4 ms·

I'm surprised it needs to be said, but WFH during a pandemic is not equivalent to WFH during normal life.

skrebbel 7y ago
> I'm surprised it needs to be said, Are you really, though?
thawaway1837 7y ago
Well, in my case WFH during the pandemic has been far better than otherwise because now everyone is on an equal footing. Everyone is WFH so I’m not missing random side conversations or getting ignored altogether. And it’s still pretty terrible. There are advantages, but at least for me my productivity is miles higher in an office environment.
- vikramkr 7y ago
  For companies that haven't built remote cultures with employees that enjoy face to face work, productivity just won't be higher at home. If you're just chugging away at assignments sure, you'll be more productive. But there are a lot of types of jobs where that just doesn't work. Setting aside the obvious areas like biotech and hardtech where you need equipment, any highly innovative/team driven work will be better in person. You don't just work when you're at your desk. Thanks are the types of jobs where you're having discussions with your coworkers over lunch that spark some idea or the like. And anything where that constant access to face to face communication would help is being hurt. Of course not all companies are like that, but not all companies are the opposite either. We've got a diversity in our workforce and companies that just can't fit a single style of work.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Pandemic WFH is a total disaster. As much as it becomes equal footing, the floor has fallen off. WFH works when you can actually work from home - not when every possible place where you could stash your kids is closed. WFH also doesn't work if forced suddenly on people who, before the pandemic, haven't given it even a single thought. This event is going to taint WFH for years to come.
  - SuoDuanDao 7y ago
    My experience has been more that it's shown itself to be highly polarising. There are also a lot of people who knew they wanted to work from home and just didn't have the option, I think this will be a lively debate in the years ahead. From a pollution perspective though, the preferable choice is fairly obvious.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      I agree, and for what it's worth, I've been working from home for almost three years now. But my productivity has tanked recently because of yet another factor: the COVID-19 situation is cognitively taxing. Initially I had to micromanage my parents, grandparents and in-laws, to ensure they're safe and have enough emergency supplies; then it took me three weeks to stop spending half of the day following COVID-19 news. From what I hear, this is a very common situation with everyone now, so whatever productivity drop happened in companies attempting WFH now, I'm betting most of it doesn't have anything to do with WFH.
vikramkr 7y ago
The poster I'm replying to is suggesting that this will be an experience to convince people to work from home haha. Either, this is a valid experience and everyone hates it. Or, this isn't true work from home and nobody's actually learned anything.
- danielbln 7y ago
  It's a spectrum, and I assume it will shift a bit towards acceptance as we go on in this pandemic as people find arrangements that work. You have to have processes in place, personally as well as professionally, to make WFH work well, and a lot of people who are thrown into this brave new WFH world have neither.
  - vikramkr 7y ago
    At least do my social circle, acceptance of work from home just keeps dwindling. this is seen as a sacrifice to fight the virus, like rationing during wartime, something you would never do voluntarily after because of how miserable be experience is. This is a small sample but you at least can't assumed from here that the shift would be towards acceptance in general. I'm sure some people absolutely will shift towards acceptance, but society really isn't built for work from home there's a lot of types of jobs that really benefit from in person interaction, a lot of those employees are not enjoying this at all.
arendtio 7y ago
Actually, a friend of mine is doing research about how different it is. Here you can participate: https://aopsy.biwi.uni-due.de/covid19 https://aopsy.biwi.uni-due.de/covid19
rustybelt 7y ago
I have two restless kids at home who would normally be in school right now, and I'm still feeling more productive at home.

> I'm surprised it needs to be said, Are you really, though?

Well, in my case WFH during the pandemic has been far better than otherwise because now everyone is on an equal footing. Everyone is WFH so I’m not missing random side conversations or getting ignored altogether. And it’s still pretty terrible. There are advantages, but at least for me my productivity is miles higher in an office environment.

vikramkr 7y ago
For companies that haven't built remote cultures with employees that enjoy face to face work, productivity just won't be higher at home. If you're just chugging away at assignments sure, you'll be more productive. But there are a lot of types of jobs where that just doesn't work. Setting aside the obvious areas like biotech and hardtech where you need equipment, any highly innovative/team driven work will be better in person. You don't just work when you're at your desk. Thanks are the types of jobs where you're having discussions with your coworkers over lunch that spark some idea or the like. And anything where that constant access to face to face communication would help is being hurt. Of course not all companies are like that, but not all companies are the opposite either. We've got a diversity in our workforce and companies that just can't fit a single style of work.
TeMPOraL 7y ago
Pandemic WFH is a total disaster. As much as it becomes equal footing, the floor has fallen off. WFH works when you can actually work from home - not when every possible place where you could stash your kids is closed. WFH also doesn't work if forced suddenly on people who, before the pandemic, haven't given it even a single thought. This event is going to taint WFH for years to come.
- SuoDuanDao 7y ago
  My experience has been more that it's shown itself to be highly polarising. There are also a lot of people who knew they wanted to work from home and just didn't have the option, I think this will be a lively debate in the years ahead. From a pollution perspective though, the preferable choice is fairly obvious.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    I agree, and for what it's worth, I've been working from home for almost three years now. But my productivity has tanked recently because of yet another factor: the COVID-19 situation is cognitively taxing. Initially I had to micromanage my parents, grandparents and in-laws, to ensure they're safe and have enough emergency supplies; then it took me three weeks to stop spending half of the day following COVID-19 news. From what I hear, this is a very common situation with everyone now, so whatever productivity drop happened in companies attempting WFH now, I'm betting most of it doesn't have anything to do with WFH.

vikramkr 7y ago

The poster I'm replying to is suggesting that this will be an experience to convince people to work from home haha. Either, this is a valid experience and everyone hates it. Or, this isn't true work from home and nobody's actually learned anything.

danielbln 7y ago
It's a spectrum, and I assume it will shift a bit towards acceptance as we go on in this pandemic as people find arrangements that work. You have to have processes in place, personally as well as professionally, to make WFH work well, and a lot of people who are thrown into this brave new WFH world have neither.
- vikramkr 7y ago
  At least do my social circle, acceptance of work from home just keeps dwindling. this is seen as a sacrifice to fight the virus, like rationing during wartime, something you would never do voluntarily after because of how miserable be experience is. This is a small sample but you at least can't assumed from here that the shift would be towards acceptance in general. I'm sure some people absolutely will shift towards acceptance, but society really isn't built for work from home there's a lot of types of jobs that really benefit from in person interaction, a lot of those employees are not enjoying this at all.

arendtio 7y ago

Actually, a friend of mine is doing research about how different it is. Here you can participate: https://aopsy.biwi.uni-due.de/covid19 https://aopsy.biwi.uni-due.de/covid19

rustybelt 7y ago

I have two restless kids at home who would normally be in school right now, and I'm still feeling more productive at home.