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Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

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Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#51

Post by Frost1x »

acover wrote: post #31
bla3 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do they know it's "remote" and not "working during a pandemic"?

Companies have been testing this for ages. It's the holy grail to have remote work on par with in office.

As someone who has done it for over a decade, in software, it's totally doable providing your org has all the infrastructure and has a culture that successful business requires treating their employees like humans who need to socialize, communicate, and slack off a bit like they would in a physical office. Usually online work turns into a push to maximizing efficiency and minimizing time you'd normally be "wasting" at an office. People then hate it, informal socialization doesn't happen, and hidden business processes that live in those informal social interactions that keep things moving don't happen.

They can happen online, the most difficult part of building trust with others to create positive cohesive relationships.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#52

Post by rainyMammoth »

The typical googler is a 20 or 30-something that has close to zero life interest outside work. I would not expect them to want to stay remote as their social life revolves around Google.

Sadly, from what I have seen most people with a good work life balance want to stay remote while people with few other life interests want absolutely go back to work.

I predict that in a couple years this will be part of the culture of each company. You will chose a company based on your desire to become close friends with your colleagues or live a great life outside the office.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#54

Post by CountDrewku »

maxerickson wrote: post #40
CountDrewku wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realize it's sarcasm right?

I see that it is sarcastic in form, but it doesn't address the meaning of the initial comment, which was about sitting down for a meal and chatting, not about food.

That's the joke....

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#55

Post by bilal4hmed »

gregkerzhner wrote: post #37
bilal4hmed wrote: post #13

After spending more than a year remote, full remote is difficult ( not impossible ) . Most of us have settled on 3 days at home, 2 days at work, so we can socialize, make new connections or just simply have lunch. Going back to in office 100% is a thing of the past unless you are a team that has to be there - making hardware etc. For ex I cant imagine the Pixel team working 100% remote.

Curious, do the members of your team have activities, hobbies, and relationships they are involved with outside of work? From what I have seen the folks itching to get back to the office are the ones that don't have many outlets outside of work. On the other hand, for many of us who do have significant non work passions (rock climbing for me) as well as social circles around these activities appreciate remote work be…

We all have hobbies, relationships etc and there is no doubt all those things have improved so much. Not having our long Texas commutes has been great. People with kids love the extra time esp for those that are college bound. I am loving the time with my family and other hobby projects.

To give you some background, we are an IT shop for an Energy co. so there is a big chunk of our people who have to be at work, physically just because of the nature of the work. As others have alluded, we weren't set up with remote in mind.

I would love to hear how being 100% you've built a network, bonds etc with your colleagues. We have a bunch of new people who dont have the rapport with us or finding it difficult to connect ( a few lunches or coffees, or hang out in the common area could help build )

I should also mentioned the 3 off / 2 in office is something of a peace offering to the non IT part of the business. Most of us know we can be fully remote.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#56

Post by cassianoleal »

azurezyq wrote: post #32
tyingq wrote: post #4

That's interesting, since my assumption is that Google would be fairly data driven. I'd be curious if Googlers feel like this is because they are really seeing reduced productivity, or if there's a different motivation.

Disclaimer: Googler managing a small product engineering team. I have to say WFH has a considerable impact on productivity. Coding is actually fine, but the problems are: 1. Designing over VC is very difficult, especially for something entirely new. 3~4 people working on a single whiteboard is far more efficient. 2. Personal relationships are difficult to grow, especially for newbies. Usually those things got grown v…

> There's nothing like "gotta go, chat tomorrow" stuff.

Everyone in my team does literally just that on Slack. If I can say something, I can type something. If I can close my laptop in the office, I can close my laptop at home just the same. Or close Slack. Or just sign out of the company's workspace.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#57

Post by Schweigi »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #49

I feel like the "max 14 days per year " put the slam down on 2 days home / 3 days office everyone said would happen.

Heck, it's not even good enough for 1 day at home per week. It's basically only useful for cases where you need to stay home because of a sick kid or someone is coming over for house repair/maintenance.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#58

Post by a4isms »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #12
castlecrasher2 wrote: post #7

As someone who's worked only remotely for several years, this makes sense. I know many will disagree with this assertion but in my estimation in-person collaboration is far better than online-only. I think the best balance is at least a couple days per week in the office and the rest remote.

"Couple days per week in the office" kind of defeats the whole point of going remote in the first place.

I have worked with 50% remote people for decades. There are all sorts of ways this can be productive. The most obvious, which may or may not appeal to the majority of HN’s demographic, is people with families.

If you’re 50% WFH, you can structure your parental life around the remote days. It’s not that you work less on those days, but the time you would otherwise spend commuting is time you can spend on weekday family things.

Another scenario I’ve seen is people who want a "remote home.” Fed up with the prices for living in a major metropolitan area, or perhaps because they prefer a smaller town and/or living in a rural area, they buy a place with double their usual commute.

That can be brutal, but if you only do that a couple of days of the week, and can structure your F2F work on those days, the total number of hours commuting isn’t so bad.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#59

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #12
castlecrasher2 wrote: post #7

As someone who's worked only remotely for several years, this makes sense. I know many will disagree with this assertion but in my estimation in-person collaboration is far better than online-only. I think the best balance is at least a couple days per week in the office and the rest remote.

"Couple days per week in the office" kind of defeats the whole point of going remote in the first place.

If you're only coming in a few days a week, you don't need to live as close to the office. Like the difference between a 30 minute commute twice a day five days a week versus a 90 minute commute twice a day once a week.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#60

Post by bilal4hmed »

tootie wrote: post #36
bilal4hmed wrote: post #13

After spending more than a year remote, full remote is difficult ( not impossible ) . Most of us have settled on 3 days at home, 2 days at work, so we can socialize, make new connections or just simply have lunch. Going back to in office 100% is a thing of the past unless you are a team that has to be there - making hardware etc. For ex I cant imagine the Pixel team working 100% remote.

I'm a senior manager and also a hardcore introvert. In my many years of office work I would actively avoid having lunch around anyone from the office as much as possible. Lunch is my only alone time when I'm crammed in an office all day.

Super introvert as well, I like my solo time in the office, but some times to make new connections, learn about a new part of the business these small distractions are a good break from the regular.
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