訝於員工對他們工作時間的關注。軟件開發公司ThoughtWorks的亞特蘭大區域總經理貝蒂・埃約納姆・庫馬霍(Betty Enyonam Kumahor)經常每天工作14小時，通過電子郵件和電話與分處世界各地的其他人保持聯繫。她說：“我手下的各個團隊開始根據我的電子郵件‘發送’時間猜測我每晚睡多少小時。他們開玩笑地問我：‘你睡覺嗎？’”她向員工保證不會再頻頻在深夜或凌晨發送電子郵件，這樣他們就不必熬夜等着回覆她了。

When managers focus on employees' work hours, they are often looking for reassurance on other fronts: that their subordinates are meeting deadlines; that they can be reached when needed, and that they aren't creating extra work for colleagues, Ms. Yost says.

約斯特說，上司關注員工的工作時間，往往是爲了保證其他方面的需要：比如，下屬能在最後期限前完成工作，他們可以在需要時隨叫隨到，他們不會給同事增加額外工作，等等。

Rich Gee's boss on a former job took him aside and criticized him for leaving the office at 5 p.m., says Mr. Gee, a Stamford, Conn., executive coach. The manager acknowledged that Mr. Gee was meeting deadlines and delivering good work; he arrived at the office at 6:30 a.m., two hours before his co-workers. The boss seemed nervous, however, that Mr. Gee wouldn't be available when needed. Mr. Gee said he could be reached 24/7 by cellphone, and pointed out that he always responded quickly to emergency requests.

康涅狄格州斯坦福德(Stamford)的高管培訓師裏奇・吉(Rich Gee)說，在以前的一份工作中，上司曾把他叫到一邊，批評他下午五點就下班。這位上司承認，吉在最後期限前完成了工作並且表現出色，他早上6:30就到了辦公室，比同事早兩個小時。但是，上司似乎擔心吉不能在需要時隨叫隨到。吉說，隨時都可以打電話找到他，並指出他對緊急要求的反應一直很迅速。

He continued to leave the office at 5 p.m., but updated his boss often on his progress and results and checked in every evening before he left. In time, he says, his boss 'saw that it wasn't hours that mattered -- it was how hard I worked.'

他仍然在下午五點下班，但經常向上司彙報工作進展和工作業績，而且每晚下班前都會知會一聲。他說，他的上司終於“發現工作時間並不重要──重要的是我工作有多努力”。

One key to Mr. Gee's solution: healthy communication. Employees should sit down with their bosses and ask them to define job objectives and time lines for reaching them, says Pat Katepoo, the Kaneohe, Hawaii-based owner of WorkOptions, a consulting firm. Then 'look for natural times to communicate about your progress, when you have a staff meeting or you're walking by or writing an email,' says Ms. Katepoo.

吉的解決方案的一個關鍵是：健康的溝通。諮詢公司WorkOptions的老闆、夏威夷卡內奧赫(Kaneohe)的帕特・凱特普(Pat Katepoo)說，員工應該和上司一起坐下來，請他們明確工作目標和完成期限，然後“尋找彙報工作進展的合適時間，可以是開員工會議時，也可以是和上司碰面時或者是通過電子郵件”。

There are many ways to project a hard-working image. If a manager speaks about a project in an intense, focused way, answer with similar intensity, acknowledging its importance and repeating the deadline, says Anne Brown, an advertising executive who has written about how young employees can deal with workaholic bosses in a book, 'Grad to Great,' and on a website she co-founded, GradtoGreat. Manage time well in one-on-one meetings, moving quickly through your agenda, adds Ms. Brown, of Kansas City, Mo. And, of course, be prepared to work long hours during a crisis or busy season, or when a major project deadline is looming.

給上司留下努力工作的印象有許多方法。密蘇里州堪薩斯城(Kansas City)的廣告業高管安妮・布朗(Anne Brown)說，如果上司熱情而專注地談論某個項目，那麼就以同樣程度的熱情作答，承認其重要性並重復最後期限。她在一本叫《職場成功之路》(Grad to Great)的書中以及她與別人共同創建的網站GradtoGreat上寫到了年輕員工如何應對工作狂上司。布朗補充道，在一對一會議中應該掌握好時間，快速完成議程。當然，在緊要關頭或旺季時節，或重大項目的最後期限臨近時也應該做好加班準備。

