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Work from Home and Productivity

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Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#101

Post by rsj_hn »

mekkkkkk wrote: post #87

It seems like the overwhelming majority of people here are positive to WFH. I can't stand it. To me, a "remote first" workplace sounds abysmal. I like to have a physical workplace where our company can gather and focus on our goals together, in person. Picking up business related discussions, small talking, sharing music, joking around. Attempting this through video meetings or voice chats feels like a bad simulacrum…

I think there will always be a place for people like you, and you have nothing to worry about. I also think that working from home can be good in some situations but not others even for the same person. I can see myself getting sick of it, and the option of a good office would be nice.

The problem is that "office" in today's world generally means an open office layout designed to waste your time and distract you. If "office" meant an actual office with a door you can close so that you can do focused work, the situation would be different.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#102

Post by quietthrow »

mekkkkkk wrote: post #87

It seems like the overwhelming majority of people here are positive to WFH. I can't stand it. To me, a "remote first" workplace sounds abysmal. I like to have a physical workplace where our company can gather and focus on our goals together, in person. Picking up business related discussions, small talking, sharing music, joking around. Attempting this through video meetings or voice chats feels like a bad simulacrum…

There will a place for folks like yourself be as long as it’s needed. Don’t take it the wrong way but once people who have preferences like yours are gone this notion of needing a office in the traditional sense, will pass. The need for working space will remain. The need for a “office” will go away. It’s a natural progression. It’s like Horses gave way to cars but peoples need for mobility remained. Our needs as humans have remained how we fulfill them changes as decades roll. Best to enjoy life and adapt. The other way is possible too....

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#103

Post by nijave »

nr2x wrote: post #100
theptip wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They go into this in the paper; it sounds like they have a quite granular level of detail here: > The data also include information on hours worked, our primary input measure. This is measured in a sophisticated way, as the analytics software takes into account whether an employee actually engages in a relevant task (which counts as work time) or merely procrastinates at their desk (not counted), by monitoring which…

This is unethical research, full stop.

Why? Did they not get consent? Getting that sort of information isn't terribly difficult. Even basic network monitoring and log parsing would provide a lot of insights into how someone is interacting with a computer.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#104

Post by ma2rten »

discardable_dan wrote: post #74
dml2135 wrote: post #20

I'd question how conclusions are being drawn here. I think the key takeaway is that output did not change. The authors then go on to say that since hours worked increased, productivity decreased. But how do we define what an "hour worked" really means? I know that I definitely spend more time "working" during WFH in the sense that I am either being responsive to colleagues or actively working on my own work. However…

Honestly, I think the study sort of damns itself with this line: > Time spent on coordination activities and meetings increased, but uninterrupted work hours shrank considerably. You can easily translate this as: > Without workers in the office, middle management was left to spend additional time on pointless meetings, inhibiting their workers from spending their time on work tasks. If that is true, let's consider th…

Or maybe people need to have more formal meetings because they can’t have informal conversations like they would in the office.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#105

Post by nr2x »

nijave wrote: post #103
nr2x wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is unethical research, full stop.

Why? Did they not get consent? Getting that sort of information isn't terribly difficult. Even basic network monitoring and log parsing would provide a lot of insights into how someone is interacting with a computer.

Among other reasons, in any IRB-approved study people need to be able to withdraw consent with no adverse consequence. It is likewise practically forbidden to experiment on prisoners, which this has more in common with than a normal study.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#106

Post by prionassembly »

908B64B197 wrote: post #54
themanmaran wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the analytics software takes into account whether an employee actually engages in a relevant task (which counts as work time) or merely procrastinates at their desk (not counted), by monitoring which software tools the employee uses" That's genuinely awful. I wonder to what extent employees are aware of the analytics, and how many people just set up macros look busy.

Keep in mind the study was made using : "personnel and analytics data from over 10,000 skilled professionals at a large Asian IT services company" In this industry we all know what this really means. Some of us have dealt with these "skilled professionals". I don't think spending more time in their IDE is going to make them any more productive than they already are...

This is... impressively racist.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#107

Post by NaturalPhallacy »

xhrpost wrote: post #62

A lot of comments here saying that this is a flawed study because we don't know how the pandemic may have impacted a statistical decline in productivity. I must ask, why is this not a concern when someone anecdotally or statistically shows an increase in productivity from Covid WFH? The response is instead something like "we've known it all along! WFH is better!".

>WFH is better!

Honestly, I think if that's the general consensus, then who gives a shit about productivity?

Employees, especially in America already have almost no bargaining power, literally no statute mandated vacation, terrible worker protections like "exempt (from overtime pay) employees" which I'm sure almost everyone on this board falls under. So literally the more hours they make you work, the less per hour you earn. How that one got passed congress without a revolt I'm not sure I'll ever understand.

But I digress....if employees like WFH a lot better then they should have it.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#108

Post by slumdev »

> Using personnel and analytics data from over 10,000 skilled professionals at a large Asian IT services company

So, which one? TCS, Wipro, Infosys, IBM, Capgemini?

I want to know so that I can avoid it, not because of the study results, but because they install this "Sapience" tool to spy on their employees.

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#109

Post by pdfernhout »

jethro_tell wrote: post #13
rustybelt wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having three kids at home doing remote schooling is such a huge confounding factor. Anecdotally, my WFH productivity (or at least my uninterrupted work time tracked via RescueTime) seems to have improved since my older two went back to in-person school this quarter.

Yeah, that's tough, and the younger ones can't do very much of it by themselves without help. Read the instructions here to learn how to read >

Your comment reminded me of "The Maker" short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDXOioU_OKM "A strange creature races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life."

Re: Work from Home and Productivity

#110

Post by NaturalPhallacy »

QuercusMax wrote: post #46
Huiokko wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you mean. I book 1:1 with my manager and it was always in a meeting room. Is it common for you to have 1:1 in your cubicle?

Pre-covid, I only ever had manager 1:1s in a meeting room, or much more commonly, walking around the campus. Very occasionally a 1:1 in a deserted corner of a cafeteria during non-meal hours. A manager 1:1 in a nonprivate space sounds awful.

I would argue a meeting in a non-private space isn't a 1:1 at all. That's awful.
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