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What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

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Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#21

Post by nomoreplease »

geoduck14 wrote: post #12
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work. Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't been happier with a job ever.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

> I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal.

Maybe your team would appreciate a $200 gift card instead of HH + dinner/late meal, especially when some people don't drink or prefer healthy meals instead of steakhouses.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#22

Post by leecarraher »

I think we will soon see a dip in productivity.whenever assessing trends, you should never base conclusions on outlier events and we are basing too much of the wfh success on this past year. A year when you couldn't go out and do things, when people feared for their jobs amid a global crisis and felt a call of duty to keep on working.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#23

Post by time0ut »

geoduck14 wrote: post #12
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work. Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't been happier with a job ever.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

The kind of happy hour you are describing is great and one of the things I miss about the office. Chilling with your tight knit team after a long day or a big release is great. I assume the GP is talking about the other sort of happy hour where it is a bigger crowd. I can’t stand those.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#24

Post by JohnWhigham »

nomoreplease wrote: post #21
geoduck14 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

> I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. Maybe your team would appreciate a $200 gift card instead of HH + dinner/late meal, especially when some people don't drink or prefer healthy meals instead of steakhouses.

Classic HN missing the point of social interaction and the benefits it provides.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#25

Post by zelphirkalt »

geoduck14 wrote: post #12
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work. Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't been happier with a job ever.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

It can be great to sometimes (!) put in a little more time to reach a goal, deliver something the team wanted to deliver for a long time or improve upon some annoyances in status quo.

Working extra hours is not to be expected and should be valued. A team probably works better when extra effort is valued. I think it is great, that you are trying to thank your employees / coworkers.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#26

Post by SteveNuts »

geoduck14 wrote: post #12
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work. Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't been happier with a job ever.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

Take the money you would have spent on this and give it to your team directly.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#27

Post by abruzzi »

golergka wrote: post #16

In nice weather, I just grab my laptop and go sit on a bench in a nearest park. Best work environment that I've ever had in my entire life.

I did this for a bit during the pandemic (because my productivity approaches zero at home) unfortunately, it gets hot in the summer here, so working on a park bench in 110F heat isn't a year round option. I suspect there are few plaes in the US where this could work year round. I ended up just going back to the office--everyone else was gone, at home due to quarantine--and I could be very productive.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#28

Post by thrower123 »

leecarraher wrote: post #22

I think we will soon see a dip in productivity.whenever assessing trends, you should never base conclusions on outlier events and we are basing too much of the wfh success on this past year. A year when you couldn't go out and do things, when people feared for their jobs amid a global crisis and felt a call of duty to keep on working.

Possible, but there's the counter-balancing fact that people have been amped up and stressed out the whole last year, they didn't have the hardware they needed or the processes in place to help them succeed, they were dealing with their kids being unexpectedly dumped in their laps, etc.

This time last year companies were scrambling because they were absolutely unprepared for the amount of VPN bandwidth and other resources that would be necessary to handle abruptly shifting their work-force remote.

If anything, I would expect things to go more smoothly, for the companies that don't hastily revert to the asses-in-seats paradigm.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#29

Post by dao- »

geoduck14 wrote: post #12
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work. Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't been happier with a job ever.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

> I can't do that anymore!

Good. You'll have to think harder to find ways not to overwork your team in the first place.

This attitude towards workers rubs me the wrong way, but your side note saved you in my eyes:

> Working long hours is bad

Yes! Overworking people and then saying "thanks" by exploiting the fact ("using the chance", as you put it) that you locked them into the office isn't exactly fair. If this is what people mean by happy hour, that's absurd. If they chose to stay for social stuff after a normal day of work, that's of course another thing.

Re: What if remote work didn’t mean working from home?

#30

Post by reidjs »

geoduck14 wrote: post #12
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work. Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't been happier with a job ever.

Regarding the Happy Hours: In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame. I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with your team" and "say thanks in a mean…

If you all still live in the same area would it be impossible to organize a little offsite at a bar or restaurant?
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