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This is a horrible "experiment". Duuuude I was just asked to stay at home for 2 weeks because I might have coronavirus (I was in Shanghai "recently"). Sure as

by jsharf 7y ago

This is a horrible "experiment". Duuuude I was just asked to stay at home for 2 weeks because I might have coronavirus (I was in Shanghai "recently"). Sure as heck I'm not going to be productive. (I'm a software engineer in mountain view, and my company has asked me to WFH for 2 weeks) Following reasons: - Emotionally it's a tiny bit scary. hard to focus. - I didn't have ANY time to setup -- a lot of my gear is still at work. - My team didn't have time to prepare -- we still have daily standups which are hard to join from VC.

ybalkind 7y ago
In a way that makes the experiment more interesting. You're kind of forced to try make things work under very sub-optimal conditions rather than some artifical text-book version of what we think work-from-home should ideally look like. I reckon that after a few days of poor productivity, you and your colleagues will find ways to be productive despite of these circumstances, and in fact the difficult circumstances might even yield new and better processes and habits.
- captainbland 7y ago
  I guess the only thing is it risks giving the panopticon micromanagement brigade an unfair point when some of these arrangements do go awry.
- michaelt 7y ago
  Depends how big the changes are. If you need to replace a whiteboard for task tracking with Jira, move your standups to a meeting room, and sort out the meeting room microphones that mean you can't always hear everyone well, the person might be back at work before you've finished all the reforms :)
  - clarry 7y ago
    > move your standups to a meeting room Please don't do that. People should participate using their own PC (or phone, in a pinch). Meeting rooms make it worse for everyone.
lowiqengineer 7y ago
Is this the google equivalent of “I went to a school outside of Boston”?
- philsnow 7y ago
  (Intuit also has a significant presence in Mountain View)
  - lowiqengineer 7y ago
    Perhaps but in this case I turned out to correct. I’m disgusted at myself that I can’t say something similar about my employer.
C1sc0cat 7y ago
Cant you get some one to have that gear sent to you
kungito 7y ago
They could priority mail you the stuff you need. They can add a laptop into someones hand or just make someone hold the phone for you to join the standup via Skype or something. The only argument I understand is the emotional one
paublyrne 7y ago
Are you a software engineer? Just wondering what 'gear' you really need - as opposed to would like - to do your job.
- tomashubelbauer 7y ago
  I'm a software developer who maintains very strict separation between work hardware and personal hardware. I keep my work laptop at work and only take it home with me when I know I'll be working from home the next day. It's amazing to be able to commute with no bags or anything on the days I'm working in the office successively. If I was forced to WFH without notice due to Coronavirus and I didn't have my work laptop with me, I would not work at all. Someone would have to drive to my place with my work laptop or agree to pay for a new computer I'd buy for the purpose for those two weeks or so.
  - sarakayakomzin 7y ago
    same. it's good opsec and I refuse to be the asshole that accidentally left their vpn on while streaming netflix.
  - matz1 7y ago
    Did the company mandate you to use separate laptop or you put your restriction yourself ?
    - tomashubelbauer 7y ago
      I put that restriction on myself, a selection of reasons follows: I don't use AV software but my employer requires it on machines in its domain, I won't allow remote management of my personal hardware but my employer uses remote management for wiping lost devices, and it helps to maintain a clear separation between personal and work time. All of the requirements my employer places on its hardware are reasonable for work hardware and I'm not opposed to these measures, but that's why IMO work hardware needs to remain work hardware - you can't compartmentalize a single device so that say an accidental remote wipe only affects your work files on the machine / phone.
crispyporkbites 7y ago
> Emotionally it's a tiny bit scary. hard to focus. These are just excuses. If you were going to get fired for not working or someone gave you a bonus of half a million for two weeks of work you’d sure as hell focus.
andruby 7y ago
Even if "regular" productive work is hard, you could use the time to learn. Read books, build prototypes, think about the hard problems you, your team and your company are facing or will be facing. This feel like a great way to get some thinking time!
namelosw 7y ago
It's horrible when the employer don't lower their expectation. We had some campaign on remote working, actively adjust the toolset/processes/expectations, and we don't usually measure by output so it's a rather interesting experience for now.

by jsharf 7y ago

ybalkind 7y ago

In a way that makes the experiment more interesting. You're kind of forced to try make things work under very sub-optimal conditions rather than some artifical text-book version of what we think work-from-home should ideally look like. I reckon that after a few days of poor productivity, you and your colleagues will find ways to be productive despite of these circumstances, and in fact the difficult circumstances might even yield new and better processes and habits.

captainbland 7y ago
I guess the only thing is it risks giving the panopticon micromanagement brigade an unfair point when some of these arrangements do go awry.
michaelt 7y ago
Depends how big the changes are. If you need to replace a whiteboard for task tracking with Jira, move your standups to a meeting room, and sort out the meeting room microphones that mean you can't always hear everyone well, the person might be back at work before you've finished all the reforms :)
- clarry 7y ago
  > move your standups to a meeting room Please don't do that. People should participate using their own PC (or phone, in a pinch). Meeting rooms make it worse for everyone.

lowiqengineer 7y ago

Is this the google equivalent of “I went to a school outside of Boston”?

philsnow 7y ago
(Intuit also has a significant presence in Mountain View)
- lowiqengineer 7y ago
  Perhaps but in this case I turned out to correct. I’m disgusted at myself that I can’t say something similar about my employer.

C1sc0cat 7y ago

Cant you get some one to have that gear sent to you

kungito 7y ago

They could priority mail you the stuff you need. They can add a laptop into someones hand or just make someone hold the phone for you to join the standup via Skype or something. The only argument I understand is the emotional one

paublyrne 7y ago

Are you a software engineer? Just wondering what 'gear' you really need - as opposed to would like - to do your job.

tomashubelbauer 7y ago
I'm a software developer who maintains very strict separation between work hardware and personal hardware. I keep my work laptop at work and only take it home with me when I know I'll be working from home the next day. It's amazing to be able to commute with no bags or anything on the days I'm working in the office successively. If I was forced to WFH without notice due to Coronavirus and I didn't have my work laptop with me, I would not work at all. Someone would have to drive to my place with my work laptop or agree to pay for a new computer I'd buy for the purpose for those two weeks or so.
- sarakayakomzin 7y ago
  same. it's good opsec and I refuse to be the asshole that accidentally left their vpn on while streaming netflix.
- matz1 7y ago
  Did the company mandate you to use separate laptop or you put your restriction yourself ?
  - tomashubelbauer 7y ago
    I put that restriction on myself, a selection of reasons follows: I don't use AV software but my employer requires it on machines in its domain, I won't allow remote management of my personal hardware but my employer uses remote management for wiping lost devices, and it helps to maintain a clear separation between personal and work time. All of the requirements my employer places on its hardware are reasonable for work hardware and I'm not opposed to these measures, but that's why IMO work hardware needs to remain work hardware - you can't compartmentalize a single device so that say an accidental remote wipe only affects your work files on the machine / phone.

crispyporkbites 7y ago

> Emotionally it's a tiny bit scary. hard to focus. These are just excuses. If you were going to get fired for not working or someone gave you a bonus of half a million for two weeks of work you’d sure as hell focus.

andruby 7y ago

Even if "regular" productive work is hard, you could use the time to learn. Read books, build prototypes, think about the hard problems you, your team and your company are facing or will be facing. This feel like a great way to get some thinking time!

namelosw 7y ago

It's horrible when the employer don't lower their expectation. We had some campaign on remote working, actively adjust the toolset/processes/expectations, and we don't usually measure by output so it's a rather interesting experience for now.