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SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

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Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#21

Post by e40 »

ping_pong wrote: post #19

Both Yahoo and IBM rolled back their very flexible WFH strategies. I don't think super flexible WFH is a lasting trend, because it's obvious that is doesn't work for most of the people. I personally love WFH and I know a lot of HN do too, but I think human nature is that it probably won't work very well for most companies.

Doesn't work for "most of the people" is highly dependent on the company and position.

It works very well for 80% of the positions at my company. I'm sure there are companies for which it only works for a small percentage. The ultimate YMMV.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#22

Post by darksaints »

dleslie wrote: post #9

I am _ridiculously_ more productive at home. When I hear folks complain about the pains of working from home, what I often hear are their stories about how they were needlessly disruptive to their coworkers. Having impromptu hallway meetings mean that your peers, and subordinates, must keep an ear open for such events should they risk being left out of important decision making processes. Having watercooler conversat…

That seems pretty dismissive of the people who have trouble working from home because they have more distractions at home. Not everybody can be child free, single, and live in a quiet place.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#23

Post by Guest42 »

biomcgary wrote: post #20
dleslie wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree! Having a _minimal_ barrier to communication acts as a filter, in a similar way that requiring registration acts as a quality filter for a forum. Folks must gather interest in the meeting, rather than interrupt and demand focus; this, at minimum, gives them some time to reconsider the concepts that they want to raise with their coworkers.

Not just any minimal barrier. Extroverts wired to speak spontaneously (i.e., have high Foxp2 gene expression) are the most likely to disrupt others for non-functional reasons. Requiring verbal communication to be initiated through written means is a great way to increase the signal-to-noise threshold for communication. Meanwhile, those who are not spontaneously verbal have a relatively low barrier (a sentence in chat…

Thank you, I have never seen that explanation and it certainly maps to behaviors that I've seen.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#24

Post by thelean12 »

dleslie wrote: post #9

I am _ridiculously_ more productive at home. When I hear folks complain about the pains of working from home, what I often hear are their stories about how they were needlessly disruptive to their coworkers. Having impromptu hallway meetings mean that your peers, and subordinates, must keep an ear open for such events should they risk being left out of important decision making processes. Having watercooler conversat…

Your description of ideal working conditions sounds so robotic to me. Schedule everything! No off the cuff conversations! Screw the human desire for socializing, we've got shit to do!

Right now my team is comprised of no one that I've met in person. I feel absolutely no connection to them and feel so incredibly disconnected from my work. Like I've been playing the same video game for 8 hours a day for a year and nothing I'm doing is real.

I'm quite scared of hybrid or full remote solutions for my company. I don't want to switch companies right now but if they go full or hybrid WFH I might have to, just to keep my sanity.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#25

Post by heavyset_go »

dleslie wrote: post #9

I am _ridiculously_ more productive at home. When I hear folks complain about the pains of working from home, what I often hear are their stories about how they were needlessly disruptive to their coworkers. Having impromptu hallway meetings mean that your peers, and subordinates, must keep an ear open for such events should they risk being left out of important decision making processes. Having watercooler conversat…

> When I hear folks complain about the pains of working from home, what I often hear are their stories about how they were needlessly disruptive to their coworkers.

What I hear are complaints about the consequences of the pandemic. That people have to work and babysit their kids during school. That both they and their partner are forced to share a workspace. That they miss changes of scenery, or that their home workspace isn't adequate enough to get work done.

Before the pandemic, I would regularly rotate venues for where I got my work done. I'd go to different coffee shops and libraries. If I got bored of those places, I'd make it a point to go into different venues in different neighborhoods. When it was nice and warm out, I'd get work done in beach towns and enjoy the sea breeze. Several times a year, I'd book a hotel or short-term rental and work from a completely different city. At one point I rented a co-working space.

During the pandemic, most of those places are closed. I can't travel, and I don't want to. If I want to enjoy the sea breeze, I better have enough battery life and reception to get my work done in a park. Yet I'm lucky in that I'm not forced to share my personal work space at home with others, and I'm not forced to be a babysitter on top of the job I'm paid to do.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#26

Post by gnicholas »

VectorLock wrote: post #18
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

The SBA is referring specifically to their own employees doing SBA work, not necessarily telework in general. Interestingly, they attribute the additional productivity to the fact that their telework employees are simply working more hours: > “It doesn’t matter to me where your eight-, 10-, 12-hour day is, but as long as we’re getting coverage from that perspective,” Rivera said. > While some federal managers have ex…

I'm okay with spending the X% percent of hours I would be commuting doing productive work, and double-okay with my employer reaping the productivity benefits from it.

People who have an unenjoyable commute, like stop-and-go-traffic, probably feel this way. But people who commute while exercising (bicycle riders) or consume books/podcasts/news while commuting probably wouldn't be so inclined.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#27

Post by heavyset_go »

gnicholas wrote: post #26
VectorLock wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm okay with spending the X% percent of hours I would be commuting doing productive work, and double-okay with my employer reaping the productivity benefits from it.

People who have an unenjoyable commute, like stop-and-go-traffic, probably feel this way. But people who commute while exercising (bicycle riders) or consume books/podcasts/news while commuting probably wouldn't be so inclined.

I'm perfectly capable of consuming books/podcasts/news on my own and not because of a mandatory commute that is simultaneously exhausting, expensive and dangerous.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#28

Post by emodendroket »

ping_pong wrote: post #19

Both Yahoo and IBM rolled back their very flexible WFH strategies. I don't think super flexible WFH is a lasting trend, because it's obvious that is doesn't work for most of the people. I personally love WFH and I know a lot of HN do too, but I think human nature is that it probably won't work very well for most companies.

I find most of my work goes well but anything that requires coordination a lot of time gets wasted waiting to hear from people.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#29

Post by emodendroket »

someonehere wrote: post #14

Reading this makes me happy. I almost read this as the door is open for more people to apply and work remote. That to me means someone who would have never considered working for SBA or moving to work there, can now be employed from anywhere there is internet. Maybe this is how we revitalize towns that were wiped out by outsourcing the labor pool (read China manufacturing)?

If nobody ever needs to be in an office it would seem like there is more temptation to hire outside the US for these jobs too.

Re: SBA executives ‘beyond doubt’ that teleworking employees are more productive

#30

Post by 908B64B197 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #25
dleslie wrote: post #9

I am _ridiculously_ more productive at home. When I hear folks complain about the pains of working from home, what I often hear are their stories about how they were needlessly disruptive to their coworkers. Having impromptu hallway meetings mean that your peers, and subordinates, must keep an ear open for such events should they risk being left out of important decision making processes. Having watercooler conversat…

> When I hear folks complain about the pains of working from home, what I often hear are their stories about how they were needlessly disruptive to their coworkers. What I hear are complaints about the consequences of the pandemic. That people have to work and babysit their kids during school. That both they and their partner are forced to share a workspace. That they miss changes of scenery, or that their home works…

Quarantine work from home isn't work from home.

https://www.hanselman.com/blog/quarantine-work-is-not-remote...

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