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If it takes being in person for your management to tell that someone is not doing anything and PIP/fire them, then I'd certainly call that poor management. You

If it takes being in person for your management to tell that someone is not doing anything and PIP/fire them, then I'd certainly call that poor management. You shouldn't have to look over my shoulder to know that I'm doing my job.

phpisthebest 3y ago
I think it is more the environment for some people. Working from home, really does IMO require a Home Office, a space dedicated for work. I know many people that are more productive at home, all of them have a home office. I know many people that are not productive at home, none of them have a home office, instead are using some Shared Space, like a corner of the living room, the kitchen table, etc. If you do not have a dedicated home office then likely your home will be filled with distractions, Living situations impacts this as well, if you lived a alone with no pets vs having a house full of roommates, children, spouses, pets, etc. So from a Management perspective do they fire all the people that cant work from home, or require everyone to return to office? Or do they have different policies for different people then open themselves up to Workplace legal liability from either discrimination or hostile work place charges
- para_parolu 3y ago
  My office is filled with distractions. I sit in open space with tens of people around me. They talk, drink coffee, eat food. Some of them also have pets.
  - gardenhedge 3y ago
    I used to sit near a printer which brought footfall, conversation noise and printer noise all day long. Good riddance to being stuck in an office.
    - joquarky 3y ago
      I can't imagine anything that smells like toner is healthy to breathe.
otabdeveloper4 3y ago
The mangement had several years to collect data. Maybe they checked the numbers and found that, yes, people on average are less productive when working from home. Is that surprising or unexpected somehow?
- _teyd 3y ago
  If they checked the numbers and it showed that they’d be shouting from the rooftops, not trying to prevent anyone from discussing it.
  - DiggyJohnson 3y ago
    Why would they? On what other issue do we expect transparency in the internal metrics of large corporations?
    - _teyd 3y ago
      Typically you’d get that sort of thing at a quarterly report if it was actually material to the performance of the company and they had actual data. Otherwise it’s just a normal thing as far as I know to support an argument with data if you have it.
- p_l 3y ago
  Chances that they have actually gathered data are infinitesimally low. Now, CEOs following fashion trends, OTOH...
  - joquarky 3y ago
    > following fashion trends The older I get, the more often I see cargo cults. Have they always been there and I just didn't notice?
    - p_l 3y ago
      Always has been. Sometimes we just start to lose blinkers, sometimes they get sticker, and even both but in different areas :/
Joeboy 3y ago
How specifically would I know that? Last time I gave somebody the benefit of the doubt I ended up doing their work myself over Christmas. I'm interested to know what I should've done to avoid that.
- hosteur 3y ago
  Well, impossible to say without context. But maybe it is more interesting what you should do afterwards. What did you do afterward?
  - Joeboy 3y ago
    The project came to an end (hence me having to wrap up their work), so I didn't do much. I'm on a new project now, but I have the same question. If someone keeps insisting their work is coming along great and they'll be checking it in real soon, how do I know if it's true?
    - potatolicious 3y ago
      Ask for proof. Some employees are lower-performing and some need more structure. "Can you push your work-in-progress branch so I can take a look?" If they are consistently under-performing you need to structure them. Split larger tasks into smaller sub-tasks that are more tractable over shorter time periods. If a large task is expected to take 3 weeks, split it into chunks of 1-2 days. That way if a code review isn't sent out you get a quick signal that progress isn't being made. Remember that as the manager you have authority. They may chafe at being asked to do intermediate checkins and splitting the work into smaller quanta - that's fine, they can grouse about it with their friends, but they still have to do it. If they are underperforming even within this structure, have them keep a work log - which is basically a 1:1 asynchronous standup with just you and them. Read this work log daily and, in combination with smaller quanta of work, it should be fairly obvious progress isn't made. At all points don't hide the ball from them that they are underperforming. Tell them that they are underperforming but give them the resources necessary to improve. Solicit their ideas on how to improve and consider implementing them. Some employees can be structured to improve this ways. Others cannot - you work with HR on that latter group. But again: as the manager you do not need to see butts-in-seats to gauge productivity. More importantly, it is on you to set a benchmark for productivity and communicate to your team your expectation that everyone hits it, and alert them in your (frequent!) 1:1s when they are falling short.

