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Everything is rolling along smoothly, and then, bam: > High caliber, experienced employees probably get just as much done at home at the office, or maybe more…

by dfee 4y ago

Everything is rolling along smoothly, and then, bam: > High caliber, experienced employees probably get just as much done at home at the office, or maybe more… “Probably” is the key word, here. It signals to me that the author is tired of writing at this point and throws in something with little conviction or defense. I care about this point, and am inclined in the opposite direction: I think less work is done in office by these people. Withholding any self reflection to qualify myself as “high caliber”, I can say I’m an experienced employee - and feel that my productivity dwindles in person due to distractions and thus an inability to “zone in”. That means that I’m putting in extra hours outside work to achieve the same level of pre-RTO productivity. I’ve heard the same from others. Together, we’ve expressed concerns about the sustainability of these efforts. For me, toss that sentence from this article and let’s dedicate time to that discussion, independently.

Plasmoid 4y ago
I am also vastly more productive at home than I am at an office. Especially the San Francisco lunchroom chic that plagues the city.
- lmeyerov 4y ago
  Here's an attempt at quantifying Junior staff need constant help, but senior staff need space that's hard to achieve at an office. Studies show people take 30m-1.5hr to dial in for deep work. So, imagine a "light" office day: - 8a drive, coffee, etc - 9a sit down - 10a standup mtg - 11:50a team lunch roundup - 2p random meeting - 5p drive home At best, that leaves 3 hours of deep work: 11a-12, 3p-5p. Heaven forbid someone swings by your desk during that period! WFH gets the 2 commute hours back, gives scheduling control to bookend breakfast & lunch with whatever distracting meetings, an async standup removes the sync one's disruptions, and a lot of the desk traffic is gone. So, WFH done right, ~doubles the amount of deep work by the more effective staff
  - forgotusername6 4y ago
    WFH gives me all those hours back. Because no matter which meeting I'm in, I'm working on something else.
ZeroSolstice 4y ago
> Withholding any self reflection to qualify myself as “high caliber”, I can say > I’m an experienced employee - and feel that my productivity dwindles in person > due to distractions and thus an inability to “zone in”. > That means that I’m putting in extra hours outside work to achieve the same > level of pre-RTO productivity. I’ve heard the same from others. Together, we’ve > expressed concerns about the sustainability of these efforts. I agree with this observation. WFH gives you the ability to mute chat where as with the office if you don't respond, its show up and discuss(aka interrupt). I've had some days in the office where I've left not knowing what exactly was done for the day but being mentally exhausted. I would say its the intangible items or project status such as all the information you dispensed or clarified, stopped people looking at the wrong problem, figured out the real problem, commented on a proposal, etc that is over-looked and not counted towards "work". This "glue" is what employers are really paying you for by being in the office, but don't want to recognize, instead basing what they pay you on the language you know, vendor products, projects, etc. With WFH you don't have to make the "glue" as much since you can focus on your project, setup the meetings you need, when you need, and you don't have to use non-work time for work. This makes other employees less effective, more-so caused by the organization than the individual, which leads to the perception/feeling that "more gets done" when people are in the office. In my job experience good management recognizes the glue, can make the glue, account for needing glue or provide the justification for someone else to make glue. Poor management can not, thus everyone back to the office.

by dfee 4y ago

Plasmoid 4y ago

I am also vastly more productive at home than I am at an office. Especially the San Francisco lunchroom chic that plagues the city.

lmeyerov 4y ago
Here's an attempt at quantifying Junior staff need constant help, but senior staff need space that's hard to achieve at an office. Studies show people take 30m-1.5hr to dial in for deep work. So, imagine a "light" office day: - 8a drive, coffee, etc - 9a sit down - 10a standup mtg - 11:50a team lunch roundup - 2p random meeting - 5p drive home At best, that leaves 3 hours of deep work: 11a-12, 3p-5p. Heaven forbid someone swings by your desk during that period! WFH gets the 2 commute hours back, gives scheduling control to bookend breakfast & lunch with whatever distracting meetings, an async standup removes the sync one's disruptions, and a lot of the desk traffic is gone. So, WFH done right, ~doubles the amount of deep work by the more effective staff
- forgotusername6 4y ago
  WFH gives me all those hours back. Because no matter which meeting I'm in, I'm working on something else.

ZeroSolstice 4y ago

> Withholding any self reflection to qualify myself as “high caliber”, I can say > I’m an experienced employee - and feel that my productivity dwindles in person > due to distractions and thus an inability to “zone in”. > That means that I’m putting in extra hours outside work to achieve the same > level of pre-RTO productivity. I’ve heard the same from others. Together, we’ve > expressed concerns about the sustainability of these efforts. I agree with this observation. WFH gives you the ability to mute chat where as with the office if you don't respond, its show up and discuss(aka interrupt). I've had some days in the office where I've left not knowing what exactly was done for the day but being mentally exhausted. I would say its the intangible items or project status such as all the information you dispensed or clarified, stopped people looking at the wrong problem, figured out the real problem, commented on a proposal, etc that is over-looked and not counted towards "work". This "glue" is what employers are really paying you for by being in the office, but don't want to recognize, instead basing what they pay you on the language you know, vendor products, projects, etc. With WFH you don't have to make the "glue" as much since you can focus on your project, setup the meetings you need, when you need, and you don't have to use non-work time for work. This makes other employees less effective, more-so caused by the organization than the individual, which leads to the perception/feeling that "more gets done" when people are in the office. In my job experience good management recognizes the glue, can make the glue, account for needing glue or provide the justification for someone else to make glue. Poor management can not, thus everyone back to the office.