I run a small business that does web design as well as computer repair and computer networking. For us, it's not a big deal if people are not being productive. This sounds ludicrous but the way we go about things is quite a bit different then most businessess. Basically it's setup as a partnership between myself and my partner in which we split the profits. We both work 9 to 5 and take breaks when we both feel like it. Everyone under us (3 people) get offered a certain amount for a web design task. If they take 8 or 808 hours to do the task they get the quoted amount of money. It's kind of like a subonctracting agreement. With this system, we don't care if they listen to music, or even play XBOX during business hours. If they choose not to work thats fine with us due to the fact that they just don't make as much money as they would if they worked the entire time. You are probably wondering about projects being pushed back by to much Halo or something like that. Every agreement on a project outlines a deadline and fees are charged if it doesn't make deadline. We don't have a problem making deadlines, and our "employees" are happy because they work as much or as little as they have too. One person who wants a new car might take on 3 webdesign jobs in the same amount of time as another who wants 1. I know this is probably not feasible for everyone but for us it works great, and we are turning profits pretty well.
Slashdot Mirror
I run a small business that does web design as well as computer repair and computer networking. For us, it's not a big deal if people are not being productive. This sounds ludicrous but the way we go about things is quite a bit different then most businessess. Basically it's setup as a partnership between myself and my partner in which we split the profits. We both work 9 to 5 and take breaks when we both feel like it. Everyone under us (3 people) get offered a certain amount for a web design task. If they take 8 or 808 hours to do the task they get the quoted amount of money. It's kind of like a subonctracting agreement. With this system, we don't care if they listen to music, or even play XBOX during business hours. If they choose not to work thats fine with us due to the fact that they just don't make as much money as they would if they worked the entire time. You are probably wondering about projects being pushed back by to much Halo or something like that. Every agreement on a project outlines a deadline and fees are charged if it doesn't make deadline. We don't have a problem making deadlines, and our "employees" are happy because they work as much or as little as they have too. One person who wants a new car might take on 3 webdesign jobs in the same amount of time as another who wants 1. I know this is probably not feasible for everyone but for us it works great, and we are turning profits pretty well.
-Ryan