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> Nothing to do with remote. A lot of those people are comfortable slacking off when noone see them, but will work when being at work.

ChuckNorris89 3y ago
Meh, workers do also slack off in the office a lot: water cooler breaks, coffee breaks, smoking breaks, browsing memes social media on the toilet for half an hour, reading Reddit and HN on the work PC for half a day, catching up on the latest sports-ball events with the coworkers, walking to the restaurant and back for lunch, etc. If people are not motivated to do their job, they'll slack off anywhere, it's just that employers would rather have you slack off in the office instead.
- BiteCode_dev 3y ago
  Sure, but there is such a thing as peer pressure. The fact you are telling me this let me think you are coming from a theoretical perspective, but that you have not, in fact, managed such people yourself. It would be self evident otherwise.
  - ChuckNorris89 3y ago
    Sure, but if grown up adults need to be in the office with someone watching over their shoulder and micromanaging them to make sure they get their work done on time and aren't slacking off, maybe you hired the wrong people or you're bad at managing. You can motivate and manage people effectively even remotely if you do it right, and you can also catch slackers remotely as well since all these daily standup meetings and SW tools devs are using give you a good insight into who's making progress and who's not. If you can't manage people remotely (provided they're also of the same culture and Time zone) then you probably can't manage them correctly in the office as well.
  - nickserv 3y ago
    I've managed several remote teams and in-office teams. Problems with motivation? Plenty. But never had a problem with remote people slacking off, any more than those that come to the office every day.
nickserv 3y ago
Some people get more motivated when being around others, these are the type that come in even if allowed to work remotely. Others are more productive when home, able to better focus, these are the type that never come in if avoidable. Obviously these are the extremes, most people I've met fall somewhere in between. Notice how slacking off doesn't really come into the picture? That's because there are thousands of ways to avoid working, and thousands of ways to make sure work gets done. Doesn't really matter where you are physically, at least not for creative and autonomous roles like engineering.

ChuckNorris89 3y ago

Meh, workers do also slack off in the office a lot: water cooler breaks, coffee breaks, smoking breaks, browsing memes social media on the toilet for half an hour, reading Reddit and HN on the work PC for half a day, catching up on the latest sports-ball events with the coworkers, walking to the restaurant and back for lunch, etc. If people are not motivated to do their job, they'll slack off anywhere, it's just that employers would rather have you slack off in the office instead.

BiteCode_dev 3y ago
Sure, but there is such a thing as peer pressure. The fact you are telling me this let me think you are coming from a theoretical perspective, but that you have not, in fact, managed such people yourself. It would be self evident otherwise.
- ChuckNorris89 3y ago
  Sure, but if grown up adults need to be in the office with someone watching over their shoulder and micromanaging them to make sure they get their work done on time and aren't slacking off, maybe you hired the wrong people or you're bad at managing. You can motivate and manage people effectively even remotely if you do it right, and you can also catch slackers remotely as well since all these daily standup meetings and SW tools devs are using give you a good insight into who's making progress and who's not. If you can't manage people remotely (provided they're also of the same culture and Time zone) then you probably can't manage them correctly in the office as well.
- nickserv 3y ago
  I've managed several remote teams and in-office teams. Problems with motivation? Plenty. But never had a problem with remote people slacking off, any more than those that come to the office every day.

nickserv 3y ago

Some people get more motivated when being around others, these are the type that come in even if allowed to work remotely. Others are more productive when home, able to better focus, these are the type that never come in if avoidable. Obviously these are the extremes, most people I've met fall somewhere in between. Notice how slacking off doesn't really come into the picture? That's because there are thousands of ways to avoid working, and thousands of ways to make sure work gets done. Doesn't really matter where you are physically, at least not for creative and autonomous roles like engineering.