6 ms·

My brilliant manager still has his home office day during team meeting. So the whole team sits with headsets on their desks and talks to the manager who’s sitti

by lnsru 3y ago

My brilliant manager still has his home office day during team meeting. So the whole team sits with headsets on their desks and talks to the manager who’s sitting at home. That’s how return to the office plan works for the peasants. Good that I am leaving soon.

kzrdude 3y ago
In that situation we would use a meeting room. The dynamic would make the manager feel like they are the outsider in that case, though.
- dylan604 3y ago
  They literally are the outsider in that case though
- wildrhythms 3y ago
  You seem to think these managers have even a shred of self-awareness...
  - sharts 3y ago
    Rule #1 for effective management from any reputable ivy league executive MBA program is to have less self-awareness than any of your subordinates.
ahi 3y ago
The passive aggressive fix for this is to meet in the conference room and put him on the big screen. In the before times I worked on teams with just 1 or 2 remote and this practice was (unintentionally) awful for them.
- justrealist 3y ago
  Make sure to mutter whenever possible, and make all decisions via 1-1 asides. If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible. And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts.
  - dmoy 3y ago
    > If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible. Bonus points if it's at a steep angle from the camera, making only one side of it slightly comprehensible, as the other side diminishes into unreadable scribbles
  - dylan604 3y ago
    >And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts. as if the snacks one has in their own home are so undesirable that this is the compelling factor. such a good post left on such a weak point.
    - justrealist 3y ago
      The indignity of getting excluded from free cake is not an economic calculus. Lots of people could go to the grocery store and buy themselves a sheet cake. They don't.
      - dylan604 3y ago
        But you're assuming that one likes cake/pizza/whatever cheap mediocre food product that's been mentioned. If I was that manager, I'd raise your cake/pizza/whatever with a freshly grilled filet and baked potato with a nice glass of wine. Remind them just what possibilities they are missing for being in the office like peasants! After all, isn't that the point of having direct reports being in the office while you're at home?
        justrealist 3y ago
        To be clear, I've worked remotely for a decade. It's worth it on balance, but there's no need to try to sugarcoat missing office food. It's lame!
        kevinventullo 3y ago
        I’m currently hybrid and the in-office food is absolutely one of the main reasons I like going in.
- nicoburns 3y ago
  If you get decent enough video conferencing equipment (e.g. microphone/camera designed for this kind of setup) and have good internet connections then this can actually work pretty well.
  - GhostWhisperer 3y ago
    lol
  - dijit 3y ago
    I recently moved in to a new office, centrally located in Malmö (which is an incredibly easy to navigate city by bike, foot or public transport). However, my company is remote first, and when I saw there was a conference room I didn't even think twice about the fact that I would put a large conference table in there and the best A/V equipment that I could afford. Then I went to Paradox's leaving drinks[0] and met a founder of Frictional Games[1]; they too are remote first but from long before the pandemic, and had a lot of people asking for advice. I was no different and asked what he learned; He told me, in no uncertain terms, (and without prompting about what to do with my new conference room- merely what worked well for him): that a conference room no matter how well equipped creates implicit asymmetry in meetings. When I thought back on my career, I realised he was completely right. I have used some truly excellent video conferencing solutions (those big Microsoft TVs that fully integrate with Teams- JAMF boards, the best that logitech as to offer), but it was always more friction than it was worth, and often there was a recap once the "meeting" was over IRL anyway. So that room is now a relaxing area. [0]: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/paradox-closing-ume-and-malm-studios-to-veer-away-from-decentralized-development https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/paradox-closing-ume-a... [1]: https://www.moddb.com/games/amnesia-the-dark-descent/news/interview-feature-thomas-grip-co-founder-creative-director-of-frictional-games https://www.moddb.com/games/amnesia-the-dark-descent/news/in...
pengaru 3y ago
> Good that I am leaving soon. I get the impression the manager is thinking the same thing.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
deagle50 3y ago
If you're leaving, why not stay home like the manager? If you start a trend he'll have to explain himself.

by lnsru 3y ago

kzrdude 3y ago

In that situation we would use a meeting room. The dynamic would make the manager feel like they are the outsider in that case, though.

dylan604 3y ago
They literally are the outsider in that case though
wildrhythms 3y ago
You seem to think these managers have even a shred of self-awareness...
- sharts 3y ago
  Rule #1 for effective management from any reputable ivy league executive MBA program is to have less self-awareness than any of your subordinates.

ahi 3y ago

The passive aggressive fix for this is to meet in the conference room and put him on the big screen. In the before times I worked on teams with just 1 or 2 remote and this practice was (unintentionally) awful for them.

justrealist 3y ago
Make sure to mutter whenever possible, and make all decisions via 1-1 asides. If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible. And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts.
- dmoy 3y ago
  > If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible. Bonus points if it's at a steep angle from the camera, making only one side of it slightly comprehensible, as the other side diminishes into unreadable scribbles
- dylan604 3y ago
  >And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts. as if the snacks one has in their own home are so undesirable that this is the compelling factor. such a good post left on such a weak point.
  - justrealist 3y ago
    The indignity of getting excluded from free cake is not an economic calculus. Lots of people could go to the grocery store and buy themselves a sheet cake. They don't.
    - dylan604 3y ago
      But you're assuming that one likes cake/pizza/whatever cheap mediocre food product that's been mentioned. If I was that manager, I'd raise your cake/pizza/whatever with a freshly grilled filet and baked potato with a nice glass of wine. Remind them just what possibilities they are missing for being in the office like peasants! After all, isn't that the point of having direct reports being in the office while you're at home?
      - justrealist 3y ago
        To be clear, I've worked remotely for a decade. It's worth it on balance, but there's no need to try to sugarcoat missing office food. It's lame!
        kevinventullo 3y ago
        I’m currently hybrid and the in-office food is absolutely one of the main reasons I like going in.
nicoburns 3y ago
If you get decent enough video conferencing equipment (e.g. microphone/camera designed for this kind of setup) and have good internet connections then this can actually work pretty well.
- GhostWhisperer 3y ago
  lol
- dijit 3y ago
  I recently moved in to a new office, centrally located in Malmö (which is an incredibly easy to navigate city by bike, foot or public transport). However, my company is remote first, and when I saw there was a conference room I didn't even think twice about the fact that I would put a large conference table in there and the best A/V equipment that I could afford. Then I went to Paradox's leaving drinks[0] and met a founder of Frictional Games[1]; they too are remote first but from long before the pandemic, and had a lot of people asking for advice. I was no different and asked what he learned; He told me, in no uncertain terms, (and without prompting about what to do with my new conference room- merely what worked well for him): that a conference room no matter how well equipped creates implicit asymmetry in meetings. When I thought back on my career, I realised he was completely right. I have used some truly excellent video conferencing solutions (those big Microsoft TVs that fully integrate with Teams- JAMF boards, the best that logitech as to offer), but it was always more friction than it was worth, and often there was a recap once the "meeting" was over IRL anyway. So that room is now a relaxing area. [0]: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/paradox-closing-ume-and-malm-studios-to-veer-away-from-decentralized-development https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/paradox-closing-ume-a... [1]: https://www.moddb.com/games/amnesia-the-dark-descent/news/interview-feature-thomas-grip-co-founder-creative-director-of-frictional-games https://www.moddb.com/games/amnesia-the-dark-descent/news/in...

pengaru 3y ago

> Good that I am leaving soon. I get the impression the manager is thinking the same thing.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

deagle50 3y ago

If you're leaving, why not stay home like the manager? If you start a trend he'll have to explain himself.