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The Remote Pop-In (2021)

twos.dev

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Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#71

Post by texasbigdata »

GordonS wrote: post #70
dwrtz wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to hear you stopped working on your tool. My cofounder and I are working on a similar product (teraphone.app). We're focusing specifically on making a discord-like product for microsoft shops. I agree it's partly a culture thing. There's also an awareness issue. A lot of people don't know that pop-in style communication tools exist, especially outside the tech industry.

Interesting, do you think you have a chance at competing against Microsoft's own tools, like Teams? Regardless how crappy Teams is at certain things, the people that decide "we're using Teams" often barely use it themselves.

Look at Microsoft buying sunrise, even though the server based calendar outlook feature was arguably fully fledged. There’s always space:

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#72

Post by crummy »

JensRantil wrote: post #67

My former tram used to have a Google Meet URL which we tried to reuse in our meetings. We announced the URL in our Slack channel as a bookmark and in the description. Particularly, we had our morning standup using the URL and when we stayed around working together on something. Other people in the company would just be able to pop in and talk to use. It was super nice! I did see two issues with this, though: - Blueto…

> Bluetooth headphones have worse audio when mic is on.

I was shocked when I found out this was the case in 2020. Surely this would be a solved thing! So annoying especially for this exact use case.

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#73

Post by oplaadpunt »

colechristensen wrote: post #28
aar9 wrote: post #15

> If you're going to the restroom and will be AFK, you can join the restroom channel. You're in, but away. No one is actually wearing a headset on the toilet, it's just a fun way to feel like a real office. Interesting, I would never have expected anyone to feel the need of recreating this particular piece of office life in a remote setting.

Likewise, this is quite possibly the worst suggestion or best troll I’ve seen in months.

I don't think it's that terrible. The little jokes lighten the mood, and make it feel more real and in-person. Online meetings have a tendency towards formalism in my experience

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#74

Post by awestroke »

wsc981 wrote: post #60
colechristensen wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise, this is quite possibly the worst suggestion or best troll I’ve seen in months.

As an employer I’d like to know how much time my employees spend in the restroom each day, so I can only applaud this suggestion.

Worst employer ever

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#76

Post by wortelefant »

samcheng wrote: post #16

One related technique that I think works well is to hold "Office Hours" at least once a week. Just schedule a regular meeting, and attend it - then advertise widely that you are available at that time and that anyone is welcome. It's a great way to foster skip-level interactions, give help to someone who needs it, and just chat. It's really fun when a few people come in at once. Sometimes nobody shows up, and that's…

in weeks with more spontaneous requests I use https://calendly.com/ and put a link in my profile to announce daily meeting slots

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#77

Post by nonrandomstring »

Best pop-in culture to my mind comes through simple old fashioned IRC with a few utility bots.

The pop-in paradigm seems principally a matter of synchronisation/rendezvous.

Someone is "available" because they are "holding you in mind" but still receptive to engage or not engage without consequence. Fancy high-bandwidth tools, including smartphones and web-video don't solve it because they create a commitment of presence. In response/defence people erect barriers, away messages, out-of-office notes etc, working hours get out of sync and asynchronous exchanges fall apart.

IRC seems to find the best balance that approximates between a digital water-cooler where you can turn up and see who is up for a chat, and a notice board where you can leave a message "I called in, chat with me when you have time".

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#78

Post by JensRantil »

crummy wrote: post #72
JensRantil wrote: post #67

My former tram used to have a Google Meet URL which we tried to reuse in our meetings. We announced the URL in our Slack channel as a bookmark and in the description. Particularly, we had our morning standup using the URL and when we stayed around working together on something. Other people in the company would just be able to pop in and talk to use. It was super nice! I did see two issues with this, though: - Blueto…

> Bluetooth headphones have worse audio when mic is on. I was shocked when I found out this was the case in 2020. Surely this would be a solved thing! So annoying especially for this exact use case.

Yeah, I think it's a security feature not get run over by a car when talking - but I agree it would be nice to be able to turn off.

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#79

Post by ryukafalz »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #77

Best pop-in culture to my mind comes through simple old fashioned IRC with a few utility bots. The pop-in paradigm seems principally a matter of synchronisation/rendezvous. Someone is "available" because they are "holding you in mind" but still receptive to engage or not engage without consequence. Fancy high-bandwidth tools, including smartphones and web-video don't solve it because they create a commitment of prese…

IRC may do this better than some other platforms depending on how you use it but I don’t think it’s ideal. In particular, most times when I’ve used IRC the social norm is to use a bouncer to stay connected persistently. Even in the absence of that, the fact that you can be joined to multiple channels simultaneously means you have some of the same issues as Slack of having to keep up with the goings-on in several channels.

I think the Discord setup mentioned in the OP feels like a “place” because when you’re joined to one room, you’re crucially not in any of the others. You can do this with IRC but it’s not very natural. Honestly, I think the place where that interaction style would feel most natural is in a MUD.

Re: The Remote Pop-In (2021)

#80

Post by glacials »

ianbutler wrote: post #2

That’s interesting but I’d have to wonder how effective it is for traditionally more introverted teams like engineering. Do they enforce a certain amount of time someone must be in their “office” and thus primed to be interrupted, maybe even only doing lite work? Or is this a case that works really well for only largely extroverted teams, sales, product, marketing etc. My suspicion is a non trivial amount of introver…

Author here. We had no requirements to use this system so people frequently left their “office” to get some concentration time in. Some folks were rarely or never “in”, which was completely fine. (The company even had a standing “all meetings are optional” rule.)
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