Working From Home Megathread

WhiteMemento9 · 08-03-2020 12:39am #1

I thought this might get some interesting discussion from the Corona thread. Companies are sending out guidance to staff that they will be required to work from home in the coming month, some in companies where this was never an option before.

faceman wrote: »

Tangential comment. The push to have companies work from home is going to create a new working landscape when this all blows over as many companies realize it’s perfectly viable to have a remote workforce.

Or flipping that over, many companies will find it hard to justify not permitting remote working in their organization in the future

Many people in my company have the option and don't take advantage of it at all. Working from home suits some people but others enjoy the social outlet of work and the structure it brings. Working from home regularly requires a certain type of person along with a large amount of self-discipline.

I certainly enjoy many aspects of it and I am not someone who needs the social outlet of work but on the flip side, I often find that I let the workday bleed on for too long at home due to some added anxiety that I have wasted time during the day that I need to add back when in reality I waste far more time in the office that never costs me a thought in the same regard.

I also wonder about the implications for society as a whole if we were to move further in this direction. It is more towards the direction of segregation and isolation of people with little thought towards how that effects us as social creatures.

What are other people's thoughts or experiences with working from home?

Ficheall · 08-03-2020 12:47am

I work from home, paid by the hour. The work is mindnumbingy dull and I have zero self discipline, so bad for the pocket. But I really like the freedom to choose my own hours and travel. At it four years now, and in not sure I will be able to give it up.
Do I miss meeting people in person? Occasionally, a little, until I meet people in person and remember.
Haven't left my house in over a week. Not bothered by it.

Unearthly · 08-03-2020 12:49am

I've never done it before but will inevitably experience it soon. I would love to try it. I think ideally I'd like to have a flexi option. Half the week at home, half in the office.

rosiem · 08-03-2020 12:58am

Ficheall wrote: »

I work from home, paid by the hour. The work is mindnumbingy dull and I have zero self discipline, so bad for the pocket. But I really like the freedom to choose my own hours and travel. At it four years now, and in not sure I will be able to give it up.
Do I miss meeting people in person? Occasionally, a little, until I meet people in person and remember.
Haven't left my house in over a week. Not bothered by it.

Do you mind me asking what area it’s in or what you do no problem if you would rather not say. I am looking for work from home options with flexibility as I am pregnant so just interested in the field and any info you might have.

zweton · 08-03-2020 1:00am

rosiem wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what area it’s in or what you do no problem if you would rather not say. I am looking for work from home options with flexibility as I am pregnant so just interested in the field and any info you might have.

Same..

05eaftqbrs9jlh · 08-03-2020 1:35am

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

What are other people's thoughts or experiences with working from home?

I'm in the category of not being able to work from home currently, however I have an interview for a job where the time is divided between working in the community and working from home. If I were to get the job, I'm really looking forward to the flexibility of that. It's nice to think that there would be elements of meeting people and working by myself because when there are people around I find myself wanting to engage with them! I'm much more productive from an admin point of view when there isn't any distraction - I'd say most people are like that.

This is by comparison with my current job; I'm in an educational setting and one to one all day but also do several hours of work to prepare at home each evening. When I try to stay back after students leave and complete my work, there are usually many interjections by colleagues, cleaning staff, maintenance or other people. I find it quite funny that we expect children to learn in this jarring environment (usually many interruptions per lesson) when even as adults, concentration is impeded.

I find it quite unfortunate that we're not using this opportunity to trial virtual classrooms in this country. The risk of contracting Covid-19 from a child and passing it onto vulnerable people is ever rising with the continuation of this pandemic. I'm thoroughly not content to just wait for it to affect me and those I love, at the mercy of a government who is still sore from an embarrassing election result.

I understand that there are procedures to be followed but in the best interest of the children, their grandparents and the country, we really need to be exploring ways of enabling education to be done remotely as soon as possible.

sonyvision · 08-03-2020 1:41am

As more large companies move here there is specific industry's/type of job can't be done from (ABW) activity based working.

Small coffee/deli shops, restaurants, anything in manufacturing, bars, hair dressers, working from home can't be done here.

It doesn't impact me I work in a large global insurance company with 1500+ staff around the world from Asia to the US all offices still open. But employees for the last 15/16 months all have the option to work from whereeve they like.

This potential outbreak will impact local areas if everybody stopped commuting to the regular office. But large companys with the IT tech in place might see little drop in employee output.

Ficheall · 08-03-2020 2:15am

rosiem wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what area it’s in or what you do no problem if you would rather not say. I am looking for work from home options with flexibility as I am pregnant so just interested in the field and any info you might have.

zweton wrote: »

Same..

You'd need a phd in maths, and we have no vacancies at present. No more PMs, please.

But congrats on your respective pregnancies..

Edit: The multiple thanks on rosiem's post would suggest I'm being perceived as a bit of a d*ck here, which is absolutely fair from context, but I'd like to add that I'd also already received a couple of PMs asking about jobs, so this post was also partially in reaction to those. Apologies to rosiem though for quoting her but then not giving her post a deserved response.

WhiteMemento9 · 08-03-2020 2:16am

Malani Swift Handbag wrote: »

I find it quite unfortunate that we're not using this opportunity to trial virtual classrooms in this country. The risk of contracting Covid-19 from a child and passing it onto vulnerable people is ever rising with the continuation of this pandemic. I'm thoroughly not content to just wait for it to affect me and those I love, at the mercy of a government who is still sore from an embarrassing election result.

