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I read the article and I'm sure he is tired of working from home, but I notice no mention was made of how his work environment is/was dramatically different tha

I read the article and I'm sure he is tired of working from home, but I notice no mention was made of how his work environment is/was dramatically different than the tens of thousands of employees under his management. First and foremost, Mr Nadella has an office with a door. This is a privilege he and his management staff have denied to quite a few of his employees, even after those employees repeatedly turned in surveys indicating their preference for not-that. Distractions and being able to get away from the din of the open plan are much easier to do when you are simply not in the din of open plan. I'm in tech but not a software developer and my team does a lot of different things at the same time, so this probably colors my view. Perhaps software devs are either more outgoing, can manage distractions easier, or have some other secret method to flourish in open plan. This is why I've greatly enjoyed working from home. The only distractions I have are on my computer, and thus can be easily managed, or my partner and pet who live with me and neither of them come barging in with an Urgent Question Which Must Be Answered Immediately or carry on long and loud conversations about disparate topics multiple times per day.

FpUser 6y ago
I am a software developer and I do not have any secret sauce to manage distractions of the open plan/ I absolutely hate those. Luckily I run my own company and have worked from home (except some meetings) for the last 20 years.
sackofmugs 6y ago
Don't nearly all Microsoft employees have offices? Every building I've been to (I can probably name off about 30 of them) had employees with offices. Can you name the buildings where employees don't have offices?
- techsupporter 6y ago
  Buildings that have been built or remodeled in the past three years no longer have solo or pair offices. Some examples off the top of my head, though there are more: 82-84, 30-32, 42-44, a couple of the Studios. Most of the central campus is a large hole in the ground because it is being rebuilt and the buildings constructed there will not have solo or pair offices.
- loarabia 6y ago
  Most of the buildings I spent time in for the last 7 years didn't have private offices any longer. Studios A-D had hybrid models where leads and the most senior engineers often had very small glass offices and teams sat in bays (I think some of those might have reverted to all small glass offices). 16,17,18,40,41,42,43, some of the buildings in the 30s as well had all moved to open. Many of the newest buildings (which I forget the numbers of were open) and IIRC , the new campus when complete was to be open. There were still to be sure many many buildings with offices but as buildings were remodeled they were mostly converted to open offices.
  - sackofmugs 6y ago
    Ah fair enough. It's been a little while. I'm surprised the Office buildings (16-18) turned hybrid, since weren't the buildings themselves architected to basically only have window offices? It was shaped like a snake to optimize for that.
UncleOxidant 6y ago
> Perhaps software devs are either more outgoing, No, I think we've got a larger proportion of introverts in SW development than compared to many other fields. > can manage distractions easier, Definitely no. When you're developing code you're essentially loading up that code into your brain. Every interruption causes it to fall out of your head and you need to start that process over. It can take a good half hour or more to get into the programming "zone", so each interruption costs a significant amount of time. Interruptions are really bad for software development productivity. > or have some other secret method to flourish in open plan. Nope. A very good pair of noise cancelling earphones maybe help some, but mostly we just have to put up with it because that's what management decided to do to save a little money without realizing that it's detrimental to productivity.
qqqwerty 6y ago
He also likely has a private bathroom. For those of us whose bowels like to make their move late morning, and whose offices were light on bathrooms relative to the number of employees in the building, WFH has been a godsend. I am sure there are another dozen in-office perks that CEO has that the average employee does not.
- sleazebreeze 6y ago
  The private bathroom has been a completely underrated aspect of WFH. I can poop outdoors on backpacking trips using natural materials to wipe, I can poop in busy airports and I can poop in stinking 100 degree portapotties. But I have a really hard time pooping in gleaming offices where all my coworkers can see me walking into the bathroom and emerging 10 minutes later. I hate it!
  - core-questions 6y ago
    I began to hate it less when I remembered a little empathy game that has served me well. The question is not, "when I leave the bathroom, is everyone looking at me and judging me for having used it?" Rather, the question is, "when I see someone else leave the bathroom, do I think about it for more than a fraction of a second, and if I knew they had defecated, would I want to shame or embarrass them for it at all?" The answer to the latter, if you are not a horrible person, is of course not. You don't really care, it's not your problem, you're not keeping track of it, it's just an event you forget moments later. Probably, then, that's what your coworkers think of you, when you go; so stop caring, because they definitely don't. (If anyone ever were to metaphorically give me shit for using the bathroom, I'd turn it around on them in a heartbeat, too. It's so easy - just ask, what kind of creep cares about their coworker's bodily functions to this extent? Gross, weird!)
    - leetcrew 6y ago
      > I began to hate it less when I remembered a little empathy game that has served me well. The question is not, "when I leave the bathroom, is everyone looking at me and judging me for having used it?" Rather, the question is, "when I see someone else leave the bathroom, do I think about it for more than a fraction of a second, and if I knew they had defecated, would I want to shame or embarrass them for it at all?" before WFH, I worked at a desk in an open floorplan. for whatever reason, it gives me a constant low level of anxiety to be in an environment where lots of people can see me, especially if I can't easily tell when people are actually looking. so I used to go to the bathroom a bit more often than I really needed, just so I could spend a few minutes in a more private space. I personally don't care, but I certainly do notice which of my coworkers also seem to be frequent users of the bathroom. if I were a pointy-haired boss, that might be one of the data points used to assemble my list of slackers.
legitster 6y ago
> Distractions and being able to get away from the din of the open plan are much easier to do when you are simply not in the din of open plan. Our company considered getting rid of cubicles a few years ago and there was almost an open revolt. People ended up accepting drastically smaller cubicles as a compromise and everyone ended up pretty happy. I can confirm, having spent time at Microsoft, that Microsoft provides a very proportion of offices to their workers.
philjohn 6y ago
Noise cancelling headphones.
Animats 6y ago
First and foremost, Mr Nadella has an office with a door. Microsoft once ran recruiting ads for programmers advertising that the job came with an office with a door.

