Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently • Hacker News Board

Re: Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently

#321

Post by bastardoperator » Sat, Aug 05, 2023, 6:48 PM UTC

jayd16 wrote: post #141

bastardoperator wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A 10 second conversations sounds like a slack message to me, or providing the guidance before they go down the rabbit.

The difference is you can tell on someone's face whether they're struggling or cranking away without bugging them. "Give guidance before" is about as good a "just don't make mistakes."

No you can't. Also, this could be a slack message.

"Hey, I need you to take a look at #154, don't worry about the issues Jeff is mentioning, we just need you to fix the error in the form and write a test. If you run into any frontend issues, work with Mike, I already let him know you might be coming to him.

This is basic manager, Sr. Developer stuff.

Re: Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently

#322

Post by known » Sun, Aug 06, 2023, 2:57 AM UTC

uxcolumbo wrote: post #308

mpeg wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the most frustrating part of remote work are people who expect synchronous communication. Conversations that go like “good morning, how are you?” and then wait until you reply to say “so I was wondering about x” It’s annoying, wastes a lot of time and people keep doing it because they’re still stuck in office mode when they should be following IRC rules (don’t ask to ask)

Yes exactly. I worked with folks located in India and I had to tell them it’s OK to get straight to the point without having to wait for me to say hello back etc. I had to explain it’s not rude if they leave out the hellos and how are yous. Probably a cultural thing.

[dead]

Re: Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently

#323

Post by nikau » Sun, Aug 06, 2023, 5:10 AM UTC

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B wrote: post #311

paulcole wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One company drove me insane with random “Hows it going” messages throughout the day so I just left for another company and let them know why on the way out. But this is ideal right? Their culture is asking "how's it going" throughout the day and it's not a culture you wanted to be part of so you left. Asking "how's it going?" throughout the day isn't objectively good or bad – it's just not for everyone.

> Asking "how's it going?" throughout the day isn't objectively good or bad Most of the time, this simple innocent question is an introduction to a work related question. It is, and has always been for me, a massive waste of time. You lose your focus, you stop working while waiting for the coworker to decide whether or not he will ask you the real question in the next 10 minutes. I approximately lose 1 hour every day…

I just reply with nohello.net

Re: Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently

#324

Post by nikau » Sun, Aug 06, 2023, 5:12 AM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #274

liveoneggs wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it depends on who is asking, of course

No, it doesn’t. Again, nothing against you if you dislike being asked how things are going by a coworker — but if that is the culture of the company you work at, there’s nothing wrong with it. It might be wrong for you , so you either get a different job or learn to deal with it.

I don't like being asked how I'm going by a cashier either, because its just insincere stupid social norms.

If you have a question, just ask. If you have a genuine interest in my wellbeing you will ask something more specific than "how are you?".

Re: Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently

#325

Post by jewayne » Sun, Aug 06, 2023, 9:35 PM UTC

lapcat wrote: post #231

jewayne wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you get it. Letting a junior engineer bang their heads for a few days on something you could show them in ten minutes is just a waste of time and money. In my experience there are PLENTY of real problems for them to solve, things I DON'T know the answer for.

You can't just consider one question and one answer in isolation. The questions and answers add up. It's a waste of the senior engineer's time to spend ten minutes each answering every question of junior engineers who are constantly asking questions, seemingly incapable of helping themselves. The senior engineer becomes a glorified babysitter, and the junior engineers then never learn to solve problems for themselves…

Yes, what happens when the senior engineer leaves the company, having never shared his or her knowledge?

It sounds like you are trying to address issues during mentoring that should have been addressed during the hiring process. In my experience, all the juniors I've worked with come in with the idea that they can solve every single issue themselves, and part of my job is to show them how wasteful that is, that a simple question can save the whole team days if not weeks worth of time.

If someone walked through the door who is not enthusiastic about solving technical issues themselves...your hiring process needs work.

Re: Remote work requires communicating more, but less frequently

#326

Post by willio58 » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 7:13 PM UTC

briandswartz wrote: post #182

willio58 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing my team does is we have a daily quick standup meeting where at the end we all have the option to stay on. The room is set up to always be accessible by anyone who wants to join and many of us sit in the room camera/mic on or off all day just in case someone wants to ask a quick question. If the conversation gets to be really long between two people in the room we will split off into a breakout room. I love…

How long have you been doing this? Curious, bc many teams tried something like this but it fizzled after 3-4 months. (full disclosure, we're building a platform that integrates with Zoom to visualize all these rooms, and who is in them, so people can hop into the rooms where people currently are, and know when someone isn't available before joining, etc. would love to interview you for user research if you're up for…

So far 14 months and counting. It's great for giving a hybrid work feel, especially for people who like that sort of thing, without the actual requirement to live near the office or commute daily.