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I will always prefer to work from home

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Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#131

Post by oHqgTQUT »

askonomm wrote: post #46
codegeek wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's much harder. We are social animals on a whole. Nothing beats in person interactions. I am not against remote work btw.

And we continue to be social animals over video chat. Harder in what sense? I hear this a lot, but I rarely hear concrete examples. Feels to me more that people are just not accustomed to fully online communication at work rather than that it actually being harder. Change is hard, yes. But that doesn't mean that what you change into is actually more difficult. Also, I'm not sure of newer generations where you're from…

The single biggest issue I've noticed is that body language communicates a lot, and in remote environments you cannot see this. You don't feel at all invested in the other person either, and I've noticed people multi-tasking instead of listening to what the other person is telling them - often followed up with a "Sorry, I missed that. Can you repeat it?"

As another example, I've worked with some people who are quite confrontational and dare I say, aggressive, on camera, and have raised their voice a couple of times in the past. This same person has very different interactions in real life, a lot more empathy, where it becomes apparent the other person is in fact, an actual person with emotions.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#132

Post by MrOxiMoron »

I 100% agree, the commute (90+ minutes twice), the open office space where people walk in and out and interrupt even without checking if you are in a meeting or concentrating on some complex problem and the team not being there (I start early and leave early, other do both late).

and yes, the team thing is hard, but we do have office days when we all show up and have an agenda of things to discuss. That's when the team building happens!

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#133

Post by cebert »

oHqgTQUT wrote: post #112

Something I have been struggling with as a remote software engineer is 1. getting reviews from coworkers and 2. being able to communicate asynchronously with coworkers, even those working on the same projects. I find some of my coworkers are quite good, but others much less so. Sometimes I've waited 48 hours to hear back on a DM, and in other cases 3-4 weeks before getting reviews on PRs. It feels like in a remote en…

> I've waited 48 hours to hear back on a DM, and in other cases 3-4 weeks before getting reviews on PRs.

This sounds like a performance management or team expectations management issue, not an issue with remote work.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#134

Post by lolinder »

isanengineer wrote: post #127

As a mechanical engineer, I want to offer some perspective on how specific this is for people working exclusively in software. I would never ever even consider working fully remotely, mainly because my job involves designing physical things. The prototypes and models for them are not and cannot be in my home. A big part of my job involves making sure the technician can actually assemble the things I design, which req…

This is fair, but I think software engineering is more typical of most knowledge work in this respect than mechanical engineering is. Most knowledge workers aren't handling physical objects for their work beyond a keyboard, mouse, and possibly a high-quality headset.

Software is probably rare among engineering disciplines in never requiring physical access to specialized equipment, but it's pretty normal in the scope of white-collar work in general.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#135

Post by devnullbrain »

codegeek wrote: post #19
askonomm wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you can't just teach juniors how to work from home effectively, just how you teach them how to do their job. It's all part of the same thing. I've certainly helped juniors over a video call just as effectively as being next to them physically. In one case I point a finger on their screen, in another I point my mouse cursor on their screen.

It's much harder. We are social animals on a whole. Nothing beats in person interactions. I am not against remote work btw.

Sorry to be all 'yet you participate in society' about it but it's notable that you're choosing to have this conversation on an international, text-only website on a Sunday rather than in a local public space. Nothing beats in-person interactions, except perhaps the ability to interact with a community with niche knowledge that's thousands of times larger than what's within a 30 minute drive.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#136

Post by devnullbrain »

bilalmaleq wrote: post #56

Don't you guys think that WHF makes learning for Junior Devs relatively much more difficult?

When I was a junior my manager was in a different country. What's the difference? It's like how companies didn't used to support WFH right up until the moment they wanted you to take some work home for unpaid overtime.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#137

Post by oHqgTQUT »

cebert wrote: post #133
oHqgTQUT wrote: post #112

Something I have been struggling with as a remote software engineer is 1. getting reviews from coworkers and 2. being able to communicate asynchronously with coworkers, even those working on the same projects. I find some of my coworkers are quite good, but others much less so. Sometimes I've waited 48 hours to hear back on a DM, and in other cases 3-4 weeks before getting reviews on PRs. It feels like in a remote en…

> I've waited 48 hours to hear back on a DM, and in other cases 3-4 weeks before getting reviews on PRs. This sounds like a performance management or team expectations management issue, not an issue with remote work.

Perhaps. I ended up going to a coworking space with this person for a day as the latency doing it remotely was just too high.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#138

Post by SleepyMyroslav »

My thoughts are that people that maybe will return to office or mixed setups will be completely different group than one left office in a hurry. Like in my case we have some pressure from management and some excuses to avoid open conflict and not do RTO. I agree that younger generation that wants to grow is really disappointed in ways current wfh works. I think opportunities to improve wfh setups to better teach youngsters are not exhausted yet.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#139

Post by ghaff »

SoftTalker wrote: post #111
lostlogin wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commutes can be amazing. Biking home after a shitty day and getting a few segment records on Strava is so great. I also like a commute via train or maybe even bus where I can zone out with some music or reading, then when home have the energy to get something done. A long commute via car is pure evil.

> A long commute via car is pure evil. Not everyone hates driving. I think it's better than sitting on a full bus.

Yeah, a long daily commute on public transit is nothing great either. I did about a 90 minute one about half the time for 18 months and it was not sustainable long-term.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#140

Post by [deleted] »

lostlogin wrote: post #94
grubbs wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My fingers get SO cold. Literally to the point I'm about to wear gloves. Every couple hours I'll thaw them out against the space heater.. Any other hacks for this are welcome. Exercises?

> My fingers get SO cold. Raynaud’s or other similar condition?

[deleted]
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