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I've worked 100% remotely for over 20 years, and plan to continue. There are tradeoffs to everything, but most of the problems I've encountered came from people

I've worked 100% remotely for over 20 years, and plan to continue. There are tradeoffs to everything, but most of the problems I've encountered came from people who aren't suited to working remotely at all, or people/companies operating as if they were a single-location in-office company/team/etc when they aren't.

The_Colonel 3y ago
> but most of the problems I've encountered came from people who aren't suited to working remotely at all I think this is where a lot of the dichotomy in people's experiences come from. Existing remote companies select for people who are effective in remote (who in turn self-select too). But if you force an existing organization (or even the whole economy) to go full remote, you will get many people being very inefficient since they just don't work remote just as well as in-person.
- cladopa 3y ago
  I believe that the best rule is that young people can learn and adapt while old dogs could not learn new tricks. Old people are never going to learn, but young people can.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - mulmen 3y ago
    This is ageism and it’s bullshit. You seriously need to evaluate your biases.
  - The_Colonel 3y ago
    I think the split is rather in people's communication skills, where remote amplifies the weaknesses. It's further complicated by the prevalence of async communication - e.g. it's more difficult to prevent/clarify a misunderstanding in async. Communication skills, like everything else, can be learned. But still, some people will be disadvantaged.
- ergonaught 3y ago
  Definitely, and it extends beyond "inefficiency". I made a couple of mis-hires early on before I learned to incorporate the topic/challenges of remote working within the interview. I hired some really bright, talented folks whose psychological well-being required an environment we couldn't provide (even when I budgeted co-working space for them to at least have other people in their environment).
cladopa 3y ago
I had to learn to work remotely. It took me years. It is clear that there is demand for consulting into making great WFH companies. Companies will have to learn from each other in this.

The_Colonel 3y ago

> but most of the problems I've encountered came from people who aren't suited to working remotely at all I think this is where a lot of the dichotomy in people's experiences come from. Existing remote companies select for people who are effective in remote (who in turn self-select too). But if you force an existing organization (or even the whole economy) to go full remote, you will get many people being very inefficient since they just don't work remote just as well as in-person.

cladopa 3y ago
I believe that the best rule is that young people can learn and adapt while old dogs could not learn new tricks. Old people are never going to learn, but young people can.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- mulmen 3y ago
  This is ageism and it’s bullshit. You seriously need to evaluate your biases.
- The_Colonel 3y ago
  I think the split is rather in people's communication skills, where remote amplifies the weaknesses. It's further complicated by the prevalence of async communication - e.g. it's more difficult to prevent/clarify a misunderstanding in async. Communication skills, like everything else, can be learned. But still, some people will be disadvantaged.
ergonaught 3y ago
Definitely, and it extends beyond "inefficiency". I made a couple of mis-hires early on before I learned to incorporate the topic/challenges of remote working within the interview. I hired some really bright, talented folks whose psychological well-being required an environment we couldn't provide (even when I budgeted co-working space for them to at least have other people in their environment).

cladopa 3y ago

I had to learn to work remotely. It took me years. It is clear that there is demand for consulting into making great WFH companies. Companies will have to learn from each other in this.