61–70 of 128 posts
edit: added openly
It's hard to train people remotely. At least it is in my experience anyway.
You generally miss the out of band communication, i.e. the conversations between other colleagues that you overhear, as well as the 'waterfountain' chat. Sure, these spaces can be created online, but in my experience the threshold is too high for such spontaneous things to happen.
> i.e. the conversations between other colleagues that you overhear, as well as the 'waterfountain' chat. Never underestimate the value of these conversations. Often, this simple ability to "overhear" others is EXACTLY how you avoid being left out of the loop and have some clue as to what's going on.
Online meetings seriously suck still. It's harder to form real relationships with coworkers (some would see this as a plus, but I think it depends on the company/team culture). But the biggest change is forming trust. How do we come to trust in each other and in the mission if we never interact physically? It certainly takes a different kind of leadership.
I work from home and am a big advocate of doing so. One thing I find difficult in remote teams is the ability to ask a coworker a question quickly. There can be a fair amount of lag time over messenger and this occasionally blocks the completion of work.
Why is it so important that your colleague HAVE to respond quickly? Have you ever considered that your colleague may need some time alone to finish her own task before she can answer your super important question? (sorry for the mood of my answer but it is so bad on purpose :) )
- Depending on at-home situation, you may be able to focus on work more
- Time flexibility. You have the luxury of doing errands / tasks at home
Cons
- Difficult to build deeper connections with co-workers. Unless there are other processes in place, I've noticed that communication becomes increasingly work-related and less about just catching up
- Accessibility to distractions. It's easier to get distracted when you have access to TV, books, video games, etc...
- Separation of work and leisure time. Physically leaving the office used to be a forcing function to stop working. Now, it can be easy to just keep working.
- Collaboration becomes more difficult. Your coworker may have stepped away from their desk and you're kind of left hanging until they get back.
I know it can potentially be controversial but a lot of outside of work relationships start at the office. Some can be romantic and may even lead to marriage. Others can be friendships that last job changes. It can even be as simple as having a great group of people to chill at a bar with. While I love my wife and kids, I think most others are like me and want to periodically get out and meet new people. Work is ofte…
Inability to form genuine social bonds with colleagues, thus artificially limiting trust.
It breaks concentration and deep work.
By my own estimates, I'm about 40-50% as productive as I was in the office.
Number one is: You need to be cut out for it. You need to be self sufficient and be OK with working alone. Not many people can handle that and will want to go back to the office. I love remote work and get really stressed in an office (especially open and cubes) but I feel people like me are a minority.
> You need to be cut out for it. You need to be self sufficient
Instead of saying "People are not cut to it" why cannot we say "People have not enough experience with it"?
Even working in a classic office space requires some experience, trial and error.
> and be OK with working alone.
well, there are co-working spaces, working hubs etc