What can I do for my guys?
August 18, 2010 10:10 AM   Subscribe

I'm the systems engineer of a team of about 25 developers and testers that have been working 12-16 hour days for about two and a half weeks straight in order to meet a deadline. What can I bring in to improve morale and keep them going?

We've only got about a week to go! The dedication of the team is outstanding and these guys are great!

The company provides dinner on weekdays and donuts/lunch/dinner on weekends.

What special treat can I bring in to delight these folks and improve morale (although it's still remarkably high)? We've got a barbeque planned for some unwinding after we've met the deadline, but I'd like to do something in the short term.

Food, trinkets, anything you can think of!
posted by schwab to Work & Money (55 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Whenever we're given food coupons for the cafeteria, outings, pizza parties, etc. my co-workers, also in the technology industry, always say "Why didn't they just give us the money?" I would suggest that a few comp days for everyone or the cash equivalent of that time.
posted by jardinier at 10:13 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


Booze. If I were spending that much time at the office, I would probably appreciate the opportunity to sip a cocktail or drink a beer while working my tail off.
posted by tryniti at 10:13 AM on August 18, 2010


Money. Nothing says "Thanks, you're great" from an employer like cash.

Baring money, an extra day or two off (i.e. getting paid to be off, i.e. money) works too.

If you think food or trinkets are good, giving me more money to buy such items is an excellent choice.
posted by nomadicink at 10:13 AM on August 18, 2010 [11 favorites]


This requires some thought, but personalized gifts (books, DVDs, games, etc.) that take into account each individual's interests are a good way to do this. Avoid keychains, mugs, etc., though T-shirts along with the gift could be welcome.
posted by AmitinLA at 10:14 AM on August 18, 2010


Coffee. Take orders for a Starbucks (or similar) run, and personally deliver the drinks to their desks. Encourage the silliest, most superfluous frapp-type beverages possible.
posted by 8dot3 at 10:14 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


Best answer: that have been working 12-16 hour days for about two and a half weeks straight in order to meet a deadline

Money. Also schedule an employee town hall or roundtable after this deadline has been met in order to review your development and testing procedures. This cannot continue to be an acceptable working environment. Work to change that with complete transparency and your employees' participation.
posted by asockpuppet at 10:16 AM on August 18, 2010 [20 favorites]


Money. Companies exist to make money. Therefore the truest expression of a companies care for you is how much money it throws at you. It's the thought that counts! And don't put any crazy restrictions on it. Just give everyone 10% of teams median salary or something as a bonus.
posted by public at 10:16 AM on August 18, 2010


A bonus or additional (paid) time off... that's the best way to show employee's that you appreciate their devotion!
posted by mrrisotto at 10:17 AM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: Comp days and award bonuses.

Longer-term is also important, (possibly even more important). After deadline and delivery, communicate with the team to show that it was actually worth it, that delivery on time had great benefit to the clients be they external or internal, etc. If this can't be done, and a perception sets in that everyone just busted their butts and sacrificed personal time pointlessly, it can absolutely murder morale for any future crunch times that are needed.
posted by Drastic at 10:20 AM on August 18, 2010 [5 favorites]


If it were me:

Serious time off, and/or money. And when I say money, I don't mean a $100 gift card for Best Buy; when it comes to rewarding long hours and major effort, trinkets are damned insulting. If I've just given my employer several weeks of my free time, for the sake of corporate profits, I'd definitely expect to see a share of that.

Oh, and an explanation of how planning will be handled better in the future to avoid this kind of crazy crunch time. 25 people working 80 hour weeks is a lot of unanticipated person-hours. If I didn't get one of those, I'd start looking around very quickly.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:22 AM on August 18, 2010 [4 favorites]


Nthing money or PTO.

Make sure S.O.s are invited to the (voluntary and PTO if during a weekday) BBQ and there are vegetarian options.
posted by griphus at 10:22 AM on August 18, 2010


Comp days. I just took a week off after a long slog and it did wonders for my work/life balance. Letting them know now that they're getting a week off will make the last week bearable.
posted by flipper at 10:23 AM on August 18, 2010


Money, yes. Or, failing that, personal service. When I was working back-to-back-to-back 100-hour weeks, having my manager stop by my desk to take my latte order and then come back and hand it to me actually genuinely made me feel kind of appreciated. That, and in the days before launch, he hired a masseuse to come in from 11PM to 3AM and give everyone 15-minute chair massages. That was a deeply dysfunctional group during a deeply dysfunctional era, but I remember those two particular incidents quite fondly.
posted by KathrynT at 10:23 AM on August 18, 2010


100% agree with booze and a couple of paid days off. Tell them how fantastic they were. Make sure you do it in front of higher ups so they get the recognition they deserve. Then give them a night out friday night at a local bar, or even just in the office, a long weekend, 4 days (paid) and, if it's in the budget, a bonus.
posted by TheBones at 10:24 AM on August 18, 2010


Booze. I bring my engineers beer when they work their asses off for me. Always well received, and had a drunken manufacturing engineer inform me he's always willing to work weekends for PMs who provide beer, and won't do it (unless under direct order from above) for those who don't.

