Experienced expectations

This week I've been busting my hump at work. The work hasn't been all that hard, but I've had to work lengthy days to get it all done. But, i knew what was ahead of me going in because I'd read the routes in previous quarters.

It reminded me of something one of the more experienced water meter readers mentioned once. He said that you shouldn't work really hard to finish a days work if it will take more than the prescribed seven hours. Instead, you should tell head office that it can't be done and hope it will be reduced in the future.

But I'm not that bothered and work through the package.

My point you wonder? Well it has to do with hours.

By the time I'm reading a route for the second time, and definitely the third, i can finish 600+ water meters in a day, even if it took me longer the initial time.

But here the downside of experience kicks in for the new guy. I can do a days work that I'm familiar with, whilst a newer reader will take significantly longer.

The same thing goes for church work when they allocate hours to a position. (An understandable thing that churches do, but something I'm not a huge fan of.) As time goes on the expectations on a church worker will stretch to the output that person produces (or worse still, the person preceding them).

For example, if someone is paid for 20 hours, but actually do 25 hours, then this gives the church a false expectation of what paying 20 hours will get you.

Similarly, with experience, someone who has been in a position a lengthy period will produce a disproportionate amount of energy due to familiarity.

Do i have an answer? Not really. It comes down to churches being aware what they want and how long things actually take. Also, it comes down to church workers either a) not going over their allotted hours, even if things need to go undone or b) honesty about the overtime they put in and inform the church.