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I Only Work Remotely

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Re: I Only Work Remotely

#141

Post by billirvine »

justinlaster wrote: post #38
billirvine wrote: post #36

As a founder of startups, I take a bit of exception to the tonality. Yes, lots of inexperienced founders/leaders drink deep of the open office koolaid and do it wrong. But doing it right (allowing flexibility, having private spots, etc.) yields better overall results because people are more creative in groups. The chance serendipity of investigating new ideas with your fellows will always result in a better work prod…

I strongly disagree. In fact, I'm of the opinion these days that if you can't communicate effectively and proficiently over text, you're in the wrong field; at the very least I'm going to question how much you are "with it." There is nothing stopping a completely remote company from having "jam" sessions between developers. Is there any solid evidence that working in an office together yields a better work product? W…

To clarify; I'm referring to smallish startups with less than 15 people. If I were to count the number of times that chance encounters in the kitchen, lounge, common area, etc. resulted in ideas that dramatically improved the product, it's be in the 100's. Creativity needs time to ferment, and a catalyst to clarify.

Large enterprise corporations with dozens of people on the tech team and a rigid process? That's not a creative environment. Startups MUST foster a creative environment.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#142

Post by billirvine »

christophilus wrote: post #79
olau wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a citation for the "more creative in groups"? Some years ago I participated in a creativity/innovation course, and one of the things we were taught was the brainstorming in groups had been found to be ineffective (because of group think, I think). I do agree that occasional chatting/communication is important otherwise, though, although I'm not really sure open plans foster that - seems to me to foster br…

Right. Look up John Kleese's talk on creativity for a convincing explanation of why solitude is critical to the process.

Sure. But it's only part of it. And Kleese considers solitude the be distraction that the creative process also needs.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#143

Post by ashark »

cr0sh wrote: post #111
randallsquared wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Three of your five examples are screen-related, though?

Which three? If they're the ones I think you mean - then you've forgotten about the old tech called "dead tree" and "graphite" (or whatever your preferred medium)...

To be fair, I also use screens for at least part of four of those things (not counting buying books on Amazon, then it'd be all 5) and plenty of people also use a screen for books (even if you don't count e-ink, which isn't light-emitting so probably shouldn't count as a screen in this context). You can do without them entirely all parts of those activities, obviously, but it's less convenient and/or more expensive, and depending on your goals or workflow may be entirely inappropriate (some drawing/art, for instance).

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#144

Post by justinlaster »

billirvine wrote: post #141
justinlaster wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. In fact, I'm of the opinion these days that if you can't communicate effectively and proficiently over text, you're in the wrong field; at the very least I'm going to question how much you are "with it." There is nothing stopping a completely remote company from having "jam" sessions between developers. Is there any solid evidence that working in an office together yields a better work product? W…

To clarify; I'm referring to smallish startups with less than 15 people. If I were to count the number of times that chance encounters in the kitchen, lounge, common area, etc. resulted in ideas that dramatically improved the product, it's be in the 100's. Creativity needs time to ferment, and a catalyst to clarify. Large enterprise corporations with dozens of people on the tech team and a rigid process? That's not a…

I wasn't talking about large enterprise corporations. I still don't see how you lose "chance encounters" over an online medium, especially when everything is in text and you are constantly just a few characters away from each other. There is more opportunity for other people to chime in, or think about an idea, or share their idea.

Your example seems really, really contrived.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#145

Post by npsimons »

mi100hael wrote: post #73

> I am a night owl. You can tell me I have to have my butt in a chair within your line of sight at 8 or 9am, but that is very wasteful. This used to be me and I used to believe it was just the way things were. I'd naturally sleep 10+ hours until noon on the weekends, struggle to wake up for work, and then struggle to fall asleep before midnight. I had little energy for exercise and always felt stressed trying to find…

As someone who wakes up at 4AM to hit the gym, I would second all of these recommendations, and add a few:

1) Multiple alarm clocks, strewn about the room where you have to get up to turn them off.

2) A sunrise alarm clock.

