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If one cannot tell if someone is being productive remotely, Its hard for me to believe they could actually tell if they were in office. Someone sitting at a de

If one cannot tell if someone is being productive remotely, Its hard for me to believe they could actually tell if they were in office. Someone sitting at a desk is not evidence of productivity.

kube-system 4y ago
It is not. But you do get some information about a person's work ethic from being in person, than you do being at home: * overhearing organic topics of conversation * walking by their desk and observing random 'snapshots' of tasks * observing general work patterns * observing any red flags of poor work ethic When someone is remote, you have to explicitly work to gather this information (many don't, and simply wait to judge output at a deadline), rather than the implicit gathering you'd get from being in physical proximity. It also helps when people are new in their career and/or come from different backgrounds, and don't fully understand productivity expectations. You can easily provide quick feedback, and you can set examples of expected behavior by doing it in front of them.
- Daishiman 4y ago
  These are by far the most mediocre metric of productivity. I've worked remote for my entire career. I nap. I work out of my pajamas. I go out on walks to think. And I delivered a solution for a hedge fund client that couldn't for the life of itself find or hire even moderately competent devs to create the solutions myself and my associates built for them. You're just defending the "adult kindergarten" thesis of employee productivity.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    I absolutely agree with what you're saying. I'm not saying that those things are measures of productivity, or that they're disqualifying. I'm saying, there's part of a holistic understanding of work ethic... (which is a different thing than productivity). If someone is goofing off occasionally, but delivers their work, that's a good thing. Having a healthy amount of goofing off is not only not a problem, it's part of a healthy work environment. But, over my career I have literally seen egregious instances where someone, habitually, up against a deadline shows up to work late, sits down in their cube, puts on a gaming headset and plays an MMORPG for a few hours, then shows up to the standup and says they need more time to get their work done. These situations are something that even the most Theory Y manager would need to address. Luckily I now work in workplaces where I have the luxury of hiring people with a track record of success, but in places where many hires might not be aware of commonly accepted workplace expectations, these things do happen. That doesn't mean you should treat everyone like children, as you say, but it does mean you need to be aware of your employee's attitudes and expectations.

If one cannot tell if someone is being productive remotely, Its hard for me to believe they could actually tell if they were in office. Someone sitting at a desk is not evidence of productivity.

kube-system 4y ago

It is not. But you do get some information about a person's work ethic from being in person, than you do being at home: * overhearing organic topics of conversation * walking by their desk and observing random 'snapshots' of tasks * observing general work patterns * observing any red flags of poor work ethic When someone is remote, you have to explicitly work to gather this information (many don't, and simply wait to judge output at a deadline), rather than the implicit gathering you'd get from being in physical proximity. It also helps when people are new in their career and/or come from different backgrounds, and don't fully understand productivity expectations. You can easily provide quick feedback, and you can set examples of expected behavior by doing it in front of them.

Daishiman 4y ago
These are by far the most mediocre metric of productivity. I've worked remote for my entire career. I nap. I work out of my pajamas. I go out on walks to think. And I delivered a solution for a hedge fund client that couldn't for the life of itself find or hire even moderately competent devs to create the solutions myself and my associates built for them. You're just defending the "adult kindergarten" thesis of employee productivity.
- kube-system 4y ago
  I absolutely agree with what you're saying. I'm not saying that those things are measures of productivity, or that they're disqualifying. I'm saying, there's part of a holistic understanding of work ethic... (which is a different thing than productivity). If someone is goofing off occasionally, but delivers their work, that's a good thing. Having a healthy amount of goofing off is not only not a problem, it's part of a healthy work environment. But, over my career I have literally seen egregious instances where someone, habitually, up against a deadline shows up to work late, sits down in their cube, puts on a gaming headset and plays an MMORPG for a few hours, then shows up to the standup and says they need more time to get their work done. These situations are something that even the most Theory Y manager would need to address. Luckily I now work in workplaces where I have the luxury of hiring people with a track record of success, but in places where many hires might not be aware of commonly accepted workplace expectations, these things do happen. That doesn't mean you should treat everyone like children, as you say, but it does mean you need to be aware of your employee's attitudes and expectations.