Friday OT #2 - When It's Time To Change

[BCClone]

Question for the people who work for companies that have more than 1-5 employees. Have you noticed changes of any sort? Normally there are butt kissers, jerks, and other personalities you realize and learn to work with or use. At one job I knew who would feed me the rumor mill (so I could squash stupid stuff going around) and I knew who to feed some tidbits to to squash it. That has to be harder now and I would think it would be easier to fire someone who is working remotely by just saying, hey, we are paying you X weeks, and stopping your email and linked privileges in an email.

 

[cycloneG]

Same here - I think we have the option to continue remote, and I almost certainly will in a majority capacity, maybe even 100%. I love it so much.

The biggest difference I've noticed is co-workers no longer distracting when I'm in a groove. I'm way more productive because I can respond to their inquiries after I've finished some task. Co-worker interruptions were my biggest gripe about working in an office.

 

[Clonefan32]

In my line of work it would be difficult to be completely remote. I go in each workday, but we try to move everything we can to phone/video conference.

I do think the whole thing has lead to a more relaxed work atmosphere. It's somewhat hard to put into words, but I think the whole thing has caused me to be a little more cognizant of work not dominating my life. I think it's part realizing that life kind of sucks right now so if I get a chance to step away from work for a bit to do something I find joy in, I'm going to do it. If I feel like wearing jeans into the office, I'm going to do it.

 

[Angie]

The biggest difference I've noticed is co-workers no longer distracting when I'm in a groove. I'm way more productive because I can respond to their inquiries after I've finished some task. Co-worker interruptions were my biggest gripe about working in an office.

Yeah, I don't especially like people, even though I'm outwardly pretty social. So this allows me to just put on music and do my job, which I appreciate. I can just wait on IMs, emails, whatever.

 

[cyclones500]

I've been working from home almost exclusively since April. For the most part, I like it. Generally, I feel like there are fewer distractions. I do miss the co-worker interaction/atmosphere at times, but it isn’t something I crave day-to-day.

A few simple tasks are less-efficient, like being able to ask a co-worker at the next desk a quick question or go into my supervisor's office to discuss a simple matter. Anything involving more than two of us can prove cumbersome, because we have to text/email and go back & forth instead of a 2-minute face-to-face. Even that stuff, for the most part, I've been able to adjust so it's only a minor inconvenience.

I like not having to “get ready to go in to work" ... there’s more flexibility if I want to start earlier in the day, then take a break when I have the chance, or finish in the afternoon and know I can return to work for a half-hour in the evening if necessary, without physically going back & forth. Flipside is not having a "now I'm home from work for the rest of the day" delineation.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

In the restaurant industry so was off from March 17 till end of April. Since coming back I'm working same hours pre shutdown. Since pandemic though outside of trips to the store for food and essentials I've just been going to work and then going home.

 

[cycloneG]

I've been working from home almost exclusively since April. For the most part, I like it. Generally, I feel like there are fewer distractions. I do miss the co-worker interaction/atmosphere at times, but it isn’t something I crave day-to-day.

A few simple tasks are less-efficient, like being able to ask a co-worker at the next desk a quick question or go into my supervisor's office to discuss a simple matter. Anything involving more than two of us can prove cumbersome, because we have to text/email and go back & forth instead of a 2-minute face-to-face. Even that stuff, for the most part, I've been able to adjust so it's only a minor inconvenience.

I like not having to “get ready to go in to work" ... there’s more flexibility if I want to start earlier in the day, then take a break when I have the chance, or finish in the afternoon and know I can return to work for a half-hour in the evening if necessary, without physically going back & forth. Flipside is not having a "now I'm home from work for the rest of the day" delineation.

We setup video chats for anything like this. Once a group email gets more than one response, we just create a Google Meet to expedite the conversation.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I had to start working from home in March due to Covid. I get tired of being in the house all day every day.

 

[kevdiv48]

Work in oil & gas, starting mid-March was at plant one week/ home three weeks. Then went back and forth between that and every other week as the numbers fluctuated in Texas. Now back at the plant every day since mid Nov.

 

[drlove]

I worked remote before pandemic but included a decent amount of domestic and international travel. Been working 100 percent from home since March and I hate it. I used to complain about travel schedule at times but now I’d give anything to be sitting at a layover in OHare or driving to the Twin Cities.

We are in a travel ban until March 31st. Some of our offices globally are at 25 percent. Hearing that we will reduce office footprint and go to flex scheduling since remote has gone so well.

I had used Gravitate in downtown DSM just to get me out of the house at times pre pandemic. Going to start going back there a day or two a week as I’m going insane constantly working from home.

I'm in a similar boat as you. My company does have offices around the country. One office opened back up in September if people wanted to go as an option (not required), and no one went.