3) Exercise, hard and heavy, first thing in the morning, before anything else, and every day. You'll fall asleep much faster and sleep much better.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#146

Post by ryandrake »

westbywest wrote: post #122
gcp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most engineering offices I've been into being a morning person would mean you have less overlap with everyone else, since coming in late and staying late is the norm. In one company I consulted for, a morning person almost got fired when a regional manager noticed he left 2 hours earlier than everyone else. It was hilarious, in the saddest possible way.

Having young children can place constraints on your ability to shift work hours away from conventional 9-5. Childcare/schooling/etc are not as flexible in the schedules they follow, and not everyone has a spouse/partner with sufficient free time to compensate for your unavailability.

Another difficulty is that very young children don't always understand the concept of "daddy is working now and can't play". Hell, not all spouses understand the concept of "no, just because I'm home doesn't mean I can watch the kids while you go out and run errands". Being physically in an office somewhere else helps to prevent the lines between "work time" and "home time" from becoming blurred.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#147

Post by 234dd57d2c8db »

billirvine wrote: post #36

As a founder of startups, I take a bit of exception to the tonality. Yes, lots of inexperienced founders/leaders drink deep of the open office koolaid and do it wrong. But doing it right (allowing flexibility, having private spots, etc.) yields better overall results because people are more creative in groups. The chance serendipity of investigating new ideas with your fellows will always result in a better work prod…

Nope, being in a group just makes it harder to brainstorm. This has been proven over and over. The correct technique is to define the problem together, then each person alone develops solutions via brainstorming / investigation, then the team meets again and everyone discusses their findings.

Having everything happen in a group setting discourages people from sharing their ideas after two or three members start agreeing with each-other because of the unconscious social pressure to fit in with the group. It's been studied and documented.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#148

Post by maccard »

swerner wrote: post #118
maccard wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To offer an alternative viewpoint, I moved away to a place where I knew nobody and had no existing connections. There's nothing wrong with having social connections with your work colleagues (you spent all day with people in school/university only to want to spend more time with the outside those situations, why is the workplace any different?), and there's plenty of other ways to meet people. meetup.com, sports club…

That kind of dropping into a new environment was fun in my 20s when I went to university. Now I'm entering my 40s, and with a wife and family it's a very different situation.

> with a wife and family it's a very different situation.

Absolutely, and you're right. It's one thing to make the break for yourself, but a totally different thing to enforce that on someone else.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#149

Post by npsimons »

justinlaster wrote: post #38
billirvine wrote: post #36

As a founder of startups, I take a bit of exception to the tonality. Yes, lots of inexperienced founders/leaders drink deep of the open office koolaid and do it wrong. But doing it right (allowing flexibility, having private spots, etc.) yields better overall results because people are more creative in groups. The chance serendipity of investigating new ideas with your fellows will always result in a better work prod…

I strongly disagree. In fact, I'm of the opinion these days that if you can't communicate effectively and proficiently over text, you're in the wrong field; at the very least I'm going to question how much you are "with it." There is nothing stopping a completely remote company from having "jam" sessions between developers. Is there any solid evidence that working in an office together yields a better work product? W…

> In fact, I'm of the opinion these days that if you can't communicate effectively and proficiently over text, you're in the wrong field

Considering that the Linux kernel was developed 90% on a mailing list, I think it puts the lie to "face time is required for development."

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#150

Post by DigitalJack »

mc32 wrote: post #71
lj3 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm; I have been that morning person who left 2 hours before everyone else and, while I didn't get fired, I was punished for it.

And it's a strange thing in that it can be enforced via normal social interaction: See you tomorrow. Oh, is it that time already? Leaving so soon? Bye now. And it may not be intentional, but it comes thru that way. The easiest way to leave is to not say anything. Just grab your things and head out, which can come across as antisocial, but it avoids the awkwardness.

I always said something like "I came in late, so I'm leaving early." People usually didn't know what to do with that.

I've been working remotely for about 11 years. But my situation changed and I'll be commuting again. I'm actually looking forward to being in an office again.

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