Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in

India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary

visits Infosys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee

session with another IT company in India . He is incidentally, one of

thetop 50 Influencial people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication

and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session :

do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary.

Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I don't know if

they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office

this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to

the workplace.

Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over

the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are

things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in

the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential

errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make

mistakes caused by fatigue.

Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and

energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to

correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday. Another problem is that

people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often

complain about other people (who aren't working as hard); they are

irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such

behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better when people work

together instead of avoiding one another.

As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the

office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work

with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words

quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a

time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday.

Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For

instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:

1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.

2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.

3) Go home.

4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play

with your kids, etc. 5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2.

Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They

are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are

possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.

In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son.

When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not

fall asleep no matter how long the visit, and no matter what time of day it

was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left.It was as if he

was afraid that he would miss something. Once our visitors' left, he would

go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream

through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid

the price for his fear of missing out. Perhaps some people put in such long

hours because they don't want to miss anything when they leave the

office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is

life !! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not

ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you're

asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence…

"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU