Remote working - the future?

Flinty997

I think there's a balance between a hippy commune and gulag.

I guess people like different things.

PommieBast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612358#Comment_118612358

That is pretty much what it is like working in an Agile/Scrum outfit. Thankfully I got out of that long before Covid.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118613492#Comment_118613492

It’s a international company of 25000 people, and that applies to all, so I’m not sure that agile and scrum practices particularly apply

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118614025#Comment_118614025

I assume he meant places with strict unyielding rules.

https://medium.com/%40aarondphillips/think-outside-the-box-the-sad-truth-about-agile-timeboxes-de2b56fd0b23

https://mdalmijn.com/companies-that-obsess-over-velocity-are-clueless-about-scrum/

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612280#Comment_118612280

These come to mind.

“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.”

"...ad hoc requests are among the top workplace productivity killers..."

PommieBast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118614069#Comment_118614069

The place I was at subscribed to the idea that Scrum teams must be colocated (remote working a formal a no-no) and there were frequent meetings some of which were called or moved at short notice. Lunchtime was pretty much the only time it was "safe" to try running errands in that sort of working environment, even if there were not rules against being out of office per-se.

Pity I no longer have the graph for the one work-day I was wearing a 24-hour blood pressure monitor..

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118614079#Comment_118614079

very few situations where that little trope is something that is of any use to any one though, maybe middle management in a large organisation dealing with someone at the same level maybe.

The reality is if you are reporting to a CXO and thats your attitude you wont be very successful, or if you are a CXO and you goto the CEO with that attitude same thing. Especially if you work in an entrepeneur founded business where that founder is still around.

Flinty997

If it wasn't common those tropes wouldn't exist or be so apt.

People constantly interrupting or rearranging priorities is extremely common. To the point where you often have to document this behavior for billing, or to demonstrate why things aren't getting done. It's also a means to kerb this behavior.

I will agree that product/project owner will often overrule and dictate priorities. That's just how it works. But it's also a form of micro management. Some times that is needed, most of the time it isn't.

I've noticed that people who are in the habit of micro managing and constantly changing priorities are often very anti time management, automation and/or remote working.

Flinty997

Tbh if emergency meetings are common and things often rely on only one specific person being there in person. It's vulnerable structure of management.

Hotblack Desiato

Especially if you work in an entrepeneur founded business where that founder is still around.

i.e. the work culture isn't a religion, it's a cult! Everyone fawning over a guy who thinks he's god and the sun shines out of his arse just because he had one good idea in his life and/or daddy set him up.

...............

Meanwhile, across the way I have a guy who's forgotten how to talk on a phone the last two years, you don't need to feckin' shout into it pal. 🙄 The joys of being back in the office

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615008#Comment_118615008

not really, rather people doing what the person who is paying their wages asks them to do, rather than trying to be a smart ass, and if you dont like how the person works, go somewhere else.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615030#Comment_118615030

Ultimately, if you don't like it leave.

If someone wants yes men around them, thats their choice.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615301#Comment_118615301

he/she who pays the piper calls the tune. That doesnt mean the people around them are yes men or women at all, they just dont try and be smart about poor planning and priority pirates and all the other tropes that you learn at those courses at work 😁

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615362#Comment_118615362

That kind of mindset is why projects overrun and budgets get blown out.

Mrs OBumble

Yeah none of those jobs you have listed are remote working - they are jobs that involve travel to locations on occasions which is vastly different from remote working/working from home. My job when im on campus can involve travel - thats not remote working/working from home

You are just plain wrong there.

Firstly, WFH is only a very small subset of remote working. I can name individuals in each of the jobs I listed who perform the majority of their work each week outside of their employer's premises. That is the very definition of remote working. Some are 100% on client premises. Some are visiting the homes of customer / clients / patients. Some do lot of work (writing notes, making follow-up calls etc) from their car after client visits. Some do their paperwork at home - but some followup need to be immediate, not in hours thime.

Maybe its a thing in the UK but my employer cannot dictate/comment on childcare arrangements nor would I inform my manager if my childcare arrangements broke down. That is none of their business. Perhaps someone working in the private sector would comment but putting like that in any policy might possibly be discriminatory. My personal life is not referenced in our remote working policy. An employer may provide guidelines regarding your home work station - not your home.

