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Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

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Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#111

Post by mech422 »

news_to_me wrote: post #93
mech422 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TBH, I don't think companies will fight it - its still cheaper to give an employee a budget and let them kit out a home office then to pay for cubicles, desks, etc. Office furniture is dam expensive! Oh! can't forget conference rooms! Those tables ain't cheap either.

I think you're right, but I get the feeling that companies will still come out ahead in the end — and employees will be stuck with some amount of loss.

Perhaps...I agree companies will come out ahead - they always do :-P But I'm hopeful there's room for employees to come ut ahead as well.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#112

Post by alsetmusic »

Jestar342 wrote: post #10
croutonwagon wrote: post #4

The problem is multi-faceted. While this is entirely anecdotal I have observed a LOT of time theft by employees. And been asked more than ever to investigate employee behavior (even when I normally try and advise against the approach) Some more egregious than others. While most probably aren’t going to awol for a day at a time I know a LOT of people that now spend working hours doing leisure things. Maybe that’s a su…

Has your team productivity actually dropped? You mention things that are supplemental to productivity but nothing about the actual productivity itself. If not, then I suspect there is no more "time theft"* than usual and you shouldn't get wound up by it. * that is a hideously obnoxious and entitled phrase to use - instead of "distracted" or even simply just "not working".

From this and another post, I got the impression that some of the employees might not be salaried. If that’s the case (getting paid hourly and giving the impression of working while actually doing something else), I would consider that stealing from the company.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#113

Post by aurbano »

lambda_obrien wrote: post #108
behnamoh wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I moved to a smaller city for grad studies, I soon started missing the subway system. Crowded and dirty as it is, taking the subway was a constant reminder for me that there is life outside of my confined world and that alone contributed a lot to my sanity. In the smaller city, I took buses or walked, but I noticed taking a bus still makes a difference, even though one might have to stand up a little. Just the i…

We need to replace the "work as social outlet" with something else. It's not the office anyone wants, it's the connection, we're just lacking the connection part to make remote work... well... work.

I’ve been saying this for a while.. we are missing local communities in today’s society.

People used to go to church and do religious events and things sometimes during the week - this is all gone now, and I wish we had an alternative that didn’t rely on religion, just based on the local community somehow.

Community centers 2.0 or whatever, but a place where people have a reason to go. I can only think of classes which doesn’t quite work I think (hard to really get everyone there at the same time) but maybe it’s the key I have no idea!

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#114

Post by tachyonbeam »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29

I've been 100% remote and run remote teams since 2014 and I promise that it won't stick for the broader society. Here's why: 1. Socializing is the primary activity that happens at work for the vast majority of workers. The gal or guy coming by your desk to "check in" or "see how your weekend was" etc... is literally where they find their social outlets and personal connections. 2. Managers like to be able to watch th…

I definitely agree about the socializing. I miss seeing friendly colleagues face to face and having lunch with them. It's not just that though. I started a new remote job during the pandemic and... I feel like I really don't have the same bond with these new colleagues that I had with my colleagues at my previous in-person job. I genuinely feel like we would collaborate better, and be a better team, if we could hang out in person. There's a certain bond of trust that you naturally build when you just have lunch and casual conversations with people, that is very hard to replicate online.

As for the commute, I previously had a 15-minute walk to and from work before. I try to design my life so I can either walk or bike to work. I miss that too. I was more physically active before, and there's something meditative about walking, helps clear your mind.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#115

Post by greedo »

bradlys wrote: post #100
andrei_says_ wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not miss the office one bit. I socialize much mire with my colleagues via zoom meetings than I did via emails while we were in the office. Conference room meetings felt less organized than web conferencing. Saving 80min in daily commute on top of that gives me over 7 free hours per week, over 250h per year, enough to get an extra education. 30% or more of my colleagues commute over 2.5h per day, 12.5h per week,…

I think it also depends on your commute. I look forward to the office because I’ll always live 15 minutes away. I’ll either take my bicycle or a motorcycle. (Both of which can be fun - wheelies on either are great!) The in person meetings were more frequent for me because I could just stop by a persons desk to see how they were doing. I can’t do that online and the culture is much more closed down. Forget about going…

(Assuming COVID is solved), why couldn't you meet up with a coworker for a lunch?

