Counting service time in a creative way

by nevaagain 41 Replies latest jw friends

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  Magnum

  Splash: Even better, do one of these things before you even meet for field service, preferably near your own home. This way you can count even more time, just knocking off 10 minutes for the field service meeting.

  In my area, what you mentioned was very common, except that even the meeting for service was counted, and with the very slow, long-winded JW males conducting meetings around here, they often lasted twenty or more minutes.

  
  
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  sir82

  When you consider the "creative timekeeping" methods described above, then factor in all the time spent walking between doors, not-at-homes, pioneer shuffle, etc., I'd say no more than 3 minutes of every "hour of field service" is actually spent "giving a witness".
  
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  ctrwtf

  I was always a fan of the Auto-Three rule.

  If you show up for meeting for service at 9AM you get the Auto-Three
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  OnTheWayOut

  Man, so many of us probably have so many of these "time" stories.  
  I want to say even for a hardcore believer, shouldn't they realize that God would rather that one person is helped in some way, be it humanitarian or spiritual, than for you to get your hours?  That time focus alone should be a red flag that something is wrong with Jehovah's Witnesses.  
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  NVR2L8

  I remember how the auxiliary pioneering season was all about finding ways to get the required hours in rather than the huge witness this period of the year would accomplish. Did you get your hours in was asked more than did you have any good calls. Finding good experiences for the following service meetings parts was almost impossible...From starting your time at 6:00 am at the train station to displaying magazines on the table of the snack bar while having lunch were among the favorite creative ways to get your time in...upbuilding isn't it? 
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  NVR2L8

  Sir 82...in our congregation our presence alone in the territory is a witness even if we don't speak with anyone! Angels see how we care and Jéhovah is happy especially when you are out in sub-zero weather or on rainy days...lol
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  William Penwell

  I seen this 30 years ago when I last went out in the service. I always wondered how much of that time reported was actually spend in talking to others. I know even my mother would be disgusted with the ones that would spend half the time in the coffee shop and not out banging on doors.
  
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  William Penwell

  The other morning I seen a couple of dubs with the new rack they have for magazines way out in the middle of no where. I guess they were hoping no one would see them.
  
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  StrongHaiku

  Gotta love "Incentives and Laws of Unintended Consequences"...;-)

  I think it is good to look at the "Organization" as just another business trying to manage their "employee's".  "Worldly" businesses have the same challenge similar to the options below:

  1. if you are an hourly employee, typically the business expects you to work a certain amount of hours.  The unintended consequence is that the employees find creative ways to work slower or "cheat" on their hours. The typical solution to this is to add production quotas (e.g. number of magazines) and/or add more and more managers to "crack the whip".
  

  2. If you are a salaried employee, typically the business expects you to hit your quota regardless of how much time you spend doing so.  The unintended consequence is that people spend less time doing the work and find more "creative" ways meet the quota.  And again, the business puts in more and more managers to "crack the whip".

  3. If you are an unpaid volunteer, typically the business sets a set of goals/vision usually with an intrinsic value.  There may be hours or production quotas, but the focus is to appeal to the person's commitment to the goal and vision.  The unintended consequence is that people will stop volunteering when the goal (or vision) is no longer compelling.

  The "Organization" seems to be a mix of the above even though they state that JWs are "unpaid volunteers" (#3 above).  However, they try to measures hours and quotas and don't have a compelling goal or vision.  No wonder you can't really trust their numbers.

  
  

    
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  William Penwell

  As a good dub I would never think of count time I didn't put in. I would try to drag out the time like what was mentioned by other posters. I know some ex dubs that would admit that they fudged their hours just to get the service overseer off their back.