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Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

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Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#281

Post by elbear »

dfsegoat wrote: post #220
elbear wrote: post #217

I can confirm the part about feeling isolated after working remotely for 7 years. I try to compensate by going to co-working spaces or cafes and working from there. Another thing that doesn't help my situation is that I'm mostly working alone on the project that I'm working on. I tried to compensate for that by volunteering my programming skills for an NGO.

Isolation led to mental health issues for me as well. What you describe sounds like a very good solution to that part of this (Also: Meetups).

Yes, I've also started going to meetups.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#282

Post by MoBattah »

maxfurman wrote: post #190

At my job, we do Monday-Wednesday-Friday in the office and work from home the other two days. It seems to me to be the perfect balance between the coordination and social benefits of being in an office and the freedom and productivity gains of remote work. I'm surprised more companies don't try this kind of schedule.

I'm starting a new role next week and that's exactly the schedule I negotiated.

The mix, I think, is good on a social level. When I used to work 100% remote, I found myself walking to the grocery store just to see other people.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#283

Post by MoBattah »

isostatic wrote: post #272
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still interesting that people who volunteer for remote work are more productive on average than those who prefer office work.

And cheaper of course - no need for a desk ($2k/yr), means they should be paid more.

Have you ever seen the accounting side of this?

I've previously seen accounting docs at a major defense firm I worked for. They tallied the exact dollar amount spent on each employee's square footage of office space on a monthly basis.

Furthers the argument you make.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#284

Post by MoBattah »

Clubber wrote: post #129
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really true, it’s easy to make the case that work must be done on site. Company policy prevents source code from leaving, or network resources are not available outside the office or something.

In the US, it's illegal to require an independent contractor to be on site or to even set hours. It's a purely output driven venture. The government sees it as a form of tax evasion, so companies need to be mindful of it. https://legal.uncc.edu/legal-topics/contracts/contract-check... https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/employers-must-follow-s... https://www.reuters.com/article/businesspropicks-us-findlaw-...

Betting OP meant "on contract" versus a 1099 contractor.

Maybe I'm wrong. If I'm not, he/she has very little say in their environment. At least that's my experience.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#285

Post by jadavies »

radoslawc wrote: post #200
adriand wrote: post #114

I think it depends on what you want to optimize for. If you want to optimize for individual productivity (and there are no trust issues) then sure, working from home is effective. However, you may decide that the individual productivity loss of having people work in an office is outweighed by the group productivity and morale gain from having people working together. Here are some reasons from a holistic company pers…

This might look like it's emotionally loaded response, but I'm just giving you tough love here: > - To more effectively add to the culture of the company. This is genuine question, what does this even mean? > - To take part in ad hoc training opportunities, either to teach someone who needs help, or to learn something from someone when an obstacle is encountered. This all can be done online and it's even better, if y…

    >> - To provide mentorship to junior staff.
    > There's this thing called documentation ;)
Mentoring is somewhat more than telling someone to RTFM. A smart engineer who's willing to teach less experienced team members is extremely valuable. The people who are really good at it never see it as a bother, just part of the job. My experience is that it's not as effective with remote teams.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#286

Post by John_KZ »

paganel wrote: post #39
ILikeConemowk wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lonelier How can being at home ever make you lonely when it gives you more time to focus on relationships that actually matter. Am I alone in thinking that those who expect any kind of meaningful bonding at work are misguided? Yeah, one can enjoy smalltalk and the like but I'd much rather change that for a chat with a friend or my dad early in the morning.

> How can being at home ever make you lonely when it gives you more time to focus on relationships that actually matter. Not all of us have kids or live with our family, and as such those 8 hours of office work are the only option for having a human presence around us during the day. Working 8 hours trapped in the loneliness of your house's walls each day, every day can be quite unsettling in the long run.

In my experience even family men get frustrated with working at home. Sure, 1 or 2 days per week is fine, but more than that is generally too much.

Work is probably the most common (or even exclusive for some) way adults meet new people, especially people they wouldn't otherwise meet. It sounds dumb when you don't experience it, but after spending a month or two working at home it start becoming apparent that you are getting too detached from society.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#287

Post by isostatic »

MoBattah wrote: post #283
isostatic wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And cheaper of course - no need for a desk ($2k/yr), means they should be paid more.

Have you ever seen the accounting side of this? I've previously seen accounting docs at a major defense firm I worked for. They tallied the exact dollar amount spent on each employee's square footage of office space on a monthly basis. Furthers the argument you make.

Well it's fairly simple - we have a building that only has office people in (not many, but some)

The cost of that building divided by the number of people there.

There's then power, heat, cleaning, etc, but that's all small fry compared with the rent or opportunity cost of an office building.

The technical infrastructure (Cisco switches don't come cheap) is probably offset by the cost of supporting remote infrastructure, vpns etc.

The cost per deal in central London is on the order of $10k-$20k a year. I'll take that in cash thanks.

http://www.cityam.com/233082/london-office-rents-tube-map-he...

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#288

Post by tylerjwilk00 »

otakucode wrote: post #255
throwawaymath wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment seems like a great microcosm of remote work discussions on Hacker News. You didn't dismiss remote working in a thread about it, but you tried (maybe imperfectly) to suggest times when it would be a good idea to not work remotely. It is not being received well! In response most commenters are criticizing your point by focusing on whether or not it is technically possible to achieve any of those things whi…

The difference is that one side is trying to justify the traditional designed-for-repetitive-manufacturing-work office setup, while the other is trying to justify remote work. One side is content to point out that there are limitations to remote work while almost totally ignoring the limitations to office work, while the other does the inverse. Both scenarios have advantages, and both scenarios have disadvantages. Wh…

This is a great comment that sums up both sides.

One other point often overlooked is one of real estate.

If a company has a lot of value locked up in real estate it may not want it disrupted by remote work.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#289

Post by tylerjwilk00 »

jimmy1 wrote: post #197
swat535 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes.. we should sacrifice productivity for the sake of "vibrant company culture", whatever that means. I have been working remotely in a large company and allow me to refute your points. > - To more effectively add to the culture of the company. If your culture is already remote, or shifting towards it, then it's a non issue. > - To take part in ad hoc training opportunities, either to teach someone who needs help…

Having worked for both remote and "butts in seats" companies, allow me to refute your rebuttal > If your culture is already remote, or shifting towards it, then it's a non issue. What does this even mean? How is it a non issue? You are vastly underestimating the nuance required to get from A to B, mainly, from in-person to remote capable. > This works just as well remotely. In fact I would argue it's even more effici…

> This is opinion. It works for some people, but for others, part of communication is body language and being near someone. It's actually science. These "non-verbal" communication indicators are not as well communicated through a telepresence.

For people like myself who struggle to understand body language, when everyone else in the room "gets it", forcing people to explain in detail removes ambiguity.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#290

Post by wool_gather »

loco5niner wrote: post #241
sdedovic wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree but I found a mixed strategy worked best. Monday, Friday in the office. Wednesday, Thursday out. That way I can get a feel for the week on Monday and a retrospective on Friday. Plus Fridays is usually the "Culture Building" day (taking it easy, maybe having a beer in the afternoon, playing some board games). And Monday's are great to catch up with the team after the weekend, bring donuts or some snacks in the…

> Monday, Friday in the office. Wednesday, Thursday out. That sounds great. No more Tuesdays!

Never could get the hang of Tuesdays.
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