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I think we first have to answer a more fundamental question: Are there advantages to physical co-location that cannot be replicated using better computer collab

I think we first have to answer a more fundamental question: Are there advantages to physical co-location that cannot be replicated using better computer collaboration tools? If so, then it may be that improving tools will never get us there. This is especially true for genuinely remote working, I think the tools to allow part of the team to work from home part of the time are there and in many industries are ubiquitous.

bobthepanda 7y ago
For remote workers: is there a good alternative to "water-cooler" talk, or side conversations right outside after a meeting? It seems to me like remote work lacks low-impact ways to grab someone's attention effectively for a short period of time, but correct me if I'm wrong.
- thu2111 7y ago
  I do watercooler type discussions on Slack sometimes. I don't feel left out. I get office gossip fed to me via back channels.
sgt101 7y ago
Bobthepanda is right, watercoolers win, and it's pretty clear that compressing 20 locations into 3 can always be made to look like a flying business case on a spreadsheet and a ppt deck - especially when you make arbitary claims about efficiency gains. I was party to a case where consultants (biggest and most expensive ones) introduced a 7% co-location bonus with no evidence or justification at all and this promptly yeilded a £100m investment in the realestate to support it. No one really argued because the alternative was 0 investment, and the axe man commeth for those who were on the periphery in any case. Actually, I lie. I argued, but now I work in a different place... coincidence? My point would be I think that there are pros and cons, distributed offices have huge pathologies, but centralised facilities often just don't work, and those failures are simply ignored or covered up in the modern workplace. I do not believe that the facts of what happens in these reorganizations could be measured if the faculty of Harvard and the LSE were to be onsite interviewing executives 24-7 in a corporate going through this. The beast must be fed, and those who get thrown in the maw don't count.

bobthepanda 7y ago

For remote workers: is there a good alternative to "water-cooler" talk, or side conversations right outside after a meeting? It seems to me like remote work lacks low-impact ways to grab someone's attention effectively for a short period of time, but correct me if I'm wrong.

thu2111 7y ago
I do watercooler type discussions on Slack sometimes. I don't feel left out. I get office gossip fed to me via back channels.

sgt101 7y ago

Bobthepanda is right, watercoolers win, and it's pretty clear that compressing 20 locations into 3 can always be made to look like a flying business case on a spreadsheet and a ppt deck - especially when you make arbitary claims about efficiency gains. I was party to a case where consultants (biggest and most expensive ones) introduced a 7% co-location bonus with no evidence or justification at all and this promptly yeilded a £100m investment in the realestate to support it. No one really argued because the alternative was 0 investment, and the axe man commeth for those who were on the periphery in any case. Actually, I lie. I argued, but now I work in a different place... coincidence? My point would be I think that there are pros and cons, distributed offices have huge pathologies, but centralised facilities often just don't work, and those failures are simply ignored or covered up in the modern workplace. I do not believe that the facts of what happens in these reorganizations could be measured if the faculty of Harvard and the LSE were to be onsite interviewing executives 24-7 in a corporate going through this. The beast must be fed, and those who get thrown in the maw don't count.