Comp days are nice but, understandably, not always possible.
posted by olinerd at 10:27 AM on August 18, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks for all the quick responses! A couple of details I left out:

We're a small cog in a multinational globo-corporation, so I can't dish out money that easily. I can, however, start the fight with management for such things.

Good news, though, is that we do get paid overtime! Small yay for not working for free!

Once this crazy deadline is met, we're on a new contract that is laid out with much more time allocated to tasks such that we hopefully aren't in this crunch again at this time next year.

@asockpuppet, I really like the roundtable idea to get some feedback from everyone.

Keep 'em coming, folks, these are fantastic!
posted by schwab at 10:30 AM on August 18, 2010


If you're giving out booze, please make sure you have something of equal value for the non- or only-social-drinkers. I don't know how many you'll have left after that sort of slog, but there are individuals for whom a nice, pricy bottle of wine/bourbon would be as much a reward as a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck/Kentucky Gentleman.
posted by griphus at 10:30 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


I work in a small machine shop. On 90°+ days, we pass out ice cream sandwiches, bars and popsicles to the guys working in the un-air-conditioned shop. It's not cash, but who doesn't like ice cream?
posted by sarajane at 10:35 AM on August 18, 2010


The lactose intolerant! (Always pack Tofutti.)
posted by griphus at 10:37 AM on August 18, 2010


I'd like to actually argue against money, especially cash as opposed to something like profit sharing or equity stakes or additional paid vacation, as a motivator, and think it can be a dangerous precedent to set. Many studies have shown that money is not an optimal motivator, namely those of Frederick Herzberg. I agree that in a situation where you have to choose between gift cards and money, money is probably better.

The other thing to consider is how often you're going to be in this situation. If you give out a substantial financial reward (substantial enough not to feel chintzy) in this atmosphere, employees may start to expect these rewards regularly and it will change behavior in a likely negative way.
posted by AmitinLA at 10:38 AM on August 18, 2010


Oh, and an explanation of how planning will be handled better in the future to avoid this kind of crazy crunch time. 25 people working 80 hour weeks is a lot of unanticipated person-hours.

Yep, and it's also a lot of wasted efficiency, but whaddyagonnado, deadlines are deadlines.

However, and this just occurred to me so it may be lame, but you could use this interval to deal with some other part of their work environment that usually makes them grumble. Raise 401k matching from 3% to 4%, add dental coverage, fire (or dress-down) the VP sales who is always promising things that don't exist. Point being: reward them with a better company.

NB: BBQs and group activities in situations like this are, to me, cheap bread-and-circuses crap that management thinks is effective in getting good morale for $500.
posted by rhizome at 10:43 AM on August 18, 2010 [2 favorites]


Money is a poor motivator in the sense of "encouraging me to pull long hours voluntarily or work smarter/harder while I"m at work." If, however, I'm basically being ordered to pull long, gruelling hours, there's basically nothing other than money or time off that'll help. "Oh good, my client is happy!" is awesome as a day-to-day motivation; after that kind of ordeal, it just feels like a slap in the face - "If making the client happy is good for the company, and the client gives us money, can I have some of that damn cash?"
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:43 AM on August 18, 2010


Strippers. CLEAN stripppers.

Oh my dear lord NO. Even if you know for a fact that every single person on the team is a heterosexual male -- and you don't -- this is a hostile work environment lawsuit just waiting to happen. I mean this literally; a division head at the Large Software Corporation in Redmond that employs my husband was recently fired for doing exactly this.
posted by KathrynT at 10:44 AM on August 18, 2010 [6 favorites]


