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We will have this back and forth pull over working from home and on premises. However the needle has irrevocably moved on the scale towards working from home an

We will have this back and forth pull over working from home and on premises. However the needle has irrevocably moved on the scale towards working from home and that is not changing. What I mean by that is its universally acknowledged that WFH is not an automatic "slacking off" and "not productive" and its on par with working in the office. So yes there are other reasons execs will say makes on site is better but productivity is definitely not one of the reasons any more.

Consultant32452 6y ago
I've only seen execs continue to trot out the productivity line. What other reasons are you seeing?
- SteveNuts 6y ago
  "synergy" and other buzzwords is what I hear against permanent WFH.
- TigeriusKirk 6y ago
  Execs are going to push for in-office because in-office prioritizes the very interpersonal skills that made them execs in the first place. They won't put it quite that bluntly, but it'll be the underlying reasoning.
  - dougmwne 6y ago
    Exactly. And furthermore, execs got to where they are because they enjoy having power and control over others. It's easy for the introverts to forget that power feels absolutely amazing. Managing invisible agents filing Jira tickets will never be as satisfying as commanding a large open office of people you can watch grind away. Power and status is an enormous motivator and I have recognized it in nearly every single person in a position of power I have ever met or worked with. Some hide it, others flaunt it. Offices are going nowhere.
gravypod 6y ago
I think what people with enough instrumentation and metrics collection, like google, are going to find are there are teams that are 10x to 100x more productive during the pandemic and other teams that are 1/10th to 1/100th as productive during the pandemic. There's no one size fits all but for teams or people who perform WAY better in WFH having it as an option that isn't looked down upon is very comforting. I may be able to move far away from the city at some point in my career. I am extremely eager to do so and I don't think I am alone. For what I pay for rent I could be buying a large house in other parts of the US or central America
- dehrmann 6y ago
  > 10x to 100x Even for a company a large as Google, this seems to broad, unless something was utterly broken in the team. I'd expect a range more like .25x-4x.
  - vidanay 6y ago
    In reality, it's probably more like 90% to 110%
  - gravypod 6y ago
    Largely depends on the people, the team, and the area you work in. For areas that need to "just build" you'll probably see massive performance improvements. People in their internal accelerator Area 120 this is probably great for them. For people who need to play politics, get buy in, and do a lot of team-based collaboration you'll likely see a massive hit. I'm assuming this is going to really kill a lot of their internal infra stuff that needs to do a lot of meetings to make sure things are backwards compatible and get buy in on decisions. Although, I've worked with many people with very bad social anxiety who I'm guessing are doing fantastic in a work setting right now since they've developed the online communication skills from talking to a lot of people online throughout their life.
    - ThrowawayR2 6y ago
      At a FAANG company, there are seldom any "just build" areas. Anything that is being built requires design, scheduling, marketing, documentation, etc. agreement across many teams in order to put out a coherent product or service.
vidanay 6y ago
I think this is an important takeaway. The current situation doesn't convert anyone and everyone from offices to WFH, but it DOES validate WFH as a viable alternative that can't be dismissed as the fantasies of a few renegade employees.

Consultant32452 6y ago

I've only seen execs continue to trot out the productivity line. What other reasons are you seeing?

SteveNuts 6y ago
"synergy" and other buzzwords is what I hear against permanent WFH.
TigeriusKirk 6y ago
Execs are going to push for in-office because in-office prioritizes the very interpersonal skills that made them execs in the first place. They won't put it quite that bluntly, but it'll be the underlying reasoning.
- dougmwne 6y ago
  Exactly. And furthermore, execs got to where they are because they enjoy having power and control over others. It's easy for the introverts to forget that power feels absolutely amazing. Managing invisible agents filing Jira tickets will never be as satisfying as commanding a large open office of people you can watch grind away. Power and status is an enormous motivator and I have recognized it in nearly every single person in a position of power I have ever met or worked with. Some hide it, others flaunt it. Offices are going nowhere.

gravypod 6y ago

I think what people with enough instrumentation and metrics collection, like google, are going to find are there are teams that are 10x to 100x more productive during the pandemic and other teams that are 1/10th to 1/100th as productive during the pandemic. There's no one size fits all but for teams or people who perform WAY better in WFH having it as an option that isn't looked down upon is very comforting. I may be able to move far away from the city at some point in my career. I am extremely eager to do so and I don't think I am alone. For what I pay for rent I could be buying a large house in other parts of the US or central America

dehrmann 6y ago
> 10x to 100x Even for a company a large as Google, this seems to broad, unless something was utterly broken in the team. I'd expect a range more like .25x-4x.
- vidanay 6y ago
  In reality, it's probably more like 90% to 110%
- gravypod 6y ago
  Largely depends on the people, the team, and the area you work in. For areas that need to "just build" you'll probably see massive performance improvements. People in their internal accelerator Area 120 this is probably great for them. For people who need to play politics, get buy in, and do a lot of team-based collaboration you'll likely see a massive hit. I'm assuming this is going to really kill a lot of their internal infra stuff that needs to do a lot of meetings to make sure things are backwards compatible and get buy in on decisions. Although, I've worked with many people with very bad social anxiety who I'm guessing are doing fantastic in a work setting right now since they've developed the online communication skills from talking to a lot of people online throughout their life.
  - ThrowawayR2 6y ago
    At a FAANG company, there are seldom any "just build" areas. Anything that is being built requires design, scheduling, marketing, documentation, etc. agreement across many teams in order to put out a coherent product or service.

vidanay 6y ago

I think this is an important takeaway. The current situation doesn't convert anyone and everyone from offices to WFH, but it DOES validate WFH as a viable alternative that can't be dismissed as the fantasies of a few renegade employees.