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The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

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Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#481

Post by postalrat »

Mikushi wrote: post #76
thawaya3113 wrote: post #50

> all the benefits of working from home (no commute, more focus, hanging out with the dog, whatever it may be) More focus…hanging out with the dog… These things literally contradict each other. The fact that someone can type this out and not even realize that just goes to show why everyone is convinced they have become so much more productive WFH, when companies dhar actually track their employees and their productiv…

I work for a large company and the data doesn't show that, team velocity has been up by 20 to 30% consistently.

Velocity up spinning in circles because communication is down and leadership can't lead.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#482

Post by alexanderdmitri »

bearjaws wrote: post #477
tetromino_ wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the end, someone has to pay for office space: either you as the employer, or your employees in the form of higher rent/mortgage for a larger home with dedicated office areas. (And for employees with families based in urban areas, such a larger home may be entirely unaffordable.)

That non-affordability is created by the scarcity of housing, because many spaces are entirely dedicates to jobs that (now) don't need them. Think about a Manhattan with 40% more housing, what would that do to affordability?

Also the 1.6 million office workers[0] would have one less reason to live in the city in the first place.

[0] https://www.osc.state.ny.us/files/reports/osdc/pdf/report-11...

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#483

Post by toshaga »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #194

The crazy thing is the pandemic still wasn't long enough to teach companies how to work remote or hybrid. I literally forwarded a list of 10 best-reviewed books, articles, etc about remote working to my org's leadership, and I don't think they read any of them. They certainly never changed the way they work. We still spend upwards of 25% of our time in meetings with no agenda to talk about coming up with a plan to st…

Would you care to share the list of resources you sent to your leadership?

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#484

Post by m_fayer »

jerf wrote: post #330
m_fayer wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm starting to doubt this advice. I'm a "change it" sort of personality by nature - a reformer. When faced with these 3 options, I've chosen "change it" many times. And more often than not, I've found myself in a political crossfire, with new unwelcome knowledge of the various forces (typically some combination of self interest, ego, and turf-guarding) that are responsible for the thing I'm trying to change. My curr…

"I'm a "change it" sort of personality by nature - a reformer." One of the things I've learned is that authority is a real thing. If you don't have the authority to change something, don't try. You will fail, and it will do nothing but cost you. I've jousted with this many times, and it was a failure every time. (More technical type stuff, but the same holds for this sort of thing too.) Authority doesn't have to be g…

I think this is an excellent point. At the start of my career I would blithely assume that my authority was that which was formally given to me, in the official org chart. I'm still learning how to gauge how much real (formal plus unofficial) authority I have at a given moment, what it entitles me to do, and how to build it if I need to.

I guess this is what it looks like when a nerd learns how to do politics.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#485

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

greedo wrote: post #354
minimaul wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown, so now I also feel kind of personally insulted and victim of ham-handed collective punishment. Have you used these to go to your CEO directly re your WFH request? It's where I'd start.

Depending on how flat your organization is, this would be a job killer in many companies. Your CEO may grant you WFH, but all of the execs you report to will be aware of you going over their heads. Depending on how much political capital you have, this can be very risky.

Be a rung in an unfulfilled ladder, that'll be fine?

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#486

Post by DerArzt »

Being forced to go back to office was one of the reasons (among many) that I left my last employer. My boss gave me the same spiel about how being together increases collaboration and is good for career advancement, while at the same time half of my department was on the other side of the planet and 5 of the 8 developers on my team lived out of state.

On top of all of that, I have invested heavily in my home office on my own dime (they didn't give any stipend even though work from home was pretty much mandated). I found that my writs and fingers were starting to hurt so I invested in a a more ergonmic split keyboard [1] and mouse which I would have to lug into the office with me.

I feel that my new employer, one that's exclusively remote, has a better approach of us doing an "on-site" every quarter or so where everyone from around the country gathers in a city for those higher level meetings and team bonding activities.

[1] ZSA Moonlander https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#487

Post by granshaw »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #194

The crazy thing is the pandemic still wasn't long enough to teach companies how to work remote or hybrid. I literally forwarded a list of 10 best-reviewed books, articles, etc about remote working to my org's leadership, and I don't think they read any of them. They certainly never changed the way they work. We still spend upwards of 25% of our time in meetings with no agenda to talk about coming up with a plan to st…

"It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It"

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#488

Post by threads2 »

granshaw wrote: post #487
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #194

The crazy thing is the pandemic still wasn't long enough to teach companies how to work remote or hybrid. I literally forwarded a list of 10 best-reviewed books, articles, etc about remote working to my org's leadership, and I don't think they read any of them. They certainly never changed the way they work. We still spend upwards of 25% of our time in meetings with no agenda to talk about coming up with a plan to st…

"It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It"

you don't need to capitalize words in a quote

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#489

Post by greedo »

aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #485
greedo wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on how flat your organization is, this would be a job killer in many companies. Your CEO may grant you WFH, but all of the execs you report to will be aware of you going over their heads. Depending on how much political capital you have, this can be very risky.

Be a rung in an unfulfilled ladder, that'll be fine?

Nope, work with your direct manager and if that's ineffective, change jobs. The amount of times you'd be able to access the CEO for help is extremely low. If you've developed a "Rabbi" at your company, you might be able to circumvent a bad manager eventually, but until you escape his influence and control you'll have to deal with him. Get a new job is usually the best way to deal with poor immediate managers.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#490

Post by otagekki »

ptman wrote: post #191
spaniard89277 wrote: post #46

I do the exact same job in my office than with my laptop anywhere else. Im in my mid 30s, and most of employees are +45 in my job. They really want to come back, and there are already a few in there, but whats the point? I guess they feel lonely, bosses too, but my life is so much better with WFH. Now Im just used to go places with my laptop, my phone as hotspot, and do work somewhere nice and quiet. I can even trave…

+45 is a temperature, or something else on a scale that goes below zero. >45 can be written as 45+, not +45.

GP's Spanish writing habit, without a doubt
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