 

[cowgirl836]

The biggest difference I've noticed is co-workers no longer distracting when I'm in a groove. I'm way more productive because I can respond to their inquiries after I've finished some task. Co-worker interruptions were my biggest gripe about working in an office.

I actually think it's worse now. So many Teams pings or random Teams calls. And so many meetings. So. Many. Meetings. I do miss being able to quickly pop through something in the hallway or a quick convo in an office.

 

[cyhiphopp]

My former employer was very anti-remote. A bit old fashioned and my former manager was a **** with control issues.
We had to go remote like everyone else and it worked really well. I felt like we got more done and with zoom calls and standups and such, we still saw each other regularly. Then I got layed off if June, so I got to job search from home.

My new job has a really small office staff, 18 total, so they like having everyone in the office and just try to space everyone out. We'll see if we have to go back to remote or not.

 

[cycloneG]

I actually think it's worse now. So many Teams pings or random Teams calls. And so many meetings. So. Many. Meetings. I do miss being able to quickly pop through something in the hallway or a quick convo in an office.

I tend to continue working during meetings now. 75% of meetings are a waste of time anyway. Now I can get some work done. I do not miss in person meetings. Too many people rambling on far too long and wasting my time.

 

[Dopey]

I'm default remote. Access easily granted if I need to go to the office to visit the shop, but not approved to work in the office "full time."

There's benefits. My wife probably enjoys the help I can provide more, but from a work & career standpoint, I despise it.

My day is even more slammed with meetings. People are getting feisty because they're falling behind due to slow home networks over VPN, etc.

I'm over it to the point where I've considered drastic career changes because of it. If the vaccine doesn't allow us to get back to what I remember as "normal", I think I will. I've learned I kind of despised my job. The only thing I liked about it was the people I worked with.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Worked from home March to June. Decided to go back into the office in June because our house didn't have a good office space (I was in my daughters room). Our office was small and I had a door, so I felt safe.

Stayed in the office until I left that job in Sept. I transitioned into a 100% WFH job and we bought a house with room for a dedicated office.

I like working from home. I'm still adjusting to that "guilty" feeling when I've got open blocks and I elect to spend time with the family downstairs. Or, if I've got an open lunch time and decide to watch an episode or two of a show. That unproductive time just replaces the old "water cooler talk" time, though.

Biggest adjustment for me is not being able to go to lunches with people. I'm also having to adjust to not having co-workers to BS with in the office when the day is slow or I just need a break.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

This thread titled resurrected some horrible Brady Bunch episode from the depths of my memory. WHY ANGIE, WHY?!?

 

[cyhiphopp]

This isn't any COVID argument thread, at all. Just a question.

Before pandemic, I was full-time in office. Back in March, I started working one week home, one week in office. Now, I'm almost entirely home working, and maybe go in once every month or so.

How has your day-to-day settled since pandemic started? Are you back at school/work/whatever? Or are you doing some things remote? This isn't to ask if you should be, or to shame others for what may or may not be their decisions, or to downplay others' decisions. Just an informal poll.

I thought you were going to ask everyone when they went through puberty, which is kinda personal.

I was a late bloomer. Went from 5'9 freshman year of HS to 6'2 now.

 

[cyhiphopp]

This thread titled resurrected some horrible Brady Bunch episode from the depths of my memory. WHY ANGIE, WHY?!?

Shanana na na

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I thought you were going to ask everyone when they went through puberty, which is kinda personal.

I was a late bloomer. Went from 5'9 freshman year of HS to 6'2 now.

I started 8th at about 5'3", 6'2" now
Someone posted an old picture on facebook and it looked like I was standing in a hole compared to everyone else.

 

[cowgirl836]

I like no more getting ready/drive though I had a short commute. I had actually traveled for the first time in a long while two weeks before things got crazy and I got in late the night before so I worked from home that Friday and thought wow, I'd like to work from home more often. Husband calls it my monkey paw wish. I definitely meant that daycare was still to be open!

I don't plan to go back to an office full time, but will do a split. Visibility is important and some of those in-person interactions/meetings would be good. We were fairly resistant to WFH in the past so I hope this has truly chattered that resistance. One good thing about WFH is we used to do a lot of meetings where people who were remote or in other countries had to call in and basically didn't get a great experience vs. being in the room. Now we're all virtual so it makes an even playing field and interactions (for me) with global or non-local coworkers has gone WAY up.

It feels like expectations are the same or higher - more work, the sort of goodwill toward having empathy that this is a hard time for a lot of people has waned and I see a number of coworkers (particularly other parents with younger kids) stretched to their absolute max and it doesn't feel like there is true support for them. They just need to figure it out. So I definitely don't like that aspect.