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Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

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Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#261

Post by phillipcarter »

twelvechairs wrote: post #181
Fordec wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of these tackle the one aspect that trumps everything else in the corporate world. Is this better for the company? Even if the majority of companies see things this way, they will return to the office. But those that succeed, survive, thrive or dominate a market will do whatever that makes them successful along the way. It doesn't matter if people like routine if the other guy beats you on revenue, time to marke…

> Is this better for the company? Yes. Key positives for a company are reduced cost of office space and ability to draw upon a wider, cheaper pool of potential workers and increased employee satisfaction (for some, not everyone prefers working from home). Key negatives are reduced productivity due to lack of supervision, difficulty of face-to-face meetings with clients, difficulty of training younger staff. Its a tra…

Another big negative is the sunk cost fallacy of acquiring and/or owning office space. If you have all this space, you need to fill it with people. Ritualistic behavior isn't only exhibited by rank and file employees.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#262

Post by randmeerkat »

ascotan wrote: post #151
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…

#2 is the biggest issue Management and non-management have different subcultures. Managers need power meetings, lunch meetings, shoulder-taps, etc. They are tasked with watching you and making sure everyone is on task. Non-managers don't care about in-person other than for the socializing aspect (or maybe they want to get away from the house). I think that non-management can work effectively remote most of the time (…

I think the big problem here is that most managers add zero value and if anything negatively impact velocity. Really all that’s needed is a project manager with a light touch to help the team know what features are needed by leadership. Then the team can use their freedom of direction to prioritise features along with existing technical work to optimise the technologies being leveraged to better position the business.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#263

Post by edgyquant »

Ancalagon wrote: post #218
yourapostasy wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...do more stuff over email, messaging and zoom has been great... WFH forces the kind of auditable accountability upon everyone I've taken for granted as necessary to thrive as a consultant. This popularizes communication modalities into the open long overdue. Use of more granular project tracking has gone up considerably as a coordination point to communicate early and often between teams, purely to reduce meeting…

Does socialization really matter to management and the business profits at large though?

Sure it does. The economist did a piece on just this when COVID first struck. There are very real implications when people lack social interaction beyond business talk (so called water cooler time) and the five minutes of you and coworkers pretending to care and asking each other basic questions doesn’t cut it, either,

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#264

Post by canofbars »

usremane wrote: post #5

Work from home for people living by themselves away from family (separated by countries) gets depressing and will most likely impact productivity at work.

Possibly why I haven't found wfh at all a problem like others here. I live in a house with 4 other people so its not at all lonely.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#265

Post by randmeerkat »

blackrock wrote: post #238
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 disagree with #1. Companies do not want you socializing at work. Sure, they tolerate the occasional chitchat, but only on a superficial level. If you actually want to socialize with your coworkers, then you must do that outside in the smoke area, or during your lunch outings. But never actually in the office. That is the taboo. And the moment you break it, then that’s when you’ll get a demerit from your management.

Remind me not to work at your company, sounds depressing. Most of the good work ideas I’ve seen come up, come up as a result of socialising at work.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#266

Post by adventurer »

mech422 wrote: post #30
WalterGR wrote: post #3

I haven’t read all 63 pages, but I’m surprised that the abstract doesn’t mention: All the $$$ that businesses get to save by eliminating or reducing office real estate, including $$$ saved by pushing some of those costs onto employees.

"All the $$$ that businesses get to save" This. And not just on office space - all the perks: snacks, on-site gym/child care/etc. Not to mention janitorial/security staff, utilities. I think now companies have tried WFH/Remote, they'll remain open to it in the future.

There a people here that have never had even one of those perks because it's pretty rare outside of let's say SV?

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#267

Post by nobody9999 »

yourapostasy wrote: post #177
Fordec wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd trade 20 minutes extra socializing at my first place with the people I love or my third place with the people of similar interests for an hour of socializing with people talking about a sport I'm not into or their kids. I also find that having to do more stuff over email, messaging and zoom has been great for reigning in an overly narcissistic manipulative coworker because their actions are much more record-able…

> ...do more stuff over email, messaging and zoom has been great... WFH forces the kind of auditable accountability upon everyone I've taken for granted as necessary to thrive as a consultant. This popularizes communication modalities into the open long overdue. Use of more granular project tracking has gone up considerably as a coordination point to communicate early and often between teams, purely to reduce meeting…

>I still predict however a lot companies and people going back to offices post-pandemic. The socialization aspect is poorly addressed with virtual happy hours, or other tactics put on by really good leadership.

I think a lot of that can be addressed by having in-person social events once it's feasible to do so.

I spent many years as a consultant for several different large consulting firms. If we were productive, we were generally at client sites most of the time.

That meant we were rarely together as a group while working.

In order to promote teamwork, camaraderie and make sure we knew our peers, superiors and subordinates well, at least at the well-run organizations, we'd have regular (semi-monthly) team get togethers and at least quarterly office get togethers, either in the office or at a public venue.

That sort of thing is much less costly and since it's outside of the regular work routine, socializing and building relationships doesn't negatively impact productivity.

Whether or not WFH+regular get togethers is a good solution depends on the organization and its dynamics. But it absolutely can make a big difference.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#268

Post by supercon »

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…

> 3. The commuting routine, even if it's a nightmare, offers a sense of normalcy that most people have gotten used to and in a weird way rely on for grounding.

While working from home, I’ve found it much harder to switch between work/free modes. It seems the daily commute has been an effective way to for me to either prepare for the coming day or settle my mind for non-work related activities.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#269

Post by miguelmota »

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…

Agree that socializing in person with colleagues is important for well being, particularly for people that don’t have roommates or a family at home. Depression and struggling with moments of existential crisis can occur as a side effect from total social isolation and mental health can deteriorate. Of course, some people are more adapt to remote than others and a good middle ground could be going to the office when desired like once a week if given the option.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#270

Post by nobody9999 »

rapsey wrote: post #247
dv_dt wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#1 is because Americans spend way to much time at work, so much time that it's difficult to find time to socialize out of work. People are social animals so they'll increase their interaction there (also lowering productivity in office). I think WFH coupled with reduced hour days or 4 day weeks would be a much better combo for high productivity in the office.

Americans also start work really late. 9 to 5 takes up the whole day. Where I am at most start at 7 or 8.

> Americans also start work really late. 9 to 5 takes up the whole day. Where I am at most start at 7 or 8.

There are many places and jobs in the US where people start work at 8 or even 7. That seems to be functions of both industry and region.

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