2 ms·

I think there are two main reasons cited by companies. First, protection of IP - they see it as easier to protect Intellectual Property if work is done on site

I think there are two main reasons cited by companies. First, protection of IP - they see it as easier to protect Intellectual Property if work is done on site (this is 10x for government contracts). Second, there is a fear that employees are goofing off. I've found I generally work harder remote, to ensure I am visibly being productive. The belief in many managers though is that if you're not 'butt in seat' at the office then they can't look over what you are doing. I don't think either of these arguments hold water, for the reasons below. First, with a VPN and modern controls on means of exfiltration you are able to maximize your protection against IP theft as well as to monitor your developers (see second point below though). That said, if a smart thief is going to steal your data, if they have physical access, if they are willing to accept the risk (this places doubt on smarts), and if they put the time and effort in, then they will likely manage to steal something. Next, trust your people, but verify. Hire the best you can, pay them well so they are happy, and treat them like valued people. When hiring use background investigations, etc. to vet. The more you monitor, the more you say you don't trust them. The more they don't feel trusted, the less happy they'll be. The less happy they are, the more likely they are to leave or worse, commit the theft. Last, a riff off the previous point. If you get good people, treat them well (incl. help when they have issues), and trust them to do their jobs - most people will perform at their best in a reliable and consistent manner.

kelnos 5y ago
Also on the "trust but verify" bit: you don't have to hire someone new and immediately give them the keys to the kingdom. Gradually build trust, and don't give an employee access to sensitive internal information until they've shown they can be trusted with it.
908B64B197 5y ago
> Second, there is a fear that employees are goofing off. I've found I generally work harder remote, to ensure I am visibly being productive. The belief in many managers though is that if you're not 'butt in seat' at the office then they can't look over what you are doing. It's easy, just look at the pull requests! If your manager can't look at a PR and figure out what's going on, that's a red flag. If goofing off is a big concern, you are hiring wrong.
- Communitivity 5y ago
  For junior coders, sure. As you become a senior engineer, your job is going trending to be more about design and communication, and less about coding. If you are at a place where the entire team can write their documentation in Markdown, LATEX, etc and design in PlantUML or other markup, then that's all in the repos, but most shops are (cringe) MS Word, Magic Draw, etc. There are artifacts, but they aren't as clear cut as a PR.

kelnos 5y ago

Also on the "trust but verify" bit: you don't have to hire someone new and immediately give them the keys to the kingdom. Gradually build trust, and don't give an employee access to sensitive internal information until they've shown they can be trusted with it.

908B64B197 5y ago

> Second, there is a fear that employees are goofing off. I've found I generally work harder remote, to ensure I am visibly being productive. The belief in many managers though is that if you're not 'butt in seat' at the office then they can't look over what you are doing. It's easy, just look at the pull requests! If your manager can't look at a PR and figure out what's going on, that's a red flag. If goofing off is a big concern, you are hiring wrong.

Communitivity 5y ago
For junior coders, sure. As you become a senior engineer, your job is going trending to be more about design and communication, and less about coding. If you are at a place where the entire team can write their documentation in Markdown, LATEX, etc and design in PlantUML or other markup, then that's all in the repos, but most shops are (cringe) MS Word, Magic Draw, etc. There are artifacts, but they aren't as clear cut as a PR.