I don't see what's so hard. Give people a choice and leave it at that.
What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
11–20 of 47 posts
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#12I completely understand their concerns about remote work long term. Maybe it really does make it harder for new employees to form networks, and productivity does take a hit. This might make the company less innovative, less competitive and even deliver a lower return on capital. The thing is though, I don't give a shit. I am generally not rewarded for being productive. Employees might be more inclined to think like o…
But tech firms all give employees equity and are facing the same problems.
Certainly not all tech firms do this
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#13From my first hand experience in managing teams, this article resonates well. The biggest problem my company sees is a low level of trust between team members now that a lot of the tenured engineers have left and new ones joined in a fully remote environment. More than half the team hasn’t met colleagues in person and the culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in…
>culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in office.
Seems like the underlings and management are on the same page now.
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#14From my first hand experience in managing teams, this article resonates well. The biggest problem my company sees is a low level of trust between team members now that a lot of the tenured engineers have left and new ones joined in a fully remote environment. More than half the team hasn’t met colleagues in person and the culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in…
>culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in office. Seems like the underlings and management are on the same page now.
I'm still very much an underling, and I resonate with the shallow bonds comment. At my previous role, I was friends with my colleagues. We went to the pub together after work, had each other around for parties, and invited each other to our weddings.
Doing any of the above with my current team seems unimaginable - not because I don't like them, but because we've never had the opportunity to break that trust barrier over Teams or Zoom.
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#15From my first hand experience in managing teams, this article resonates well. The biggest problem my company sees is a low level of trust between team members now that a lot of the tenured engineers have left and new ones joined in a fully remote environment. More than half the team hasn’t met colleagues in person and the culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in…
> the culture feels very transactional
Work should be transactional. It is a transaction. Labor is exchanged for money.
Full remote frees us from all the bullshit and let's us focus on just doing the work we're getting paid for. "Deep culture" = bad work/life balance.
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#16I don't see what's so hard. Give people a choice and leave it at that.
You need to force the senior staff to come (because they want to) or else there's nobody for the junior staff to learn from. That's basically the trade-off: senior freedom vs. junior learning
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#17From my first hand experience in managing teams, this article resonates well. The biggest problem my company sees is a low level of trust between team members now that a lot of the tenured engineers have left and new ones joined in a fully remote environment. More than half the team hasn’t met colleagues in person and the culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in…
Hmm. "A low level of trust between team members" sounds like remote work exposed some big defects in your company culture that should be addressed first. Why did "a lot of the tenured engineers" leave? Why weren't they doing more to mentor the newer ones to facilitate knowledge and "lore" transfer? (And don't tell me it can't be done online, because it absolutely can.)
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
>culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in office. Seems like the underlings and management are on the same page now.
I'm still very much an underling, and I resonate with the shallow bonds comment. At my previous role, I was friends with my colleagues. We went to the pub together after work, had each other around for parties, and invited each other to our weddings. Doing any of the above with my current team seems unimaginable - not because I don't like them, but because we've never had the opportunity to break that trust barrier o…
What "trust barrier"?
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#19From my first hand experience in managing teams, this article resonates well. The biggest problem my company sees is a low level of trust between team members now that a lot of the tenured engineers have left and new ones joined in a fully remote environment. More than half the team hasn’t met colleagues in person and the culture feels very transactional with shallow bonds, compared to old days when all of us were in…
> the culture feels very transactional Work should be transactional. It is a transaction. Labor is exchanged for money. Full remote frees us from all the bullshit and let's us focus on just doing the work we're getting paid for. "Deep culture" = bad work/life balance.
Hard disagree. There is a difference between there being a transaction (labour in exchange for money) and it being purely transactional.
Take a haircut for instance, it is transactional (you exchange money for a haircut) but often people stick with the same hairdresser for years - e.g. because they have a relationship, have built trust, and often have built a friendship e.t.c. and similarly hairdressers seem to enjoy having these bonds both with their repeat customers and their coworkers. Hairdressers could always work in silence in single-customer booths on their own, but they always seem to be together and chat to each other and customers in the open. This isn't purely transactional - there is a formed culture here "i.e. 'the way we do things is that we chat and have fun while we cut hair'"
In a work context:
The best performing companies and teams typically have a deep sense of culture and shared-purpose. There is a reason why corporate vision/mission/values are created - because they are effective tools to drive large organizations together in a cohesive way.
I personally find that there is a huge personal difference working on a team that has great bonds and a great culture vs a team that doesn't. Working on a team without a sense of belonging and without great relationships with my coworkers sucks for me personally.
Now someone might say "well you can still form relationships with coworkers remotely" - in which case that IS culture and something more than transactional, the argument is just that this is much more difficult to form with everyone being remote.
Re: What one executive wishes they could tell employees about return-to-office plans
#20Middle management is struggling to show their value or even find something to do. The head shed is needed, and the workers are needed. Throw in tram leads to insulate the team from the bs and to keep them on the right path. And given that software development usually profits from peace and quiet, a bullpen or place where interruptions occur daily or worse is counterproductive. Let the marketeers or the like do their thing to the best of their ability, but please have them do it somewhere else.
If you can’t asychronously tell whether a project you’re purportedly responsible for is advancing, why are you being paid?