phpisthebest 3y ago

I think it is more the environment for some people. Working from home, really does IMO require a Home Office, a space dedicated for work. I know many people that are more productive at home, all of them have a home office. I know many people that are not productive at home, none of them have a home office, instead are using some Shared Space, like a corner of the living room, the kitchen table, etc. If you do not have a dedicated home office then likely your home will be filled with distractions, Living situations impacts this as well, if you lived a alone with no pets vs having a house full of roommates, children, spouses, pets, etc. So from a Management perspective do they fire all the people that cant work from home, or require everyone to return to office? Or do they have different policies for different people then open themselves up to Workplace legal liability from either discrimination or hostile work place charges

para_parolu 3y ago
My office is filled with distractions. I sit in open space with tens of people around me. They talk, drink coffee, eat food. Some of them also have pets.
- gardenhedge 3y ago
  I used to sit near a printer which brought footfall, conversation noise and printer noise all day long. Good riddance to being stuck in an office.
  - joquarky 3y ago
    I can't imagine anything that smells like toner is healthy to breathe.

otabdeveloper4 3y ago

The mangement had several years to collect data. Maybe they checked the numbers and found that, yes, people on average are less productive when working from home. Is that surprising or unexpected somehow?

_teyd 3y ago
If they checked the numbers and it showed that they’d be shouting from the rooftops, not trying to prevent anyone from discussing it.
- DiggyJohnson 3y ago
  Why would they? On what other issue do we expect transparency in the internal metrics of large corporations?
  - _teyd 3y ago
    Typically you’d get that sort of thing at a quarterly report if it was actually material to the performance of the company and they had actual data. Otherwise it’s just a normal thing as far as I know to support an argument with data if you have it.
p_l 3y ago
Chances that they have actually gathered data are infinitesimally low. Now, CEOs following fashion trends, OTOH...
- joquarky 3y ago
  > following fashion trends The older I get, the more often I see cargo cults. Have they always been there and I just didn't notice?
  - p_l 3y ago
    Always has been. Sometimes we just start to lose blinkers, sometimes they get sticker, and even both but in different areas :/

Joeboy 3y ago

How specifically would I know that? Last time I gave somebody the benefit of the doubt I ended up doing their work myself over Christmas. I'm interested to know what I should've done to avoid that.

hosteur 3y ago
Well, impossible to say without context. But maybe it is more interesting what you should do afterwards. What did you do afterward?
- Joeboy 3y ago
  The project came to an end (hence me having to wrap up their work), so I didn't do much. I'm on a new project now, but I have the same question. If someone keeps insisting their work is coming along great and they'll be checking it in real soon, how do I know if it's true?
  - potatolicious 3y ago
    Ask for proof. Some employees are lower-performing and some need more structure. "Can you push your work-in-progress branch so I can take a look?" If they are consistently under-performing you need to structure them. Split larger tasks into smaller sub-tasks that are more tractable over shorter time periods. If a large task is expected to take 3 weeks, split it into chunks of 1-2 days. That way if a code review isn't sent out you get a quick signal that progress isn't being made. Remember that as the manager you have authority. They may chafe at being asked to do intermediate checkins and splitting the work into smaller quanta - that's fine, they can grouse about it with their friends, but they still have to do it. If they are underperforming even within this structure, have them keep a work log - which is basically a 1:1 asynchronous standup with just you and them. Read this work log daily and, in combination with smaller quanta of work, it should be fairly obvious progress isn't made. At all points don't hide the ball from them that they are underperforming. Tell them that they are underperforming but give them the resources necessary to improve. Solicit their ideas on how to improve and consider implementing them. Some employees can be structured to improve this ways. Others cannot - you work with HR on that latter group. But again: as the manager you do not need to see butts-in-seats to gauge productivity. More importantly, it is on you to set a benchmark for productivity and communicate to your team your expectation that everyone hits it, and alert them in your (frequent!) 1:1s when they are falling short.