I never said that the employer dictates what form the childcare takes. They just say that it must be in place, to the same standard that it would be if you weren't at home. They don't actively monitor compliance. But don't even think about having kids in the background during a meeting, or claiming that you can't get something finished due to childcare or - the one they are most scared of - claiming that your child was injured or harmed because you were working and not concentrating on your childcare responsibilities.

Whether that policy would be legal in Ireland I dont know. Your employer has no rights to dictate what childcare arrangements you must have in place - or even to know if you have kids. Weird.

Perhaps your country doesn't have maternity leave. To get that in Ireland, the employer has to know you are pregnant. Your doctor has to sign a paper saying so.

Or Parental Leave, or Parent's Leave. To get that here, the employer has to know that you have children. In most workplaces, getting it signed off means you need to provide a copy of the child's birth certificate.

Or force majeure leave. Most employers will grant that based on self-certification rather than wanting confirming documents - but the very fact that you have described a situation involving a child (or dependent adult) means that they know about them.

Even if you aren't applying for any of those types of special leave, when an employer considering times for annual leave they must

• Take into account your family responsibilities, as well as the available opportunities for rest and recreation.

To do that, they need information about what family responsibilities you actually have.

So - while they should not ask about your kids during hiring decisions, they most certainly have to know about your family status in order to manage their on-going obligations.

C3PO

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/time-for-the-troops-to-jump-back-into-the-office-trenches-1.4800031

Mrs OBumble

The elaborate con that tricked dozens into working for a fake design agency - BBC News

What we can learn about accepting a fully remote job:

Search for the company's physical address on Google Maps.

Look for people you know IRL who have a contact with people who work there - talk to them before signing. Ideally F2F.

Never accept a contract which is commission only for the first however-many months

caviardreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615362#Comment_118615362

Agree with this - isn't it just respect for those who are the decision makers? You can share an alternative view respectfully but the person in charge/manager gets to call the shots and should be respected.

Young_gunner

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/the-future-of-work-will-we-ever-return-to-the-office-as-we-knew-it-1.4853741#comments

I really hope something like this is the future, fair play to the couple who moved to Donegal :)

The 2022 remote work survey by the Whitaker Institute in NUIG is now open.

These folks have been doing these surveys since the beginning of covid and the data from the surveys has been very informative. Regardless of your position on WFH, I'd recommend folks fill it out, takes 4-5 mins

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0425/1294079-remote-work-survey/

Survey at the link below

https://nuigalwaybusiness.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_795EYuhtwZSADXw

Sunny Disposition

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118627597#Comment_118627597

I read this article the other day. But I thought what it was missing was a bit of cynicism about a commercial real estate agency predicting higher prices, at a time of uncertainty. I'm not saying they're lying, they may not be, but their opinion can't be taken at face value. The journalist should have known that after the residential crash of a few years ago, which estate agents consistently said wasn't going to be nearly as bad as it turned out to be. Anyone investing in commercial property now needs to think twice.

C3PO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118982887#Comment_118982887

What you are saying makes sense but in reality that is not what’s happening. We are currently in the process of leasing a new office building and believe me prices are not dropping in our experience. Hybrid working is here to stay but quality office space is still very much in demand.

Sunny Disposition

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118984071#Comment_118984071

Have you brought in hybrid? Will you make a saving by leasing a smaller building than what you had? I had a place in Belfast but closed it, it’s going fine now fully remote, have occasional things for staff to meet each other.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118985848#Comment_118985848

If Revenue said that they want to audit you, where would you meet them?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118985885#Comment_118985885

🤦‍♂️

Sunny Disposition

I suppose we'd have to hire a space for such a meeting, if they didn't want to have it virtually.

Electric Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118611444#Comment_118611444

Not really. It's the norm in my experience.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118987401#Comment_118987401

Last time I was involved in one of these the policy was to meet at the main place of business. Revenue explicitly said No to virtual, because they wanted eyes-on assurance that the work was genuine.

Not sure how much Covid may have changed their policies- but it won't last forever as a reason.

JimmyVik

My compnay has rolled back on their we must all attend the office big time.

They have now found that they cant get new hires when they find out they cant work from home.

We have gone from not being allowed to wfh to 4 days a week. Not because a few people left (more were planning to leave actually), but because new hires at interviews were asking about the wfh policy and a curt "We will see in a few months" was being rightly met with rejection.

People going into new jobs now expect wfh, and if the company does not provide it or is unclear about providing it then the people will not take the job.

Most people i spoke to would take a pay cut from a different company to wfh.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118988777#Comment_118988777

Well, revenue atr going to have to join the 21st century