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> Netflix's chairman has said working from home has no positive effects and makes debating ideas harder The only people I have heard complaining is management.

> Netflix's chairman has said working from home has no positive effects and makes debating ideas harder The only people I have heard complaining is management. It makes it harder to do their jobs, and shows how useless many of their jobs are.

carlmr 6y ago
I'm a developer and I'd agree that debating becomes harder. Even worse, what's missing is the cross pollination of ideas that happens naturally in an office when people overhear conversations. You don't just overhear a conversation on Skype and chime in. A lot of bad ideas are stopped in their tracks this way, and a lot of debates can gain valuable perspective this way. However saying there's no positive effect is stupid as well. I tend to be able to work more hours since it's easier to go running in my lunch time, I save the commute time so I'm less stressed arriving at work, I can concentrate on my work better since there's less office chatter (the opposite side of the benefit above). So like everything it has positive and negative effects. But yes, maybe there are too many middle managers that are twiddling their thumbs now. They probably didn't do much before either, but they felt like they were contributing, and this feeling has gone away.
robric 6y ago
Yup, bad management is having a hard time because they're losing hold of their false sense of control.
UncleMeat 6y ago
I cannot possibly believe this. Something like 60% of devs I’ve spoken to have struggled seriously with COVID WFH. And a nontrivial portion of those are struggling in ways that are fundamental to WFH rather than due to the pandemic.
- KnobbleMcKnees 6y ago
  The vast majority of devs I chat to feel the exact opposite. I think the takeaway is that this will vary a lot between companies and teams.
  - UncleMeat 6y ago
    There is clear variation in experiences and preferences here, which is why I believe it is foolish to claim that all resistance to WFH is from managers who want to spy on their reports.

carlmr 6y ago

I'm a developer and I'd agree that debating becomes harder. Even worse, what's missing is the cross pollination of ideas that happens naturally in an office when people overhear conversations. You don't just overhear a conversation on Skype and chime in. A lot of bad ideas are stopped in their tracks this way, and a lot of debates can gain valuable perspective this way. However saying there's no positive effect is stupid as well. I tend to be able to work more hours since it's easier to go running in my lunch time, I save the commute time so I'm less stressed arriving at work, I can concentrate on my work better since there's less office chatter (the opposite side of the benefit above). So like everything it has positive and negative effects. But yes, maybe there are too many middle managers that are twiddling their thumbs now. They probably didn't do much before either, but they felt like they were contributing, and this feeling has gone away.

robric 6y ago

Yup, bad management is having a hard time because they're losing hold of their false sense of control.

UncleMeat 6y ago

I cannot possibly believe this. Something like 60% of devs I’ve spoken to have struggled seriously with COVID WFH. And a nontrivial portion of those are struggling in ways that are fundamental to WFH rather than due to the pandemic.

KnobbleMcKnees 6y ago
The vast majority of devs I chat to feel the exact opposite. I think the takeaway is that this will vary a lot between companies and teams.
- UncleMeat 6y ago
  There is clear variation in experiences and preferences here, which is why I believe it is foolish to claim that all resistance to WFH is from managers who want to spy on their reports.