My way.

Workers. Workers. Tell me how much it’ll cost to complete a specific job around the house. Painting the place. Or installing a new roof. Or cleaning the house. Don’t start telling me how much an hour. But rather the cost of the job. Size it up. Tell me what it’s worth. Right from the start.  Give me what sounds like a fair price. Then go and do it. I don’t care about how many hours the worker spends on the job. Just as long as he/she gets the work done. Satisfactorily. And preferably better than that. I don’t want surprises at the end. Such as a vastly underestimated quote.  Where I have to pay more than reckoned. Something that both of us feel is fair. A bargain for both of us. It’s up to the workers to calculate in his/her profit. And if it turns out to be less than expected, so be it. If more, so be it, too. I’m often annoyed by hourly workers. Because they tend to drag things out. Making the job last and last and last. Better for me if the worker works quickly and efficiently. Or proceeds slowly and efficiently. I leave that to the worker.  Another thing, I’m leery of hourly workers who are too meticulous about counting up their time. Getting paid for small fractions of hours. For every minute. Even ‘goofing off’ time. When employed as a newspaper reporter, I usually didn’t seek overtime. I gave my employer extra time. Gratis. Taking an extra hour just for the sake of writing a better story. Voluntarily. A sense of satisfaction being my compensation. . For doing a job well. No monetary reward required. Doesn’t mean that others have to follow my example. It just happens to be my way. –Jim Broede