It’s 2:12 AM. I’m at the office, as this is one of our peak load times on the servers. At times like these, we like to have everyone on site, in case there is a problem. So far so good, but we have about 90 minutes to go before we are in the clear. This gives me time to think…
I am blessed to have a great team. Still, I think about the impact of these late hours on staff. I heard repeatedly from them - “it’s okay, working in IT means a lot of late nights. We understand this.” And they’re right. The demands of business upon technology today means we must make sure our work often takes place when no other staff needs technology. But what does this mean for a Christian? As their manager, does this make it okay for me to routinely ask them to work late at night, or be away from their families during the evening? It comes down to evaluating the necessity each time.
In tonight’s case, there was no way to change peak load times. With tens of thousands of people requesting information from our servers, we can’t simply say, “sorry, we don’t want to stay up late tonight - come back tomorrow.” It would be nice, but no. Similarly, if the entire organization would be disrupted by our work - like rebuilding a mail server, or taking down the public website, then I understand the need to have our team working after hours, and I feel it does not conflict with my Christian beliefs.
What I do not agree with is when changes not covered in our Service Level Agreement are requested after hours. For example, if a piece of software that is only used by a dozen employees needs a short downtime and there is no hard cost associated with that application’s downtime, I don’t want the team coming in off hours. As a result, as long as each situation is evaluated and appropriate levels of push back are made on the business, then I believe a Christian Technology manager has done their role in ensuring their staff is not needlessly pulled away from their families or other commitments.