I've found the reverse to be prevalent for me. Instead of all hours being work hours, once I'm done with the tasks I've outlined for the day and see that there's not enough time to pick up something new - I just wrap the work day up with some time to spare. If I was in the office, I would've been forced to sit in front of a computer, even if I'm mentally clocked out.
So just wrap up the day? What about if something happens when you "wrapped" your day up? Or someone got a question? You still need to be at the computer, same as in the office.
No one can see me wrap up when I'm at home. I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack.
If I'm at the office, I can still just walk out when I'm done, but I can't get back to work as quickly if I'm needed. So it's just polite to be physically present for the full work day.
Summary: "The survey said information technology decision-makers expect permanent remote work to double to 34.4% of their companies’ workforces in 2021, compared with 16.4% before the coronavirus outbreak, a result of positive productivity trends. About 72% of their companies’ total global workforce is currently working remotely, according to the CIOs." Honestly I would expect it to remain at more than 34%. Who would…
For some people (me included) the office is a very productive environment. Some things I am really interested in can be smashed out at home with no problems. But boring work is a chore unless I'm at the office where I can get my mind to say "you're at work, you're getting paid for this". I can do boring work well at work, whereas at home I wanna do anything just to get it out of my face. Not only that, for some peopl…
Thanks for writing this out as you've really hit the nail on the head. I manage a medium sized team and I can tell you some people are totally cool with just being a worker bee. I wish more of the conversation around WFH focused on how everyone is different, one size fits all rarely works, and if you do want to "get ahead" you'll need to put in face time. Period. Humans are social and want connection. Meritocracies are great in principal, but that's just plainly not how the world works. If you want managerial carrier development and growth, you have to put in the face time.
The article is light on reasons for increased productivity, but according to anecdotes I've heard, it's due partly to even longer working hours at home. Concretely, when salary employees WFH, all hours have become working hours for them. I've read accounts where people are having mental issues due to the dystopic new reality where they are always at work. They end up working around the clock, because they are constan…
My 1 hour commute where I got much needed downtime during which I would read books was replaced with sitting in front of my screen working. Basically wound up working additional 2 hours a day. Just totally unable to switch off either. Fucking hate it. Muh happier commuting and working with real people in an office.
The ability to switch from work to personal time is something everyone either learns by themselves or is eventually forced to learn after burning out.
A few colleagues use their commute time to take a walk around the block, that gets them in "work mode". And after they clock out they do the same in reverse.
I personally think remote workers living close enough to meetup if need be is the future. As a programmer this year has been great in regard to work; while working from home. Slack or Zoom for video chats when needed, solves all situations I would've been next to someone in-person and if it wasn't for the pandemic. I don't fear being outsourced as well, since companies still want their employees to be near and I doub…
Outsourcing always brings cultural and time zone issues, they can all be managed but do require extra attention and know-how to work through.
Summary: "The survey said information technology decision-makers expect permanent remote work to double to 34.4% of their companies’ workforces in 2021, compared with 16.4% before the coronavirus outbreak, a result of positive productivity trends. About 72% of their companies’ total global workforce is currently working remotely, according to the CIOs." Honestly I would expect it to remain at more than 34%. Who would…
For some people (me included) the office is a very productive environment. Some things I am really interested in can be smashed out at home with no problems. But boring work is a chore unless I'm at the office where I can get my mind to say "you're at work, you're getting paid for this". I can do boring work well at work, whereas at home I wanna do anything just to get it out of my face. Not only that, for some peopl…
Managing a split remote/local team is one of the hardest things to do. Nigh-impossible I'd say.
So just wrap up the day? What about if something happens when you "wrapped" your day up? Or someone got a question? You still need to be at the computer, same as in the office.
No one can see me wrap up when I'm at home. I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. If I'm at the office, I can still just walk out when I'm done, but I can't get back to work as quickly if I'm needed. So it's just polite to be physically present for the full work day.
> I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack.
The solution to the home-work separation, which also has potential to improve mental and physical health, is to go for a 20 minute brisk walk at start and end of the work-day.
Personally I don't know why we need to keep prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions for people who may respond differently. Prescribing fully office was terrible, why is prescribing fully remote not?
Forcing people into a specific building vs saying they can work anywhere. It's a massive difference. People throw around the term WFH, but you could really work anywhere. It's freedom.
No one can see me wrap up when I'm at home. I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. If I'm at the office, I can still just walk out when I'm done, but I can't get back to work as quickly if I'm needed. So it's just polite to be physically present for the full work day.
> I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. So your phone alerts you about every work email?
Smartphones have notification schedules for stuff like this. You can enable/disable different notifications during different hours.
Working remotely doesn't have to mean working from home. You could be working from a rented office or shared office space, friends, a hotel and so on. What's great is the flexibility and customization for each individual employee.
And who pays for that? For many remote work involves less take home pay.
Companies usually have budget for setting up remote workers and IME are happy to pay for work spaces.
For some people (me included) the office is a very productive environment. Some things I am really interested in can be smashed out at home with no problems. But boring work is a chore unless I'm at the office where I can get my mind to say "you're at work, you're getting paid for this". I can do boring work well at work, whereas at home I wanna do anything just to get it out of my face. Not only that, for some peopl…
Thanks for writing this out as you've really hit the nail on the head. I manage a medium sized team and I can tell you some people are totally cool with just being a worker bee. I wish more of the conversation around WFH focused on how everyone is different, one size fits all rarely works, and if you do want to "get ahead" you'll need to put in face time. Period. Humans are social and want connection. Meritocracies a…
> I wish more of the conversation around WFH focused on how everyone is different, one size fits all rarely works
and then
> if you do want to "get ahead" you'll need to put in face time. Period.
You've just prescribed a one-size-fits-all solution, in the same phrase as saying that it doesn't work. How are you resolving the cognitive dissonance?