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> Common topics include: > - ideas related to current projects > - musings about blog posts, articles, user feedback > - “what if” suggestions > - photos fr

by layer8 1y ago

> Common topics include: > - ideas related to current projects > - musings about blog posts, articles, user feedback > - “what if” suggestions > - photos from recent trips or hobbies > - rubber ducking a problem Work-related and private topics should be separated, IMO. Some might be interested in the former but not the latter, and also might be interested in them at different times (of the day/week). There’s also the formal/legal aspect that the work-related topics can count as work time whereas the private ones doesn’t.

jobs_throwaway 1y ago
> work-related topics can count as work time whereas the private ones doesn’t All of these people are salaried, why does it matter?
- layer8 1y ago
  What do you mean? Your employment contract says you need to work n hours per week. Private activities obviously don’t count as work.
  - parpfish 1y ago
    I think building rapport with your team counts as work.
    - layer8 1y ago
      Depending on how much time you spend “building rapport”, HR might disagree. My point is that channels should be set up such that it’s well-defined whether they are work-related or not.
  - scarface_74 1y ago
    I have never once had a contract that said I’m expected to work n hours a week. In fact it is just the opposite, salaried employees are paid the same no matter how many hours worked.
elric 1y ago
> There’s also the formal/legal aspect that the work-related topics can count as work time whereas the private ones doesn’t. So when you're at the office, you never have a chat about a non-work topic at the coffee maker?
- layer8 1y ago
  This is formally/legally a work break that you’re not allowed to count as work time. If I have a half-hour conversation about a non-work topic, which I sometimes do, it means I’ll need to work half an hour more. At the office it’s effectively at everyone’s discretion how exactly they count it, but on a chat platform it can in principle be tracked if someone spends substantial time on #offtopic.
  - handoflixue 1y ago
    Legal definitions vary country to country: I wouldn't be so quick to insist on some universal definition. I'm pretty sure you're wrong about US law there - docking someone's pay for "chatting" sounds extremely difficult to defend. Besides, multi-tasking exists: sometimes I need to let my brain idle on another topic for 15 minutes, because I'm working through something complex, or just wrapped up a project and have a meeting. Certainly, nowhere I've ever worked has tried enforcing anything like this. I've had plenty of co-workers who made a point of wandering over to socialize for 5-10 minutes every day, which must have easily added up to an hour a day - but they were also the expert that knew exactly where everyone was and who needed to coordinate with who.
    - layer8 1y ago
      I’m not in the US, so that may be right. In my view this is more about how the employee feels about it: I don’t want to get into a dispute whether the half hour a day I spent on the rambling channel counts as work or not. For that it makes a significant difference if people use the channel to discuss their hobbies or whether they discuss work-related ideas. I also don’t want to miss the work-related topics just because I’m not interested in the hobby discussions.
  - 1y ago
ipdashc 1y ago
> Work-related and private topics should be separated, IMO. Why does it feel like people take this (reasonable) idea too far so often these days (and always on the Internet - I've never seen anyone in real life act like that). Like, yes, don't treat your job like a family or spend your whole day talking about your personal drama. Be careful or avoid dating coworkers. Etc. But this stuff is, as the author said, the equivalent of water cooler talk. If I had a salaried job that tracked the fact that I spent 15 minutes (when not on a time crunch, of course) talking about some random interesting blog post or a coworker's trip, I would... probably look into leaving that job. I have never had a job that met that description. (On the contrary, many jobs I had, especially back as an intern/student, let us get away with way too much time spent fooling around or talking, in retrospect.) Even the stereotypical overworked fast food employee is allowed to chat with their coworkers when there's downtime, it's perfectly normal. I can't imagine pursuing the "work/life balance" ideal to the point one avoids regular old casual conversation with their coworkers.
- paradox460 1y ago
  Agreed. Some of the solutions I've seen and even experienced seem like something right out of severance Please engage in the mandatory socialization experience

by layer8 1y ago

jobs_throwaway 1y ago

> work-related topics can count as work time whereas the private ones doesn’t All of these people are salaried, why does it matter?

layer8 1y ago
What do you mean? Your employment contract says you need to work n hours per week. Private activities obviously don’t count as work.
- parpfish 1y ago
  I think building rapport with your team counts as work.
  - layer8 1y ago
    Depending on how much time you spend “building rapport”, HR might disagree. My point is that channels should be set up such that it’s well-defined whether they are work-related or not.
- scarface_74 1y ago
  I have never once had a contract that said I’m expected to work n hours a week. In fact it is just the opposite, salaried employees are paid the same no matter how many hours worked.

elric 1y ago

> There’s also the formal/legal aspect that the work-related topics can count as work time whereas the private ones doesn’t. So when you're at the office, you never have a chat about a non-work topic at the coffee maker?

layer8 1y ago
This is formally/legally a work break that you’re not allowed to count as work time. If I have a half-hour conversation about a non-work topic, which I sometimes do, it means I’ll need to work half an hour more. At the office it’s effectively at everyone’s discretion how exactly they count it, but on a chat platform it can in principle be tracked if someone spends substantial time on #offtopic.
- handoflixue 1y ago
  Legal definitions vary country to country: I wouldn't be so quick to insist on some universal definition. I'm pretty sure you're wrong about US law there - docking someone's pay for "chatting" sounds extremely difficult to defend. Besides, multi-tasking exists: sometimes I need to let my brain idle on another topic for 15 minutes, because I'm working through something complex, or just wrapped up a project and have a meeting. Certainly, nowhere I've ever worked has tried enforcing anything like this. I've had plenty of co-workers who made a point of wandering over to socialize for 5-10 minutes every day, which must have easily added up to an hour a day - but they were also the expert that knew exactly where everyone was and who needed to coordinate with who.
  - layer8 1y ago
    I’m not in the US, so that may be right. In my view this is more about how the employee feels about it: I don’t want to get into a dispute whether the half hour a day I spent on the rambling channel counts as work or not. For that it makes a significant difference if people use the channel to discuss their hobbies or whether they discuss work-related ideas. I also don’t want to miss the work-related topics just because I’m not interested in the hobby discussions.
- 1y ago

ipdashc 1y ago

> Work-related and private topics should be separated, IMO. Why does it feel like people take this (reasonable) idea too far so often these days (and always on the Internet - I've never seen anyone in real life act like that). Like, yes, don't treat your job like a family or spend your whole day talking about your personal drama. Be careful or avoid dating coworkers. Etc. But this stuff is, as the author said, the equivalent of water cooler talk. If I had a salaried job that tracked the fact that I spent 15 minutes (when not on a time crunch, of course) talking about some random interesting blog post or a coworker's trip, I would... probably look into leaving that job. I have never had a job that met that description. (On the contrary, many jobs I had, especially back as an intern/student, let us get away with way too much time spent fooling around or talking, in retrospect.) Even the stereotypical overworked fast food employee is allowed to chat with their coworkers when there's downtime, it's perfectly normal. I can't imagine pursuing the "work/life balance" ideal to the point one avoids regular old casual conversation with their coworkers.

paradox460 1y ago
Agreed. Some of the solutions I've seen and even experienced seem like something right out of severance Please engage in the mandatory socialization experience