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I don’t really agree. I prefer WFH most days but it’s no panacea: WFH has expectations of availability during working hours and expectations of 40 hours ish of

I don’t really agree. I prefer WFH most days but it’s no panacea: WFH has expectations of availability during working hours and expectations of 40 hours ish of time commitment. If I finish work in 2 hours and go do personal stuff for the rest of the day I don’t feel relaxed, I feel anxious like I’m in a gray zone in the employment contract and I’m going to be sniffed out and given more work to do.

ricardobayes 3y ago
I always wondered, how do people "finish work" in 2 hours for a day? Am I the only one swamped in tickets and could generate months worth of work on my own proactively if wanted to?
- bluefishinit 3y ago
  Most employers don't financially reward you for doing all of that extra work, so finishing work in 2 hours just means you do what you need to to stay employed. I've never seen a place where people were "swamped in tickets" also accurately recognize and reward work that creates value for the business. In fact those places are most likely (in my experience) to have raise caps, onerous review processes and extremely limited room for advancement.
  - ricardobayes 3y ago
    Interesting, are bonuses and/or employee stock options not the norm for most companies? Everywhere I worked these were there in one way or another, exactly to motivate people to do more than their allotted stuff.
    - bluefishinit 3y ago
      > Interesting, are bonuses and/or employee stock options not the norm for most companies? Not in a meaningful amount to non-executives. > Everywhere I worked these were there in one way or another, exactly to motivate people to do more than their allotted stuff. I don't think anyone believes "more tickets" = "more revenue". Most employees work doesn't materially impact the bottom line and definitely doesn't have a linear relationship to revenue (other than maybe sales who are paid on commission).
- deprecative 3y ago
  Tickets never stop. Most places I've worked have had ticket points expected to be completed per week or per sprint. It makes sense to only do that amount of work. You won't be rewarded for doing extra. Put your two years in and leave. Rinse repeat.
  - ricardobayes 3y ago
    I'm not this apathic yet, I personally don't (just) code for money. If I just wanted money, I would have become an investment banker.
    - deprecative 3y ago
      If you want to code extra hard then pick up side projects and improve your life. Doing extra work for your employer won't do anything for you beyond raising expectations for you to do more work and thus an elevated standard by which you will be judged. You're not getting a raise worth worrying about by going above and beyond. Be present, helpful, and do the target and nothing more.
bluefishinit 3y ago
> WFH has expectations of availability during working hours and expectations of 40 hours ish of time commitment. Not when done right. I run my remote teams async and definitely don't expect them to get back to me instantly at any point other than the very few prearranged meetings we have. I also want them to take time throughout their day to do what makes them content/relaxed/happy. Coding is a creative profession and getting people into a relaxed state creates far better software than deathmarching a scrum team. > If I finish work in 2 hours and go do personal stuff for the rest of the day I don’t feel relaxed, I feel anxious like I’m in a gray zone in the employment contract and I’m going to be sniffed out and given more work to do. This is due to poor management. Strong management makes employees feel secure and not-surveillanced.
- theonething 3y ago
  Are you hiring?
  - bluefishinit 3y ago
    We are, but we also do that in a pretty unique way. We exclusively proactively recruit people that we think are the best match for a given role. We don't have an in-bound process. This allows us to find the best possible match and skip all of the technical interviewing theatrics. We simply try to convince the people we see as the best fit for the team to join us. I usually offer the job on the first call with a potential hire.
    - jross225 3y ago
      I've never heard of that before. > find the best possible match and skip all of the technical interviewing theatrics I assume that you mean best person within your network... wouldn't that be limiting for a remote company? > I usually offer the job on the first call with a potential hire. Do you pay well? What is your conversion here?
      - bluefishinit 3y ago

ricardobayes 3y ago

I always wondered, how do people "finish work" in 2 hours for a day? Am I the only one swamped in tickets and could generate months worth of work on my own proactively if wanted to?

bluefishinit 3y ago
Most employers don't financially reward you for doing all of that extra work, so finishing work in 2 hours just means you do what you need to to stay employed. I've never seen a place where people were "swamped in tickets" also accurately recognize and reward work that creates value for the business. In fact those places are most likely (in my experience) to have raise caps, onerous review processes and extremely limited room for advancement.
- ricardobayes 3y ago
  Interesting, are bonuses and/or employee stock options not the norm for most companies? Everywhere I worked these were there in one way or another, exactly to motivate people to do more than their allotted stuff.
  - bluefishinit 3y ago
    > Interesting, are bonuses and/or employee stock options not the norm for most companies? Not in a meaningful amount to non-executives. > Everywhere I worked these were there in one way or another, exactly to motivate people to do more than their allotted stuff. I don't think anyone believes "more tickets" = "more revenue". Most employees work doesn't materially impact the bottom line and definitely doesn't have a linear relationship to revenue (other than maybe sales who are paid on commission).
deprecative 3y ago
Tickets never stop. Most places I've worked have had ticket points expected to be completed per week or per sprint. It makes sense to only do that amount of work. You won't be rewarded for doing extra. Put your two years in and leave. Rinse repeat.
- ricardobayes 3y ago
  I'm not this apathic yet, I personally don't (just) code for money. If I just wanted money, I would have become an investment banker.
  - deprecative 3y ago
    If you want to code extra hard then pick up side projects and improve your life. Doing extra work for your employer won't do anything for you beyond raising expectations for you to do more work and thus an elevated standard by which you will be judged. You're not getting a raise worth worrying about by going above and beyond. Be present, helpful, and do the target and nothing more.

bluefishinit 3y ago

> WFH has expectations of availability during working hours and expectations of 40 hours ish of time commitment. Not when done right. I run my remote teams async and definitely don't expect them to get back to me instantly at any point other than the very few prearranged meetings we have. I also want them to take time throughout their day to do what makes them content/relaxed/happy. Coding is a creative profession and getting people into a relaxed state creates far better software than deathmarching a scrum team. > If I finish work in 2 hours and go do personal stuff for the rest of the day I don’t feel relaxed, I feel anxious like I’m in a gray zone in the employment contract and I’m going to be sniffed out and given more work to do. This is due to poor management. Strong management makes employees feel secure and not-surveillanced.

theonething 3y ago
Are you hiring?
- bluefishinit 3y ago
  We are, but we also do that in a pretty unique way. We exclusively proactively recruit people that we think are the best match for a given role. We don't have an in-bound process. This allows us to find the best possible match and skip all of the technical interviewing theatrics. We simply try to convince the people we see as the best fit for the team to join us. I usually offer the job on the first call with a potential hire.
  - jross225 3y ago
    I've never heard of that before. > find the best possible match and skip all of the technical interviewing theatrics I assume that you mean best person within your network... wouldn't that be limiting for a remote company? > I usually offer the job on the first call with a potential hire. Do you pay well? What is your conversion here?
    - bluefishinit 3y ago