Wow it really seems like I should be doing remote work. This is the exactly how I'd like work to be, in particular the emphasis on written communication. I've been trying to make the company I work at more like this but it's proving a losing battle. It turns out that what I really want is simply a remote job.
Remote Only
251–260 of 374 posts
Re: Remote Only
#252My somewhat reductive conclusion about remote work is that it boils down to the ability to be an effective writer. If you're not good at written communication, or you work with people who are not good at it, remote work will be miserable. People who are not highly fluent in the company's written language or those with some level of dyslexia will struggle. Also some people get frustrated with the more analytic approac…
I agree that writing well is important, but I would characterize this as beyond writing alone. Assuming that "remote work" isn't confined only to teams in time zones where working hours don't overlap, it's quite easy to start a chat or an audio call/conference. "Talking" directly is more important, and many a times yields quicker results than exchanging long emails or documents, whether it's with text (chat) or voice…
> it's quite easy to start a chat or an audio call/conference
"Ok, we're all here. Wait, where's Mike?"
"I think he was making coffee. Let's wait for him."
"Hey, is Zhang saying something?"
"Zhang, say something."
"..."
"I think your microphone is broken."
"Can you disconnect and reconnect?"
"Hey, he's typing something. I... will... reboot. Ok, let's wait for him to reboot."
"Hey, Mike's back. Someone tell him we're waiting on Zhang to reboot."
"I don't think he can hear us."
"Guys, I'm gonna go grab a coffee while Mike and Zhang figure it out."
Re: Remote Only
#253My somewhat reductive conclusion about remote work is that it boils down to the ability to be an effective writer. If you're not good at written communication, or you work with people who are not good at it, remote work will be miserable. People who are not highly fluent in the company's written language or those with some level of dyslexia will struggle. Also some people get frustrated with the more analytic approac…
I wholeheartedly agree! I am writing a newsletter to help developers improve their written communication (shameless plug: https://writingfordevelopers.substack.com/)
Do you have an opinion on what aspects of written communication are the most important for remote work?
Just gathering ideas to write about! :)
Re: Remote Only
#254> Disadvantages > Scares investors - Scares some partners - Scares some customers - Scares some potential employees, mostly senior non-technical hires - Onboarding is harder, first month feels lonely We do a full remote policy at SerpApi.com, however I found this disadvantages list a bit dishonest, they are more way numerous and important, the most obvious are missing real human contacts (and it doesn't get easier wi…
> the most obvious are missing real human contacts Human contact for me is more about friends and out of work activity. Colleagues are colleagues, if you want "real human" interaction, you'd need to get out of the office anyway.
Yeh.
They don't pay us to socialise, and I can count the number of times on my middle finger of how many people who at the offices I've worked at I'd want to spend my free time with.
Strangely, now that I'm working remotely, I actually do socialise with my colleagues when we meet every 3 months, and enjoy it.
Apart from that, I'm around people who I enjoy being with instead of staring the clock or the rear of a car. And I have more social energy to do so.
Re: Remote Only
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
> missing real human contacts For me, personally, working from home has amplified the good parts of working with people and human contact and removed the bad parts. When we do meet in person (4-5 times a year) we have a blast. When we communicate via video the communication is a lot of fun and very purposeful at the same time. Sometimes it feels like I speak to remote co-workers by video more than family and people i…
Yeah, "missing real human contacts" doesn't reflect my experience with remote work either. I'd characterize it as giving me much more control over my real human contact: I get to spend time with who I want on my own schedule to a much greater degree than I could in office jobs. Day to day that's mostly people who have nothing to do with my current work: girlfriend, friends, family, people at my krav maga classes, etc…
I'm sitting at my desk with my noise-cancelling headphones doing a mediocre job of blocking the 20-minute "standup" happening next to me in our open office. I'm going to be transitioning to a remote position soon, and can't wait. I already have two unsolicited offers from friends with office space to let me work in their spaces occasionally, so I have options for getting human contact—when I want it.
