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Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

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Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#21

Post by art-not »

themaninthedark wrote: post #15
scrapcode wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best setup is that my organization builds an office that is a 10-15 minute walk from my existing home and I come in whenever I want. And whenever I decide to come in, everyone else does too. Until that happens I guess I'll just have to settle with fully remote.

Sorry, not trying to be mean but the company should build(or rent/buy) an office for you to use part time?

The poster is creating a purposefully difficult situation to indicate the lack of interest they have with returning to office. In other words, they’d only return to office in a fantasy world

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#22

Post by moi2388 »

knallfrosch wrote: post #5

I don't think a May 2021 article – before widespread vaccination even made return-to-office policies possible, and before the tech layoffs – is the best starting point. Okay, calling CEOs that demand a return "bad" and "fearful" is a provocative take, but the article doesn't back up these assumptions. Much less does it actually explain the reason why bad, and only bad, CEOs "fear" remote work. With, for example, Appl…

Probably not. But according to news articles Apple did lose a bunch of experts/senior developers with the RTO debacle.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#23

Post by jordanpg »

jawns wrote: post #9

I am at a point in my career where I can be selective and only consider 100% remote roles. I am also a manager, so I understand some of the management challenges that lead people to dismiss or be skeptical of the claim that remote work can be just as effective as office work. One thing I will admit: It is harder, as a remote manager, to manage low performers or people who show signs of disengagement. You can get more…

Framed this way, it seems like remote work can actually be an effective filter that can identify and screen out low performers.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#24

Post by prmoustache »

bevacqua wrote: post #8
johnnyanmac wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>those who were once bullish on full remote, would like to see some form of hybrid setup if it makes sense. interesting, so many of my peers are full on the remote train. I guess it depends on the age of the workers? I know for sure I haven't heard any one of my coworkers > 35 ever preferring hybrid to WFH.

Count me as anecdotal evidence in the 35+ bucket of those who went from full remote to hybrid and highly prefers hybrid (after a decade of full remote). Having a thriving office has been a breath of fresh air for when I want to see people. The key is it being optional and up to employees to decide what's best for them.

> The key is it being optional and up to employees to decide what's best for them.

Agree.

My issue is not about remote, hybrid or onsite, but more about some management mandating one way of working for everyone.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#25

Post by api »

The latest salvo in the RTO war is reposts of stupid TikTok and Xhitter videos of people bragging about goofing off the entire time while they WFH.

That’s a sign of either a shit manager, over hiring, or bullshit jobs (jobs that you think you need but you don’t).

It still happens in an office except instead of baking or lounging they are fucking off on the Internet or creating make work to look busy but not actually creating value.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#26

Post by efitz »

I’ve been thinking recently that a lot of the pathologies in tech work culture come from the fact that a lot of the most successful tech executives are “wunderkinds” - people who have an extremely rare combination of incredible talent AND incredible drive - who want to only work with people like themselves.

The upside of this is that if you are such a person, as an employee you’ll be amply rewarded. I’ve worked with a number of such people at several of the big tech firms and they are recognized and compensated like the unicorns they are (such people could easily go start their own businesses if they wanted to be entrepreneurs, so they have to be rewarded lavishly to keep them as employees).

But most people aren’t Elon Musks or Jeff Bezoses or the like. Most of the people I have worked with are talented and motivated but not nearly so far out on the right hand long tail.

And motivation waxes and wanes for most people; most people have balanced lives that include lots of time spent not working for someone else.

When I see pathologies such as RTO (which is always combines with making the offices more shitty with hoteling and such), and performance management practices reminiscent of Roman decimations, I see wunderkinds who are unable to accept that most people aren’t like them.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#27

Post by hahamrfunnyguy »

In 2008 or so I worked for a consulting company where most of the workers were remote. Eventually, they opened up an office where I lived. We were encouraged (required?) to come into the office a few days a week. We free parking, table tennis and a cooler stocked with pop and beer.

My teams were always remote but I found the social aspects to be beneficial.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#28

Post by DragonStrength »

themaninthedark wrote: post #15
scrapcode wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best setup is that my organization builds an office that is a 10-15 minute walk from my existing home and I come in whenever I want. And whenever I decide to come in, everyone else does too. Until that happens I guess I'll just have to settle with fully remote.

Sorry, not trying to be mean but the company should build(or rent/buy) an office for you to use part time?

The point is this is essentially what upper management is doing. They aren’t going to wave a wand and have a national housing crisis fixed and high cost of living areas be suddenly more affordable to mid level developers. Moreover certain cultural changes, like mothers staying in the workforce, mean it is going to get more difficult and more expensive to get workers back to long commutes.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#29

Post by nerdjon »

_tk_ wrote: post #2

Frankly, a 2021 opinion piece doesn’t tell you anything about the state of remote work. So much has changed in the last three years. CEOs and companies have adapted, and in my anecdotal experience, lots of employees as well. Notably those who were once bullish on full remote, would like to see some form of hybrid setup if it makes sense.

> Notably those who were once bullish on full remote, would like to see some form of hybrid setup if it makes sense.

Within my social group I don't know anyone that agrees with this that isnt working a job that already could not be remote so this never affected them.

Personally, I like the idea of Hybrid but I don't need it by any means. I do it at my current job because we have an office but if we did not have one I would not miss it.

I go in one day a week, but that was also my choice. I was not told I had to do it, if I wanted to stop going in I am still classified as a remote employee.

The fact is, I am more productive at home than in the office. I have less distractions talking to coworkers, I am comfortable in my space, I am less incentivized to want to leave because I need account for the trip home.

When I WFH I will hop on later in the day to check in on something, I am online more hours, and just the week by week output is higher.

Sure I have the distractions of home stuff, but again more hours. If I need to take a break I can go play a game for a few minutes and feel far more refreshed than I would in the office. I don't feel drained by the end of the day.

There is value in being seen by colleagues, but that is something that can be addressed virtually and there are full remote companies that find solutions to this.

Side Note: My cat deciding to come and sit on my lap while working is a pretty good motivator to get some work done.

Re: Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)

#30

Post by the_af »

jawns wrote: post #9

I am at a point in my career where I can be selective and only consider 100% remote roles. I am also a manager, so I understand some of the management challenges that lead people to dismiss or be skeptical of the claim that remote work can be just as effective as office work. One thing I will admit: It is harder, as a remote manager, to manage low performers or people who show signs of disengagement. You can get more…

I agree with you a fair assessment is warranted. Dismissing the downsides of remote work leads to unrealistic expectations/conversations.

That said,

> You can get more out of an office worker who lacks intrinsic motivation than a similar remote worker.

Is this because for an office worker it's harder to disguise the lack of motivation? Or are they pressured into going through the motions even if they don't feel like it? I wonder if this is a good thing at all.

Let me explain: as a fully remote worker, there are days I don't feel like working. On those days, I'll slack off. My work won't suffer because on the longer term I'll achieve my objectives; I'm just not wasting time pretending to work when I don't feel like it. My mental health is better as a result. This wouldn't be possible if I was at the office, because this isn't a socially acceptable mode of working.

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