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

newyorker.com

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

#91

Post by shard »

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,…

I wouldn't mind working in a different place than at home, but I've grown accustomed to having a 27" screen, and having to switch to using just the 13" screen of my work laptop would drive me bonkers. Perhaps one day when rollable monitors are a common thing and I can carry a 27" scroll screen in a poster tube...

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

#92

Post by YetAnotherNick »

jenkstom wrote: post #54

This doesn't help those who have to work from home because of a disability. Finding excuses to discriminate against the disabled is toxic behavior. So I'm going to go ahead and label this article as "toxic" since it recommends a "solution" without mentioning that it's completely inappropriate for some people.

By the same logic almost all of the companies pre covid are toxic?

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

#93

Post by Angostura »

kristjansson wrote: post #45
cujo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Not everyone of course, and one should be attentive to and accommodating of teammates that feel that way. But surely “let’s knock off at three today and go down the pub, thanks for all the hard work” is a positive for most people?

Try Let’s knock off at three today.

I'm going down the pub - anyone care to join me? I'm buying."

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

#95

Post by zaptheimpaler »

patmorgan23 wrote: post #88
devoutsalsa wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Also Windows+G brings up an on screen overlay over any application with the volume mixer and other stuff. Its super useful.

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

#96

Post by patmorgan23 »

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's a balancing act. It's good for people to have some bounding time with the people they work with in a non work environment. It builds empathy across individuals, teams, and departments which makes resolving conflicts easier. Work is a big part of your life and there's nothing wrong with building strong long lasting relationships with your co-workers.

On the flip side, work is a big part of your life and it shouldn't be 100% of you life. It's good to have relationships and commitments outside of work. Finding this balance is hard and different for everyone.

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

#97

Post by Foxfox12 »

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,…

I have considered this but it seems too inconvenient. A cafe doesn’t seem like a great place to work unless it’s consistently quiet and mostly empty so you aren’t taking a table an actual customer could have. The library seems like the next best place after home but it doesn’t seem to provide a whole lot of value over just working from home since I have a pretty good setup there.

Currently my current and ideal situation is working from home 3-4 days a week and then coming in at the end of the week. Those in office days might be less productive but they do provide enough social interaction for the week.

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

#98

Post by loco5niner »

jenkstom wrote: post #54

This doesn't help those who have to work from home because of a disability. Finding excuses to discriminate against the disabled is toxic behavior. So I'm going to go ahead and label this article as "toxic" since it recommends a "solution" without mentioning that it's completely inappropriate for some people.

> Finding excuses to discriminate against the disabled is toxic behavior.

I see no attempt to do that in the article. You are not helping your cause.

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

#99

Post by topkai22 »

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.

Following up late nights working by expecting people to attend an after-work event is not a benefit to the worker. As others have said, having a big team lunch and then sending them home is a benefit.

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

#100

Post by jedberg »

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…

One manager I had would reward us with a nice lunch out. It meant we didn't have to give up personal time for the reward, and it also limited drinking since we all had to go back to work and it was midday (usually there wasn't any drinking).

We all enjoyed it because it meant getting time off work and having a nice meal without giving up family time.

You could replicate that by ordering a nice lunch to be delivered to everyone's house and enjoying the meal together remotely.

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