4 ms·

Yeah and also to mention the elephant in the room: people work much more when they are stuck in a room with others, and have eyes on them. And they work way les

by jseban 5y ago

Yeah and also to mention the elephant in the room: people work much more when they are stuck in a room with others, and have eyes on them. And they work way less if they are at home and nobody is watching. This is just the truth, regardless of how little it applies to myself, of course! I'm also annoyed by the amount of housework/cooking/preparation/cleaning I have to do when I'm at home all day, when half of that happens in the office/resturant otherwise.

jclardy 5y ago
But you are basing this on your personal experience. I work remote out of state from my company (and did so pre-pandemic.) I would often travel and stay at the office for decent periods of time. During those periods way less work was accomplished for me, because I was socializing more with co-workers, took more snack/water breaks, spent more time at lunch. While WFH I will still go out to local coffee shops to work out of if I am lacking focus for the day. Some people actually do work better in a distraction free environment, but it seems you don't believe that. I should mention, my company has an open-office floorplan, so the amount of daily interruptions was quite incredible...
greedo 5y ago
Sounds like an anecdote. I've worked with people who have made it a fine art to appear busy, to hold earnest conversations in hallways, to comment in IM frequently, yet do 10% of the work of the good performers. And we all knew who the good performers were. Managing employees in an office doesn't depend on having butts in the seat, or "eyes on them." It depends on understanding what needs to be done, communicating/delegating, and then getting out of the way.
kevstev 5y ago
I disagree there- I mean I work way more hours when I wfh than when I am in the office because I can tolerate it because I don't have a family at home who I am far from. I come down and see the wife when I get coffee and that is my "hallway" conversation and my dog is always next to me, and I never worry about her getting lonely. If anything, having to walk the dog helps pull me away from the computer when I otherwise would not. I am not sure how cleaning changes at all, and doing laundry, which used to be very difficult to fit in, is so much easier. I can understand why food prep would be more onerous to most, but I enjoy cooking and if I don't really want to I live in a city, I have plenty of options all around me.

by jseban 5y ago

jclardy 5y ago

But you are basing this on your personal experience. I work remote out of state from my company (and did so pre-pandemic.) I would often travel and stay at the office for decent periods of time. During those periods way less work was accomplished for me, because I was socializing more with co-workers, took more snack/water breaks, spent more time at lunch. While WFH I will still go out to local coffee shops to work out of if I am lacking focus for the day. Some people actually do work better in a distraction free environment, but it seems you don't believe that. I should mention, my company has an open-office floorplan, so the amount of daily interruptions was quite incredible...

greedo 5y ago

Sounds like an anecdote. I've worked with people who have made it a fine art to appear busy, to hold earnest conversations in hallways, to comment in IM frequently, yet do 10% of the work of the good performers. And we all knew who the good performers were. Managing employees in an office doesn't depend on having butts in the seat, or "eyes on them." It depends on understanding what needs to be done, communicating/delegating, and then getting out of the way.

kevstev 5y ago

I disagree there- I mean I work way more hours when I wfh than when I am in the office because I can tolerate it because I don't have a family at home who I am far from. I come down and see the wife when I get coffee and that is my "hallway" conversation and my dog is always next to me, and I never worry about her getting lonely. If anything, having to walk the dog helps pull me away from the computer when I otherwise would not. I am not sure how cleaning changes at all, and doing laundry, which used to be very difficult to fit in, is so much easier. I can understand why food prep would be more onerous to most, but I enjoy cooking and if I don't really want to I live in a city, I have plenty of options all around me.