I Miss Working from the Office • Hacker News Board

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#441

Post by ghaff » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 9:56 PM UTC

matthewh806 wrote: post #107

crispyporkbites wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, it doesn’t get rescheduled and you slowly lose influence and find yourself working on things you hate, getting bad reviews and eventually getting fired/leaving because you hate your job

I would rather that outcome than having to wake up at 6am multiple times a week for a meeting. There is no way I wouldn't hate my job anyway if it was forcing me into ridiculous schedules like that...

Many people have to adapt to working across different timezones in their jobs. Obviously to the degree that something like that becomes a continuous pattern you need to decide if it's worth it to you to adapt to that schedule or not. There's nothing inherently "ridiculous" about it. For example I have a friend in Hawaii who has an agency with West Coast clients and she just adapts her waking schedule accordingly.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#442

Post by sorval » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:00 PM UTC

I'd be curious to know how common this is. I absolutely do not miss any part of the commute, or being constantly distracted by coworkers noise and needs.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#443

Post by zweifuss » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:02 PM UTC

benhurmarcel wrote: post #179

iso947 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m confused about your dishes claim. You mention you go home for lunch anyway so dishes don’t seem terrible, otherwise it’s a plate and a knife to pop in the dishwasher. When you were in an office and someone scheduled a 6am meeting what would you do? For me in the office I have a cup that I put in the dishwasher at the end of the day. At home I have a better cup that I put in the office at the end of the day. If yo…

I don't have a dishwasher. No space for it.

Some dishwashers are tiny. For camping or singles. E.g. https://daan.tech/

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#444

Post by slumdev » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:13 PM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #303

I don't plan on ever going back to the office. HOWEVER, it is possible that a company could entice me to come in to the office, and here's how: - Stop with the ridiculous open office plans - If you have free snacks or a machine with Monster energy drinks, don't get rid of those things a year after instating them - Give my team a budget for tools, like if we need Parallels or Sketch, and make that budget transparent -…

> Stop with the ridiculous open office plans

They are the worst.

> Get rid of Agile. It doesn't work. All you need is sprints with planning and retrospective, a ticketing system, and a daily status sync through Slack.

Watch some Dave Thomas videos on YouTube. Real Agile software development is nothing like the ridiculous faux-Agile frameworks sold into today's corporate prisons.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#445

Post by swat535 » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:18 PM UTC

I don't miss the open plan office, the constant interruptions by coworkers who rather have small talk than actually work, the useless meetings, the uncomfortable chairs, the shared washrooms, the kitchen that is never cleaned, the morning commute in traffic, the hour long commute back home, the forced socializing after 5PM.. really? we're a family..?

No thanks.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#446

Post by randycupertino » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:18 PM UTC

sfteus wrote: post #348

partisan wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the exact opposite for me. At work, we had 3 monitors, standing desks, great chairs, a gym, free breakfast and lunch, full private bathrooms with showers and towels and toiletries, amazing views, etc. Now I compete for space with some children, a spouse who also works from home, and I work on a 14 inch laptop screen from a couch. It’s a downgrade and I would work from the office if it were practical. We can go i…

From my experience, w/r/t meetings, I've worked from home going on 6 years now. A few years back we were acquired by a large company that had several divisions that worked entirely in office. When everyone started working from home, those divisions would initiate meetings significantly more often. I'm not sure if it's like a subconscious desire for more human interaction for those people that would usually get a bunc…

Checked out the video- really great! Thank you for the recommendation and here's the link for anyone else curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#447

Post by trianglem » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

I’m having such a good life right now I doubt I could ever return to the office.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#448

Post by tristor » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #426

tristor wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed that good equipment is a worthwhile investment, but unfortunately most companies don't see it that way. I'm now in management and get issued a standard option 13" Macbook Pro or Dell XPS13 as my system at both my current and prior company, both of which I'm permanently remote. That honestly does the trick because other than how shitty Electron is for memory consumption, I don't do the things as a manager that…

Most companies don't allow you to do work on non-corporate computers, for intellectual property/security reasons. They might not figure out anything is amiss if you merely add some parts to the computer they provide you, but that's about it. Our corporate network is locked down and you can't add random computers to it -- if something unexpected does get plugged in, someone in IT will be by eventually to see what the…

It definitely depends on industry. In the healthcare and finance space, that's been the case. But in other parts of the industry, including at most tech startups, BYOD has been acceptable. Many places use NAC + policy scans to validate your personal equipment meets their policy bar (and you may need to run a specific piece of agent software to be allowed on the network), but other than that they seem to not care much.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#449

Post by stevenalowe » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:45 PM UTC

Have you considered if your teams’ productivity has tanked that it might be a systemic/process issue? Not just temporary stress or disruption but an underlying issue, now exposed, that before was casually worked around by lots of in person informal communication? Many business processes “work” because people adapt without noticing the swerves.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#450

Post by Nursie » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:53 PM UTC

jlokier wrote: post #423

fennecfoxen wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you weren’t paid and wouldn’t work, would you still go to the same office, and would they allow you there? If not, you are probably there to work.

Conversely: If you were paid and work there, but every time you did something that looked like socialising someone would come over and tell you to stop, reminding you that you are there to solely to work , would you stay there? If you'd leave, you are probably not there solely to work.

A lot of people's workplaces do operate like that, though not anywhere I'd want to be.

But there certainly are limits and if you appear to be socialising more than working many places will ask you to perhaps refocus your attentions.