If Work From Home becomes a thing...

krissovo

salonfire wrote: »

I find brain storming and solutioning is absolutely not the same remotely as would be in the same room.

When feelings start running high and people become opinated, the call descends into chaos


Also, there is a momentum that builds up while in a room that does not translate virtually.

Virtual whiteboards like realtime boards and sticky pads with voting works really well for a collaborative session. Someone does need to be a moderator though.

Stheno

uli84 wrote: »

Also are those in favour of working from home not bothered that they literally never leave work?
Have you got timesheets and so in place to show what work actually gets done daily? Last but not least - are you not bored being in the same surroundings most of the time?

I leave work at my normal time, the door to the roo. I work in is shut and I'm done when I wfh

Dont use timeshets

Dont get bored being in the same place, oh break up my day with a walk, spend a bit of time in the garden etc

kippy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

How do you see GDPR requirements being met in a WFH world?

Many companies have client data in private homes at the moment, against all policies. That cannot continue long term though.

With the right systems and training it's not an issue.

kippy

Make It Real wrote: »

A quick thought on this...


If you can do your job from anywhere, then anyone can do your job from anywhere.


They'd need to have the skills, knowledge, infrastructure etc, which is the challenge right now, of course. But for how long?


We can't avoid change and progress, but I think it is about being aware and ready for it.

"What is the essence of what I do that can't readily be done by someone else, either here or somewhere else?" is one of the big questions, I think.

This has always been the case though. WFH isn't a new concept. It has been round years. Anyone in multiple sectors has been under the threat of what you speak about for years.
Granted some organisations have been very resistant to it and some probably will remain so.

You should never fool yourself into thinking you are unique and will be missed from s business. The only way to do that is to continue to bring value in whatever way you can and be someone who accepts and adapts to change.

Mrs OBumble

kippy wrote: »

With the right systems and training it's not an issue.

Ya, so how do I stop my housemate hearing the conversation I'm having with a customer?

A separate, lockable, soundproof office isn't available in many homes.

And whatevef about screen grabs, how you I stop people from taking photos of info on a screen?

beauf

Most people can take photos at work if they really wanted.

kippy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ya, so how do I stop my housemate hearing the conversation I'm having with a customer?

A separate, lockable, soundproof office isn't available in many homes.

And whatevef about screen grabs, how you I stop people from taking photos of info on a screen?

You use a microphone and headphones.....ideally in a relatively private room.
You lock the screen....

Mrs OBumble

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ya, so how do I stop my housemate hearing the conversation I'm having with a customer?

A separate, lockable, soundproof office isn't available in many homes.

And whatevef about screen grabs, how you I stop people from taking photos of info on a screen?

What housemate would have any interest?

And, yes, I used headphones so it doesn't annoy my wife

beauf

Most people can take photos at work if they really wanted.

Technocentral

beauf wrote: »

Most people can take photos at work if they really wanted.

Totally, I think the absolute opposition to wfh is by types who love to order and boss people around in person, its how they get their kicks, they are coming up with all these obstacles.

krissovo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ya, so how do I stop my housemate hearing the conversation I'm having with a customer?

A separate, lockable, soundproof office isn't available in many homes.

And whatevef about screen grabs, how you I stop people from taking photos of info on a screen?

Same issues that are in a standard office, in fact I consider a home office more secure than a standard office.

KyussB

If everyone is allowed work from home and live wherever they want, then how are they going to spur on massive property bubbles, by forcing everyone to live in overcrowded cities without enough accommodation, by placing all of the major businesses and most lucrative jobs there?

You won't get to work from home after this.

Snotty

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ya, so how do I stop my housemate hearing the conversation I'm having with a customer?

A separate, lockable, soundproof office isn't available in many homes.

And whatevef about screen grabs, how you I stop people from taking photos of info on a screen?

You're clutching at straws for your argument now.

But after this is over and WFT becomes an option rather than a need, the employee will have to have a suitable home for WFT, if you cannot provide a quiet room to work in, then maybe your housing situation is not suitable for WFT, it's certainly a requirement for remote working for my employer, it's states requirements like broadband and office setup at home, employees would have access to ppi and remote working is common.

Mrs OBumble

beauf wrote: »

Most people can take photos at work if they really wanted.

One company I'm working for at the moment has CCTV on the office floor, just to prevent accusations of stuff like that. Employees know and are happy, because it protects them from false claims. It wouldn't be a reasonable thing to have in employee homes, though.

salonfire

KyussB wrote: »

If everyone is allowed work from home and live wherever they want, then how are they going to spur on massive property bubbles, by forcing everyone to live in overcrowded cities without enough accommodation, by placing all of the major businesses and most lucrative jobs there?

