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Do you stay late at work? There seems to be this unspoken rule about how working late means you are demonstrating great commitment to your company. Unless there is a specific deadline that requires working late, staying at the office beyond the usual time may not be the best thing for you or your company.
Working late may communicate to your boss that you’re committed. However, it may also communicate that you have poor time management skills. If your workload is meant to be completed during business hours, why are you taking so much longer to complete tasks? It may also indicate your willingness to sacrifice your life or your family. While some companies may demand this kind of time and sacrifice, if it hasn’t been explicitly asked of you, then staying late may indicate an inability to balance your life and your work. Finally, you are likely to burn yourself out if you consistently put in more hours than needed. Ultimately, this isn’t good for you or your company.
So, if you’re hoping that staying late will get you a promotion, you need to rethink your strategy. If your peers are doing the same quality of work and leaving on time, staying late does not put you in the lead for that promotion. Instead, focus on improving the quality of your work. And if, in doing so, you need to put in a few extra hours here and there, then do so. But routinely staying until 8:30 when everyone else has left at 5 is not sustainable or wise.
And as a side note, if you email your team after hours, be sure to explain to them that you don’t expect them to respond until they are back on the clock. Another downside to working late is that it can confuse your employees and make them think you have expectations for them to work late as well. If you stay late, be clear with your team about your expectations of their time.
What do you think? Share with us in the comments below.