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The damaging results of mandated return to office

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Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#231

Post by BLKNSLVR »

tylerag wrote: post #179
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An external keyboard and mouse is a necessity for any non-emergency work. 100% of laptop keyboards and trackpads suck for anything other than emergencies, and many suck for emergencies as well. This is inarguable fact.

I won't argue with you, but I will ask how many laptops have you tried?

Probably 10 - 15 over the course of 20-odd years.

Sizes from a 10" ASUS eeePC to a Toshiba 17" monster desktop replacement, generic brands, a 14" Lenovo Thinkpad, a 13.3" Dell XPS, Samsung (real puurty silver slimline thing I was sad to say goodbye to), current work laptop is an HP Elitebook, a 15" ASUS, a 13.3" ASUS, and at least a couple of other work ones that aren't memorable enough. Plus my kids' school chromebooks.

No macs though, I've not crossed that border yet.

I can deal with any keyboard, but for actual proper typing in an environment where one is meant to be working, gotta be an external keyboard. I've got a mechanical at home, but I'm fine with non-mechanical at work, so I don't think I'm too much of a prima donna - I won't say that's inarguable fact though ;)

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#232

Post by jaclaz »

pvdoom wrote: post #173
ensocode wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. Maybe it is even the other way around. A farmer lives on his farm. He works there, he raises his family there, grows his food there, lives there, has his friends around there. For my perspective it is more back to the roots than progressive. If you can work from the place were you live then this is more natural than commuting into the office block every day. Technology here gave us a opportunity to live a more…

I think it's both. A farmer could do that, because they tend to own their farm. A worker usually has no ownership in the business. They're more like farmhands ...

If we go back in time it wasn't the case always.

A common form of agricultural contract in many countries, up to the WWII and in some countries even after was a form of rent where the owner provided the farm, and the tenant worked on it and they divided the crop (or whatever the farm produced), in English it is called sharecropping:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharecropping

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#233

Post by christophilus »

nottorp wrote: post #195
NKosmatos wrote: post #103

Once you’ve tasted the fruits of WFH and you like the taste, you’ll never go back. It’s like going from a black and white TV to a color one, from a dummy phone to a smartphone, from dialup internet to fiber to the home. You never go the other way round, unless there is a very strong reason and personal decision. People like to improve their lives in whatever way is best for them and will strongly object to a “downgra…

> and you like the taste Orthogonal to the productivity argument, have there been any studies trying to find the motivation for people preferring/hating WFH? My guess is you tend to prefer it if you have a social circle that's not your co workers and hate it if you don't.

For me, it’s a combination of flexibility, avoiding a daily commute, and having my own private, focus-enhancing office as opposed to the interruption fest that is modern offices.

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#235

Post by n4r9 »

throwawaylinux wrote: post #230
sokoloff wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When most people use “on-boarding”, they don’t mean just the legal/HR/benefits paperwork, but rather the effective integration into the fabric of the company. The original post to which you replied even specified that as including “learn how to communicate and collaborate within the company”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36503709

And there's nothing that's particularly prohibitive about doing that remotely. You can't just call a bunch of dot points like "on boarding" refuting what I wrote. Sure it's what you might read in your CEO's email or whatever, but that doesn't make it true.

The point you seem to be making - that remote working is a cinch as long as all the managers already know what they need to do and how to do it - is both correct and missing the point.

Studies in the UK demonstrate that feeling isolated and making connections with colleagues in a remote environment is a major concern for younger employees: https://universumglobal.com/blog/the-leadership-gap-young-wo...

This is an organisational issue which isn't solved just by making tools like email and calendar available.

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#237

Post by mikrotikker »

cpursley wrote: post #222
bbkane wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I'm in a similar situation- small kid at home, easy walking commute to a nice office with friendly coworkers, a gym, and free lunch

I’m hard core work from home but that actually sounds awesome now that we have a toddler.

Hey man you do the crime you gotta do the time hehehe

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#238

Post by MattPalmer1086 »

ornornor wrote: post #101
jupp0r wrote: post #57

Companies who mandate return to the office should pay employees for the additional commute time at their hourly rate. If this becomes too expensive then productivity gains from being in the office are apparently not worth it.

I once worked some place where my manager loved to tell this allegedly true story (happened before my tour) as a hilarious joke to onboard new devs on how to fill the timesheet: There was this IC who was working on cross departmental stuff. Things like pipelines, UI component libraries, build tools, etc. He would frequently go on walks to think, either during the work day and return to the office or to go back home a…

Ha, almost thought you were describing me there. I used to go for walks to think. I was pulled up on it for not being at my desk and thus presumably not "working".

They also had 15 minute timesheets. I used to fill them in accurately. I was pulled up on that for not doing my full 8 hours a day on assigned projects. I pointed out that filling in the timesheet alone took half an hour a day, and I also talked to colleagues, made drinks and did other things that were not attributable to project work... Just like all my colleagues did who were claiming 8 hours. I was told to make the timesheet add up to 8.

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#239

Post by mikrotikker »

Lewton wrote: post #221
nottorp wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and you like the taste Orthogonal to the productivity argument, have there been any studies trying to find the motivation for people preferring/hating WFH? My guess is you tend to prefer it if you have a social circle that's not your co workers and hate it if you don't.

I prefer going to the office, not because of the social aspect, but because I strongly prefer separating my work from my personal life I really enjoyed back when working from the office was optional and I was the only one showing up!

I'm lucky in that I converted a rather fancy woodshed into an office/lab with lots of Ethernet ports so my work can stay in there. When I was I the house it wasn't as good since I could still hear the slack and email noises from the lounge etc.

Re: The damaging results of mandated return to office

#240

Post by suprjami »

deathanatos wrote: post #73

What's worse to me is the return to the "hybrid" office we keep getting threatened with. (My company has not actually done a RTO … yet. I don't know if we ever will.) Now instead of a lousy 4' desk in an open office plan … I also get a desk that isn't mine? I'm supposed to … what, lug a keyboard¹ & mouse & laptop in? It seems like literally nobody has imagined what it might be like for a SWE to actually attempt to do…

Get your employer to buy you an ergo keyboard. If you need a medical certificate then doctor shop until you get one.

Then again if your employer doesn't even have monitors at hotdesks then maybe it's time to look for greener pastures.

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