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What the article doesn't mention is remote workers are less often promoted. It's psychological - out of sight, out of mind. By default coworkers don't see you,

by b0rsuk 9y ago

What the article doesn't mention is remote workers are less often promoted. It's psychological - out of sight, out of mind. By default coworkers don't see you, only when you say something. In an office a manager will often pass by, and just by noticing someone will have a random thought about him. Like, "this guy has been doing really good recently, he deserves a promotion". I'm saying that you have to work harder to establish the same level of presence. You have to make an active effort you make yourself visible.

HenryBemis 9y ago
Great point about career progression. Haven't thought about that, but it just could be due to the mentality on the organsatons I've worked in. I think that this kind of mentality could be fading away, in time, as more and more organisations require (or just accept the fact) that people prefer to work remotely 1-2-3 days per week. That boosts morale (for me) since commuting is a BIG productivity killer especially in cities with populations way over 5M. I guess the biggest challenge is that for some people it is difficult to adjust to working from home because they may lack the to "train" themselves, or lack the space, of have the kids, etc. But "we" (work-from-homers) are winning!!
ytjohn 9y ago
There's (unfortunately) a big divide between teams that are mostly office-based, and teams that are mostly remote based. I'm fortunate to have finally landed a job in the latter. When your boss and their boss also work from home, this fades away. But when 5 people come into the office every day, and 2 people work most days from home, those 2 people will miss out on opportunities.
qrbLPHiKpiux 9y ago
I think it comes down to it saying, "must be able to work on the fly." Wanting a promotion means putting yourself face first in front of management. Take a trip every so often to HQ.
philbo 9y ago
This is purely a personal preference but less visibility is precisely why I prefer to work remotely. I don't want to be visible, I don't want a promotion, I don't want a presence. I just want to crack on with fixing/implementing stuff and touch base with people as the need arises. Working like this makes me happy and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. Everyone is different of course and that's fine, I understand that visibility is important to lots of other people. But for some of us it really isn't, and we do okay without it.

by b0rsuk 9y ago

HenryBemis 9y ago

Great point about career progression. Haven't thought about that, but it just could be due to the mentality on the organsatons I've worked in. I think that this kind of mentality could be fading away, in time, as more and more organisations require (or just accept the fact) that people prefer to work remotely 1-2-3 days per week. That boosts morale (for me) since commuting is a BIG productivity killer especially in cities with populations way over 5M. I guess the biggest challenge is that for some people it is difficult to adjust to working from home because they may lack the to "train" themselves, or lack the space, of have the kids, etc. But "we" (work-from-homers) are winning!!

ytjohn 9y ago

There's (unfortunately) a big divide between teams that are mostly office-based, and teams that are mostly remote based. I'm fortunate to have finally landed a job in the latter. When your boss and their boss also work from home, this fades away. But when 5 people come into the office every day, and 2 people work most days from home, those 2 people will miss out on opportunities.

qrbLPHiKpiux 9y ago

I think it comes down to it saying, "must be able to work on the fly." Wanting a promotion means putting yourself face first in front of management. Take a trip every so often to HQ.

philbo 9y ago

This is purely a personal preference but less visibility is precisely why I prefer to work remotely. I don't want to be visible, I don't want a promotion, I don't want a presence. I just want to crack on with fixing/implementing stuff and touch base with people as the need arises. Working like this makes me happy and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. Everyone is different of course and that's fine, I understand that visibility is important to lots of other people. But for some of us it really isn't, and we do okay without it.