Okay, my last comment have come off as pointlessly flippant. My point was that, you're putting these people through a rather very emotionally and physically trying time when they are away from their loved ones and exhausting themselves daily. If you're giving out consumables as a reward/motivator, you need to consider your entire team as individuals and not just a bunch of people who like, for instance, ice cream and booze. Not that those are bad ideas by any means. However, a lactose intolerant social drinker working 80 hour weeks, being rewarded with food and drink they don't care for/can't eat without getting ill may turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of morale with that person. And shit morale spreads like wildfire.
posted by griphus at 10:45 AM on August 18, 2010 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Good to hear they're getting overtime. I would suggest lunch on weekdays (decent lunch, not just pizza from the cheapest place in a 5 mile radius). Jesus, not strippers, clean or otherwise. I liked the suggestion of coffee runs too. My boss used to bring in all kinds of caffeinated snacks.
If your office layout allows it, pillows and blankets and a place to nap.
I assume this BBQ is for lunch and not dinner--if you have been working 16 hours a day the last thing you want afterward is more after-work social time with your co-workers.
The most important thing you can do for morale is to make sure you're working just as hard as everyone else.
posted by phoenixy at 10:48 AM on August 18, 2010


An offer of paid time off, in writing, equivalent to a reasonable percentage of the overtime hours (i.e. not 8 or 16 hours for someone who worked two 100-hour weeks), and make sure you follow through.

The worst and opposite-case scenario is where the employer gives vague promises and then manipulatively claws the time back from weekends or annual leave entitlement.

Reduce pressure in the weeks immediately following the crunch, and show them through actions and not words that they are very unlikely to have to go through this again.

Recognition at review time is also important. Nobody wants to hear, "yeah, you saved the company, but that was three months ago, how have you gone the extra mile since then?" when they thought they'd made substantial sacrifices of time and health out of loyalty to the company.
posted by tel3path at 10:52 AM on August 18, 2010


p.s. It's great that this overtime is paid, and that you are providing food, as it can be extremely expensive to work long hours. I estimate that it cost me 25% of my income in any month where I worked 100-hour weeks, because I had to buy my meals (no time to pack lunch or cook) and take cabs (too tired to drive).

If I had been getting paid for that time it would have changed my outlook, so, great to see that you're doing this. It might also help if you were to consider expense claims for cabs and such for exhausted workers. And if somebody isn't able to eat the food the company is providing, maybe consider expense claims for them to order in.
posted by tel3path at 10:56 AM on August 18, 2010


Once for employee appreciation day, my company brought in RMTs that walked around and gave everyone 15 minute shoulder and neck massages. That was cool, and it sounds like your guys could use it.
posted by yawper at 10:58 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


An additional 20'+ Monitor (each obv). Assuming they already don't have an extra monitor.
posted by pyro979 at 10:59 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


Ask the employees what motivates them. You might find you can spend less and get more.

You could also use this to make changes to the working environment. Does everyone sit where they want, are their desks and/or cubicles arranged how they want? Would it be a nice place with more plants? Maybe they want an extra water cooler, or common area, etc.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:02 AM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: Since you can't just dish out the cash maybe you should ask your workers what it is they want.

At your round-table discussion tell everybody that the company is giving you $X to reward the effort. Explain that as much as you'd like to just divide that up and hand out cash you can't, so you want to know what reward they want instead. I've been at different workplaces that have done things this way and most people were pretty happy with it. Several people threw out ideas and we all voted on what we wanted. One place decided we would take the money and buy a company grill and have a pot luck cookout where the company provided the meat. Another time with less money we all got movie tickets. Yet another time we asked for grocery gift cards.

I say you should call a meeting, discuss what went right and what needed to be changed. Then ask your people what they want as a reward. You can either decide with their input or put it to a vote.
posted by TooFewShoes at 11:03 AM on August 18, 2010


I left my last job after this sort of work push became the rule and not the exception. I would definitely push for comp days. Getting paid overtime is great, but there's a certain point at which there's no amount of money that makes up for giving up your personal life. Definitely talk to your employees, but the best thing you might be able to do for them is to make it so they don't have to do this again.
posted by Zophi at 11:09 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


Make sure they know you are maintaining the completion date and feature freeze just as rigorously as all the other milestones they are meeting; make sure there is no "mopping-up" or "just one more thing" phase where the crunch time increases without limit. Nothing sucks worse than an end point that is perpetually receding.

After that, your team is -done- with their product. They should get a reward -right away-, pick your reward type from the list above. I'd give them time off plus money to spend, and nix the barbecue. These people probably want to be home, and asleep.
posted by jet_silver at 11:12 AM on August 18, 2010


Also, *during* make sure that any food they want is there, free, and easy to get. (i.e., all take out orders are paid for, and there multiple opportunities). Tchotchkies suck, money and PTO is much much better, along with PROMISES that this will be an exception, and not the rule. Having a "favor to repaid later" as well is nice too.
posted by gregglind at 11:22 AM on August 18, 2010


Flex-time for the rest of the year. 12-16 hour days really eats into your discretionary time, so there's probably a done of little things they'd like to take care of outside of work that they were unable to before.
posted by eas98 at 11:24 AM on August 18, 2010 [3 favorites]


NB: BBQs and group activities in situations like this are, to me, cheap bread-and-circuses crap that management thinks is effective in getting good morale for $500.

