3 ms·

I have found that what can replace in-person interactions for discussion of thought processes and ideas is medium- to long-form writing. A lot of people either

I have found that what can replace in-person interactions for discussion of thought processes and ideas is medium- to long-form writing. A lot of people either don't know how to do it or hate doing it (so they don't do it), but I believe that it is necessary to have a culture of document writing if you want to be successfully remote. That is a big part of the cultural divide I have seen on remote work. A lot of people who are used to doing long-form writing are very comfortable working remote and building a remote culture (see Hey and Oxide for two big examples). People who do not like long-form writing and want to have meetings instead (eg bank executives and the current YC partners) are pushing for the office. The social stuff is true - a lot of people used to use the office to find friends and romantic partners, and that is not going to happen over zoom calls or essays.

The_Colonel 3y ago
Long form writing, while very useful, is no silver bullet. Sometimes the most effective way to make a decision (or just clarify misconceptions) is to get people into the same room and talk things through.
- pclmulqdq 3y ago
  That's why you write some position papers and then get people on a zoom call with that specific topic when you need to talk it out. No ambling daily standups or weekly standing "progress update" meetings - use focused meetings with a specific topic. This is how many successful engineering and knowledge organizations through the years have functioned (s/zoom call/meeting/).
  - The_Colonel 3y ago
    > That's why you write some position papers and then get people on a zoom call with that specific topic when you need to talk it out. That sounds like a good option in cases when you're already aligned on what problem you're trying to solve. If not, you might spend days researching a problem and writing a paper on something you don't need to solve.
convolvatron 3y ago
the engineering culture of the last century has largely been lost in software. design documents, well-scoped technical meetings, plans of record, schedules. what you lose in remote is its replacement, a kind of freewheeling, ad hoc, piecewise discussion where everything just evolves organically. while I enjoy the latter, the constraints of remote force the former in order to function at all. and it really does have its benefits.

The_Colonel 3y ago

Long form writing, while very useful, is no silver bullet. Sometimes the most effective way to make a decision (or just clarify misconceptions) is to get people into the same room and talk things through.

pclmulqdq 3y ago
That's why you write some position papers and then get people on a zoom call with that specific topic when you need to talk it out. No ambling daily standups or weekly standing "progress update" meetings - use focused meetings with a specific topic. This is how many successful engineering and knowledge organizations through the years have functioned (s/zoom call/meeting/).
- The_Colonel 3y ago
  > That's why you write some position papers and then get people on a zoom call with that specific topic when you need to talk it out. That sounds like a good option in cases when you're already aligned on what problem you're trying to solve. If not, you might spend days researching a problem and writing a paper on something you don't need to solve.

convolvatron 3y ago

the engineering culture of the last century has largely been lost in software. design documents, well-scoped technical meetings, plans of record, schedules. what you lose in remote is its replacement, a kind of freewheeling, ad hoc, piecewise discussion where everything just evolves organically. while I enjoy the latter, the constraints of remote force the former in order to function at all. and it really does have its benefits.