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Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

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Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#31
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The drive to get people back into the office isn't due to any sunk cost on commercial real estate — it's a strategy to prevent workers from working multiple jobs simultaneously.

Is there any evidence that this is actually happening and going undetected in large enough numbers for it to be rational to allow the possibility to dictate the official remote/not-remote policy of large companies? This feels more like a meme that circulates among management/executive types than it does an actual problem in the real world.

The thing about executives is... they don't need evidence, they can operate on feelings. And there's certanly enough of overemployed people around to have managers convinced its a problem.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#32
post #19

A lot of business executives fall into the demographic that heavily invests into commercial real estate, which is facing some substantial depreciation. Telling everyone they need to get back to the office would help to keep those prices up. To everyone else, they have no incentive to keep fighting traffic every day (and paying for it) to go to an uncomfortable place full of maybe awful people.

Do you have a source for the view that executives invest in commercial real estate, or is the view based on anecdotes? I have not observed any such trend/relationship, and am under the impression that most MBA-types are generally averse to CRE and similar markets, but this is anecdotal, and I have no data to support it.

I have heard rumors (yes, completely lacking proof) that some major banks with huge commercial loan portfolios are using those loans as leverage to coerce companies into loudly demanding return to office. That's actually pretty easy to believe, because they'd really be hurting if commercial real estate values were to plummet.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#33

I have ADHD and am autistic so loud open floor plan offices are a challenge. I'm in the category of people most likely to benefit from remote. Honestly it's been a much bigger challenge trying to collaborate and connect with coworkers in the new world than trying to cope with an office. People often don't perceive you as an actual human if you've only ever been a video square to them. And quick collaboration just doe…

I hate to be the guy who says "you're holding it wrong", but complaints like this usually indicate that a company is trying to manage their remote work the same way they did in the office, with no adjustments. Some specifics:

> People often don't perceive you as an actual human if you've only ever been a video square to them.

My remote company does regular on-sites and off-sites, which for me strikes a perfect balance between not having to deal with the headaches of an office (mostly commute and open floor plan) while still having time to meet my coworkers face-to-face.

> quick collaboration just doesn't happen anymore, or happens in a much slower and more frustrating way on Slack

Slack's huddle feature is great for the times where you need to quickly drop into collaboration mode with someone. Doing that occasionally and then structuring your work to be more parallel works very well in my experience.

> Juniors especially struggle and I watch them take many times longer to ramp up than pre-pandemic.

This is one that I actually have seen, even in my current org. I think the root of it is that going remote revealed just how much time senior engineers spend mentoring juniors by requiring that that time be scheduled. The most successful junior onboarding I've seen is when people make a conscious effort to schedule in lots of time for mentoring and training and to ensure that there's a space where juniors can get feedback quickly on Slack.

It's not that you need more time than you'd otherwise need, it's that you have to be intentional about creating the learning spaces, which doesn't come naturally to many organizations.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#34
post #20

A lot of business executives fall into the demographic that heavily invests into commercial real estate, which is facing some substantial depreciation. Telling everyone they need to get back to the office would help to keep those prices up. To everyone else, they have no incentive to keep fighting traffic every day (and paying for it) to go to an uncomfortable place full of maybe awful people.

The funny thing is that if they invested more and made offices into, you know, offices people would want to work there. Instead we have these open floor plan monstrosities for the hoi polloi and private offices for the masters of the universe. I have no idea what brain damage causes this but if you can't work efficiently in the space you give to your workers to work in how do you expect them to work? A more or less v…

Money is what causes Brian damage

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#35

A lot of business executives fall into the demographic that heavily invests into commercial real estate, which is facing some substantial depreciation. Telling everyone they need to get back to the office would help to keep those prices up. To everyone else, they have no incentive to keep fighting traffic every day (and paying for it) to go to an uncomfortable place full of maybe awful people.

The simplest reason is lack of effective communication, team bonding, and morale. People behave differently behind a screen even if incentivised by money. This becomes a problem at the scale of big companies. Eg - without body language, tone and context - everyone needs to be extra charitable to avoid miscommunication or distrust. This might cause people to be overly defensive in their approach to communicate.

More people use these things as coercive tactics than effective communication.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#36
I’ve been WFH for over a decade, but still make effort to meet up with colleagues across the country and indeed world on a regular basis.

Pre covid I would be able to doorstep them, book a trip to Glasgow or london or singapore or whatever and catch up with all number of people reliably with just a quick “you free for coffee” message.

Since covid it needs effort on both sides to be at the same location. It’s not impossible, but it does need people to appreciate the benefits of meeting physically and make it happen.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simplest reason is lack of effective communication, team bonding, and morale. People behave differently behind a screen even if incentivised by money. This becomes a problem at the scale of big companies. Eg - without body language, tone and context - everyone needs to be extra charitable to avoid miscommunication or distrust. This might cause people to be overly defensive in their approach to communicate.

I've said this in other places, but as a _manager_ it's much nicer to work in the office, in person. That gets more true the higher up the management chain you go. Managers spend most of their time in meetings. Meetings suck over video chat. This is the entire reason CEOs (and pretty much everyone between them and line employees) would rather everyone come back to work. It makes their workday more pleasant.

Managers and execs ought to already know that not everyone else is an exec, and don’t have the same face-to-face requirements, and do actually need time to do the “productivity” that nets execs their fat pay checks.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simplest reason is lack of effective communication, team bonding, and morale. People behave differently behind a screen even if incentivised by money. This becomes a problem at the scale of big companies. Eg - without body language, tone and context - everyone needs to be extra charitable to avoid miscommunication or distrust. This might cause people to be overly defensive in their approach to communicate.

I've said this in other places, but as a _manager_ it's much nicer to work in the office, in person. That gets more true the higher up the management chain you go. Managers spend most of their time in meetings. Meetings suck over video chat. This is the entire reason CEOs (and pretty much everyone between them and line employees) would rather everyone come back to work. It makes their workday more pleasant.

Meetings tend to be some the least productive activities, especially when everything "discussed" could have been sent out as an email (which can be read remotely).
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