Especially if they're scheduled outside work hours. Holding Organized Fun Group Activity on an evening or a weekend really just creates another quasi-mandatory job obligation on employees -- will it reflect on me badly if I don't attend?

Also: Organized Fun Group Activity rewards extroverts much more highly than introverts, for whom enforced socializing is actually still work.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:46 AM on August 18, 2010 [5 favorites]


Money, time off, don't ever do this again, someone to take everyone's laundry away and bring it back clean, let everyone dress however they want, let people take naps or just chill in a dark room for half an hour, give people noise-cancelling headphones if they want them, have a slippers-allowed policy after 5pm. No strippers.
posted by SMPA at 11:46 AM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: We're a small cog in a multinational globo-corporation, so I can't dish out money that easily. I can, however, start the fight with management for such things.

I think one of the reasons a lot of people say 'money' is because they fear that the appreciation of their exceptional efforts isn't reaching high enough in the food chain to reach people with any power.

I mean, probably they don't want to have to work 16 hour days on future projects - which is a staffing issue. If the people who appreciate their efforts don't have the power to give out bonuses, they probably don't have any power over staffing levels either.

You want to communicate to them that their efforts are seen, recognised, and appreciated by not just you, but also people above you in the company hierarchy - people with the power to stop this happening on future projects.
posted by Mike1024 at 11:47 AM on August 18, 2010 [2 favorites]


I'm a software developer, and have been fortunate enough to avoid this sort of situation. If (when) it eventually happens to me, I would prefer extra paid time off versus a cash bonus. This level of sustained overtime feels like a bit of a management failure (not necessarily at your level; it sounds like you have your employees interests at heart). Extra time off indicates that management does value my time, assuming you also show how you'll plan to avoid it in the future, as others have said. There are industries that do use money as the sole motivator for heavy hours, which works for some people, but to me my time is more valuable if I've got a decent base salary. I can't say which your employees would choose, of course.

In the meantime, if you thought they'd actually use it, maybe set up a game room with Wii Sports or Guitar Hero or what have you. It's a great option when you want to take a quick break. I think you could avoid the bread-and-circuses effect if you indicated that this was your initiative, not upper management's, and not oversell it as a morale booster. And in my experience it's a nice long-term perk to have as well.
posted by serathen at 11:54 AM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: I can't dish out money that easily. I can, however, start the fight with management for such things.

And you should; if not for money, then at least for recognition.

Your team probably already know that you appreciate their efforts. But do they know that the company appreciates their efforts? Is your manager, your manager's manager aware that your team is going above-and-beyond?

Best gift you can give: a demonstration that you're advocating for them.

(On preview: what Mike1024 said.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:02 PM on August 18, 2010


Extra time off indicates that management does value my time, assuming you also show how you'll plan to avoid it in the future, as others have said.

And this is key, since I've been in jobs that had crunch time for which they offered comp days that could never be taken, since while the 16hr days were temporary there was still too much work on normal days for people to actually take advantage of their comp days.

Also, and especially in large companies, it can be difficult to impossible to get real comp days and not just a promise to look the other way when the employee plays hooky. Granting employees extra time off is, from my understanding, complicated from an HR and payroll/taxes standpoint.
posted by rhizome at 12:22 PM on August 18, 2010


Concierge services. Laundry service. Staff bring in bagged laundry; at the end of the day, their clean folded laundry is ready and waiting. Dry cleaning. Someone who will go pick up prescription refills, get a car serviced, and do the other errands that are being left undone while they work long hours.

