I've got quite strong views on working long hours* which I often discuss with people I work with. It's bad from a people perspective, but it's also bad from a company perspective.

From a company perspective, working long hours not only causes problems through stress; it also masks the true cost of a project. If everyone has to work long hours to deliver a project then the amount that the company is paying for that project isn't accurate; the project will be budgeted on resource working a standard 35-40 hour week. This can have damaging long term effects as the company will then expect future projects of similar complexity to be delivered for the same amount (or probably less), and if all the staff who previously worked long hours acting like heroes have gone off with stress or quit, then there's no way that next project will get delivered.

It also undermines the business case for the project; there was originally a predicted cost to deliver that project based on standard working weeks, against which the resulting benefits were assessed. If the project actually cost more to deliver than predicted then those benefits may be eroded, regardless of whether or not the actual costs were charged to the project and you may be doing more harm than good. If early on it's made clear that actually more resource is required to successfully deliver it, then it may be more prudent to cancel the project and therefore avoid additional spend. If no-one speaks up and just gets on with working extra hours, then the company may be wasting money unnecessarily.

[In addition, there's bound to be a quality hit if you're working 10 hour days, no matter how good you are - and what's the resulting impact on the finished product?]

From a personal perspecitve, work-life balance requires strong self-discipline; it's not just about whether you've been given too much to do, it's about being able to a) prioritise and b) to say no. Not in an unprofessional way but in a way that makes it clear that if something needs doing and you don't have enough time in a normal working week then either something less important doesn't get done, or more resource needs to be assigned. Sometimes you need to stand up and challenge the "hero" mentality that pervades some projects - you owe it to yourself, your co-workers and the company to be honest if more resource is required. 

However, from a personal perspective it's important to be honest with yourself; are you working as productively as you can be? How much time do you spend dealing with email throughout the day? How much time do you spend reading BBC News when you get in in the morning? Are you using the tools available to you in the most efficient way? Are you reusing collateral from previous projects or starting everything from scratch?

There are several ways to improve productivity (for example dedicating a set period of time to email and turning it off once that time is over) and countless articles on the web that will provide genuinely useful advice for free.

Finally from a management perspective, working long hours doesn't say "dedicated worker" to me; the idea of "dedication" being demonstrated through long hours died in the early 1990s. Working long hours says to me that a person has a lack of self-discipline, poor time management and probably low productivity.  Now not every manager is as opinionated as me, but do you really want to run the risk of giving that impression? 

* Note: I realise it's sometimes necessary to pull a 10 hour day - every now and then as a one off, and as long as you're clawing the time back another day, then it's perfectly reasonable and sometimes unavoidable. I'm talking here about the constant and expected hero culture that is endemic to many projects.

The pragnalysis team are pleased to announce the launch of their first publication, namely What is a Business Analyst...and why do I need one?.

Designed to be a simple, easy to read explanation of the BA role and the value that it offers, the book is available to download for free from this very website or to purchase in paperback format below or from Amazon.com.

This brief (64 pages) publication is aimed at business stakeholders that may need convincing of the value of the Business Analyst role; if you've ever struggled to explain what it is you do to your customers (or friends) then we hope this will help.

	Download the PDF for free
	Buy the paperback via PayPal for £5 including postage within Europe
	Buy the paperback from Amazon.com (USA / Canada)

Bulk orders attract a discount; the more copies, the bigger the discount so if you're looking for more than 5 copies, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We hope you enjoy the book, and welcome all feedback - please post comments, tweet (@pragnalysis) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it directly.

As promised, some news about the next pragnalaysis project...

Have you ever struggled to explain what it is you do as a Business Analyst? Struggled to convince stakeholders of the value of the role? Or simply struggled to tell your friends why it's not quite as simple as "IT stuff"?

pragnalysis's first publication, "What is a Business Analyst...and why do I need one?" is designed to help. A short, easy to read book that explains the role of the BA and the value that it offers.

Completely free to download from this site, and available to buy in hardcopy form from us as well as amazon.com for little more than the cost of printing - any profit goes into the cost of running the site.

The book will be available very soon, but for now here's a picture of the first batch of hard copies:

And there's more: coming next year will be another book, entitled "Business Analysis In The Real World"; this will be a more in depth look at Business Analysis, including case studies and real life examples - but above all it will be about pragmatic Business Analysis, not blind dogma or method.

Some thoughts expressed as simple equations (not exhaustive by any means but I think these are the key factors)

A good BA = 

strong communication + positive attitude + holistic viewpoint + knowledge of a variety of techniques + pragmatism + flexibilty + willingness to share + willingess to challenge + proactivity

A bad BA =

dogma + negative attitude + superiority complex + poor communication + inflexibility + looking inwards + reactivity 

Note that a bad BA can still do a good job - but you probably wouldn't want them on the next job.