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The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

sparkfun.com

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Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#11

Post by evanspa »

pawelkomarnicki wrote: post #8
userbinator wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also allergic to dogs (and cats), and so policies like these would just make me go somewhere else. I don't particularly understand what advantage there is in bringing a dog to work anyway... yes, you probably love your pets but the same goes for children, that doesn't mean they should be with you when you work.

Would you like to be left alone without a toilet for like 10-11 hours a day, 5-days-a-week? Then you know why some people insist on taking their dog to the office ;)

Dog walkers are a simple option.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#12

Post by timjahn »

pawelkomarnicki wrote: post #8
userbinator wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also allergic to dogs (and cats), and so policies like these would just make me go somewhere else. I don't particularly understand what advantage there is in bringing a dog to work anyway... yes, you probably love your pets but the same goes for children, that doesn't mean they should be with you when you work.

Would you like to be left alone without a toilet for like 10-11 hours a day, 5-days-a-week? Then you know why some people insist on taking their dog to the office ;)

Seems silly to have a dog if you're just going to leave it at home for 10-11 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#13

Post by jstsch »

I really love dogs, but this is just nuts. Pets belong at home, not at work. A dog tribunal? Talk about a waste of company time.

I understand that in certain companies (with sky-high margins or money to burn) the line between work and play gets blurred more and more, but that's in stark contrast to the rest of the economy. I can understand that certain people outside of tech (who are struggling) are starting to get a bit restless.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#16

Post by qwerta »

If this is not spoof, it illustrates well how startup turns into corporation.

They could allow occasional work from home. No instead they create The Dog Policy, the Dog Agreement and The Dog Tribunal Management. If someone has allergy or wants to bring his baby, they introduce another 10 agreements.

In my previous job colleague was bringing dog sometimes, I just asked him to keep it away from me (have serious allergy) and problem was solved.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#17

Post by VBprogrammer »

zwily wrote: post #10
simonbarker87 wrote: post #4

I think what this shows is that you really need to work at what culture you want at your company and take steps to improve something if it's not working and deemed important. It would have been much easier to just ban dogs and move on - instead management come up with a process that could maintain the dog presence and keep people happy.

I suspect there are still a bunch of people unhappy with the dogs around, even with the tribunal. We allowed dogs at our office (until we moved to a new building that forbade them). It was fun when there were a handful, but when there got to be about a dozen it was terribly distracting and only fun for the owners. I think most people are relieved we don't have them anymore.

Not to mention that some people have a dog phobia.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#18

Post by TeMPOraL »

jstsch wrote: post #13

I really love dogs, but this is just nuts. Pets belong at home, not at work. A dog tribunal? Talk about a waste of company time. I understand that in certain companies (with sky-high margins or money to burn) the line between work and play gets blurred more and more, but that's in stark contrast to the rest of the economy. I can understand that certain people outside of tech (who are struggling) are starting to get a…

> I understand that in certain companies (with sky-high margins or money to burn) the line between work and play gets blurred more and more, but that's in stark contrast to the rest of the economy.

I think that the blurring of the line between work and play is a Good Thing in some sectors, namely engineering/tech/creative jobs. Creativity comes out of playtime, not worktime.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#19

Post by adnam »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #17
zwily wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect there are still a bunch of people unhappy with the dogs around, even with the tribunal. We allowed dogs at our office (until we moved to a new building that forbade them). It was fun when there were a handful, but when there got to be about a dozen it was terribly distracting and only fun for the owners. I think most people are relieved we don't have them anymore.

Not to mention that some people have a dog phobia.

Or allergies.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#20

Post by popopje »

I occasionally have to visit offices where a single dog is brought in - they always smell strongly of dog, and often the dog will come and "greet" me. I'm not particularly keen on either of these aspects and as such it really puts me off visiting. I would certainly put that high on the list when considering taking a job in such an environment.
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