We software engineers sometimes work under questionable conditions. I have experienced a project team that had to go live at one o'clock in the morning with an overall system that had been developed over the last few months. Part of this system was a customized SAP solution for storing subscriber data. This SAP system had 120(!) Changes that had not yet been put into production. The team had accumulated them over the course of a year due to lack of testing capacity. What would happen if you actually "transported" those 120 changes that night?
When I see something like this, I ask myself questions:
- Couldn't it have been done differently?
- How can it be that one must necessarily go into operation at one o'clock in the night?
- How is it possible that 120 uncommitted changes accumulate somewhere?
But that's just the tip. The stress culture is everywhere in our industry. Deadlines are set too tightly, the scope of the project is no longer discussed on the road but considered fixed. Teams get pressed for time just before release dates and try to compensate by working overtime.
Is it just us software engineers who are so crazy, or is this the case in the working world in general?
There is a method to it
The German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health wanted to know exactly that. She organized a telephone survey of 20 in 2012.000 people and turned it into a report, the 2012 Stress Report.
As I read the report, I realized: it's not just us SW engineers who are so crazy, the whole working world is! The 2012 Stress Report reports on the psychological demands of the workplace and the working conditions that can be critical to employees' health. These include, for example
- Long-lasting high time pressure
- frequent interruptions at work
- monotonous activities
- lack of recreational opportunities, etc.
Such conditions often lead to stress. In addition, however, there are also work requirements that have more conducive properties (called resources) and can have a positive effect on health. This includes u.a.
- Being able to plan one's own work
- decide about breaks yourself
- influence on the amount of work
- Communication and cooperation with colleagues and superiors
Worth reading: Stress Report 2012
The roughly 200-page report from the Federal Institute investigates how many employees in Germany currently experience frequent stress factors at work. It is not only about the stress factors alone, but also about the existing resources at work. Furthermore, the extent of health complaints – also of a psychovegetative nature – and their joint occurrence with stress and resources are presented.
Data and facts in the report are broken down by gender, age, working hours, industries and professions. In-depth chapters also present current data and research findings on key work characteristics (deadline and performance pressure, working hours, leadership, multitasking, restructuring) and their consequences.
Demands on us engineers
Resources in us engineers
Change in the last 2 years
The participants were asked: Has stress increased in the last 2 years?? Are you quantitatively (quantitatively) overwhelmed? Or qualitatively (professionally)?
We are heroes
We work really well with colleagues (92%), divide up our work ourselves (90%), decide for ourselves when to take breaks (80%) and get help from our direct supervisors (59%).
Everything is actually green, isn't it?? Then why do we whine that stress has increased in the last 2 years (46%) and complain that we are overwhelmed by the amount of work (20%)?
The long-term consequences
Maybe we are just people like everyone else. Multitasking and deadline pressure are only temporarily attractive and stimulating, but not in the long run. This is also shown by the research: There are disturbances in the body with continuous stress:
- Pain in the neck and shoulder area
- Lower back pain, low back pain
- Pain in arms and hands
- Pain and swelling in the legs
- Pain in the hips and
- pain in the knees
Deadline pressure also with you?
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Even the psyche cannot cope with this in the long run. Results..
- general fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion
- nocturnal sleep disturbances
- Nervousness and irritability
- depressiveness