computer use at work, and how many hours do people really work?

[Prloko]

I have been on my current job for over a year and am amazed at the amount of time people spend socializing. Sometimes it's downright distracting!

I know people who take 8 hours to do x amount of work a day. I know people who can do the same x amount in 5 hours and then have 3 hours of downtime time that they use to their liking. Unless we know exactly what someone is doing, its difficult to judge if they are really goofing off or if management is doing a horrible job of delegating work.

I once worked in a place where we had two employees who thought it was their duty to tell the boss what everyone was doing and whether people were "pulling their weight". I would overhear him and he would usually say, thanks I'll handle it. One day, he got tired of it and just stood up and addressed everyone. He stated (paraphrasing as it was long ago): I need everyone to concentrate on their own work. I know what each and everyone is doing and have assigned work to their ability. The way I see it, how are you working when you are busy watching other people? If you have time to look up at what others are doing, then you are not working either. You're just busy watching others work.

Afterwards, no one approached him about it again and the two busy bodies were never MORE productive.