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No, you just need a boss you can trust. You need to not be a clock puncher of an employee. You need to be present (in an office) for these conversations to happ

No, you just need a boss you can trust. You need to not be a clock puncher of an employee. You need to be present (in an office) for these conversations to happen. This sort of thing still goes on all the time. If your not part of it your either in "Giant Corp" or the wrong company, or you have the wrong boss, or you are the wrong person.

tmpz22 3y ago
Im calling BS. Plenty of managers are in over their head. Plenty of managers are focused on their next career move. Plenty of managers will only play lip service to "culture" or worse "family" and after one slack DM from management completely fold over. Many managers see a slightly more difficult hiring environment (for themselves) and completely fold to secure their own position. EDIT: I've met many great managers, or at least individuals who seem great from the outside when the chips aren't on the table. But from the trenches I feel a real lack of leadership in Tech management in the current era.
flkiwi 3y ago
I’ve had (and honored) plenty of those types of conversations with subordinates I’ve never met in person in any of a number of global offices. Physical presence isn’t a prerequisite for being a good boss or worker.
- zer00eyz 3y ago
  This is true. It is much harder to get to that level of trust when you cant break bread, when you cant read all the body language. In person does make some things easier... One week a month of hot desking can do a lot for teams.
  - flkiwi 3y ago
    I appreciate your experience and perspective, but it is simply not mine. If anything, I've gotten the impression that it's somewhat easier for the subordinate having a level of "abstraction" in the form of email/Teams/Zoom/etc., but of course that requires a commitment on my part as a leader to adjust my approach to that environment (and, given it's the environment I've spent the most time in as a leader and as a subordinate, that's easy). I don't mean this as criticism of anyone, but I feel like this whole multiyear discussion has been confounding for anyone working on any kind of multi-office team because it's such a non-issue in our experience. It has similarly been fascinating to watch the teams in my company that are NOT multioffice struggle with a distributed workforce. People aren't usually good at what they don't know, but, in my experience, a distributed workforce is absolutely something a company can accommodate with the right leaders and leadership.

tmpz22 3y ago

Im calling BS. Plenty of managers are in over their head. Plenty of managers are focused on their next career move. Plenty of managers will only play lip service to "culture" or worse "family" and after one slack DM from management completely fold over. Many managers see a slightly more difficult hiring environment (for themselves) and completely fold to secure their own position. EDIT: I've met many great managers, or at least individuals who seem great from the outside when the chips aren't on the table. But from the trenches I feel a real lack of leadership in Tech management in the current era.

flkiwi 3y ago

I’ve had (and honored) plenty of those types of conversations with subordinates I’ve never met in person in any of a number of global offices. Physical presence isn’t a prerequisite for being a good boss or worker.

zer00eyz 3y ago
This is true. It is much harder to get to that level of trust when you cant break bread, when you cant read all the body language. In person does make some things easier... One week a month of hot desking can do a lot for teams.
- flkiwi 3y ago
  I appreciate your experience and perspective, but it is simply not mine. If anything, I've gotten the impression that it's somewhat easier for the subordinate having a level of "abstraction" in the form of email/Teams/Zoom/etc., but of course that requires a commitment on my part as a leader to adjust my approach to that environment (and, given it's the environment I've spent the most time in as a leader and as a subordinate, that's easy). I don't mean this as criticism of anyone, but I feel like this whole multiyear discussion has been confounding for anyone working on any kind of multi-office team because it's such a non-issue in our experience. It has similarly been fascinating to watch the teams in my company that are NOT multioffice struggle with a distributed workforce. People aren't usually good at what they don't know, but, in my experience, a distributed workforce is absolutely something a company can accommodate with the right leaders and leadership.