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If you're remote, ramble

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Re: If you're remote, ramble

#241

Post by count »

stingraycharles wrote: post #69
count wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We schedule a 2x a week 15-30 minute no-project-talk socialization meeting for our fully distributed team. It helps a LOT. We also have dedicated rambling channels in slack, active much of the day.

We tried that but it ended up being just a few people talking and most people just listening and/or continuing their work. As a team lead within a small, fully remote company I’m struggling to find the right dynamics as I can see people really like to socialize (I have 3 1on1’s with each of them every week, and a lot of times we just talk about personal hobbies, what they did last weekend, etc), but it seems like in…

This is how group conversations happen in person at an office too. I think it's fine, and everybody has reported feeling more connected / less isolated during our periodic polls since we started doing it.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#242

Post by Etheryte »

andrewrn wrote: post #236

I really cannot imagine working remote full-time, it sounds so depressing. We already don't go to church or bars or movies or clubs anymore. Work is one of the few remaining places to interact with other humans. I'd be interested in trying this if I was remote, but I still just prefer in-person work. I worked an in-person job recently at an oil company where we had no regular meetings (I was doing absolute grunt draf…

I mean, no one is stopping you from going to church or bars or movies or clubs. All of those things are still there if that's what you fancy.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#243

Post by ryandrake »

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.

One of the benefits (to me) of going remote is I'm sick a heck of a lot less often! In fact, I don't think I've even had a cold or upper respiratory infection since I started remote, where I used to get colds at least once a month, likely due to being in close concentration of other sick people in the office. Touching door handles everywhere to get from office to office, touching elevator buttons, eating together with 100 other people in the office cafeteria... yuck! Now that I'm remote, I'm in my hermetically sealed home office, and I can go weeks without even seeing another person, let alone touching things they touched and breathing their air.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#244

Post by HappMacDonald »

echelon wrote: post #200
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”

Yeah, but Obsidian is a startup. A remote startup. If you're in a startup of I can see how this feels dystopian in a giant corporation, but that's because everyone is there for the paycheck. In a startup, people are making sacrifices to make the thing work. They could get a higher paying, less stressful job. Picking a startup and not being engaged is disruptive.

.. yet "being disruptive" is supposed to be the goal of a startup innit?

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#245

Post by tossandthrow »

ronbenton wrote: post #159
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 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”

If this is your attitude, then you are not part of a team of 2 to 10

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#246

Post by booleandilemma »

jodrellblank wrote: post #138
booleandilemma wrote: post #58

A post encouraging more performative behavior at work, as if there wasn't enough already. By the way, my scrum update is yesterday I was mostly in meetings.

More performative “I’m cynicaler than thou” comments as if there aren’t enough on HN anyway.

My comment isn't performative, I really mean it :)

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#247

Post by standardUser »

If you want your remote teams to have increased cohesion you need to fly them all to the same location (at company expense, only during weekdays) multiple times per year and give them the opportunity to actually get to know each other.

Anything else usually just feels awkward and pathetic. But since online game shows or "breakaway rooms" cost the company a whole lot less money, that's what we're stuck with.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#249

Post by clickety_clack »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #186
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.

Mine certainly is. If my employees don't fill out their timesheets and tps reports how will I do payroll

Bro, some of my employees don’t put the new covers on their TPS reports. Do you know how much we paid the consultant for the new designs?!

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#250

Post by Mawr »

SoftTalker wrote: post #216
mjevans wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Don't watch Silicon Valley.
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