FpUser 6y ago

I am a software developer and I do not have any secret sauce to manage distractions of the open plan/ I absolutely hate those. Luckily I run my own company and have worked from home (except some meetings) for the last 20 years.

sackofmugs 6y ago

Don't nearly all Microsoft employees have offices? Every building I've been to (I can probably name off about 30 of them) had employees with offices. Can you name the buildings where employees don't have offices?

techsupporter 6y ago
Buildings that have been built or remodeled in the past three years no longer have solo or pair offices. Some examples off the top of my head, though there are more: 82-84, 30-32, 42-44, a couple of the Studios. Most of the central campus is a large hole in the ground because it is being rebuilt and the buildings constructed there will not have solo or pair offices.
loarabia 6y ago
Most of the buildings I spent time in for the last 7 years didn't have private offices any longer. Studios A-D had hybrid models where leads and the most senior engineers often had very small glass offices and teams sat in bays (I think some of those might have reverted to all small glass offices). 16,17,18,40,41,42,43, some of the buildings in the 30s as well had all moved to open. Many of the newest buildings (which I forget the numbers of were open) and IIRC , the new campus when complete was to be open. There were still to be sure many many buildings with offices but as buildings were remodeled they were mostly converted to open offices.
- sackofmugs 6y ago
  Ah fair enough. It's been a little while. I'm surprised the Office buildings (16-18) turned hybrid, since weren't the buildings themselves architected to basically only have window offices? It was shaped like a snake to optimize for that.

UncleOxidant 6y ago

> Perhaps software devs are either more outgoing, No, I think we've got a larger proportion of introverts in SW development than compared to many other fields. > can manage distractions easier, Definitely no. When you're developing code you're essentially loading up that code into your brain. Every interruption causes it to fall out of your head and you need to start that process over. It can take a good half hour or more to get into the programming "zone", so each interruption costs a significant amount of time. Interruptions are really bad for software development productivity. > or have some other secret method to flourish in open plan. Nope. A very good pair of noise cancelling earphones maybe help some, but mostly we just have to put up with it because that's what management decided to do to save a little money without realizing that it's detrimental to productivity.

qqqwerty 6y ago

He also likely has a private bathroom. For those of us whose bowels like to make their move late morning, and whose offices were light on bathrooms relative to the number of employees in the building, WFH has been a godsend. I am sure there are another dozen in-office perks that CEO has that the average employee does not.

sleazebreeze 6y ago
The private bathroom has been a completely underrated aspect of WFH. I can poop outdoors on backpacking trips using natural materials to wipe, I can poop in busy airports and I can poop in stinking 100 degree portapotties. But I have a really hard time pooping in gleaming offices where all my coworkers can see me walking into the bathroom and emerging 10 minutes later. I hate it!
- core-questions 6y ago
  I began to hate it less when I remembered a little empathy game that has served me well. The question is not, "when I leave the bathroom, is everyone looking at me and judging me for having used it?" Rather, the question is, "when I see someone else leave the bathroom, do I think about it for more than a fraction of a second, and if I knew they had defecated, would I want to shame or embarrass them for it at all?" The answer to the latter, if you are not a horrible person, is of course not. You don't really care, it's not your problem, you're not keeping track of it, it's just an event you forget moments later. Probably, then, that's what your coworkers think of you, when you go; so stop caring, because they definitely don't. (If anyone ever were to metaphorically give me shit for using the bathroom, I'd turn it around on them in a heartbeat, too. It's so easy - just ask, what kind of creep cares about their coworker's bodily functions to this extent? Gross, weird!)
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    > I began to hate it less when I remembered a little empathy game that has served me well. The question is not, "when I leave the bathroom, is everyone looking at me and judging me for having used it?" Rather, the question is, "when I see someone else leave the bathroom, do I think about it for more than a fraction of a second, and if I knew they had defecated, would I want to shame or embarrass them for it at all?" before WFH, I worked at a desk in an open floorplan. for whatever reason, it gives me a constant low level of anxiety to be in an environment where lots of people can see me, especially if I can't easily tell when people are actually looking. so I used to go to the bathroom a bit more often than I really needed, just so I could spend a few minutes in a more private space. I personally don't care, but I certainly do notice which of my coworkers also seem to be frequent users of the bathroom. if I were a pointy-haired boss, that might be one of the data points used to assemble my list of slackers.

legitster 6y ago

> Distractions and being able to get away from the din of the open plan are much easier to do when you are simply not in the din of open plan. Our company considered getting rid of cubicles a few years ago and there was almost an open revolt. People ended up accepting drastically smaller cubicles as a compromise and everyone ended up pretty happy. I can confirm, having spent time at Microsoft, that Microsoft provides a very proportion of offices to their workers.

philjohn 6y ago

Noise cancelling headphones.

Animats 6y ago

First and foremost, Mr Nadella has an office with a door. Microsoft once ran recruiting ads for programmers advertising that the job came with an office with a door.