You won't get to work from home after this.

This is so uninformed, it must be trolling.

Major businesses chose to locate in the cities, they are not placed there.

mvl

I hope wfh would be available full time for me after this (and I am setting up the third office space in my house to make sure I get it).
I don't miss the noise/social aspect from the office at all, and for the type of work I do, I think my wfh is beneficial for the business and for my health.
but if everybody could work from anywhere within Europe in my industry - did wonder what might happen with remote workers salaries - would they go up or down.

kippy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

One company I'm working for at the moment has CCTV on the office floor, just to prevent accusations of stuff like that. Employees know and are happy, because it protects them from false claims. It wouldn't be a reasonable thing to have in employee homes, though.

If the employees and the employer aren't prepared to adapt and/or set up to make WFH a reality it won't happen.

kippy

mvl wrote: »

I hope wfh would be available full time for me after this (and I am setting up the third office space in my house to make sure I get it).
I don't miss the noise/social aspect from the office at all, and for the type of work I do, I think my wfh is beneficial for the business and for my health.
but if everybody could work from anywhere within Europe in my industry - did wonder what might happen with remote workers salaries - would they go up or down.

Depends on the field you are in and your perceived value to the organisation.

Snow Garden

I saw some metrics today suggesting my company have increased productivity since the teams started working from home. I had a feeling that was the case but the data confirms it. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues as restrictions are lifted. We don't expect to be back in the office until September at the earliest. Some people have already said they will not return until a vaccine is available.

bilbot79

mvl wrote: »

I hope wfh would be available full time for me after this (and I am setting up the third office space in my house to make sure I get it).
I don't miss the noise/social aspect from the office at all, and for the type of work I do, I think my wfh is beneficial for the business and for my health.
but if everybody could work from anywhere within Europe in my industry - did wonder what might happen with remote workers salaries - would they go up or down.

I'm sure it would be subject to market forces as always. People would probably be required to be tax resident in Ireland. So only abroad for less than half the year

Carb

Snow Garden wrote: »

I saw some metrics today suggesting my company have increased productivity since the teams started working from home. I had a feeling that was the case but the data confirms it. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues as restrictions are lifted. We don't expect to be back in the office until September at the earliest. Some people have already said they will not return until a vaccine is available.

I have a team of about 60 people across 3 offices in Ireland and the UK. In the space of 5 days we went from practically nobody working from home to everybody out. The challenges were compounded by high numbers of new employees in the 2 to 8 weeks preceding this and the rapid change coincided with one of our busiest periods of the year. Whilst I don't have concrete data yet, the general feeling is that we are more productive and are certainly well ahead of last year at the same time. There is nobody shouting for a rapid return to the office.

On a personal level, I have spent 4 to 4.5 hrs a day commuting for the last 13 years. I don't know myself - 7 to 8 hours sleep, 3 meals a day, time with the family. The days are quite intense though, as whilst in the office I could close the door to get some uninterrupted time on work, with Teams, email, phone there is almost no escape.

mvl

kippy wrote: »

Depends on the field you are in and your perceived value to the organisation.

nah, think it is more complicated than this: for example, there may be other countries in Europe where salaries are higher than in Ireland for a specific organization: nothing stops a remote worker from applying for a role over there now. Lets use Germany for example. If someone got a job there, while wanting to keep home office in Ireland - would they get the Irish or German salary, when reporting to the German organization ?

- and for future, would these companies keep local salary scales, or would salaries end up being "global" ?!?

kippy

mvl wrote: »

nah, think it is more complicated than this: for example, there may be other countries in Europe where salaries are higher than in Ireland for a specific organization: nothing stops a remote worker from applying for a role over there now. Lets use Germany for example. If someone got a job there, while wanting to keep home office in Ireland - would they get the Irish or German salary, when reporting to the German organization ?

- and for future, would these companies keep local salary scales, or would salaries end up being "global" ?!?

Sorry, didn't pick your question up correctly.
There are already people in Ireland working in these types of scenarios and have been for years.

