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> Working from home, for me, is frustrating because when I want to walk over to someone and ask them a question or set up a physical meeting ASAP I can't. As s

> Working from home, for me, is frustrating because when I want to walk over to someone and ask them a question or set up a physical meeting ASAP I can't. As someone who gets interrupted several times a day by this at the office, I don't miss it one bit when I work remotely. Being able to defer responding to a question by a minute or two so that I can finish my train of thought is one of my favorite things about working remotely. At the office, the cost of me trying to recover my thoughts afterwards is much greater than those two minutes my colleague would have waited for a response. > If you are the only remote worker on your team then you are at a serious disadvantage relative to your non-remote team members who see your boss every day. That seems like a problem with company culture much more than with working remotely.

ambicapter 11y ago
> At the office, the cost of me trying to recover my thoughts afterwards is much greater than those two minutes my colleague would have waited for a response. To you. Your colleagues train of thought will be disrupted. I guess you deserve to keep your train of thought because you're smart enough to not have to ask questions.
- RussianCow 11y ago
  When you get used to working remotely (or with people who are remote), I've found you learn to try to avoid being bottlenecked by questions. It doesn't always work, of course, but I think it's an important skill to have either way. And for questions that are urgent enough, a phone/video call is about the equivalent of walking up to someone and asking, and doesn't take any more time. Edit: typo.
- sologoub 11y ago
  There is no need for personal attacks when someone is expressing their genuine opinion. Collaboration requires courtesy and both parties should respect each other's train of thought for it to work, regardless of the venue, be it office or remote.
- tzs 11y ago
  The colleague's train of thought was already disrupted by stopping what he was doing and walking over to the person he wants to question. Waiting a couple minutes will not be any more disruptive to the colleague.
Nicholas_C 11y ago
>That seems like a problem with company culture much more than with working remotely. I agree with you. And from talking with others in my profession I've concluded that it exists at corporations more often than not. But is also a lot harder to work on special projects with people in different locations so it is somewhat understandable in that regard.
sologoub 11y ago
PG really summed it up well - Maker's schedule is quite different from Manager's schedule: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html. From OPs profile he is more of a manager than a maker.

ambicapter 11y ago

> At the office, the cost of me trying to recover my thoughts afterwards is much greater than those two minutes my colleague would have waited for a response. To you. Your colleagues train of thought will be disrupted. I guess you deserve to keep your train of thought because you're smart enough to not have to ask questions.

RussianCow 11y ago
When you get used to working remotely (or with people who are remote), I've found you learn to try to avoid being bottlenecked by questions. It doesn't always work, of course, but I think it's an important skill to have either way. And for questions that are urgent enough, a phone/video call is about the equivalent of walking up to someone and asking, and doesn't take any more time. Edit: typo.
sologoub 11y ago
There is no need for personal attacks when someone is expressing their genuine opinion. Collaboration requires courtesy and both parties should respect each other's train of thought for it to work, regardless of the venue, be it office or remote.
tzs 11y ago
The colleague's train of thought was already disrupted by stopping what he was doing and walking over to the person he wants to question. Waiting a couple minutes will not be any more disruptive to the colleague.

Nicholas_C 11y ago

>That seems like a problem with company culture much more than with working remotely. I agree with you. And from talking with others in my profession I've concluded that it exists at corporations more often than not. But is also a lot harder to work on special projects with people in different locations so it is somewhat understandable in that regard.

sologoub 11y ago

PG really summed it up well - Maker's schedule is quite different from Manager's schedule: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html. From OPs profile he is more of a manager than a maker.