Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#21

Post by whateveracct » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 6:23 PM UTC

Tarucho wrote: post #7

Managers are status seeking people. Part of the status is signaled by showing how many > they have and giving orders to them. Part of the status is signaled by beign able to be out of office whenever they want vs the worker bees that must be at the office 9-to-5 M-to-F. Having to politely ask things on slack to a worker bee that is probably working lying on a couch with a smoothie in it´s hand is a manager vision of…

lotta wannabe managers & CEOs on HN

and real ones who don't like that some people think they provide a lot less value to the world than they've convinced themselves

They always dogpile me when I say remote work means you can do 10-20hrs of work for the same pay as a FT office job. That puts them on full tilt - "how dare people work less."

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#22

Post by LinuxBender » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

orev wrote: post #15

lotsofpulp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it is not possible for theaters to go low enough to compete with a 65inch+ 4K TV available for $700+?

(In non-COVID times) People still like to get out of the house and go do something. Going to a movie is one of the things they might like to do. However the high cost of a movie ticket is a deterrent to some, so lowering the price is a reasonable reaction to try to get more people to go.

People still like to get out of the house and go do something

I second this, but movie theaters no longer fill that gap for me.

I can only speak for myself. I used to enjoy going to the movies. At some point, how theaters are managed changed dramatically. If people were disrupting the movie, I could have the manager remove the person. This is no longer the case. Every manager I have interacted with in the last few years was passive and hands-off. I can't even get a refund if I have a bad experience. So my options are put up with the idiots, leave the theater, walk into a near-by theater playing the same film or risk a police incident if I remove the person. I have removed people and even had the manager thank me, but that is super risky and not my responsibility. Needless to say, movie theaters are no longer an immersive or enjoyable experience for me.

Or I can watch a movie at home, as many times as I wish without interruption. I have invite as many people as I wish. I can implement any sound system I desire. I don't have to wait for what might be a boring scene to use the restroom. It is a fully immersive and enjoyable experience. I just watched "Nobody" at home, twice. Great movie btw, highly recommended if you enjoyed John Wick but wished the fight scenes were a little more realistic in terms of the main character getting hurt in every fight. Some day I will get VR and make the movie even more immersive.

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#23

Post by davidgerard » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 6:38 PM UTC

andrewlgood wrote: post #3

black_13 wrote: post #2

Because it will mean less of them are needed

Why? I understand the author's claims that many managers are not properly suited for their job, but the author never claims that spans of control (how many people a manager can manage) are changing as we move to a fully/more remote work future. Are people finding that managers have become more efficient in remote settings?

The author does think a lot of middle management are in fact useless, though - he's written at length on why return-to-office culture is wrong, and who's pushing it (useless middle managers) on his substack: https://ez.substack.com

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#24

Post by seanicus » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 8:27 PM UTC

moistoreos wrote: post #5

Off-Topic Rant: > "Ultimately, Spielberg balked, and last month his company even signed a deal with Netflix, likely because he now sees the writing on the wall: Modern audiences enjoy watching movies at home." Yea, because movies are stupid expensive. 20 years ago it was literally half as much to see a movie. You want more people in the audience in a theater? Lower the price. The simple economics behind this are asto…

Honestly not the worst idea but I wouldn't be shocked if studios are heavily influencing prices. Disney recently started demanding 60% cut of tickets. Those ticket sales are probably somewhat of a backbone to the theater chains, but the real money that keeps the ship afloat is the concessions, which Disney does not demand a 60% cut of (yet).

I love, love, love going to the movies and do it as often as I can. That said I spend 75% of my mental energy anxious about shitty theater behavior. When my kid is old enough to drag along $20-30 for the latest Marvel movie at home is going to become an increasingly good deal.

We've got a great art-house/rep theater in my town that plays an astonishing variety of films, but even that is often filled up with idiot frat boys laughing at the serious parts and occasionally yelling things at the screen. I'm seeing the new Nic Cage movie, Pig, tonight and because he's in a lot of schlocky movies (apparently this one isn't) I'm dreading the crowd response.

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#25

Post by andrewlgood » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 1:48 AM UTC

deagle50 wrote: post #12

andrewlgood wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? I understand the author's claims that many managers are not properly suited for their job, but the author never claims that spans of control (how many people a manager can manage) are changing as we move to a fully/more remote work future. Are people finding that managers have become more efficient in remote settings?

Maybe some are, but that's not the point. How busy with real work product were they before?

That's a very different conversation - what is the value of having managers. Are you suggesting that companies do not need managers?

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#26

Post by deagle50 » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 4:21 AM UTC

andrewlgood wrote: post #25

deagle50 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe some are, but that's not the point. How busy with real work product were they before?

That's a very different conversation - what is the value of having managers. Are you suggesting that companies do not need managers?

No. I'm bringing it back to the premise of the article after your efficiency tangent.

Re: Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

#27

Post by msh » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 8:20 AM UTC

moistoreos wrote: post #5

Off-Topic Rant: > "Ultimately, Spielberg balked, and last month his company even signed a deal with Netflix, likely because he now sees the writing on the wall: Modern audiences enjoy watching movies at home." Yea, because movies are stupid expensive. 20 years ago it was literally half as much to see a movie. You want more people in the audience in a theater? Lower the price. The simple economics behind this are asto…

Well I love movies and 10-15 years ago used to go to the movies several times a month. I am not that price sensitive.

Now, even before corona, I almost never go.

The reasons for watching at home is better:

* Access, back then there was a huge delay in movies being available. * Quality, before DVD's and HD TV's the technical quality was much much higher than TV's with VHS tapes or cheaper home cinema projectors. * Not annoying people, very often the movie experience was disturbed by people who had to comment on the movies or talk constantly among themself. The cinemas did not seem to care.