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Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#11

Post by res0nat0r »

enjo wrote: post #4
com2kid wrote: post #2

In contrast, I am energized by going into the office and working side by side with my peers to solve hard problems. I dislike programming by myself, it is dull, boring, and much more error prone than when I have someone to bounce ideas off of. (Rubber Ducking only goes so far!) Really every time this topic is brought up the overall consensus seems to be "it varies for different people." Some people seem to really ben…

Yep! There are times I want to be in the office. There are times I want to be at a coffee shop. There are times I want to be at home. As an executive, I feel like it's my job to provide as much flexibility to my team as I possibly can. Inspiration can strike anywhere, in any environment. I want to capture that for my business. I find that people really appreciate it as well. Really it comes down to meeting management…

This policy hasn't been set in stone as a permanent measure. I'm sure it is being put in place for now to help the company get its act together to help bring it back from the sub par arena it has been swimming in for so long. Once that hopefully happens then the policy could be lifted.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#12

Post by RougeFemme »

I think the mix of introverts vs. extroverts is relevant, too. Generally, extroverts are energized by being around people, while introverts need some mental downtime to recharge their batteries. And at least for me, downtime is hard to come by while in the office.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#13

Post by corin_ »

huffman wrote: post #10
aaronblohowiak wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The collection as a whole is the thing that is being compared. 400 computers are on the desk. 200 students are better than you. (everyone one of those students are individually better than you.) 200 students is better than none. (the total number is being compared as a singular item to the quantity 0)

Would "200 students are better than none" be invalid? When you swap out the number with some other word i.e. "Some students is better than none", using "are" is the correct choice.

Anybody would understand you, but there is a difference. Using the word "none" doesn't help explain, so change that to "me".

"200 students are better than me" means that there are 200 all of which are better than me, it's not grouping them together, just counting them. "200 students is better than me" would mean that as a collective they are better than me, but I might well be better than each of them individually.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#14

Post by soneca »

gnosis wrote: post #6
com2kid wrote: post #2

In contrast, I am energized by going into the office and working side by side with my peers to solve hard problems. I dislike programming by myself, it is dull, boring, and much more error prone than when I have someone to bounce ideas off of. (Rubber Ducking only goes so far!) Really every time this topic is brought up the overall consensus seems to be "it varies for different people." Some people seem to really ben…

"In contrast, I am energized by going into the office and working side by side with my peers to solve hard problems." Let me know if you still feel that way in 20 years.

Well, I hope he will! Probably with different peers and surely with different problems. But that would be my goal. Sure, the "into the office" part can change. But I also hope he can change in a range of 20 years, without having the need to be inflexible to what he claim as a preference in the past.

Actually, this statement sounded so out of purpose, that I am having a second thought that I maybe have lost something here.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#15

Post by outside1234 »

res0nat0r wrote: post #11
enjo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep! There are times I want to be in the office. There are times I want to be at a coffee shop. There are times I want to be at home. As an executive, I feel like it's my job to provide as much flexibility to my team as I possibly can. Inspiration can strike anywhere, in any environment. I want to capture that for my business. I find that people really appreciate it as well. Really it comes down to meeting management…

This policy hasn't been set in stone as a permanent measure. I'm sure it is being put in place for now to help the company get its act together to help bring it back from the sub par arena it has been swimming in for so long. Once that hopefully happens then the policy could be lifted.

you mean like at Google. oh wait.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#16

Post by DanBC »

corin_ wrote: post #13
huffman wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would "200 students are better than none" be invalid? When you swap out the number with some other word i.e. "Some students is better than none", using "are" is the correct choice.

Anybody would understand you, but there is a difference. Using the word "none" doesn't help explain, so change that to "me". "200 students are better than me" means that there are 200 all of which are better than me, it's not grouping them together, just counting them. "200 students is better than me" would mean that as a collective they are better than me, but I might well be better than each of them individually.

This is the kind of thing I want an infographic for.

Someone should design a small set, each in monochrome, to fit on A4 / Letter size paper, with simple explanation and example sentences.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#17

Post by soneca »

RougeFemme wrote: post #12

I think the mix of introverts vs. extroverts is relevant, too. Generally, extroverts are energized by being around people, while introverts need some mental downtime to recharge their batteries. And at least for me, downtime is hard to come by while in the office.

I always wondered about offices with "loneliness rooms". Not to sleep, or meditate, but to work. Some place where anyone can go if he/she don't want to be around other people. A mix of open spaces and discreet rooms, where you can go and people won't even notice you are going there. I wouldn't even put doors in there, not to be mistaken to a place where you hide. Just a very small room, with no space for hanging around, just one chair and desk. Thinking more about it, maybe open, gardened spaces, but with lonely chair-desks, which disposal and landacape shows it is suposed to be distant of eveything (so it isn't so claustrophobic as the first scenario I imagined)

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#18

Post by jonathanjaeger »

Personally I like the routine of getting up every morning having my coffee and going to the office. But you need a good working environment. I'm not a programmer though, and I often realize some people can get a lot more down without the pull of meetings and unintended interruptions throughout the day. Perhaps I'm just lucky my job is devoid of meetings, for the most part.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#19

Post by joonix »

com2kid wrote: post #2

In contrast, I am energized by going into the office and working side by side with my peers to solve hard problems. I dislike programming by myself, it is dull, boring, and much more error prone than when I have someone to bounce ideas off of. (Rubber Ducking only goes so far!) Really every time this topic is brought up the overall consensus seems to be "it varies for different people." Some people seem to really ben…

I like a mix of both and I like freedom. I want to leave from 10am to 2pm and work at home if I feel like it, without having people judge me for it.

Re: Why Five Days in the Office Is Too Many

#20

Post by corin_ »

DanBC wrote: post #16
corin_ wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anybody would understand you, but there is a difference. Using the word "none" doesn't help explain, so change that to "me". "200 students are better than me" means that there are 200 all of which are better than me, it's not grouping them together, just counting them. "200 students is better than me" would mean that as a collective they are better than me, but I might well be better than each of them individually.

This is the kind of thing I want an infographic for. Someone should design a small set, each in monochrome, to fit on A4 / Letter size paper, with simple explanation and example sentences.

I really don't understand what would be on this infographic you want.
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