How bad does it have to get! (Boston, Orange: maintenance, taxes)

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Yep. We've pulled back on remote working for this reason. Productivity is just not what it needs to be even for jobs that, on paper, could be done entirely remotely. The technology has been in place to enable it for more than 15 years really. It's just not functionally effective for most positions.

well then people are working from hone incorrectly. Why should it be harder to get things done at home as long as you have the correct tools?

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

well then people are working from hone incorrectly. Why should it be harder to get things done at home as long as you have the correct tools?

Human interaction is vital. I don't think this will ever change. I don't even think I'd like working from home at the end of the day. Sounds very isolating.

I believe my boss goes to the beach when she "works from home." So for her it's probably great.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

My boss "works from home" pretty frequently. Everything takes forever, nothing really gets done.

I had this exact same experience once.

[Bridge781]

human interaction is important but i dont think it's needed 40 hours a week. It just isnt. At my current company there is a lot of silence with people just sitting at desks doing work via email. Then there are client calls and yes there are internal meetings. It's possible to call in remotely for internal meetings.

What do you think is more important? Being in the office 40-50 hours a week plus a terrible commute? or a break from the commute once or twice a week. Heck 3 times would be nice. I really think this is something companies need to push. For the environment and for people's sanity

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

human interaction is important but i dont think it's needed 40 hours a week. It just isnt. At my current company there is a lot of silence with people just sitting at desks doing work via email. Then there are client calls and yes there are internal meetings. It's possible to call in remotely for internal meetings.

What do you think is more important? Being in the office 40-50 hours a week plus a terrible commute? or a break from the commute once or twice a week. Heck 3 times would be nice. I really think this is something companies need to push. For the environment and for people's sanity

Oh I agree about work hours. We as a culture are very dogmatic about hours. But I think we don't need to just have those hours at home vs the office. I think all hours in reality should be much fewer, but they should be mostly in person.

[Bridge781]

hmm i'm not sure i agree with the in person thing all the time...but i guess it also depends on someone's role.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

well then people are working from hone incorrectly. Why should it be harder to get things done at home as long as you have the correct tools?

You're right, they are working from home incorrectly and that's exactly the problem. The "correct tools" don't eliminate the distractions and lack of supervision in a home office environment. For positions that require regular communication between two or more people, face to face interaction is a lot more effective.

There are some positions that work well from home. Call centers have been extremely successful in setting people up with home work stations and this is in large part due to the fact that call center operators have a strict "online" schedule which is monitored by digitally clocking in/out for start/end/breaks and the open phone line for calls is easily monitored remotely by supervisors. If you're doing dishes instead of taking calls, the call center management knows. But most roles don't have the same level of control and oversight over at-home staff. That's why I believe that "work from home" will be continue to be an occasional perk for most staff, and not something people do all the time/regularly.

[Bridge781]

I've seen some people do more work at home than they do in the office. Being in the office sometimes is distracting. More people coming up to you asking questions (which can be a good thing) but then also time spent talking about nonsense and not doing work.

I will forever be a WFH advocate. I refuse to work for a place that won't let me do it once a week.

[GeePee]

So the suggestion to fixing a failing mass transit system is " don't use it" ?

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by GeePee

So the suggestion to fixing a failing mass transit system is " don't use it" ?

Yes. Everyone using it at the same time is not sustainable.