A Short Rant About Working Remotely • Hacker News Board

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#11

Post by npsimons » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:07 PM UTC

100% agree. I'm in a similar position. I will not move from where I live; I like the friends and hobbies I have here way too much. There is absolutely no reason in this day and age why the type of work we do has to be done onsite. The hundreds (probably more) companies working this way are a testament to this fact, and there would probably be even more companies doing it this way if it wasn't for inertia, tradition or just plain old CYA ("but if we do something different and fail, the shareholders will hold me accountable!"). To add insult to injury, I am easily measurably more productive when telecommuting, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Conjure up any wishy-washy "reasons" or anecdotes why you have to be onsite, but I've yet to see any facts to back up the position that onsite all the time is better.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#12

Post by jstalin » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:07 PM UTC

My IT shop tried working from home for a couple of years and the team fragmented, we lost a sense of teamwork, and we started wondering what each other are doing. A new CIO mandated working from the office and it has made for a much better culture and collaboration environment. There's definitely something you lose when you don't work in the office with your fellow team members.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#13

Post by nkg » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:07 PM UTC

BudVVeezer wrote: post #2

I agree entirely -- I've been telecommuting for ten years now, and this is easily the #1 reason the recruitment process fails with me (with small companies as well as large).

@BudVVeezer you mean, you are trying to get into a physical office and the recruiters won't consider your 10y of telecommuting as real experience ?

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#14

Post by ditojim » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:07 PM UTC

we're 30 strong and 100% remote at dito. we don't have an office. it's pretty great. we live on google apps and other collaborative tools that make this an advantage, rather than a sacrifice. our employees are dedicated, work hard, and for the most part, love their jobs. we enjoy seeing each other in person at customer sites and during company events, but for the most part, we use things like uber conference and google hangouts to meet and keep in sync. not to mention google chat.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#15

Post by ZiadHilal » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:08 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #8

ZiadHilal wrote: post #5

I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…

> Why do you guys want to work from home? Isn't the isolation during the working hours hard on you? I think the ideal thing would be an office about a block away from where I live. I am pretty happy being back in an office myself, but hate the commute.

In my case, the company I work for is based in California (I started out from there) but I now live in Connecticut. It's been over a year since I last saw them.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#16

Post by adamesque » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

I think a big part of this boils down to communication style, and how comfortable people are communicating via the written word.

I've worked places where remote working was discouraged, and the reason given was along the usual lines of "well, it just works better to have everyone in the same room". But these were also places where I noticed an aversion to and an avoidance of writing in general.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#17

Post by justjimmy » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

When I get contacted for freelance/contract work, directly from the company/startup, they're always open for remote work when I inquire about it (and we communicate through mainly Basecamp)

I've had 0 remote work opportunities via recruiters.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#18

Post by militiaman21 » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

ZiadHilal wrote: post #5

I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…

Some people feel the opposite in regards to isolation. Introverts gather energy from spending time alone, and are actually drained by interactions with other people.

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#19

Post by famousactress » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

The irony I keep seeing is that at a small startup, everyone's output is severely visible.. regardless of where you're at. I was the first technical hire at the startup I'm with now (details in profile), working remotely from San Diego while the cofounders were based in SF. There's definitely never been any question about what's getting done and by whom. In a lot of ways I understand the challenge that being a larger shop who's grown locally and is considering adding remote working might face much more than the "We're so small we have to be in the same room" argument.

The benefits of hiring remote workers early on are numerous. The fact that it leads to working more asynchronously, and makes you available to talent anywhere are worth the price of admission alone, IMHO.

[EDIT: oh also: we're hiring]

Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely

#20

Post by zenocon » Thu, Jan 31, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

Another "me too". The past 8 years, about 80% of the projects I have done have been remote. I get contacted often from recruiters, as well as HR in big name companies, and they nearly always indicate that telecommute is a deal-breaker, so that ends the discussion right there. I live where I live, and I'm not moving. Even if a client/company is local, a balance of local/remote is the right way to go. Dealing with traffic / commute, ergonomics, distraction-free are all important.

This is really pretty simple. If the local talent pool is exhausted, and you want good people, the smart move is to hire good, remote people. Bring them in periodically as needed.