You actually bother to ask whether they support remote work? You are more patient than I.
And no, I'm not interested in a position in Albuquerque.
A Short Rant About Working Remotely
51–60 of 339 posts
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#52An interesting thing is when your company truly is special, remote may be a much better option. I work for Ksplice (which is now part of Oracle). Ksplice needed people with Linux kernel knowledge, and there is no central tech pool for that. The company had to build itself in a way that supported remote workers.
I think many people use a crutch that it will be too hard to build a company that way, but that is because they think in terms of "average" developers. With average developers, it will be hard, but once you realize your talent pool becomes much richer and will often include people who are already familiar with working remotely, it becomes much, much easier.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#53I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…
I work remotely not by choice but rather because the people I wanted to start this company with don't live in Seattle, and I love Seattle. So remote it is - and for the last 7 years it's been worth it.
However the issolation is an issue - chat rooms, and Skype/Hangouts have always been a big part of how we hold the company together, and how we solve this issue. But for me coffee shops, are a big deal. I'm in one every day for an hour or 2, and that's where I get all my "water cooler talk" and random socalizing. Which on the whole works out quite well for me.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#54I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…
Because the location of my wife's job is completely non-negotiable (she's a surgical resident), whereas there are no actual impediments to me doing my job from anywhere with an internet connection.
As for the isolation during working hours, it makes me fantastically productive -- no junior coworkers sticking their head into my office to ask questions they could answer themselves if they thought about it for a couple minutes. If they can't figure it out after a couple minutes, they can email me or we chat and I'll help them sort it out. When it comes to feeling isolated, I start work early and take a long lunch break. I go over to the college and have lunch with faculty and grad students whose work I find interesting. I give a seminar talk every now and then. I don't really feel isolated at all.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#55In general, I totally agree. Being able to hire the best person, anywhere, and allow them to work super-effectively is a strong moat. I share this opinion and hire accordingly. I think the "these companies are wrong" posts, though, are not attempting to see it from the other side. Try to put yourself in the shoes of these startups. In super-super early startups (e.g. pre-profitability or definitely pre-revenue) one o…
FWIW, I also agree with a lot of your points, Matt.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#56I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…
Working from home is awesome if you're the type of person where lots of noise/movement disrupts your work (which is most programmers). It's very hard to continually be in focus in an office, while at home it's much easier to be in the flow. Not only is it more productive, but I've noticed over time that I've been able to flesh out ambitious ideas much more often and have personally grown because of it.
Think of all the office drama, personal conflicts from trivial things, etc. A lot of it is gone. There is still conflict, of course, but it's real conflict, not petty about desk space or something.
As other's say, you also waste no time on commuting.
You lose constant communication though, yes, so you have to balance this with tools. We use IRC and are constantly chatting, joking around, sending funny pictures, etc. so I don't feel isolated at all. We also meet up 3 or 4 times a year, and it's fun to travel.
It's not for everybody, but it's optimal for some.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#57"I'm a developer. I like working from home. Therefore all companies should allow all developers to work from home."
He who pays the piper, calls the tune.
If you're right, and developers want and should be able to work from home, then economics suggests market rates for office-bound employees will go up, and profitability at those companies will go down.
And there are wider issues here. So you allow the developers want to work from home. What about your project managers? Your admin temps? What about that lazy developer who you can't fire, but you know does nothing at home?
Also, how do you still have those serendipitous chats around the kettle, in which you, the business development manager and the designer realise a huge sales opportunity?
Having remote-working will make perfect for some businesses (be they startups, agencies, or huge corporates), but it never comes without cost. In some cases, those costs will make it worthwhile paying to have developers working inside the office.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#58I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…
Why do you guys want to work from home? Isn't the isolation during the working hours hard on you? I work from home to help keep my family life a priority. That extra 2 hours not lost to a commute (and sometimes another hour for lunch) that is spent with my family has immeasurable value.
I feel the same way. Well stated.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#59I've been working at home (developer) two days a week for the past eight years. This has helped keep me sane, as the round-trip commute time (foot and train) is three hours.
It does require commitment and effort, especially if most employees are office-based. I find I have to make more effort to make sure what I'm doing is visible to the rest of the team, and to communicate. Its easy to think you're communicating enough when others don't see it that way.
When I'm in the office I schedule tasks that need face-to-face time, and when I'm at home my only interruption all day is usually the morning standup. I consider myself really lucky to be able to work like this.
The practicalities are simple and inexpensive too. From home I can vpn onto our office network via a cheap soho router and bundled vpn software. I can use the office phone system with a cheap headset and sip application. Google apps is £2/person/month. Google talk, G+ hangouts and trello are free.
Re: A Short Rant About Working Remotely
#60I've been working remotely for 1 year and 3 months. The company I'm working for checks in once a week for about 20 minutes, other than that all communication is done through basecamp. I have to admit it's really hard for me and I just handed in my two weeks notice. I feel so isolated working from home and not being around other co-workers. I miss seing and interacting with other people. I'll be looking for a new job…
I've been working remotely for more than a decade now, and other than the occasional day or two now and again, I don't think I've been completely alone that entire time. Either someone is in and out of my place, or I go to somewhere where others are. I imagine that helps a lot with any feelings of isolation.