If one was a founder who wanted to have their startup succeed without crushing your teams mental/physical health, how would you do it? I understand the founder accepting it as a cost themselves, but when the company's existence depends on speed, how do you balance the push with survival?
- It's understandable that you're super-excited and willing to work 18-hour days to make your business a success. Probably not healthy, but understandable, because it's your baby. Don't expect that from others, because it's not their baby. They have their own babies (and hobby projects, friendships, etc.) that need their attention.
- Consider an employee with 4 kids in different schools, each with different after-school activities, a spouse who also works, and an ailing parent/grandparent who needs care and won't be around much longer. Try to target your expectations for workload and time available to be appropriate for that hypothetical employee, in such a way that they can still live their life and care for their family while also being an effective and valuable employee.
- If you're in software, plan for zero-downtime deployments from day one. Architect and develop for it from the beginning. Don't ask your employees to stay up all night doing deployments and maintenance during a 'quiet time' window in the middle of the night. It's not hard to do daytime deployments without taking the system offline if it's designed for it from the start, but it can be a major challenge to retrofit that ability.
- Continually reassess your deadlines and priorities. If your deadlines are actually hard due to external factors, consider what can reasonably be cut to make the deadline. If they're soft, consider focusing more on priorities of what is most important rather than deadline dates. Seek to relieve pressure rather than creating it, by focusing on what's most important.
Are there any good case studies?