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I Miss Working from the Office

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Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#481

Post by marklyon »

leipert wrote: post #461
m463 wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to say employees are just as silly sometimes. All my life I've always just bought the stuff I need and took it to work. No matter where I've worked it was 1/100th the hassle to do that rather than figure out how to go through channels. I've also tried stuff and ditched it a few weeks later and tried something else. this applies to lots of things at work -- who cares if the office pens are free - they suck.

Well. I don’t expect doctors to bring their own scalpel, construction workers their own hammers, firefighters their own hoses. If you want to employ me, please provide me with the tools to do the job properly. An ergonomic keyboard, mouse, chair and desk are a given. A nice display is a bonus. Especially when it comes to ergonomics I don’t understand employers, an engineer going on leave for a week because of RSI / b…

> construction workers their own hammers

Aren't most construction workers expected to provide their own basic tools? The contractor usually provides specialty tools and power tools, but when I did demolition, I certainly brought my own hammer.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#482

Post by namelosw »

st1x7 wrote: post #48

I think that what isn't discussed enough is the variance in quality of your office environment and of your home office and how that quality affects your preferences about working from home. It sounds quite obvious but in these arguments people often just state what they personally like and leave it at that. Your office can be place where you still have the option to work uninterrupted but also get the benefits of fac…

I believe serious remote workers should optimize their home working environment. It is an investment. But the problem is most people was forced to working remotely without any preparation and motivation - people end up complaining remote working while working with laptop in the couch.

I have a chair which is suits me perfectly, a big standing desk which is not wobbling at all, and 3 monitors with premium stands which are tuned just for me. It's much easier for a remote worker to setup everything that suits you, and it's much harder to adjust workplaces to make everybody happy.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#483

Post by graderjs »

ck425 wrote: post #264
graderjs wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think office work should be an option companies provide, and it should be like an AirOffice, floating, in co-working or "business center" office space, or even ad-hoc such as at such and such a cool, wifi, remote work friendly cafe. I think this is the future of work and that's how I want to run my company when it employs people. I had this idea since around 2010/2011. I know this won't work for everything. Factori…

Would that be similar to WeWork? I'd want to be in an office with my actual colleagues rather than remote working from a co-working space.

I don't know about them, but if you worked for me and the team you were on agreed, we'd rent you a dedicated office. At the same time, if team wanted to go full remote, or cowork we'd support that. Sort of like how Apple used to take over buildings for a project.

Another idea i had about this was we could also consider RE investment. If we had the cash and the investment made sense, we'd actually buy the floor or whatever, and once our project no longer needed it, we'd rent. I like the idea that overtime the business converts some of its cash into RE, that can act as a buffer for the rest of our income.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#484

Post by homodeus007 »

st1x7 wrote: post #48

I think that what isn't discussed enough is the variance in quality of your office environment and of your home office and how that quality affects your preferences about working from home. It sounds quite obvious but in these arguments people often just state what they personally like and leave it at that. Your office can be place where you still have the option to work uninterrupted but also get the benefits of fac…

There is and always will be variance in the quality of your work space, whether that is at an office or within your own home.

When people say "I enjoy working from home", most attribute to the being able to focus in your comfortable area, lack of noise, no need to commute during rush hour, and many other widely common cons that is associated with working at an office.

The consensus of wfh vs office should take place with the following question:

given ideal situation for both scenario which one would you choose?

Because, having a loud roommate in your house does not represent the general public and is actually what I would consider an "outlier" in this particular consensus.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#485

Post by shaoonb »

ricardo81 wrote: post #113
matthewmacleod wrote: post #70

I'd like to think that after the n th discussion of this topic we could all generally agree: - Some people prefer working in an office environment. There are valid reasons for this, and it's totally fine. - Other people prefer working at home, and this is also completely fine and understandable. - People other than yourself who experience challenges with either one of these arrangements are not idiots and the things…

I agree with the sentiment of your creative approach. I think a good middle ground is having offices in neighbourhoods, within walking/cycling distance where people from different companies come to work. They get the benefit of social interaction, "getting out of the house", and avoid a car journey. Living in the UK, I think that would also help restore the feeling of community, as a gathering point for people within…

I personally feel that part of the benefit of the office is sometimes being able to unite against the common enemy that is your employer.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#486

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

marklyon wrote: post #481
leipert wrote: post #461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. I don’t expect doctors to bring their own scalpel, construction workers their own hammers, firefighters their own hoses. If you want to employ me, please provide me with the tools to do the job properly. An ergonomic keyboard, mouse, chair and desk are a given. A nice display is a bonus. Especially when it comes to ergonomics I don’t understand employers, an engineer going on leave for a week because of RSI / b…

> construction workers their own hammers Aren't most construction workers expected to provide their own basic tools? The contractor usually provides specialty tools and power tools, but when I did demolition, I certainly brought my own hammer.

Yeah, almost all tradespeople do so. Part of an apprenticeship is building up your toolbox.

IT is different though, because the tools are the repository for the delivery also.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#487

Post by [deleted] »

partisan wrote: post #195
dandellion wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very good point, I'm really enjoying working from home and I attributed it mostly to not having to do the one hour commute each way, but there's so many more things that add up: - At home I have the most comfortable chair I could find on the market that fits me perfectly. At work there are very basic adjustable chairs and they use some slippery fabric. - At home I have an ergonomic mechanical keyboard vs. a…

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…

[deleted]

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#488

Post by Foivos »

deadlyst0rm wrote: post #5

Most people when they say they miss the office they mean missing dragging everyone with them to the office. You were in the office weren't you? Stay there then and have all the space you want :D I for one will never go back to the office.

Am I the only person who wants to be in the office AND also prefers to be alone there?

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#489

Post by ghaff »

Foivos wrote: post #488
deadlyst0rm wrote: post #5

Most people when they say they miss the office they mean missing dragging everyone with them to the office. You were in the office weren't you? Stay there then and have all the space you want :D I for one will never go back to the office.

Am I the only person who wants to be in the office AND also prefers to be alone there?

I doubt it. There are certainly people who would be perfectly happy with a private office in a Regus or WeWork co-working location so they're not stuck working on a kitchen table or their bed--especially if there are other people in a small apartment all day. (Or they just want home-work separation.)

But there's also a sizable contingent who wants to go back to pre-COVID office life.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#490

Post by CydeWeys »

ghaff wrote: post #433
CydeWeys wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>Most companies don't allow you to do work on non-corporate computers, for intellectual property/security reasons. I'm genuinely curious how common that is these days. I certainly work on personal computers and a lot of people I know seem to do so as well.

Let me clarify my statement: Most *employees work at companies that don't allow you to ...

Yes, I'm sure most startups are lax, but big corporations are not, and there's way more engineers in total working at big corps than at startups. When I said "companies" I didn't have startups in mind.

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