Building a walkie-talkie for remote work • Hacker News Board

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#161

Post by pts_ » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 2:07 AM UTC

CathedralBorrow wrote: post #131

nnq wrote: post #104

> quick, synchronous audio/video communication between teammates ..."kill it with fire" or other equivalent meme is the proper response to this, no matter how wonderfully it is executed. Really, what everyone needs is more asynchronous communication and less attention draining and less interruptions! This can only help very small teams of extroverts with very-very-similar personalities work, it brings HELL for everyo…

I'll never tire of these responses to use case stories that essentially state: "This is wrong because it doesn't work for me. Really, what everyone needs is more of what works for me."

These Use Cases are literally pushing what works for them.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#162

Post by laurex » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 2:26 AM UTC

nnq wrote: post #104

> quick, synchronous audio/video communication between teammates ..."kill it with fire" or other equivalent meme is the proper response to this, no matter how wonderfully it is executed. Really, what everyone needs is more asynchronous communication and less attention draining and less interruptions! This can only help very small teams of extroverts with very-very-similar personalities work, it brings HELL for everyo…

Curious, have you looked for solutions that work this way? (Disclosure: I am a researcher for a tool that works this way, but is aimed at a different market).

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#163

Post by CathedralBorrow » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 12:38 PM UTC

pts_ wrote: post #161

CathedralBorrow wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll never tire of these responses to use case stories that essentially state: "This is wrong because it doesn't work for me. Really, what everyone needs is more of what works for me."

These Use Cases are literally pushing what works for them.

There has to be a meaningful difference between "Here's something that works for us and might work for you" and "That's wrong, what everyone needs is this thing here"

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#164

Post by leetrout » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 2:59 PM UTC

ikeyany wrote: post #88

xfalcox wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to convince my team to adopt a opt-in, voice only watercooler like that for some time, without success so far. I makes a lot of sense to me, who have been doing this for over a decade with my friends. Are you busy, don't join / mute yourself / go to the afk channel. Are you waiting for a long build, just reading HN, between tasks? Join the channel and people can bond and talk about work/life.

So essentially a conference call that lasts all day, every day? I can see why your team did not approve.

I think that’s a gross oversimplification.

If you happen to check your replies I’m genuinely interested:

- do you work remote?

- if so, do you choose remote for solitude?

- if not- do you consider face to face interactions with your colleagues not as good a use of your time?

Again, genuinely interested because the full remote teams I’ve worked with that have voice comms at the ready have a lot less misunderstandings and the barrier to conversation is much lower than having to make a zoom / slack call.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#165

Post by p_l » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 6:23 PM UTC

barrkel wrote: post #130

andyfleming wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, it's still an interruption, but I don't think it's completely derailing. That's why I compared it to stopping by someone's desk. It still requires both parties to be responsible and aware.

Stopping by someone's desk is derailing, FWIW. I frequently find myself losing 30+ minutes before getting flow back from a 2 minute interruption.

One interruption an hour is enough to result in me not being able to get anything done for the whole day...

Actually, I'm starting to think I lost ability to concentrate because of that.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#166

Post by gardnr » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 9:52 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #44

p_l wrote: post #2

So it removes one of the biggest benefits of remote work, ability to concentrate?

I e always found it funny how HN seems to put remote work on such a pedestal... some people cant concentrate remotely. Kids are a huge distraction, as are many other comforts of the home.

It's funny how you make a generalisation and then are very specific. Not everyone decided to have children. I have designed my own living situation to be quiet and to minimize distractions. Even if your home is a very distracting place, working remotely doesn't have to mean working from home. You still get all the other benefits of openness and communication and you can rent your own small office with a door that closes.

I find it challenging to concentrate in an open floor plan office that is full of people. I find it absurd that it has become the status quo for software development.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#167

Post by samstave » Sun, Jan 26, 2020, 2:12 AM UTC

gardnr wrote: post #166

samstave wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I e always found it funny how HN seems to put remote work on such a pedestal... some people cant concentrate remotely. Kids are a huge distraction, as are many other comforts of the home.

It's funny how you make a generalisation and then are very specific. Not everyone decided to have children. I have designed my own living situation to be quiet and to minimize distractions. Even if your home is a very distracting place, working remotely doesn't have to mean working from home. You still get all the other benefits of openness and communication and you can rent your own small office with a door that clo…

Point taken.

The open office layout is a scam - pushed based on the build-out costs of new office space in a very rapidly expanding market in Silicon valley over the last two decades.

Companies needed lots of office space very fast. Companies also dies fast.

Building out office space is expensive and the push for open office layouts as a "culture" bit was just as much marketing as anything else...

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#168

Post by ikeyany » Sun, Jan 26, 2020, 7:08 AM UTC

leetrout wrote: post #164

ikeyany wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So essentially a conference call that lasts all day, every day? I can see why your team did not approve.

I think that’s a gross oversimplification. If you happen to check your replies I’m genuinely interested: - do you work remote? - if so, do you choose remote for solitude? - if not- do you consider face to face interactions with your colleagues not as good a use of your time? Again, genuinely interested because the full remote teams I’ve worked with that have voice comms at the ready have a lot less misunderstandings…

I don't work remotely anymore. It's not that I think it's a bad idea. I think if a team isn't used to that level of communication, it makes for there to be some pushback.