365x24x7 (sleep patterns)

George Bonser gbonser at seven.com
Fri Apr 15 17:53:45 UTC 2011



> >
> 
> What we found was that we would find people who wanted to be on the
> night shift, and would NOT like to be changed, at all. Some people
like
> night
> work, or have family situations where it is ideal for them.
> 
> Regards
> Marshall

+1

I would start by first taking an audit of skills.   Some people are just
really good troubleshooters above and beyond average in that respect.
You want at least one of those on each shift.  Some other people are
really great at attention to every little detail in documentation.  You
want at least one of those, too, on each shift.  Sometimes those skills
overlap but my experience is that they are rooted in different
personality traits and the two complement each other and are only rarely
found in the same person.  Everyone else will be pretty much average in
both respects.

Then look at family situations.  Married with children will probably not
much care for swing shift if their kids are school age as they will
never see them except on their days off.  Mids are difficult for people
with a toddler at home (ever try to sleep with a toddler in the house?)
but work well with school-aged kids (parent can sleep while child is at
school).  Single parents are going to hate mids and swings.

Look at individual preferences.  Some people are natural night owls,
some are natural morning people.  Don't try to work against that if you
can avoid it.  So you might have a swing shift loaded up with single
people, mids with people who like working those hours and maybe married
with school-aged children.  Day shift with single parents and higher
level supervisory rolls.

But the extent to which you take into account people's natural
preferences, natural strengths and weaknesses, and their situation at
home can make a huge difference in a harmonious situation on the job.






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