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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?

#81

Post by hwbehrens »

devoutsalsa wrote: post #79
gajjanag wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, the ability to tune out of useless meetings by muting audio/video is great.

I wish Zoom had an in-app mute button. I'd love it if I didn't have to mute the entire computer. EDIT: For MacOS, I found this: https://github.com/kyleneideck/BackgroundMusic

A trick I've used before in a pinch is to set your monitor connection (via USB-C/HDMI/DisplayPort) as the Zoom audio output. I never use it as an output, so it's permanently muted in the on-screen menus. Since Zoom makes it fairly easy to customize audio, it can act as a simple mute effect.

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

#82

Post by legerdemain »

cujo wrote: post #32
JohnWhigham wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Classic comment missing the point that not everyone needs or wants the social interaction with their work mates.

THIS, 100% this. I don't want to be "social" with you, I don't want to "bond" with you, and I don't care about you as a human being. You are 100% just a queue of work tasks and a source of pay checks. The less I see, hear, or know about the other people on my team, the happier I am and the better off they are. WFH forever, don't mess with a good thing.

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

#83

Post by shard »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #43
JohnWhigham wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Then do it during work hours, and everyone wins.

My previous company had done mid-week outings (definitely not Fridays, people want to go home), where everyone in the team kicks off at 3PM, go see a movie together (the team splitting up based on what movie they wanted to see), then have a nice dinner, with games and prizes at the end at around 7PM. I won a Nintendo Switch one time. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.

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

#84

Post by spiderjerusalem »

egypturnash wrote: post #19

This has been my life for years except without the “renting a place” part. I work in cafes. I work in parks. I work sitting on a bench taking shelter from the rain on my way to somewhere else. I work anywhere I have space to take my Wacom tablet out of my bag and plug it into my laptop, and the desire to spend more time working today. I also work at home in my studio but getting away from the distractions of home is,…

very much this, I'm a very restless person and I _need_ to move every 2-3 hours. Cafe hopping is very very important to my general flow. I also need noise and general life happening around me. Offices are too artificial an environment and my apartment is too silent.

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

#85

Post by CoastalCoder »

JohnWhigham wrote: post #24
nomoreplease wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I think the problem with something like (specifically) Happy Hour is that it's really welcome by some employees, and really hated by others.

Imagine being one of the few Mormons, observant Muslims, or recovering alcoholics at a company that "rewards" your team with Happy Hours. Or being someone who's been sexually harassed or assaulted at previous events where coworkers drank too much.

I'm not suggesting that it's easy (or even possible) to plan a social event that's guaranteed to be welcomed by every member of a team. But I think events that focus or rely on alcohol as the means of team bonding can be a bad idea depending on the team.

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

#86

Post by shard »

time0ut wrote: post #23
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…

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.

I prefer the larger team outings, as there are usually more people that I enjoy hanging out with than the small 4-7 people team that I work with. Also, larger team outings usually means more things to do because of the larger budget, so it could be a trip to a tourist attraction or activity camp, as opposed to just a meal when it is the smaller team.

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

#87

Post by Ronson »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #68
JohnWhigham wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Writing software in most companies is a team endeavor. If you can't handle interacting with others on a daily basis, find another industry. Better yet, start your own company.

There is a huge difference between working on a team and the team essentially acting as a replacement for your social life. I love working on a team. I don't want to spend my free time with them. That's what my friends are for. Sometimes people from the team become friends that I spend time with outside of work, but that's on my terms not my employers. It really seems like many people do not have any kind of healthy…

I get away with being "The grumpy Scotsman", it's got the point that I don't even get invited which took some work but wouldn't have it any other way. I am still held in high regard at work and part of the furniture now. I just don't do that forced shit. It's not my personality.

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

#88

Post by patmorgan23 »

devoutsalsa wrote: post #79
gajjanag wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, the ability to tune out of useless meetings by muting audio/video is great.

I wish Zoom had an in-app mute button. I'd love it if I didn't have to mute the entire computer. EDIT: For MacOS, I found this: https://github.com/kyleneideck/BackgroundMusic

You can mute individual applications in windows volume mixer (right click speaker icon in the taskbar, click open volume mixer). I don't know if there's a Mac equivalent but I would be really surprised if there wasn't.

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

#89

Post by shard »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #47
watwut wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These things are highly individual. Usually, after crunches and pressures, I tended to be angry at disorganization that caused it and also wanted to go home due to pile of stuff that accumulated there. I get that there were people who appreciated these, but not everyone does. It is one more added duty after you have already done a lot.

Imo, It's people who have no other life or responsibility outside of work that love work organized and paid for events. And they seem incapable of understanding that other people have better things to do than get wasted at a bar with their coworkers on a weeknight, even if the company is paying for it.

It depends on the kind of work-organized events. My previous company organized free concerts, from pop to classical to jazz, as well as family events such as Theme Park Day. Aside from company-wide events, there are the large team events (~50 people) that included day hikes, museums, activity camps, and plays. I've enjoyed many of these despite having responsibilities outside of work.

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

#90

Post by bcrosby95 »

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…

At my workplace, long hours are usually compensated with a bonus and commensurately shorter hours for a period of time.
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