Not sure if you know this, but time sheets ARE important. They help us do several things as an agency, including, but not limited to, helping us determine profit and loss (important), they help us estimate future similar projects (important), and they allow us to determine who is working too much...because unlike some agencies, we don't want our people working too much (very important).

So, you'd think we'd be able to get our time sheets done in a timely manner, but that isn't the case. And that's why I'm introducing a new policy based on our good friend, Shame.

Here's how it works. I want to buy everyone here a decent Holiday Gift (some call it a Christmas Present), so I'm leaving it up to the staff on what the company spends. I picked a nice round starting number of $300 per person, or $3,900 since we have 13 employees.

Here's the fun part. If EVERYONE has their time sheets for the week printed out and on Ellen's desk by 12:00 on the following Monday, I'll add $100 to the total.

Here's the shame part. If ONE person misses the noon Monday deadline, I take $100 off the total (for each person that misses) and post their name on the wall of SHAME.

Since I'm announcing to the staff via this news post, I want to be very clear. So, here's a 2 week scenario/example. Let's say on week one, everyone gets their time sheets completed. YAY! We now increase the total gift spend to $4,000. And then, week two comes and Betsy, Shannon and Jared all missed the noon deadline. OH NO! Here comes SHAME! The total is now down to $3,700 and the rest of the staff who did their part are VERY disappointed in them. Their names are posted for all to see, allowing others to share their feelings with the intended audience (shame them).

Good luck! Your gift (and mine) depends on all of us, so let's hope it's something nice!

Check out our (pre-shame) policy work at the NEW catalyststudios.com.

tags: catalyst studios, minneapolis, minnesota, design, graphic design, interactive, catalyst,