Earlier quoted context omitted.
Email address?
edited my profile :)
Sent! :)
Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
41–50 of 68 posts
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#42OP (or other Etsy-ers) - is Etsy remote friendly as a rule? They've always been around the top of my employment-crush list but I'm pretty committed to staying remote after over four years working that way (and NYC is a visit-not-live location for me!). I thought when I'd looked in the past Etsy wasn't obviously remote friendly.
Looking at their site it seems that they are not remote friendly. My guess would be that OPs specific team and or specific office location is remote friendly. But Etsy as a whole does not promote remote work anywhere on their site.
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#43Good writeup, I experienced all of this working from home for about 4 years. I was living on the US west coast working for a company on the east coast, so I worked a pretty early schedule, but there's really nothing like being done with your day at 1:30-2:30pm.
A few months back I got a new job where I work in the office, and the commute is hands-down the worst part. Second worst is the loss of privacy - I mean just think how much nicer it is to use your own bathroom than a public one. All in all, however, I think remote and in the office is a mixed bag, I don't think one is clearly better than the other. There is something to be said for being in a physical place with smart people, interacting in meatspace, having lunch together, etc.
One thing rarely noted when discussing this issue: when you work in the office, your employer pays for the office space. When you work from home, you pay for it. You will probably want a bigger or more nicely-appointed place since you're going to be there basically all the time. You will pay for that. Another thing, if you're at a place where very few people are remote, you will be seen as having "lucked out" or having it easier than others. That perception can bite you.
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It's the future. If you're not remote, find a way to fix that. Would you suggest this even for new grads looking for a first job? I just know that commuting every day is going to be incredibly depressing but I haven't seen much in the way of remote opportunities for fresh grads.
> Would you suggest this even for new grads looking for a first job? Nope. I've been a full-time remote worker for 6.5 years, and 1/2 time (2 days a week) for 4 years before that. During that time I've managed and hired remote workers. The reality is remote work is not for everyone, and I think that is even more so for new grads. There is a lot of mentoring that happens early in someone's career, and that is difficul…
would recommend remote working for someone who has 2 years+ experience?
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#45I worked remotely for around two years, and the most helpful tool was https://www.sqwiggle.com/ . You colleagues feel just a little closer that way. It even makes it easy to listen in to a conversation that happens in an office with multiple people.
That said, quite a few people found it creepy, and we allowed anyone to opt out.
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It's the future. If you're not remote, find a way to fix that. Would you suggest this even for new grads looking for a first job? I just know that commuting every day is going to be incredibly depressing but I haven't seen much in the way of remote opportunities for fresh grads.
It's going to be tough getting a remote job as a new grad. Not impossible, but tough. If I could give any advice it would be to get a decent location-dictated job first. I worked for a little less than one year at my first job before jumping ship and finding my first (and current) remote job. PM me if you have any questions.
was the first job also remote? if yes, how difficult was it to get it?
and how difficult it was to get current job?
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Would you suggest this even for new grads looking for a first job? Nope. I've been a full-time remote worker for 6.5 years, and 1/2 time (2 days a week) for 4 years before that. During that time I've managed and hired remote workers. The reality is remote work is not for everyone, and I think that is even more so for new grads. There is a lot of mentoring that happens early in someone's career, and that is difficul…
I think developers forget sometimes - and I really don't mean this in a negative way - that they are people too, not machines. People generally need some level of human contact, in person, to grow and form strong bonds with each other. I think remote works great, but it only works if you get to see some people you work with sometimes. The money the company saves can be put into a fund to bring the team together a few…
My problem with a company vacation:
The people I work with are not my friends. I despise most of them. This is true for every place I've worked. It's probably true for most people here. You don't chose your co-workers. And now you're forcing me to take my vacation with these people, who I put up with every day at work.
You may be puzzled reading this. "But my company is like a family." Some companies are really like this; everyone's your friend. But if every company was like this, we wouldn't have shows like "The Office."
It's also hard to expect everyone to go on a vacation. What if your kid has to go to school? What if your spouse has a job, and has to stay home. Can you ask people to leave their family behind for a week so they can bond with their co-workers?
Then you might say "fine, just make the vacation optional." You won't be fired for not going, but when it's time for performance reviews, who's gonna have "not a team player" on their report? The one person who didn't attend.
But you make a point. We're people. We need contact. My solution? Work at a co-working space a few times a week. Work out of a library or cafe every so often. And get everyone on your team to use video conferencing.
And if your team lives in a close vicinity, it's totally reasonable to schedule some day trips.
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#48I think the takeaway from this is that remote is harder than folks make it sound. Not just anybody can do it. Running a company that is fully remote is even more difficult especially when you're trying to establish things like a coherent company culture. Big remote-work fan but it should be clear to everyone that Colocating everyone to a physical space definitely has its benefits, especially when you're starting out.
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think developers forget sometimes - and I really don't mean this in a negative way - that they are people too, not machines. People generally need some level of human contact, in person, to grow and form strong bonds with each other. I think remote works great, but it only works if you get to see some people you work with sometimes. The money the company saves can be put into a fund to bring the team together a few…
My problem with a company vacation: The people I work with are not my friends. I despise most of them. This is true for every place I've worked. It's probably true for most people here. You don't chose your co-workers. And now you're forcing me to take my vacation with these people, who I put up with every day at work. You may be puzzled reading this. "But my company is like a family." Some companies are really like…
> I despise most of them
Doesn't sound like the problem is with your colleagues.
Re: Remote Working – 3 Year Retrospective
#50On the "Substandard Treatment", my personal experience is the loss of power. I was the team lead for a government project. My wife took a job she always wanted; we move 900 miles away to Florida. Pretty much after that, while still team lead, the team lost cohesion. It was harder to drive changes and tasks at a distance than if I was in someone's cube.
I'm in a similar boat: remote team lead on a government project living in FL :) Was the rest of the team local to each other? That can be difficult because the team may be accustom to conducting all communication verbally, where you need it to be electronic. I was a new-comer to the team when I became the remote lead, and one of the things I did was focus on getting folks to communicate electronically. Luckily for me…
I'm in the lovely town of Palatka.
My team was entirely new. It was built around a core of two people: myself and a systems admin. We directed the bulk of the technical decisions.
Looking back, the problem was a cult of personality driven by both of us. We were the go-to guys for everything. The rest of the team didn't get, or expect much say in the overarching design. I tried to ease myself out of the cult leader into more of a director when I moved.
That easing didn't work. People just kinda drifted off. Things got done, but details were over looked.
We had stand ups everyday, but most people wouldn't give granular enough responses to figure out the burn down, etc. As a tech lead I didn't have much pull on trying to get them to be more scrum-y.
The ethos of the team seems to be more like the Mangalores from 5th Element. Without a tangible head, fiefdoms arose.