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Why should your preferences dictate what other people do? What makes your preference for having people in the office more important than their preference to wan

Why should your preferences dictate what other people do? What makes your preference for having people in the office more important than their preference to want to work from home?

canadianfella 5y ago
Work isn’t a democracy.
- neolog 5y ago
  depends on the company.
- ekianjo 5y ago
  Nope, but leaving your current employer is up to you if they are inflexible.
- arpa 5y ago
  oh hi Jeff! shall i pee in the bottle?
Larrikin 5y ago
You think you're being witty but you're using the exact same argument that the people are using to force people back into the office.
hermitdev 5y ago
Why should the people preferring to work from home get preference, either? At the end of the day, like it or not, the majority of people working for a company of beyond a small size are going to be in some level of a collaborative environment. Logistically, it's easier to accomplish that in person. No dropped calls or poor connections or VPN drops or whatever. As an engineer, I sympathize with the poster. When I need to focus and get something done, I'm generally happier at home with either fewer distractions or more of the distractions under my control. I also like my privacy and loathe the feeling of someone. looking over my shoulder. I'm so very sensitive to motion in my periphery and find movement around me distracting, too. But, I also value the in person communication and collaboration I get in person. Personally, I'm looking forward to heading back part time, especially considering that the "new normal" appears to be about a 50/50 split between home and office. Of course, everyone is going to have their own preference, but the company you work for (and your coworkers) will have theirs as well. But, if someone's attitude is "my way or the highway" they as well start looking for a new job, because they'll need one regardless...
- RHSeeger 5y ago
  > At the end of the day, like it or not, the majority of people working for a company of beyond a small size are going to be in some level of a collaborative environment. Logistically, it's easier to accomplish that in person. You say this like it's a foregone conclusion, a fact. I disagree with it completely. It's far easier to collaborate remotely. You don't need find a meeting room, you don't need to worry about making too much noise, you don't need to worry about adding one person from another location suddenly changing the entire dynamic. It's nice to work together in person occasionally, but I'd much rather collaborate remotely... and get together for lunch now and again.
  - tshaddox 5y ago
    > You don't need find a meeting room You have to pay for your own. > you don't need to worry about making too much noise Unless other people live in your home. > you don't need to worry about adding one person from another location suddenly changing the entire dynamic. That’s comparing all-remote to some-remote, which is a different comparison than all-remote to all-in-office.
    - bpye 5y ago
      If you have a company with more than one office I think having some meetings with remote participants is an unavoidable truth. Perhaps not every meeting - but anything requiring collaboration between teams or features groups could require it.
    - watwut 5y ago
      > You have to pay for your own. You have to do it anyway. The rent did not went up due you being at home during day.
      - tshaddox 5y ago
        Either you paid for more space or you lost space at your home during the 8 hours you were previously working at an office.
matz1 5y ago
Own preference (whatever that is) is always more important than other preference. If you don't think your own preference is important then don't complain when other dictate the outcome.
RHSeeger 5y ago
That's not what they said, though. What they said was that the benefit of being in the office is lost of it isn't the case that most of the team are in the office. As such, either 1. Most of the people on the team should be working from the office (benefits of being together as a team), OR 2. Most of the team should be working remote (benefits of working remotely) The point being made was that the third option, each person gets to pick what they want, isn't really a viable option. The team should pick one option or the other. Nowhere was it was that the "in the office" option should be the one chosen, just that it was their, personal preference. * There are some other reasons for working in the office besides being in proximity to your co-workers, but that's generally seen as the primary benefit by a lot of people.

Why should your preferences dictate what other people do? What makes your preference for having people in the office more important than their preference to want to work from home?

canadianfella 5y ago

Work isn’t a democracy.

neolog 5y ago
depends on the company.
ekianjo 5y ago
Nope, but leaving your current employer is up to you if they are inflexible.
arpa 5y ago
oh hi Jeff! shall i pee in the bottle?

Larrikin 5y ago

You think you're being witty but you're using the exact same argument that the people are using to force people back into the office.

hermitdev 5y ago

Why should the people preferring to work from home get preference, either? At the end of the day, like it or not, the majority of people working for a company of beyond a small size are going to be in some level of a collaborative environment. Logistically, it's easier to accomplish that in person. No dropped calls or poor connections or VPN drops or whatever. As an engineer, I sympathize with the poster. When I need to focus and get something done, I'm generally happier at home with either fewer distractions or more of the distractions under my control. I also like my privacy and loathe the feeling of someone. looking over my shoulder. I'm so very sensitive to motion in my periphery and find movement around me distracting, too. But, I also value the in person communication and collaboration I get in person. Personally, I'm looking forward to heading back part time, especially considering that the "new normal" appears to be about a 50/50 split between home and office. Of course, everyone is going to have their own preference, but the company you work for (and your coworkers) will have theirs as well. But, if someone's attitude is "my way or the highway" they as well start looking for a new job, because they'll need one regardless...

RHSeeger 5y ago
> At the end of the day, like it or not, the majority of people working for a company of beyond a small size are going to be in some level of a collaborative environment. Logistically, it's easier to accomplish that in person. You say this like it's a foregone conclusion, a fact. I disagree with it completely. It's far easier to collaborate remotely. You don't need find a meeting room, you don't need to worry about making too much noise, you don't need to worry about adding one person from another location suddenly changing the entire dynamic. It's nice to work together in person occasionally, but I'd much rather collaborate remotely... and get together for lunch now and again.
- tshaddox 5y ago
  > You don't need find a meeting room You have to pay for your own. > you don't need to worry about making too much noise Unless other people live in your home. > you don't need to worry about adding one person from another location suddenly changing the entire dynamic. That’s comparing all-remote to some-remote, which is a different comparison than all-remote to all-in-office.
  - bpye 5y ago
    If you have a company with more than one office I think having some meetings with remote participants is an unavoidable truth. Perhaps not every meeting - but anything requiring collaboration between teams or features groups could require it.
  - watwut 5y ago
    > You have to pay for your own. You have to do it anyway. The rent did not went up due you being at home during day.
    - tshaddox 5y ago
      Either you paid for more space or you lost space at your home during the 8 hours you were previously working at an office.

matz1 5y ago

Own preference (whatever that is) is always more important than other preference. If you don't think your own preference is important then don't complain when other dictate the outcome.

RHSeeger 5y ago

That's not what they said, though. What they said was that the benefit of being in the office is lost of it isn't the case that most of the team are in the office. As such, either 1. Most of the people on the team should be working from the office (benefits of being together as a team), OR 2. Most of the team should be working remote (benefits of working remotely) The point being made was that the third option, each person gets to pick what they want, isn't really a viable option. The team should pick one option or the other. Nowhere was it was that the "in the office" option should be the one chosen, just that it was their, personal preference. * There are some other reasons for working in the office besides being in proximity to your co-workers, but that's generally seen as the primary benefit by a lot of people.