Good honest work documented for good honest pay.

Due to recent changes in how we charge our clients, there is an increased importance for you to accurately declare the hours spent working for Lifely. But sometimes it can be hard to know where to put your hours and so we’ve created this short policy to give you a helping hand.

This policy is a v1 and will be updated as we move forward in the coming months.

Productive hours vs billable hours.

This might sound controversial but we count productive hours and unproductive hours. Although what you might consider “productive hours” per day might change depending on circumstance. As a general rule, you can assume that most of us can do about 5 hours of deeply concentrated work a day (otherwise known as “deep work”). When it comes to billing hours to a client, it’s not fair to just book the 5 hours of deep work. Because in reality, you need those “less productive” 3 hours in your day to be optimally productive. Also, we need to factor in the work you do before and after what you think is billable. Your check-ins, stand-ups, a quick walk after lunch etc. are all in service of our clients. We need to respect the whole process and our clients know that this is part of the deal. It’s why they hire professionals like us.

So how do we distinguish between billable hours and internal hours?

To make things more clear for you, we’ve set out the following clarification on the difference between billable hours and internal hours (we’ll talk more internal hours in a minute).

Billable hours: What have you done today that is in the service of our client’s success?

Indirect or direct, think about the whole picture. Planning, executing, reviewing. There are many circumstances where we should document billable hours.

Examples:

1. During Traffic Management meetings leads, PM and TM make sure that the right people are working on the right projects and that client deadlines are met, therefore hours are billable.
2. During your check-ins you are expected to talk about your challenges, your responsibilities and your concerns - also regarding the projects you're working on. The goal of the check-in is to help you become a better you and is therefore indirectly in service of our clients.
3. Not only direct client hours (‘designing’ / ‘developing’), also indirect client hours are billable hours. This includes (but is not limited to) your Monday morning sprint planning, working out a RAP and yes, also the time spent filling your timesheet at the end of the day. All this contributes to furthering the success or work you do for a client.

Internal hours: What have you done today in the service of you and our company’s success?

These are the hours you spend in working on new knowledge and skills you have not yet mastered (at a level that is reasonably expected to be billable to a client). It can also be in relation to when you work on the growth and further development of Lifely as a company.

Note that all internal hours should be approved (and in most cases scheduled) by Traffic Management. You can find a list of pre-approved internal hours below:

1. Time spent to benefit your personal development at Lifely and to complement your skill set by using Lifely Learning Days

(in Simplicate to be found as Internal Activities, Lifely Learning)

1. As a Council member you’re allowed 2 hours a week max, to execute on your council duties

(in Simplicate to be found as Internal Activities, Lifely Council)