4 ms·

I'm noticing we're about 40/60 with more wanting to go back to the office at my midsize company. I'm happily with the 40, but the company is just using this tim

I'm noticing we're about 40/60 with more wanting to go back to the office at my midsize company. I'm happily with the 40, but the company is just using this time to spruce up the office just waiting for our return. I find communication and the work being better now then when we're in the office. All the cliques and hallway talk is more online, so I have a better clue what's going on. I wish it would stay that way.

ram_rar 6y ago
it depends a lot on company culture. I see more private conversations in slack happening as opposed to group chat. FOMO is as high as stock market.
- lebski88 6y ago
  I've worked remotely for 4 years now. We try extremely hard to avoid talking in private chats. Each person has their own channel which we try to use over DMs - this works really well although a few people seem to default to DM.
  - eikenberry 6y ago
    Our company has the policy of deleting all DMs after a couple weeks which helps push people towards using the channels as people generally like having a history of their communications for reference.
  - DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
    I've worked from home for ~6 years and 2 companies. I really miss real whiteboards. The only thing worse that being on a software team that has no whiteboards, is being the only remote person on a team that has whiteboards in the office.
    - jimmaswell 6y ago
      What's wrong with Google docs or any of the myriad online whiteboard apps?
      - hevelvarik 6y ago
        Unless you’ve mastered one of those tools, it’s impossible to match the fluidity of thought to text or visualization that a standard whiteboard provides you. I’m also not convinced that there is a tool that when mastered can provide the same fluidity, but I can claim that, and to the contrary I’d love a recommendation.
        manquer 6y ago
        Not to mention the simplicity of a chalk/marker and a board.
        stjohnswarts 6y ago
        The ability to callously walk up to the whiteboard and erase what your coworker was doing and telling him to go back to his cube and repent for his sins is also sorely missed
        vivster7 6y ago
        I’ve been trying to build a really simple only boxes and arrows whiteboard at https://whiteboard.systems https://whiteboard.systems It’s definitely not the same as drawing on a whiteboard, but I’ve found it useful for explaining abstractions.
        jimmaswell 6y ago
        What is there to master? It's drawing or typing on a board.
      - ghaff 6y ago
        I'm admittedly not a developer but I used to think that the lack of expansive whiteboards was one of the real failings of remote communication. And it still can be. But I've also find that shared Google Docs work better in a lot of situations than whiteboards and post-its all over the place in a big conference room. (That said, if whiteboards are important to a team, I would imagine there's software for sharing tablet drawing. I've heard there is. I just haven't investigated.)
    - senkora 6y ago
      If you miss the physical act of writing on a whiteboard, then I would suggest looking into getting a drawing tablet (which you can use with any collaborative whiteboard app, or just screenshare a regular drawing program if you don't need to collaborate). You can get an entry-level Wacom for < $100, and it scratches the whiteboarding itch for me in a lot of situations.
      - 0-_-0 6y ago
        I got one just for that reason, what about the whiteboard software though?
    - iso947 6y ago
      I have a whiteboard and web cam
  - durzagott 6y ago
    Can you explain what you mean by this? I'm not sure I really understand. Are you saying you create a public channel for each person (ie, their name)? If so, how come?
    - jay_kyburz 6y ago
      Probably to prevent people from saying things to co-workers that they would not want to say publicly.
tqi 6y ago
I'd be curious to know the split between newer / more tenured employees. As someone who has just started a new job, the process of building relationships across the company has been much harder than at previous jobs. Even with things like donut and social slack channels, it seems like theres no easy substitution for the types of casual interaction you get while working in the same location.
- spike021 6y ago
  Agreed with this. I started 2 weeks before my company began the SIP, which itself was a few weeks earlier than the government mandate. It's been _rough_. I knew going in that I hadn't joined a new company in 5 years, so it'd be difficult. But this has been a whole different level. Nearly 6 months in now and I still don't feel like I've meshed with the majority of my team, only one or two people who are just extra friendly, and forget knowing anybody outside of my team at all. I rarely get pings from anyone asking how things are going; I usually wind up needing to do that myself. I've never been a very extroverted person, but I'd definitely prefer working from an office (in obviously better circumstances) during this period of on-boarding and readjustment. I feel so isolated right now, which is completely opposite of how I think I would have been if I were still at my last role but during this environment.
anpago 6y ago
This is going to be the issue those in groups or made relationships with those often in person are at present fine with. But those who haven't or as new teams and personnel come on board they will possibly not make that same real bond. I think in 6, 12 or 24 months possibly longer for some. Many will regret when they look back they didn't realise what was really going on with the company. They just heard from their contacts and also heard what people wanted them to. They got stuck in a silio. The new section of the office where a team was parachuted in which somehow has an impact. How do people expect to form casual but often extremely useful contacts with the people who really know what's going on in other teams, department, divisions or other locations? You won't hear the gossip from your workmate who works early or late, the postroom, the security guard or receptionist about that out of hours meeting the management team had or whatever. How will you really know of you haven't been offered a poisoned promotion? To a degree your rely on being told the full picture by those with the overview. Which is likely to be the management. Which no doubt may happen in many places the majority of times until the one time it really affected you or your team. For example a group of us headed in to the Riverside sub office on the outskirts of London by the Thames yesterday. For aircon offices and a r oriverside pint at lunchtime as the UK had its hottest August day in 17 years. Straight away those who caught on a group of us had met up in the office started to wonder why? With a number of messages and calls wondering what we were up to. While we bonded and had a change of scenery. Some of those at home, for no reason got paranoid.