Snotty

Speaking for where I work, salaries are adjusted for local area, so a worker in Mayo is earning less than the London based employee doing the same job, however it would be a very good wage for Mayo even with the downward adjustment.
This practice is common within the company as the headquarters is in New York and they have a large amount of employees in all parts of the US, it's common for employees to move and if they moved from New York to say North Carolina their wages would go down by a set percentage based on the cost of living the NC compared to NY

krissovo

Carb wrote: »

The days are quite intense though, as whilst in the office I could close the door to get some uninterrupted time on work, with Teams, email, phone there is almost no escape.

This I have found is quite common to new remote or virtual teams, the wfh equivalent of shutting the door is block booking your diary to your home routine and referring your colleagues to schedule a slot against your availability. I book quiet hours which is my time to be productive and block book daily/weekly huddles with the various teams I work to catch up with any updates. I also block out my lunch or time with family & also time that I will collect or drop off children.

It only takes a couple of weeks to establish a remote working routine with teams. Once everyone is aligned it’s surprising how productive teams can be.

kippy

krissovo wrote: »

This I have found is quite common to new remote or virtual teams, the wfh equivalent of shutting the door is block booking your diary to your home routine and referring your colleagues to schedule a slot against your availability. I book quiet hours which is my time to be productive and block book daily/weekly huddles with the various teams I work to catch up with any updates. I also block out my lunch or time with family & also time that I will collect or drop off children.

It only takes a couple of weeks to establish a remote working routine with teams. Once everyone is aligned it’s surprising how productive teams can be.

This is great advice for anyone looking to get on top of WFH.

This is a readable article, about the possible long term WFH impact on Manhattan.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/nyregion/coronavirus-work-from-home.html?referringSource=articleShare

Carb

krissovo wrote: »

This I have found is quite common to new remote or virtual teams, the wfh equivalent of shutting the door is block booking your diary to your home routine and referring your colleagues to schedule a slot against your availability. I book quiet hours which is my time to be productive and block book daily/weekly huddles with the various teams I work to catch up with any updates. I also block out my lunch or time with family & also time that I will collect or drop off children.

It only takes a couple of weeks to establish a remote working routine with teams. Once everyone is aligned it’s surprising how productive teams can be.

I was actually saying this to the boss a couple of days ago. I got a little caught out with how things evolved. The first 4 weeks were less of an issue as the initial focus was critical client services, and our clients also went a little quiet as they made the same adjustments. Then everyone started accepting things were not going back to normal quickly so the clients started emerging again, but the bigger issue is that the internal project teams, sales teams, internal audit, finance, HR all started appearing also and they are fantastic at filling my diary.

I will be blocking off time, but there are certain parts of my job that require availability for short meetings at short notice, so there are limitations to how unavailable I can be.

Mrs OBumble

mvl wrote: »

nah, think it is more complicated than this: for example, there may be other countries in Europe where salaries are higher than in Ireland for a specific organization: nothing stops a remote worker from applying for a role over there now. Lets use Germany for example. If someone got a job there, while wanting to keep home office in Ireland - would they get the Irish or German salary, when reporting to the German organization ?

- and for future, would these companies keep local salary scales, or would salaries end up being "global" ?!?

If someone is working as an employee in Ireland, then their employer is required to operate the Irish tax system in paying them. Most other countries have a similar requirement.

This means your person is usually required to be a contractor rather than an employee - unless the company already had an operation in the country where the worker is tax-resident. So salary scales are less relevant than daily or weekly contract rates.

More plausible is to consider what would happen if the Irish organisation recruited someone living in Poland or Latvia to do <<whatever>> job. In that case, you can be sure that the local salary rate would be paid.

Also note that some multi-nationals refuse to hire in France, Germany and countries with similar labour laws unless it's absolutely unavoidable, because of the cost of operating there (annual leave levels, compulsory consultation periods before making any changes, fines for being slightly wrong in any HR action).

Sunny Disposition

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If someone is working as an employee in Ireland, then their employer is required to operate the Irish tax system in paying them. Most other countries have a similar requirement.

This means your person is usually required to be a contractor rather than an employee - unless the company already had an operation in the country where the worker is tax-resident. So salary scales are less relevant than daily or weekly contract rates.

More plausible is to consider what would happen if the Irish organisation recruited someone living in Poland or Latvia to do <<whatever>> job. In that case, you can be sure that the local salary rate would be paid.

Also note that some multi-nationals refuse to hire in France, Germany and countries with similar labour laws unless it's absolutely unavoidable, because of the cost of operating there (annual leave levels, compulsory consultation periods before making any changes, fines for being slightly wrong in any HR action).

That’s going to happen for a lot of office workers, unfortunately. Has happened manufacturing already.