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From the article: At GitLab, we don't force you to work from home, if you want to work from an office, we’ll pay for that. You can probably find an office spac

From the article: At GitLab, we don't force you to work from home, if you want to work from an office, we’ll pay for that. You can probably find an office space pretty close by, so you don't have to commute long. A lot of people when it's their first time remote working, they first do the office thing so that their family gets adjusted to it. And then also enjoy the benefits of your kids barging in on a meeting and distracting you, it's the best distraction in the world.

dagw 7y ago
And then also enjoy the benefits of your kids barging in on a meeting and distracting you, it's the best distraction in the world. Perhaps the first N times. When it happens the N+1st time it is no longer the "best distraction in the world"
- circlefavshape 7y ago
  What? Your kids barging in a meeting might be the "best distraction in the world" an arbitrary number of times, and then after that it no longer is? AFAICT this comment is indistinguishable from saying nothing at all
  - dagw 7y ago
    What I'm saying is it might be cute the first time it happens, but for all people there exists a finite limit where it stops being cute. That limit however is different for different people. I would however feel fairly comfortable saying that N<=15 in an 8 hour period for the vast majority of people.
  - SllX 7y ago
    Mate, he’s saying that as much as you love your kids, it gets old at some point to have them constantly interrupting your meetings. Sometimes you want to finish the meeting and be done with it, so you can go ahead and actually spend some quality time with them without any nagging concerns leftover from work.
- jacobkg 7y ago
  When I was interviewing for my current job (to stop being remote) my 4 year old son barged in and started climbing all over me for the second half of a 30 minute video phone screen. That the CTO didn’t bat an eye at this was one strong indicator that she would be an amazing boss (she is)
  - RussianCow 7y ago
    That almost sounds like it would be a great way to screen potential companies! (But I don't have kids so that makes it difficult to implement for me.)
scarface74 7y ago
If your kids are over three or four years old and you have a separate dedicated office, they are old enough to understand that when you are "working" don't disturb you. Also, just because you are physically at home, your kids should still be in daycare or have a stay at home spouse just as if you were at work in an office. There was one guy who was allowed to work remotely when he moved out of state and when he was on a conference call, there were frequent interruptions from his toddler. It's not professional and it happened often.
the_watcher 7y ago
I really like how thoughtful GitLab has been about this, but it doesn't really address the social aspect or in person working dynamic if there's no one else on your team in the same location. That's a tradeoff GitLab is clearly aware of and thought about, but for me, having "an office that's in an office building" doesn't exactly equate to "is in an office with coworkers".

dagw 7y ago

And then also enjoy the benefits of your kids barging in on a meeting and distracting you, it's the best distraction in the world. Perhaps the first N times. When it happens the N+1st time it is no longer the "best distraction in the world"

circlefavshape 7y ago
What? Your kids barging in a meeting might be the "best distraction in the world" an arbitrary number of times, and then after that it no longer is? AFAICT this comment is indistinguishable from saying nothing at all
- dagw 7y ago
  What I'm saying is it might be cute the first time it happens, but for all people there exists a finite limit where it stops being cute. That limit however is different for different people. I would however feel fairly comfortable saying that N<=15 in an 8 hour period for the vast majority of people.
- SllX 7y ago
  Mate, he’s saying that as much as you love your kids, it gets old at some point to have them constantly interrupting your meetings. Sometimes you want to finish the meeting and be done with it, so you can go ahead and actually spend some quality time with them without any nagging concerns leftover from work.
jacobkg 7y ago
When I was interviewing for my current job (to stop being remote) my 4 year old son barged in and started climbing all over me for the second half of a 30 minute video phone screen. That the CTO didn’t bat an eye at this was one strong indicator that she would be an amazing boss (she is)
- RussianCow 7y ago
  That almost sounds like it would be a great way to screen potential companies! (But I don't have kids so that makes it difficult to implement for me.)

scarface74 7y ago

If your kids are over three or four years old and you have a separate dedicated office, they are old enough to understand that when you are "working" don't disturb you. Also, just because you are physically at home, your kids should still be in daycare or have a stay at home spouse just as if you were at work in an office. There was one guy who was allowed to work remotely when he moved out of state and when he was on a conference call, there were frequent interruptions from his toddler. It's not professional and it happened often.

the_watcher 7y ago

I really like how thoughtful GitLab has been about this, but it doesn't really address the social aspect or in person working dynamic if there's no one else on your team in the same location. That's a tradeoff GitLab is clearly aware of and thought about, but for me, having "an office that's in an office building" doesn't exactly equate to "is in an office with coworkers".