5 ms·

For many of these reasons which I also experience, I was hoping there'd be more of a blend of home/in-office emerge. Instead in both programming jobs Ive had p

For many of these reasons which I also experience, I was hoping there'd be more of a blend of home/in-office emerge. Instead in both programming jobs Ive had post pandemic, it is all remote. I've met my workmates in person perhaps thrice despite working at the company for a year. It is surreal. > it feels like I’m living in Groundhog Day everyday. Every single day looks exactly the same This in particular, and it is even worse if you live alone.

hosh 4y ago
Have you considered coworking at a closer destination? I've been working on distributed teams since around 2011, though I have been contracting from home for five years before that. In the very first distributed team I joined, the eng director made it a point to: - Have everyone gather in-person periodically by flying everyone to HQ - Making coworking spaces available - Traveling to the different cities to meet with the team - Setting "core hours", a subset of the regular business hours of the US timezones The director is an Erlang guy. I sometimes think he applied some distributed systems reasoning to the dynamics of the distributed team. I found that the daily standup was an important synchronization point for remote-first and distributed teams.
- gernb 4y ago
  Co-working is not a substitute for working with teammates. To give an extreme example, "Hey, I wish I had a live in partner who gave me hugs and shared in my ups and downs but I don't" -> "You could hang out at a coffee shop and talk to random people" (not as a way to meet someone but as a substitute for having a partner) There's something about working on the same project, collaborating, brainstorming, in the same space, that is missing from remote work. Hanging out at a co-working space gives you the presence of other people but not the camaraderie of actually working on the same project. Maybe if you never felt that camaraderie then you don't know what you've been missing.
  - projectazorian 4y ago
    You can still have that by getting the team together every so often for a week or two of intensive meetings and planning. Many companies new to remote since COVID have skipped this part, maybe because it would mean admitting that remote is here to stay and not just a temporary contingency.
    - lumb63 4y ago
      In my experience, meetings and planning are exactly the opposite of the enjoyable moments of being on an in-person team working on a project together. It is the impromptu ideas, brainstorming sessions, late nights figuring something out, that create a shared experience worth having, in my opinion.
      - StevePerkins 4y ago
        > late nights Nothing is universal, but I can't help but assume that the work-from-office cohort is VERY disproportionately young. People whose lives are not yet as full as they likely will be a decade in the future, and for whom their job may be at the center of their personal socialization. I remember the shared experience that you're describing, and sure... it's great to have a few years of that when you're fresh out of school, working your first couple jobs as a junior dev, and transitioning out of that college student lifestyle. But I was married at 25, and had two children in my 30's. I am OVER late nights for the sake of late nights, and think that's normal and healthy by the time you're a mid to senior level professional.
  - UnpossibleJim 4y ago
    I mean, it may not be the same thing but if they're really just looking for some comraderie, those "bar coder" meet ups where a bunch of local engineers meet up at different local bars once a week to talk about stuff and make contacts, might kind of fill the void.
  - hosh 4y ago
    Yes, having a shared purpose for a team working together in the same place is difficult to replicate. I'd argue though that, people used to have that with their local community, and it has since been replaced with working in jobs far away from home and the local community. This shift in working has not always been the default mode that civilization has collaborated, and a remote-first culture might enable some of the good things that come with being a part of a community along with modern technology. In my other comment, I suggested reconnecting with that local community. Maybe if you never felt that camarderie with the community you live with, then perhaps you don't know what you've been missing.
tjr225 4y ago
I have been remote since 2018 and feel the same way. Prior to that I worked from the office 3 days a week and it was perfect. I think the effects of everyone pushing all of their lives onto the internet are going to be negative, and probably will affect millennials and gen z for decades. I feel most sad for the kids who didn’t get to socialize in person for two years :/

hosh 4y ago

Have you considered coworking at a closer destination? I've been working on distributed teams since around 2011, though I have been contracting from home for five years before that. In the very first distributed team I joined, the eng director made it a point to: - Have everyone gather in-person periodically by flying everyone to HQ - Making coworking spaces available - Traveling to the different cities to meet with the team - Setting "core hours", a subset of the regular business hours of the US timezones The director is an Erlang guy. I sometimes think he applied some distributed systems reasoning to the dynamics of the distributed team. I found that the daily standup was an important synchronization point for remote-first and distributed teams.

gernb 4y ago
Co-working is not a substitute for working with teammates. To give an extreme example, "Hey, I wish I had a live in partner who gave me hugs and shared in my ups and downs but I don't" -> "You could hang out at a coffee shop and talk to random people" (not as a way to meet someone but as a substitute for having a partner) There's something about working on the same project, collaborating, brainstorming, in the same space, that is missing from remote work. Hanging out at a co-working space gives you the presence of other people but not the camaraderie of actually working on the same project. Maybe if you never felt that camaraderie then you don't know what you've been missing.
- projectazorian 4y ago
  You can still have that by getting the team together every so often for a week or two of intensive meetings and planning. Many companies new to remote since COVID have skipped this part, maybe because it would mean admitting that remote is here to stay and not just a temporary contingency.
  - lumb63 4y ago
    In my experience, meetings and planning are exactly the opposite of the enjoyable moments of being on an in-person team working on a project together. It is the impromptu ideas, brainstorming sessions, late nights figuring something out, that create a shared experience worth having, in my opinion.
    - StevePerkins 4y ago
      > late nights Nothing is universal, but I can't help but assume that the work-from-office cohort is VERY disproportionately young. People whose lives are not yet as full as they likely will be a decade in the future, and for whom their job may be at the center of their personal socialization. I remember the shared experience that you're describing, and sure... it's great to have a few years of that when you're fresh out of school, working your first couple jobs as a junior dev, and transitioning out of that college student lifestyle. But I was married at 25, and had two children in my 30's. I am OVER late nights for the sake of late nights, and think that's normal and healthy by the time you're a mid to senior level professional.
- UnpossibleJim 4y ago
  I mean, it may not be the same thing but if they're really just looking for some comraderie, those "bar coder" meet ups where a bunch of local engineers meet up at different local bars once a week to talk about stuff and make contacts, might kind of fill the void.
- hosh 4y ago
  Yes, having a shared purpose for a team working together in the same place is difficult to replicate. I'd argue though that, people used to have that with their local community, and it has since been replaced with working in jobs far away from home and the local community. This shift in working has not always been the default mode that civilization has collaborated, and a remote-first culture might enable some of the good things that come with being a part of a community along with modern technology. In my other comment, I suggested reconnecting with that local community. Maybe if you never felt that camarderie with the community you live with, then perhaps you don't know what you've been missing.

tjr225 4y ago

I have been remote since 2018 and feel the same way. Prior to that I worked from the office 3 days a week and it was perfect. I think the effects of everyone pushing all of their lives onto the internet are going to be negative, and probably will affect millennials and gen z for decades. I feel most sad for the kids who didn’t get to socialize in person for two years :/