There is no one size fits all. I’m a believer that office time should be optional. If I was an employer I want to get the most from my people. I want to empower them with the tools they need to get the best work done they can. If that is them working at home. Fine. If it’s having a dedicated space (office) that I pay for. Fine. They are adults and can figure out what works best for them. Why would I as an employer know how best all of my employees can work best.
Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
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Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm confused, what was the point of making you (or your coworker) live on the other side of the globe then? Were they running an "let's see what happens if we expel someone out of the US just for kicks" experiment? The way you described it it sounds like they deliberately did something completely pointless, which seems... unlikely?
I'm not sure. Maybe they thought it was supposed to go differently, but then it didn't turn out as planned.
Maybe some legal technicalities around needing a physical presence to do business or get a contract there?
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#33Have any of the pro-RTO folks on HN experienced this phenomenon? There's definitely a contingent here who do not prefer remote work, curious to read what they think of going back into the office only to have to continue to call in order to collaborate with coworkers.
Even before COVID all my collaboration with teammates was done online. (We use Teams now) I'm at the main site for my company; my boss and all my close collaborators are at a satellite location that's not within driving distance; my boss's boss is down the hall from me.
For me, the act of leaving the office at the end of the day is an effective "off switch" that I don't have while my work station and my gaming station is the same chair in the same room. And the office is an effective procrastination temptation blocker that I don't have when I'm at home and surrounded by all my toys, dirty dishes in the sink, and dirty cloths in the hamper.
WFH is the worst case scenario of "taking work home with you", which really isn't the way I want to live my life.
It never had anything to do with collaboration.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#34“My team” are in London, Chicago, Dallas, Cochin, and Bangalore and I’m in Seattle. Commuting to the office just makes it harder to get in early enough for the morning Zoom calls.
Same, well different locations, but same.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#35If just one person for a meeting has to be on zoom because they’re remote, then so does everyone else, even if they’re sitting at the same table.
Yes, and that's why hybrid doesn't make much sense - even if you have 80% in office and 20% remote, then you have to have 100% of the processes/costs/downsides of remote work (because almost everyone needs to work as if you were remotely), but you get only 20% of the benefits of remote work.
Isn't it pretty standard to have video conferencing equipment in conference rooms or are there actually companies where people literally sit in a meeting room and dial in with Zoom from their laptops? Sounds pretty silly, and easy to fix with minimal cost.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#36I've been working remotely most of my career and I wouldn't trade it for the world. However I believe that "just" having a place to do your video calls or whatnot in peace and quiet can be a tremendous value offer for many if not all people. This isn't to say that I think going to the office should be mandatory. Rather, I would hope that one day more companies can start going remote first with a workspace budget wher…
I have enjoyed being able to choose when and why I go to the office (or especially when I don't). I struggle to imagine how forcing employees into an unpaid, stressful commute is paying off... tech profits have soared in the face of work-from-home.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, and that's why hybrid doesn't make much sense - even if you have 80% in office and 20% remote, then you have to have 100% of the processes/costs/downsides of remote work (because almost everyone needs to work as if you were remotely), but you get only 20% of the benefits of remote work.
Isn't it pretty standard to have video conferencing equipment in conference rooms or are there actually companies where people literally sit in a meeting room and dial in with Zoom from their laptops? Sounds pretty silly, and easy to fix with minimal cost.
Or just their desks. It’s a terrible experience to have the people in the conference room using a room camera and the remotes at least for an interactive discussion. It can make some sense if it’s basically an internal meeting but one person say couldn’t travel or missed a flight. But everyone on their own laptop if anyone is was a practice many teams followed pre-pandemic.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#38This is what I did for years before March 2020. Maybe I'll go in once in a while to get out of the house, but maintaining two development workstations is a drag.
Unless there's an office pizza party or a real scheduled brainstorming session, it's not worth physically being there.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#39I recently spent a week in the office with my team. First time I'd had office time with any team since mid-2018. It was really, really, really nice. I've been a diehard work-from-home guy for ages. Why spend perhaps 10+ hours per week commuting? It's a productivity and environmental nightmare. But... sometimes? Yeah. It's nice to be in the room with other smart people, solving hard problems. I didn't realize I missed…
I did the same and it was as unbelievably worthless as I recalled from before the pandemic. You know what really stands out in the office? How sad it all is. The frowns on the subway, the fake smiles in the office, the pretending, the posturing. Bleh. I'm resigning.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#40This is the most frustrating part of being forced back to the Bay Area. Even before the pandemic, we always had distributed meetings, with people calling in from various buildings, conference rooms, phone booths, etc.
So nothing changes between last month and this month, except that managers get peace-of-mind knowing I’m calling in from somewhere on the premises, and I’m back living in a place where I can’t afford a house.
(I did have previous jobs where we worked on hard technical problems, and spending face-to-face time with a couple colleagues hashing out solutions at a whiteboard was invaluable. But that is not my FAANG job, where the whiteboards are rarely used for anything other than interview questions.)