Why do people in this profession have no boundaries when it comes to work hours? I’ve had someone send me 4 messages since 8 pm, the last two at 9:40, and I’m not even online, just seeing them on my phone and have not responded.

I understand deadlines or urgent things, but even if I was online I have stopped responding unless it is important and will then e-mail in the morning. If I’m online late, I have specific things I’m getting done.

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I mean sometimes it’s just about getting a thought out there while you are in the middle of it before you get offline yourself and possibly forget. That was like 90% of the people who I reported there. I was guilty of it myself but I had 0 expectations of someone responding to me right then and there. First thing next morning was sufficient.

Then there’s the 10% who have no boundaries.

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I completely agree. I've done that before, something like this though....''hope you get this in the morning, sorry for the late hour, I wanted to make sure you saw this first thing ..'

Or we are too focused on the project at hand not thinking through everything.

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I message you when it's convenient for me, you should respond when it's convenient for you.

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Just because you have received a message doesn't mean that you need to reply there and then. You are responsible for your own boundaries!

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I’d PIP you — if others are working around deadlines and you’re not that’s an issue. If you’re unwilling to respond to messages from your team when you’re both online that’s an even bigger issue than not working.

If you can’t handle overtime you shouldn’t have chosen a regulatory profession.

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All B4 do that with contractors every year.

It’s not a sustainable way to run a business.

People can message me all they want. I won't get the notification.

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Don’t have teams on you personal use phone.

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My thoughts exactly

I think people that are driven tend to shut down or ignore that voice in their head that tells them to think about another person’s feelings when they’re trying to get something done. I have also observed the same behavior from people that are feeling pressure from a client.

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There’s a lot of people like KPMG 1 in this profession who will go to great lengths to see to it that you don’t progress with your firm if you choose to be unresponsive. I’m not saying it’s nice, or fair, or whatever, but being available at all times is just the sort of the norm and expectation in this profession. I once had a senior manager chew me out on a Monday during busy season because he said he didnt see me online on the Saturday prior.

There’s a lot of brusk personalities in this profession, and they’re usually the ones who are rewarded - supervisors are not afraid of confrontation. Perhaps it’s just not for you, and there’s no shame in that.

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They’re complaining about a message after 8pm in busy season lol. That’s an early message. Sure, we don’t know the full context, but it’s clear enough that others were working and they weren’t and they were getting annoyed that people were messaging them at what is a reasonable time for this time of year.

I’m not really sure what additional context is needed. “no one should message me after 8pm even if I’m online” is a performance issue if it’s been raised to OP and they continue to act like this. If they don’t like that, public accounting likely isn’t for them.

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This is common if it’s busy season or there’s a deadline soon…

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Everything isn’t about you and your “boundaries” OP. We’re in a client serving profession, so we work when our clients need us, not when it’s convenient for us to work. Sure, good teams will cover for each other with respect to vacations, important family events, etc.

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I completely understand client and statutory deadlines, and this situation was not that. I’ve just recently seen an increase in people sending messages and expecting answers well outside business hours for things that could wait until the morning. If I’m working late, I generally avoid messaging people unless it is something we have to get done.

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The boundaries are your responsibility. If you're not working, don't answer. Turn off notifications on your phone. I don't ever expect someone to answer a message if they're not working. But I do send them if I'm working because then I don't have to remember to send it later and it'll be there when they have time.

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It’s up to you to uphold your boundaries; in any case you’re not obliged to reply to an email sent outside of your working hours and if receiving emails after your working hours crosses your boundaries you bed to communicate it, as it is not against their own but yours. Incidentally, I think my outlook sends me a prompt to message people within their working hours ;-)

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Some people don't know how to respect others' borders so you should to highlight that to avoid any acts again or, ignore messages after work time to send the massage by another way

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Were you required to respond? I try to be up front with my teams about this but managing daycare pick ups/drop offs often means I make up an hour late in the evening but I am not expecting my colleagues to be online/respond.

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Try to think of email as the old "snail mail". They likely had a "thought" they needed to communicate before they lost it. Maybe they did not need an immediate response or even expect one, but they may have sent the email just like dropping the "letter" in the mailbox. Just because people drop mail in the box at all hours, does not mean they expect the mail to run 24 hours or the recipient to work 24/7 , or for the recipient to read/respond 24/7.

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Just to clarify, I do respond if it is something important, and I regularly work until 11 pm, last night was one of the first week nights in the last month I didn’t work late. This was something non urgent that someone sent me 4 messages on, and I’ve already responded this morning.

Because it’s busy season? lol

Just because you work certain hours doesn’t mean others follow the same. If I message someone knowingly that they are offline, I don’t expect an instant response…but, maybe they’ll respond before I sign on the next day so I can pick up where I left off.

Just cos you get a message doesn't mean you have to respond right away. Some people have different rhythms and work at different hours. If you don't want to deal with it at night, fine. Deal with it in the morning. Remember your problem isn't the problem. Your response is the problem

Because you are in a service business. You work for the client not the firm. When I was a senior manager I felt my most important job was making the client feel like they were my only client and sometimes the needs of the client trump your schedule. Frankly clients care about their needs not yours and they pay a lot of money for that privilege. Don't like being in a service business? Try government.

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