What remote work does to engineering productivity
1–10 of 45 posts
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#2I started a new job during the pandemic, and the experience has been much worse than I expected. There’s no opportunity to ask simple questions without always worrying that I’m interrupting. Whereas in an office it’s easy to see who’s on the phone or focusing on something and simply ask someone else (or wait).
There’s also no opportunity for the kind of work-related conversations that might happen over lunch where I’d learn more about the team, the org, the project, and the history of it all. In the past I’ve gotten a lot out of being present for casual conversations among more experienced teammates and asking the occasional question.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#3I started a new job during the pandemic, and the experience has been much worse than I expected. There’s no opportunity to ask simple questions without always worrying that I’m interrupting. Whereas in an office it’s easy to see who’s on the phone or focusing on something and simply ask someone else (or wait). There’s also no opportunity for the kind of work-related conversations that might happen over lunch where I’…
Be the squeaky wheel. It is to your benefit.
Drop the questions in a public channel.
People who are confident about their skills are less worried about appearing to look dumb for not knowing something.
Because you know you’re competent at your skills, so if you can’t figure out something, obviously it’s poorly documented. Therefore just ask loudly.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#4I started a new job during the pandemic, and the experience has been much worse than I expected. There’s no opportunity to ask simple questions without always worrying that I’m interrupting. Whereas in an office it’s easy to see who’s on the phone or focusing on something and simply ask someone else (or wait). There’s also no opportunity for the kind of work-related conversations that might happen over lunch where I’…
>There’s no opportunity to ask simple questions without always worrying that I’m interrupting. Whereas in an office it’s easy to see who’s on the phone or focusing on something and simply ask someone else (or wait).
Just ask the question on a channel or send a message to the person. They'll reply when they get back or can.
And to the other side, if you get a message, you don't have to drop it all to respond immediately. We are all adults and professionals. I'm not going to be doing nothing waiting for the answer while you reply.
> There’s also no opportunity for the kind of work-related conversations that might happen over lunch where I’d learn more about the team, the org, the project, and the history of it all.
This is true. We've worked out some times in the past where we get to expense things and everyone just chills and talks. People can come in and out, turn cameras on or not. It's nice to just talk.
> I started a new job during the pandemic,
I will say, it depends on the team and company. I've been remote for years and it varies a lot. If the company/team wasn't remote before, they might not have the tools or knowledge to make it work. That's what I'm gathering from a lot of friends comparing our situations.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#5I think there's always some skepticism that should be expressed around wild articles like this.
At a core level, remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to mirror remote work outside of the pandemic. It's one thing if you choose to work remotely and if your company willingly embraces remote work. It's an entirely different beast if your company is forced to transition to remote work while stay-at-home orders keep everyone locked indoors with minimal activities to do outside of work.
The pandemic is challenging for many people, including people like me, who are full time remote workers. It's a poor time to evaluate the productivity differences of remote versus non-remote workers.
This article states:
> Operational improvements — like scientific experiments — shouldn't operate on guesses and hope. In our current mass experiment of remote work, we should form hypotheses, act deliberately, and measure results.
One of the most critical things you must consider when designing an experiment is confounding variables. COVID-19 didn't just shift people to remote work. It created a lot of stress, anxiety, and changed society dramatically in more ways than simply moving people's office locations. It cannot be ignored in judging the efficacy of remote work as a subject.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#6I started a new job during the pandemic, and the experience has been much worse than I expected. There’s no opportunity to ask simple questions without always worrying that I’m interrupting. Whereas in an office it’s easy to see who’s on the phone or focusing on something and simply ask someone else (or wait). There’s also no opportunity for the kind of work-related conversations that might happen over lunch where I’…
I know it can seem silly, but asking people to have lunch via video chat is a great way to get around some of that distance.
Honestly this is just leadership dropping the ball for you and the rest of the team (though it can be easy to miss since it’s sort of a hidden problem). They should put more remote team things together like group learning sessions or just having coffee for 30 minutes to chat. It’s not hard to get on a calendar and although work required socialization is usually eye-roll worthy it does help.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#7I've been remote for three years now, and the last couple of months my productivity has plummeted, this has been a problem company wide.
It's the pandemic. Next question.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#8I started a new job during the pandemic, and the experience has been much worse than I expected. There’s no opportunity to ask simple questions without always worrying that I’m interrupting. Whereas in an office it’s easy to see who’s on the phone or focusing on something and simply ask someone else (or wait). There’s also no opportunity for the kind of work-related conversations that might happen over lunch where I’…
I'm in the same boat, and it is definitely worse than starting a job in normal times.
I think it's an invisible problem because the decision makers and influential people in the organisation were mostly around before lockdown, so they already know everyone - they know who to ask when they have a problem, they have a feeling for who is friendly, who can be helpful etc. So to most of the staff that aspect just doesn't cross their radar.
It's very easy for remote work to feel much more contractual - you do the work needed for your team and deliver it. You lose the wider context - which I think makes it very hard for the wider team to change direction or have new ideas. The fallout of that inflexibility is intangible and immeasurable, but I bet it will come eventually.
An organisation has to both be productive on a daily basis and choose correctly what to work on. If you don't do both, you fail. Working remotely broadly improves the first, but I think without really good systems in place it completely throws off the second one.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#9I think there's always some skepticism that should be expressed around wild articles like this. At a core level, remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to mirror remote work outside of the pandemic. It's one thing if you choose to work remotely and if your company willingly embraces remote work. It's an entirely different beast if your company is forced to transition to remote work while stay-at-home or…
It added some and also removed some of the possible distractions from remote work.
Kids at home for schooling is an addition. Many of the fun activities being closed is a removal. There’s no bar or restaurant to get together with friends, no club/rec level sports to play, etc.
I agree that there are a lot of confounding variables, but think many were pro-efficiency rather than all being detrimental.
Re: What remote work does to engineering productivity
#10I think there's always some skepticism that should be expressed around wild articles like this. At a core level, remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to mirror remote work outside of the pandemic. It's one thing if you choose to work remotely and if your company willingly embraces remote work. It's an entirely different beast if your company is forced to transition to remote work while stay-at-home or…
Yeah, and however much I enjoyed the opportunity to spend copious amount of time with my son when the kindergartens were shut, it did destroy my capacity as I juggled parental oversight shifts with my wife...