Re: Remote Only
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
so true. I have a business partner that I can talk to very effective in person. I had to relocate, and now we have to deal mostly via email. I have been working remotely for ten years now and saw no problem with the change. But it has become disastrous. I figured out that he is just not an "email type". Only picking up the phone works with him, but this does not fit into my workflow. I'm undoing our business partners…
Why doesn't picking up a phone fit into your workflow?
For many, a ringing phone is much more disruptive than an email notification.
Picking up a phone for voice calls is synchronous.
Responding to an email is asynchronous.
(The asynchronous advantage is probably why SMS texting & WhatsApp/FB messaging has overtaken voice calls.)
I had a friend that didn't use email and always called my phone. Whenever I shut off the ringer, he'd eventually send me an email. But the content of that email was always, "Hey I got no answer on your phone. Give me a call."
Argh!!! Why can't you just put your question directly into the email?!? My behavior of not answering his phone calls failed to "train" him to switch to the email mode of communication. It drove me crazy. I finally realized that some people in this world have brains that work better with voice calls. Unfortunately, that's incompatible with the way I like to work.
Re: Remote Only
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why doesn't picking up a phone fit into your workflow?
_Always_ picking up the phone doesn't fit into my workflow. Some things are better discussed via email or chat. I think it is very difficult to work remotely if you only have direct verbal communication available.
sort of tangental, but i wonder how a drop in/drop out system like teamspeak/vent/discord/etc. would work in a professional setting. you have direct calls still, but if you just want to be available to coordinate through voice you could. similar to leaving your door open and letting people stop by.
Re: Remote Only
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that writing well is important, but I would characterize this as beyond writing alone. Assuming that "remote work" isn't confined only to teams in time zones where working hours don't overlap, it's quite easy to start a chat or an audio call/conference. "Talking" directly is more important, and many a times yields quicker results than exchanging long emails or documents, whether it's with text (chat) or voice…
> it's quite easy to start a chat or an audio call/conference "Ok, we're all here. Wait, where's Mike?" "I think he was making coffee. Let's wait for him." "Hey, is Zhang saying something?" "Zhang, say something." "..." "I think your microphone is broken." "Can you disconnect and reconnect?" "Hey, he's typing something. I... will... reboot. Ok, let's wait for him to reboot." "Hey, Mike's back. Someone tell him we're…
If you're working in a largely co-located company, where video conferences are an uncommon occurrence then this probably fits.
In the context of this conversation around remote only companies though, everyone is going to be set up to be able to properly participate in a video call - that means making sure everyone has a decent internet connection, microphone, and camera at home. When people aren't at home tools like Zoom have the ability for them to dial in to conferences on a regular phone which deals with the remaining problems.
Re: Remote Only
#259My somewhat reductive conclusion about remote work is that it boils down to the ability to be an effective writer. If you're not good at written communication, or you work with people who are not good at it, remote work will be miserable. People who are not highly fluent in the company's written language or those with some level of dyslexia will struggle. Also some people get frustrated with the more analytic approac…
No amount of writing in my life prepared me for the amount of writing I do as a remote developer. I probably write 20+ "pages" a day if you count all of the documentation, emails, chat messages and GitHub discussions I write. Luckily for me, I love writing.
Re: Remote Only
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that writing well is important, but I would characterize this as beyond writing alone. Assuming that "remote work" isn't confined only to teams in time zones where working hours don't overlap, it's quite easy to start a chat or an audio call/conference. "Talking" directly is more important, and many a times yields quicker results than exchanging long emails or documents, whether it's with text (chat) or voice…
> it's quite easy to start a chat or an audio call/conference "Ok, we're all here. Wait, where's Mike?" "I think he was making coffee. Let's wait for him." "Hey, is Zhang saying something?" "Zhang, say something." "..." "I think your microphone is broken." "Can you disconnect and reconnect?" "Hey, he's typing something. I... will... reboot. Ok, let's wait for him to reboot." "Hey, Mike's back. Someone tell him we're…
I've worked remotely for 10 years. This happens with new setups, but if you're doing it daily, it stops happening.
I don't do standups anymore, but at my last company, they often took about 5 minutes from dialing to hangup.