Is going to the office a broken way of working?

Post by jokethrowaway » Mon, Oct 11, 2021, 10:41 PM UTC

soylentnewsorg wrote: post #238

Ancalagon wrote: post #8

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

Here's the thing though: you should not socialize with anyone at the office. The healthiest thing anyone can do for their career is to not mix work and friends. Once you're friends, you're sharing political opinions, life stories, and religious views. People pick up on that, and while you might be pleasing one guy, you're pissing off someone else. No matter your stance on something, you're going to be pissing off som…

Post by loganfrederick » Mon, Oct 11, 2021, 10:43 PM UTC

justrudd wrote: post #231

gaoshan wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our work is very collaborative and being able to get quick feedback on some issue is nice. Having to ping them over chat is annoying because while it may result in a quick answer it may also just disappear into the ether (or the chat app fails to deliver, the person steps away but you don't know this, etc.). Again, our work is collaborative and if someone wants to be left alone they throw on headphones in which case…

If I may, what industry do you work in that needs this level of collaboration and such a quick turnaround on it? I agree with you that it can be nice. But in thinking back on my career, I’ve never been in an industry that needed it (beyond dealing with operational events).

Post by throwawaysea » Mon, Oct 11, 2021, 10:45 PM UTC

taurath wrote: post #46

Ancalagon wrote: post #8

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

I think you're correct, but one thing that is really missing nowadays, especially with phones and the internet, is active communities that exist in real life outside of work. Stuff like the elks lodge, rotary, bowling leagues, etc are just not as common anymore as I believe they used to be. Certainly there are many things that exist, but in a way societally it seems like they don't have very much cache, even as far a…

Post by alchemism » Mon, Oct 11, 2021, 10:49 PM UTC

KronisLV wrote: post #155

marcusverus wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone is going to pay for that increased efficiency--either your Employer will pay in dollars, or you will pay some opportunity cost. Why should you pay? After all, there are plenty of things that you could do in your spare time that would make you a more efficient employee. But you wouldn't let your employer tell you to work unpaid for an hour each Monday, preparing for the week. Nor would you let them require tha…

> Nor would you let them require that you spend an unpaid hour of your free time reading or doing professional development each week. Depending on how you look at things, this may or may not be necessary to be done on your own accord in your free time to avoid your skills getting dated and irrelevant. Essentially, you do have to keep up with at least some of the new developments within the industry to remain employab…

Post by octodog » Mon, Oct 11, 2021, 10:50 PM UTC

stevage wrote: post #192

pimterry wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coworking is a really great solution to this. You can have all the human contact and "it's 6pm - want to go for a beer?" easy socializing that you get from being in a busy office, but simultaneously keep almost all the flexibility and the lack-of-constraints of working from home (...almost - there's usually an expectation that you wear clothes). In many ways it's even better than office social contact: it decouples t…

I have tried this but struggled to find people in coworking spaces that I wanted to socialise with. The one time it has worked was when friends who worked in the same niche sector would sometimes all cowork at a cafe for a day. Maybe once a month. That was incredible. We were expected to be in our offices most of the time though.