Healthy food at work. A bowl of fruit - it can just be apples, oranges and bananas, but when I work long hours, I begin to crave fruits and veg. Breakfast - a place in my town makes a breakfast pizza that's delish, and pretty healthy. Maybe even bring in a dinner item that staff could take home to reheat since they may not have time to shop and cook. Pizza or other fast food lunches that include salad are always a treat for me. Find out what people like to drink; free soda is okay, free diet, caffeine-free root beer is better and free flavored fizzy water is best. When free lunch is pizza and a bunch of 2 liter pepsi, diet pepsi and mountain dew, it's not that wonderful to people who are short on sleep, and haven't been shopping

Ask high ranking execs to attend an award day in your team's honor, and serve the barbecue, pass out good gifts (passes to sports events, gift certs for the grocery store, amazon, the mall, etc) and express genuine appreciation for the extraordinary work the team has contributed. A letter of appreciation, ideally from the CEO, that goes in their personnel file.
posted by theora55 at 12:48 PM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


Money is nice, but a double-edged sword. I remember getting a bonus on a big project. My co-worker who covered my back doing our normal work got nothing because she wasn't on the project. She was pissed and rightfully so. I have similar feelings about awards, etc., which tend to go to the favored political "in crowd" and implicitly denigrate the work of others.
posted by idb at 1:13 PM on August 18, 2010


I see you have Favorited several of the suggestions that have to do with monetary compensation. Be careful. There can often be negative correlation between morale/productivity and monetary incentives. See this excellent presentation on the topic: People need purpose in organizations

Regarding your post:
I would recommend picking a couple key people and writing them a letter to their house telling them h ow much you appreciate their hard work. Hand written letters, that are thoughtful, are very touching for some people.
posted by yoyoceramic at 1:44 PM on August 18, 2010


Response by poster: @yoyoceramic Interestingly enough, the ones I favorited were mostly due to informing the folks that the requirement for these herculean efforts are unusual and that management appreciates what they're doing. It just so happens they suggested money, too :)

Thanks everyone - these are great. I'm looking into the following suggestions:
* bringing a masseuse in for some massages
* ensuring people know they can flex some time off once this mess is cleaned up
* ensuring they know they're appreciated by having senior management let them know
* talking with management about financial rewards
* having a post-mortem with the guys to get thoughts and feedback

Thanks again!
posted by schwab at 2:00 PM on August 18, 2010


What can I bring in to improve morale and keep them going?

If they've been eating doughnuts for two and a half weeks I suggest that it is time to switch to really good warm bagels. With Lox. And fresh tomatoes. And capers, and red onions, etc. The Works.
posted by okbye at 3:07 PM on August 18, 2010


At minimum scrape up the money for healthier food right this second if you haven't already. 2 weeks on pizza will destroy one's productivity and mental sharpness, and the extra cost for the best local/organic/macrobiotic/frou-frou catering in town will be paid for in more widgets per man hour, for sure.
posted by slow graffiti at 3:25 PM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: One other thing you could think about: In addition to your guys, their partners/spouses have also lost out from these long hours. You could make sure when the project is over that they all go home with bouquets of flowers and vouchers for romantic dinners.

Nothing motivates a guy to quit a job quite like his partner telling him to, so it's worth keeping them out of trouble at home.
posted by Mike1024 at 4:05 PM on August 18, 2010 [2 favorites]


Money, or at a very distant second, time off. Anything else is a big 'fuck you', and would result is less morale, not more.
posted by antiquark at 4:06 PM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: I'm going to suggest something that you will think is crazy.
Once a week, on a random day, bring in a gong or a bell or a whistle and at 5:00 PM walk the halls making noise and send your people home. Every single one. Kick them out. Tell them to go get a good night's sleep, you'll see them tomorrow.

You will find that the overall productivity should increase and bug recidivation should decrease.

Tired minds and tired bodies write bad code.
posted by plinth at 5:38 PM on August 18, 2010


A big countdown calendar so they know the end is near. Cheap and simple, but nice.
posted by meepmeow at 6:03 PM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: About recognition: giving the team recognition ≠ giving individual recognition. Drill down, recognize individual contributions.
posted by markovitch at 7:11 PM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


One of the best things you can do for your team when they're putting in extra effort is to work with them. Knowing your boss or team lead is slogging alongside you and not leaving you behind at 5 is a big boost to morale. From subtext, I think you're already doing this: not all bosses do.
posted by thatdawnperson at 5:53 AM on August 19, 2010


After working at an organization that always had hectic late nights EVERYTIME a deadline arose, would not consider steps to correct the situation, considered excessive hours "part of the job", sometimes, but not always, would buy us a pizza, did not pay overtime and frowned at comp time all I can say is: Will you please hire me? Really.
posted by knolan at 8:46 AM on August 25, 2010


Lots of good recommendations here, such as the post-mortem, looking for flex-time off and recognition/$$ from management... all good.

One other thing you could do: when it's all over, pay for a few hours of open bar at a local drinking establishment. Extra kudos for some food, too. Just a little social happy hour to celebrate a tough job well done.
posted by cleverevans at 4:58 PM on August 26, 2010


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