ram_rar 6y ago

it depends a lot on company culture. I see more private conversations in slack happening as opposed to group chat. FOMO is as high as stock market.

lebski88 6y ago
I've worked remotely for 4 years now. We try extremely hard to avoid talking in private chats. Each person has their own channel which we try to use over DMs - this works really well although a few people seem to default to DM.
- eikenberry 6y ago
  Our company has the policy of deleting all DMs after a couple weeks which helps push people towards using the channels as people generally like having a history of their communications for reference.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
  I've worked from home for ~6 years and 2 companies. I really miss real whiteboards. The only thing worse that being on a software team that has no whiteboards, is being the only remote person on a team that has whiteboards in the office.
  - jimmaswell 6y ago
    What's wrong with Google docs or any of the myriad online whiteboard apps?
    - hevelvarik 6y ago
      Unless you’ve mastered one of those tools, it’s impossible to match the fluidity of thought to text or visualization that a standard whiteboard provides you. I’m also not convinced that there is a tool that when mastered can provide the same fluidity, but I can claim that, and to the contrary I’d love a recommendation.
      - manquer 6y ago
        Not to mention the simplicity of a chalk/marker and a board.
        stjohnswarts 6y ago
        The ability to callously walk up to the whiteboard and erase what your coworker was doing and telling him to go back to his cube and repent for his sins is also sorely missed
      - vivster7 6y ago
        I’ve been trying to build a really simple only boxes and arrows whiteboard at https://whiteboard.systems https://whiteboard.systems It’s definitely not the same as drawing on a whiteboard, but I’ve found it useful for explaining abstractions.
      - jimmaswell 6y ago
        What is there to master? It's drawing or typing on a board.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      I'm admittedly not a developer but I used to think that the lack of expansive whiteboards was one of the real failings of remote communication. And it still can be. But I've also find that shared Google Docs work better in a lot of situations than whiteboards and post-its all over the place in a big conference room. (That said, if whiteboards are important to a team, I would imagine there's software for sharing tablet drawing. I've heard there is. I just haven't investigated.)
  - senkora 6y ago
    If you miss the physical act of writing on a whiteboard, then I would suggest looking into getting a drawing tablet (which you can use with any collaborative whiteboard app, or just screenshare a regular drawing program if you don't need to collaborate). You can get an entry-level Wacom for < $100, and it scratches the whiteboarding itch for me in a lot of situations.
    - 0-_-0 6y ago
      I got one just for that reason, what about the whiteboard software though?
  - iso947 6y ago
    I have a whiteboard and web cam
- durzagott 6y ago
  Can you explain what you mean by this? I'm not sure I really understand. Are you saying you create a public channel for each person (ie, their name)? If so, how come?
  - jay_kyburz 6y ago
    Probably to prevent people from saying things to co-workers that they would not want to say publicly.

tqi 6y ago

I'd be curious to know the split between newer / more tenured employees. As someone who has just started a new job, the process of building relationships across the company has been much harder than at previous jobs. Even with things like donut and social slack channels, it seems like theres no easy substitution for the types of casual interaction you get while working in the same location.

spike021 6y ago
Agreed with this. I started 2 weeks before my company began the SIP, which itself was a few weeks earlier than the government mandate. It's been _rough_. I knew going in that I hadn't joined a new company in 5 years, so it'd be difficult. But this has been a whole different level. Nearly 6 months in now and I still don't feel like I've meshed with the majority of my team, only one or two people who are just extra friendly, and forget knowing anybody outside of my team at all. I rarely get pings from anyone asking how things are going; I usually wind up needing to do that myself. I've never been a very extroverted person, but I'd definitely prefer working from an office (in obviously better circumstances) during this period of on-boarding and readjustment. I feel so isolated right now, which is completely opposite of how I think I would have been if I were still at my last role but during this environment.

anpago 6y ago

This is going to be the issue those in groups or made relationships with those often in person are at present fine with. But those who haven't or as new teams and personnel come on board they will possibly not make that same real bond. I think in 6, 12 or 24 months possibly longer for some. Many will regret when they look back they didn't realise what was really going on with the company. They just heard from their contacts and also heard what people wanted them to. They got stuck in a silio. The new section of the office where a team was parachuted in which somehow has an impact. How do people expect to form casual but often extremely useful contacts with the people who really know what's going on in other teams, department, divisions or other locations? You won't hear the gossip from your workmate who works early or late, the postroom, the security guard or receptionist about that out of hours meeting the management team had or whatever. How will you really know of you haven't been offered a poisoned promotion? To a degree your rely on being told the full picture by those with the overview. Which is likely to be the management. Which no doubt may happen in many places the majority of times until the one time it really affected you or your team. For example a group of us headed in to the Riverside sub office on the outskirts of London by the Thames yesterday. For aircon offices and a r oriverside pint at lunchtime as the UK had its hottest August day in 17 years. Straight away those who caught on a group of us had met up in the office started to wonder why? With a number of messages and calls wondering what we were up to. While we bonded and had a change of scenery. Some of those at home, for no reason got paranoid.