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#116

Post by rubyfan »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29

I've been 100% remote and run remote teams since 2014 and I promise that it won't stick for the broader society. Here's why: 1. Socializing is the primary activity that happens at work for the vast majority of workers. The gal or guy coming by your desk to "check in" or "see how your weekend was" etc... is literally where they find their social outlets and personal connections. 2. Managers like to be able to watch th…

I agree with your sentiment. I encounter a majority of people in my workplace that say they really miss the chance encounters with people they don’t get to work with frequently - those chance encounter they say sparks something interesting. When I hear people vocalize this, they portray it as something of value and while I don’t doubt they value the interaction I do doubt that the interaction has created productive value. I think what they are really valuing is the social fabric of the workplace.

My theory is that as more of us have less and less social interaction outside of the workplace (especially in the northeast I think), people really value the social aspects of the workplace. The socialites among us will likely lead the way back into the office and drive peer pressure for the rest of us to return.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#117

Post by TecoAndJix »

croutonwagon wrote: post #4

The problem is multi-faceted. While this is entirely anecdotal I have observed a LOT of time theft by employees. And been asked more than ever to investigate employee behavior (even when I normally try and advise against the approach) Some more egregious than others. While most probably aren’t going to awol for a day at a time I know a LOT of people that now spend working hours doing leisure things. Maybe that’s a su…

Network security in a WFH environment is not an issue when your infrastructure + identity & access are designed correctly.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#118

Post by wisty »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29

I've been 100% remote and run remote teams since 2014 and I promise that it won't stick for the broader society. Here's why: 1. Socializing is the primary activity that happens at work for the vast majority of workers. The gal or guy coming by your desk to "check in" or "see how your weekend was" etc... is literally where they find their social outlets and personal connections. 2. Managers like to be able to watch th…

I think it's worth looking into "theory of the firm" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_firm

Why should employees even exist? Shouldn't firms just sack everyone, then hire contractors?

I often hear advocates of remote work talk about "presenteeism" and how managers need to just focus more on outputs. This is fine, but if they can do that why not sack everyone and just hire contractors and pay for the outputs?

The reality is, unless employees are micro-managed to the point of being basically robots, they're given a certain amount of discretion. If they are at work, and can't slack off, then they will use this discretion to create value for the company in ways that the managers don't always have time to exactly specify.

The slack and discretion in a "presentism" run office means that employees can make changes without having to always go up the chain. For a concrete example, let's say you think there's a major show-stopper of a bug. Your manager disagrees, and says not to worry about it, and will not budge. You have a few hours free in the week because you finished your work a bit faster than expected. You might look into the suspected bug (and end up proving it's an issue, or proving to yourself that your boss was right) if you're otherwise stuck in an office reading email to look busy, but not if you're at home and you can turn on the TV or walk the dog.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#119

Post by tachyonbeam »

fartcannon wrote: post #57
DC1350 wrote: post #43

WFH makes the new grad experience miserable if you go to college somewhere far from where you grew up. I’m graduating soon and the only place I have geographic ties to is my home town where I tried very hard to get away from forever. Everyone I know from college is scattering all over the continent. Does anyone have tips for choosing where to live as a remote worker, or how to make friends as a young person in a new…

Well, pick a big city? While it will definitely happen, it's unhealthy to befriend only coworkers. Learn how to make friends outside of your office life. That way your employer can't use your social life against you leaving. Trust me, after the pandemic, when the daily grind kicks in and your office life and daily commute drains every ounce of energy, you'll be happy to WFH.

Most people working in tech earn a good enough living to be able to afford an apartment not far from work. You don't have to have a long daily commute. There are multiple cities in North America and Europe that are not insanely expensive, and it can be realistic to live somewhere a 10-to-20-minute walk or bike ride from work.

You have a choice, you don't have to choose the suburban lifestyle.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#120

Post by altgeek »

I feel that the 71% approach (in-office 5 out of 7 days) is, in general, too much commuting (NYC area). But, the current pandemic's 0% is not optimal either. Too much is lost in translation from our early-to-mid stage startup that has definitely shown negative impact to our ability to deliver.

Before the pandemic, we took a mon-weds approach which was the right balance.

Now, performance-wise, it's obvious when people aren't doing the work by looking at their commits. Fully in-office or 100% remote won't mask that.

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