Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

If you're remote, ramble

stephango.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 479 posts

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#211

Post by Tohsig »

codingdave wrote: post #143

I'm with the other commenters who agree in spirit, but would hate the details in the post. Assigned channels where you are expected to post your random thoughts feels utterly dystopian to me. In my experience, "rambling" channels build up organically... as you have a thought, you share it with someone relevant, not just drop it into a channel and see who reads it. Over time, small group chats evolve naturally, and as…

I'll add on to this that per-user channels could work well in teams where everyone is comfortable sharing, but could be absolutely paralyzing in other situations.

My personal preference is to have some kind of "Off-Topic" or "Open Discussion" channel that is communal. I'll then make a point of consistently posting half-developed ideas to that channel. Especially the ideas that I know are going to morph as the team discusses them. I find that helps do two things:

- Helps create a culture of collaboration rather than one of "whatever the lead dev says goes".

- Provides Cover For/Reduces Pressure On anyone that is less comfortable putting their thoughts out there for discussion.

As the parent comment said, the fundamental idea in the post isn't bad, but the mechanism may need tweaking for a given team.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#213

Post by serf »

ZeroCool2u wrote: post #203
majke wrote: post #132

Let me share a personal story. Back in 2014 when I was working at Cloudflare on DDoS mitigation I collaborated a lot with a collage - James (Jog). I asked him loads of questions, from "how to login to a server", via "what is anycast" to "tell me how you mitigated this one, give me precise instructions you've run". I quickly realised that these conversations had value outside the two of us - pretty much everyone else…

We have an organic channel like this that's just called "Study Hall". People constantly ask technical questions and they know it's a judgement free zone. Probably one of the most productive chat channels in our org.

>and they know it's a judgement free zone.

that's the thing that's so inorganic about this whole thing : it's not a judgement free zone, it's a zone that tricks people into presuming that.

If some underling somewhere says something that exposes their ignorance or naivety to either a policy problem or a technical problem you'd better realize that it's going to trigger a 'review mechanism' somewhere down the road within the organization; to think otherwise would be pure fantasy.

Similarly : if you go drinking with the boss, you do still have to remember that the drunk puking slob who you're carrying to their hotel room is going to wake up and be your boss tomorrow.

very few humans actually disconnect this stuff from their internalized judgements of people.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#214

Post by dclowd9901 »

kmarc wrote: post #149
jzb wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, why? The other day I had a killer headache. Just couldn’t shake it. I did everything I needed to that was time sensitive, then went AFK. I don’t see any reason to be suspicious of others if they do similarly—we all have days when we’re just not at our best for some reason.

To defend @bagacrap, they said they tend to be a bit suspicious. And I am, too, when I hear this weekly from the same person (and when I ask back next day, if she recovered, she asks me "from what"?) I'm all in for more times off for parents, more PTOs, sabbaticala, etc. But come on, having "a cold" twice a month... IT IS suspicious.

Do they perform adequately at their job in general? If so, who cares?

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#215

Post by unethical_ban »

michaelrpeskin wrote: post #164
codingdave wrote: post #143

I'm with the other commenters who agree in spirit, but would hate the details in the post. Assigned channels where you are expected to post your random thoughts feels utterly dystopian to me. In my experience, "rambling" channels build up organically... as you have a thought, you share it with someone relevant, not just drop it into a channel and see who reads it. Over time, small group chats evolve naturally, and as…

Yeah, I don't like it in "channels" either because it's too random. What I started years ago at a previous company who was using Confluence (yuck, I know), as the knowledge base was to have a "Personal Space" where I created internal blog posts. I still do it at my new place using their tools. What I do is more "bloggy" and than "rambly". When I'm considering a refactor, I write up my thoughts in English (which often…

Off topic, 10 years ago, I hated confluence and wanted my team to be able to continue using DokuWiki.

Now, I've consulted at places that use Microsoft Teams file shares for their "documentation", and I feel like I'm back in 2005. Confluence would be a dream.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#216

Post by SoftTalker »

mjevans wrote: post #192
ronbenton wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“I see you’ve only had 15 rambles this week” “Isn’t 15 the minimum?” “Well, yeah, if you just want to do the bare minimum. But look at Todd over there - he has 37 rambles” “Well if you wanted people to have 37 rambles why wouldn’t you make that the minimum”

Ref: Office Space (Movie) Flare at the restaurant (I believe it's a spoof on TGI Fridays / Chillis etc) If you have not seen Office Space ... It has a couple raunchy things and it's general political correctness calibration is circa ~2000 USA so go in with about that level of culture expectations. Having said that, it's a GREAT movie which is practically a comedic documentary of US office politics and tropes. Though…

It’s so much like real work I can’t watch it. Same with The Office series.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#217

Post by dclowd9901 »

tayo42 wrote: post #136
bagacrap wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do tend to be a bit suspicious of the one-day "under the weather" events. However I do think we need to make extra room for parents (I am not one, yet). I'm going to need a doctor who's younger than me when I'm 80+ Folks could always just disappear instead of announcing these things, but is that better? And as a senior on my team, I over announce certain stuff to let the other team members know that WLB is ok.

So many reasons why you might be sick for one day. Colds start light, peak and fade off, sometimes you just need one day to sleep off the worst of it.

I've been sick so often now (thanks kids) that I can feel _immediately_ when something is coming on. Rather than be down and useless at home and work for 2 or 3 more days, I tag out, go to bed and usually knock it out in a night. I feel like that's way better for me and everyone else overall.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#218

Post by latchkey »

Aurornis wrote: post #202
latchkey wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> from a manager’s perspective this format is something we’ve tried to avoid I'd rather avoid the manager's perspective.

The blog post is from a manager’s perspective. It’s a manager explaining what they had their employees do.

As a CEO 'manager' myself, I try to let people just be. Getting too granular about person vs. topic and redirecting people to the right room sucks the fun out of everything. Let people mess up and post in the wrong place, who cares?

OP's post was about a great experience 'tremendous value' they had and now you're pooping on it with 'manager' opinions. Read what you wrote from the employee perspective, you're sounding like the self-appointed fun police.

Update: Cue the downvotes from the managers.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#220

Post by e3bc54b2 »

merelysounds wrote: post #209
e3bc54b2 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recently $DAYJOB has been moving more and more towards Office Space. But none of the young'ins are aware of it. So I just showed them the scene with the Bobs. Their faces were priceless. I doubt any of them came to office with same mindset again.

The scene with the Bobs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwfNjGxa_D4

When I told them the movie came out before they were born, yet depict their life damn near exactly as they were living it, their enlightenment lit the room anew hah.

Someone please save my soul..

Post reply on HN