Why I Only Work Remotely • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#161

Post by babyrainbow » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 2:00 AM UTC

dahart wrote: post #140

citizens wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> coding things that solved problems we didn't have Couldn't this be solved by using a project management app?

In my experience, no. Project management apps don't substitute for communication very well, and things tend to get worse and not better when apps are expected to carry important discussions. If tasks are cut and dried, specified precisely, with no decisions to make, and no input from the engineer, then apps might help a lot. I've never had very much work of that sort, I'm usually highly involved in the discussions ab…

Well. Remote work demands a little more active communication. If you are not upto it, you are going to have that experience you mentioned, ie solving non-existing problems.

Working in an office also demands a lot like for example all the social stuff and politics that goes with it. Putting in a bit more effort into communicating actively in case of remote work, pales in comparison to that.

To clarify what I mean by active communication: Instead of thinking "Oh, I am not really sure about this. Let me ask John next time I see him in the hallway", Open your email or what ever communication app you use, fire a message right away.

I have also find it helpful to maintain a "thought log", where you scribble down your random thoughts about the works or concerns that you might have, that other interested people can look up..

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#162

Post by wott » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 2:19 AM UTC

stevesearer wrote: post #8

For as much as people like to hate on open offices on HN, it still baffles me why there aren't more Y Combinator startups founded with remote work or private offices as core company principles. Just a guess, but I wonder if the decision to just go with open offices has to do with the ability to scale such a plan quickly and easily, whereas scaling a remote team is too difficult or building or rearranging private offi…

Where would they put the foosball tables if they rent no office?

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#163

Post by jsjohnst » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:59 AM UTC

sangnoir wrote: post #130

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does text chat or video conference not fix that issue? Look at all these open source projects that manage to flourish across languages, time zones, etc.

I have a feeling open source projects flourish in spite of their distributed contributors. Text chat is a poor replacement to in-person conversation as it is occasionally async and a lot of meaning is lost. Video conference is better, but is less spontaneous and makes it harder to pull someone else into the conversation. Above all, text and video eliminate serendipity - I won't overhear the the conversation my collea…

I'm the exact opposite, a text discussion I can trivially multitask with other things, but come up and talk to me and not only can I only focus on you, but anything I was thinking about before is likely wiped out too.

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#164

Post by jsjohnst » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 4:03 AM UTC

snarf21 wrote: post #139

porpoisemonkey wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> personally am much more distracted at home because "I'm home". When I'm at work, I'm in work mode. Not sure if you've tried this or if it's practical for you, but I've found that having a completely dedicated space, with dedicated tools, can create a working context that helps boost productivity. I won't name them due to privacy concerns but my company has been very good about dealing with remote workers and provid…

I think it is more me personally than being about a dedicated space. I also probably average about 3 ad-hoc white board sessions in my office per week with varying people and topics. Additionally, I feel much more a part of a team all working towards a common goal when there is personal interaction. This is just what works for me, others prefer quiet. I work best in chaos and distractions. Part of it is my brain. If…

One could also argue that the right people aren't being involved in decisions. If support doesn't know the hardware is compatible, they shouldn't just assume and send it anyway. That doesn't do anyone any good.

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#165

Post by jsjohnst » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 4:06 AM UTC

morgante wrote: post #160

snarf21 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you. I personally am much more distracted at home because "I'm home". When I'm at work, I'm in work mode. I also find that I solve a lot of yesterdays roadblocks during my commute (20 mins each way) and the shower. Solving problems is not always about characters per second of new code. Over the years, I can't even count the number of times that I heard a conversation taking place and was able to step in…

> Most tech companies have hours ~8-6, because that is their customers hours too, not out of a mandate to irritate employees. The majority of tech companies do not have hours 8–6. That's farcical. Only truly archaic companies require developers to show up at 8am. More importantly, most developers are not on "tech support" duty so setting hours by customer call-ins is pointless.

Samsung in Korea requires their engineers to be in at 8am, being even one minute late can be grounds for termination. That may be proving your point, up to you to decide! ;)

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#166

Post by eric-hu » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 4:47 AM UTC

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #125

discordianfish wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If pivoting your engineering goals requires hallway conversations, there's something wrong. I agree but isn't there always something wrong? I'm in that spot, I worked mostly remote for the past 4 years and at every company it would have helped a lot to have a casual hallway conversation from time to time. It shouldn't be necessary but in reality it often is. It seem to me like you need well thought out, light weigh…

How does text chat or video conference not fix that issue? Look at all these open source projects that manage to flourish across languages, time zones, etc.

Are those open source projects part of a money making operation? Do they have the same kinds of deadlines with consequences of bankruptcy? Or is work voluntary and interest-driven?

Making software that should integrate with a business (either as a product or internal tool) has different communication requirements. Also, developers tend to understand each other better than non developers understand them.

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#167

Post by ilaksh » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 5:34 AM UTC

framebit wrote: post #78

Lone wolves can and do produce a lot of valuable output for businesses. However, on bigger teams, somebody's gotta take care of the juniors. Junior devs, interns, even moderately experienced devs can all benefit immensely from mentoring by senior devs. Mentoring is a fuzzy thing that happens in the margins, and that's exactly the kind of thing that's hard to replicate in full-remote work. Of course, everything in mod…

How can anyone seriously believe, at this point, that effective mentoring or other collaborative work cannot take place over the internet with things like git, Github, Skype, Google Hangouts, Facetime, WebRTC, Slack, Screenhero, telephones, etc., etc.?

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#168

Post by jasoncchild » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 6:06 AM UTC

d357r0y3r wrote: post #31

I rarely work remote even when I have the opportunity to do it; I'll explain. The author seems to have a single-mindedness about optimizing their own performance. If performance in terms of your value to the business was about sitting down at a computer and coding, getting in a "flow" state, etc, I would agree. Problem is, personal efficiency doesn't necessarily align with value generated. I've seen engineers spend m…

A good deal of this comes down personalities; yours and the rest of the team. Even with tooling it can be difficult to stay connected...but for someone else it could be difficult to stay focused with the ambiance that comes with a lot of "modern" office configs.

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#169

Post by babyrainbow » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 7:09 AM UTC

sangnoir wrote: post #130

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does text chat or video conference not fix that issue? Look at all these open source projects that manage to flourish across languages, time zones, etc.

I have a feeling open source projects flourish in spite of their distributed contributors. Text chat is a poor replacement to in-person conversation as it is occasionally async and a lot of meaning is lost. Video conference is better, but is less spontaneous and makes it harder to pull someone else into the conversation. Above all, text and video eliminate serendipity - I won't overhear the the conversation my collea…

>I won't overhear the the conversation my colleagues are having about a pain-point I solved 2 days ago.

That is ridiculous. If you solved something like that, post it on some channel everyone is subscribed to, instead of trying to "overhear" problems people are having, not to mention you are willing to be distracted perpetually, listening for problems your colleagues might have...ridiculous.

Re: Why I Only Work Remotely

#170

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 7:40 AM UTC

pzh wrote: post #145

sparrish wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remote work can be about enjoying your work (and work environment) as well as the lifestyle it provides (flexible work hours, no commute, live in the mountains/at the beach/etc). That is worth something and most remote workers who value those things gladly give up some pay and project 'quality' to have them. I wouldn't trade my daily lunch with my wife and kids for twice the salary.

The problem is that we are talking about something like one fifth of the salary with no vacation and no benefits for remote. Also, projects boring as heck.

[deleted]