4 ms·

I wonder if remote work will become standard.

MadWombat 7y ago
It is already becoming much more accepted than it was a few years ago, but remote work comes with its own set of problems and nuances. Companies tend to worry about accountability a lot more, mixing work life and off work life is hard, especially if you have a family with kids, having to define your own structure is hard etc.
- fwsgonzo 7y ago
  Not only that but you won't get all the information, the informal stuff, and you will never get promoted. Still, it's better than the alternative.
  - MadWombat 7y ago
    I think information flow can be designed to accommodate remote work, especially if the company is focusing on remote workers. Same goes for promotions, if the company is focusing on remote work (i.e. would prefer to have more remote workers than office workers) it can and will sort out promotions. The problems I mentioned seem to me a bit more fundamental, problems of personally coping with working remotely rather than company attitude towards remote workers.
cameronbrown 7y ago
Not gonna happen. Working in an office is cultural, and as long as the majority of jobs require presence (read: almost every non knowledge-worker job) it won't change. Personally I don't like the idea of remote work anyway - I think we're missing a lot of valuable bandwidth. We're social creatures and no amount of technology will change that. That being said, I think the option should be there for those who disagree with me. A good middle ground would be a mix of remote and in-person work.
- smt88 7y ago
  > Working in an office is cultural Culture changes, and there's a such thing as subculture. Many individual companies have created remote-only subcultures, and they'll become more influential over time. (Wearing suits to the office used to be cultural and "never going to change".) > we're missing a lot of valuable bandwidth But you're also missing lots of destructive bandwidth (interruptions, gossip, etc.) Remote work allows you to create time/space for the good connections without also formalizing the bad ones. Socializing becomes opt-in instead of opt-out. > We're social creatures and no amount of technology will change that. People socialize outside of offices all the time. There's nothing stopping remote coworkers from meeting in the same place every day, going out to lunch, etc. > A good middle ground would be a mix of remote and in-person work. This is a difficult line to toe. It works better if the company is 100% remote, or if going to the office is opt-in (like a free perk for those who want it). If you start with onsite-by-default and try to transition to remote, the people who stay onsite become resentful of the remote workers, and everyone assumes the remote workers are lazier, distracted, etc.
  - cameronbrown 7y ago
    > But you're also missing lots of destructive bandwidth (interruptions, gossip, etc.) These things are a component of being around others though. Gossip never goes away, it just migrates. > People socialize outside of offices all the time. There's nothing stopping remote coworkers from meeting in the same place every day, going out to lunch, etc. True that, but arguably the best benefit of remote work is to.. well.. live remotely. If you're all states or countries apart (as remote teams tend to be) then this is obviously not an option. > If you start with onsite-by-default and try to transition to remote, the people who stay onsite become resentful of the remote workers, and everyone assumes the remote workers are lazier, distracted, etc. If it's optional and actually sponsored by top execs into the company culture, why would this resentment exist? Obviously this is just my opinion, but I'd really hate to live and work in the same place. It's the same for me with side projects: if you get burned out of uncomfortable in your space, that doesn't go away when work's over. You risk disliking your own place. Personally I just prefer a strict division between work/life and remote heavily fragments that relationship.
adrianlmm 7y ago
I'm in a mixed setup, 3 days in the office plus 2 from home, works fine, as long as they see my commits in Github they have no problem with that, I'm planning to change it to 2 days in the office and 3 from home.

It is already becoming much more accepted than it was a few years ago, but remote work comes with its own set of problems and nuances. Companies tend to worry about accountability a lot more, mixing work life and off work life is hard, especially if you have a family with kids, having to define your own structure is hard etc.

fwsgonzo 7y ago
Not only that but you won't get all the information, the informal stuff, and you will never get promoted. Still, it's better than the alternative.
- MadWombat 7y ago
  I think information flow can be designed to accommodate remote work, especially if the company is focusing on remote workers. Same goes for promotions, if the company is focusing on remote work (i.e. would prefer to have more remote workers than office workers) it can and will sort out promotions. The problems I mentioned seem to me a bit more fundamental, problems of personally coping with working remotely rather than company attitude towards remote workers.

cameronbrown 7y ago

Not gonna happen. Working in an office is cultural, and as long as the majority of jobs require presence (read: almost every non knowledge-worker job) it won't change. Personally I don't like the idea of remote work anyway - I think we're missing a lot of valuable bandwidth. We're social creatures and no amount of technology will change that. That being said, I think the option should be there for those who disagree with me. A good middle ground would be a mix of remote and in-person work.

smt88 7y ago
> Working in an office is cultural Culture changes, and there's a such thing as subculture. Many individual companies have created remote-only subcultures, and they'll become more influential over time. (Wearing suits to the office used to be cultural and "never going to change".) > we're missing a lot of valuable bandwidth But you're also missing lots of destructive bandwidth (interruptions, gossip, etc.) Remote work allows you to create time/space for the good connections without also formalizing the bad ones. Socializing becomes opt-in instead of opt-out. > We're social creatures and no amount of technology will change that. People socialize outside of offices all the time. There's nothing stopping remote coworkers from meeting in the same place every day, going out to lunch, etc. > A good middle ground would be a mix of remote and in-person work. This is a difficult line to toe. It works better if the company is 100% remote, or if going to the office is opt-in (like a free perk for those who want it). If you start with onsite-by-default and try to transition to remote, the people who stay onsite become resentful of the remote workers, and everyone assumes the remote workers are lazier, distracted, etc.
- cameronbrown 7y ago
  > But you're also missing lots of destructive bandwidth (interruptions, gossip, etc.) These things are a component of being around others though. Gossip never goes away, it just migrates. > People socialize outside of offices all the time. There's nothing stopping remote coworkers from meeting in the same place every day, going out to lunch, etc. True that, but arguably the best benefit of remote work is to.. well.. live remotely. If you're all states or countries apart (as remote teams tend to be) then this is obviously not an option. > If you start with onsite-by-default and try to transition to remote, the people who stay onsite become resentful of the remote workers, and everyone assumes the remote workers are lazier, distracted, etc. If it's optional and actually sponsored by top execs into the company culture, why would this resentment exist? Obviously this is just my opinion, but I'd really hate to live and work in the same place. It's the same for me with side projects: if you get burned out of uncomfortable in your space, that doesn't go away when work's over. You risk disliking your own place. Personally I just prefer a strict division between work/life and remote heavily fragments that relationship.

adrianlmm 7y ago

I'm in a mixed setup, 3 days in the office plus 2 from home, works fine, as long as they see my commits in Github they have no problem with that, I'm planning to change it to 2 days in the office and 3 from home.