How well do you manage your work time? Does your significant other think you work too much, or can’t turn it off at what should be the end of your work day? How about if the people who produce your productivity tools think you need to slow your roll? That might make you think twice.

Robot overlords?

I fired up my computer very early one morning and responded to an email. Nothing unusual there. Then I looked above my inbox and saw some writing in pale blue. Outlook informed me it was outside my normal working hours, and maybe I’d want to delay sending this email until it was my normal workday.

At first, I was mildly insulted. You’re not my robot overlord yet. Then I was struck by an odd idea. Was Microsoft worried about me? I immediately rejected that silly notion, but was still intrigued. What was going on?

They’re watching

It turns out that for months now, Outlook (specifically in office 365) has been monitoring my usage. They send me a report every month, but I have never looked at it assuming it was spam. Turns out that one of the things the AI does is take a look at when I get most of my emails, when I start my workday (by when I start answering and sending emails) and what time zone I’m in.

So basically, the little brain inside the software said, “Hey, this is really early even for Wayne. He might want to think twice about sending an email at this ungodly hour.”

Why are they watching?

Why would they put this feature in their software? Well, the monitoring makes sense if you look at it from their point of view. If you’re paying for a service, are you getting your money’s worth? Are there features included in your package you’re not using but could? Could you be more productive if using these tools in different ways? You need good data to make decisions like that.

The key word here is productive. Many people who work outside the office have difficulty putting guard rails around their time. Put bluntly, we often work more hours than people who go into the office. Because we send emails at odd hours of the day, the readers often assume we are working then and send messages in return. This can create a vicious cycle where emails get sent, and then need to be answered, and the next thing you know, there are no rules about when you work and when you don’t. Keeping most communication to times when you’re supposed to be working sends a message to your readers and a not very subtle hint to yourself.

Defining productivity

Real productivity is getting the right work done in the right amount of time. It’s not working more, it’s working smarter. By maintaining discipline over when emails get sent (which tell people when you’re working) we gain a little control over our workday.

As it turns out, my workday is not 9-5, but I didn’t put my normal hours in the settings in Outlook. As a result, it thought I was burning the midnight oil, which can be unproductive behavior. I didn’t change the settings, because I’m one of those people who needs that reminder. Sometimes I delay sending the message until normal hours, sometimes I don’t but it’s a conscious choice.

Do you make the most of the tools you use? Do you monitor your workday and let colleagues know when you’re on the clock and when you’re not to be disturbed. If not, maybe you need a reminder, too.

Still, it’s awfully nice of them to worry about me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne Turmel
Co-Founder and Product Line Manager

Wayne Turmel is the co-founder and Product Line Manager for the Remote Leadership Institute. For twenty years he’s been obsessed with helping managers communicate more effectively with their teams, bosses and customers. Wayne is the author of several books that demystify communicating through technology including Meet Like You Mean It – a Leader’s Guide to Painless & Productive Virtual Meetings, 10 Steps to Successful Virtual Presentations and 6 Weeks to a Great Webinar. His work appears frequently in Management-Issues.com.

Wayne, along with Kevin Eikenberry, has co-authored the definitive book on leading remotely, The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership. Wayne and Kevin’s follow-up book, The Long-Distance Teammate, offers a roadmap for success not just for leaders, but for everyone making the transition to working remotely.

The latest book from Wayne and Kevin shows leaders how to design a team culture that has a one-team mindset and gets great results under hybrid-work conditions. You can order The Long-Distance Team: Designing Your Team for Everyone’s Success now.