In some cases, shifting your work hours can help. At companies where managers focus on face time, employees who work 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. -- when more people are present -- are more likely to get noticed than those who work 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Executive coach Michael Melcher was told in a previous job at an investment bank that 'I wasn't working long enough hours,' he says. 'I started coming in later and staying later,' he says. 'A couple of months later, my boss said, 'It hasn't gone unnoticed that you're putting in additional hours.' '

在某些情況下，變更工作時段也是一種方法。在上司關注員工露面時間的公司中，上午10點到晚上八點工作的員工──多數人上班的時間──比上午七點到下午五點工作的員工更容易得到注意。紐約Next Step Partners的高管培訓師邁克爾・梅爾徹(Michael Melcher)說，以前在一家投資銀行工作時，曾被告知“我的工作時間不夠長，我開始晚到並工作到更晚。幾個月後，我的上司說：‘我注意到你的工作時間變長了。’”

Faking a presence at the office, however, doesn't work. Throwing your coat over your chair as if you just stepped away, then leaving for the day, is likely to backfire, Ms. Yost says. Colleagues will 'think you're there and run around like crazy people trying to find you.'

不過，僞造在上班的假象是行不通的。約斯特說，將外套扔在椅子上，好像你在上班、只不過離開一小會兒，其效果只會事與願違。同事們可能會“認爲你在，並瘋了樣地到處找你”。

Another nonstarter, says Mr. Melcher, an executive coach with Next Step Partners, New York, is 'being a whiny complainer, with a lot of exasperated sighs, saying you're working your fingers to the bone. Nobody wants to hear that.'

梅爾徹說，另一個不可取的做法是“愛發牢騷，總是唉聲嘆氣，說你已經忙得四腳朝天了。沒人想聽這種話”。

In some professions, working long hours is unavoidable. Certain firms' cultures breed intense competition and long hours among new hires, says Julie Cohen, a Philadelphia career and personal coach. Others have unwritten cultural rules, such as, 'Nobody leaves the office before the boss leaves,' she says. It is wise to prove yourself on the job for at least six months and ask a mentor for advice before exploring shorter hours, Ms. Cohen says. 'You might be stepping into a minefield if you don't understand the ins and outs of the organization.'

在某些行業，加班是不可避免的。費城職業與私人培訓師朱莉・科恩(Julie Cohen)說，某些公司的文化鼓勵新人激烈競爭和加班。還有些公司有不成文的企業文化，例如“上司下班前大家都不能下班”。科恩說，明智的做法是，至少在六個月中證明自己勝任這份工作，並在希望縮短工作時間之前徵求導師的建議。“如果你不瞭解公司的規則，可能會踏入雷區。”

To get the most out of a negotiation about hours, Mr. Melcher says, think in advance about the boss's needs, and bring specifics documenting your own performance. Start on a positive note, talking about what's going well. Ask what the boss expects of employees when it comes to work hours and responding to email. To propose solutions, Mr. Melcher recommends the 'yes . . . and' technique: Affirm the boss's point, and then state your own. For example: 'Yes, I want you to be able to rely on me after hours. And since I have young twins, it is important to me to be home between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and spend that time with family. I could respond to you between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. How does that sound?'

梅爾徹說，爲了在關於工作時間的協商中爭取最有利的結果，不妨提前考慮上司的需要，並提供證明自己工作業績的詳細資料。你可以從一張措辭積極、談論進展順利工作的字條開始。也可以詢問上司對員工工作時間和回覆郵件時間的期望。梅爾徹推薦的解決方法是“是的……然後”技巧：肯定上司的觀點，然後闡述你自己的觀點。例如：“是的，我希望您在下班後也能找到我。然後我有兩個雙胞胎小孩，下午5:30到晚上8:00這段時間在家與家人度過對我來說很重要。我可以在晚上9:00到11:00處理工作。這樣如何？”

Such conversations can open a dialogue -- or expose a brick wall. When project manager Ashanti Stanford raised the issue with a boss at a previous job, the manager rolled her eyes and sighed. 'The expectation was, 'I have to work these hours, so why are you complaining?'' Ms. Stanford says. She has since moved on to a job with better hours.

這樣的談話可以開啓意見交換──也可能會碰壁。項目經理阿珊提・斯坦福(Ashanti Stanford)說，她在以前的一份工作中跟上司提出這個問題時，那位上司轉轉眼珠，嘆了口氣，說道：“我的想法是，‘既然我得在這些時間加班，你還抱怨什麼呢？’”在那之後，斯坦福換了個上班時間更合適的工作。