I understand that there are procedures to be followed but in the best interest of the children, their grandparents and the country, we really need to be exploring ways of enabling education to be done remotely as soon as possible.

I can understand the benefits in this particular situation but my initial gut reaction to reading the idea of virtual classrooms for kids is that it wouldn't be the greatest idea. Those formative years for children in schools are where kids learn so much about how to develop themselves as young adults, social interactions with adults and peers, introductions to people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, structure and a whole host of other things beyond the direct educational itself. Now I can see plenty of benefits towards the direct education itself but I think those would come at too high a cost.

rosiem · 08-03-2020 2:38am

Ficheall wrote: »

You'd need a phd in maths, and we have no vacancies at present. No more PMs, please.

But congrats on your respective pregnancies..

Sorry was just interested in what the job area was my background is science and data analysis. I wasn’t looking for a job either so no need to reply like I asked you for one a polite question was all I asked.

WhiteMemento9 · 08-03-2020 2:45am

rosiem wrote: »

Sorry was just interested in what the job area was my background is science and data analysis. I wasn’t looking for a job either so no need to reply like I asked you for one a polite question was all I asked.

There are surely plenty of options in the market for this type of field in a work from home capacity. The issue I see mostly is that companies like to check someone out a little before extending them this kind of trust. So it is often the situation that you need to be working in a company for a period of time before they offer the option or you get to float the idea unless of course, you can demonstrate a past track record in a similar capacity at previous roles.

08-03-2020 2:49am

Whatever about working from home, this could also further the cause of the 4 day work week. That coupled with a day a week working from home would reduce commuting times significantly for many people and reduce congestion.

Princess Calla · 08-03-2020 2:54am

I really think it depends on the person and what stage of life you are in.

When I started working way back when

there was Thursday /Friday night drinks, a great social scene and great to mix with colleagues outside of the office (I know some people hate this)

There's also the risk that you maybe overlooked for promotion out of sight out of mind etc. It's very hard to network from your home office

When I was living at home in my parents house there's absolutely no way I'd be able to work from home, my mother would have me plagued.

I'm currently on maternity leave and working from home has been rolled out in my office. No one has a desk anymore. Reports are there's pros and cons. Great from an early start no commute, don't have to get showered/dressed etc, fly through work with little disturbance. Can get a couple of chores done too.

The downsides are more on the social aspects, the team is broken up, no one really knows what anyone else is doing so a support network has been removed. Most of my team are there 15+ years so we know what we're up to, I'm not sure if I'd like to be a newbie.

Some log back on after dinner/kids gone to bed and do more work which I think can lead to a dangerous cycle if not kept in check.

I think if you worked full-time from home you would definitely need a social outlet somewhere and be mindful that you're not isolating yourself.

rosiem · 08-03-2020 2:58am

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

There are surely plenty of options in the market for this type of field in a work from home capacity. The issue I see mostly is that companies like to check someone out a little before extending them this kind of trust. So it is often the situation that you need to be working in a company for a period of time before they offer the option or you get to float the idea unless of course, you can demonstrate a past track record in a similar capacity at previous roles.

Yea you are correct plenty of of work from home options it was more the aspect of choosing your own hours I am interested in to be honest. I currently WFH 2 days a week but I must work core hours of 10 to 4 I would love the flexibility to do some of my hours in evening. In saying that I do love going into the office as well as working from home it’s a nice balance just being greedy I suppose looking for extra time flexibility as well ðŸ˜€

Ficheall · 08-03-2020 3:04am

rosiem wrote: »

Sorry was just interested in what the job area was my background is science and data analysis. I wasn’t looking for a job either so no need to reply like I asked you for one a polite question was all I asked.

Apologies, my response was intended in a light-hearted fashion, but I can see how it could easily be misconstrued. I proofread maths papers. I'm trying to get into data analysis - the money is way better, and there are far more opportunities for remote working - try weworkremotely.com for various remote working jobs.

rosiem · 08-03-2020 3:16am

Ficheall wrote: »

Apologies, my response was intended in a light-hearted fashion, but I can see how it could easily be misconstrued. I proofread maths papers. I'm trying to get into data analysis - the money is way better, and there are far more opportunities for remote working - try weworkremotely.com for various remote working jobs.

Thanks Ficheall appreciate the reply and I am prob a little extra sensitive at the moment and suffering insomnia but I do agree it is a great field with lots of opportunities thanks for link will take a look.

ArmaniJeanss · 08-03-2020 3:29am

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

I thought this might get some interesting discussion from the Corona thread. Companies are sending out guidance to staff that they will be required to work from home in the coming months, some in companies where this was never an option before.

The underlined bits are quite interesting, and contradictory.
I know in my job we have people who will refuse to work from home because this was not something that was ever a requirement of their job/contract. And in many cases wfh-ing was refused or at best a struggle.
Unapologetically, I'm on the side of those who have been called 'the trouble-makers' - but I don't think any company big or small can go from 'tell us 2 weeks in advance why you need to work from home' to 'you must work from home next week'.

mvl · 08-03-2020 5:35am

I wfh maybe a day every other week, and planning to get to a more permanent agreement about it: think my productivity is increased when wfh in general, and I would want to use one day a week wfh to focus on research/analysis - stay away from some noise.

but do wonder if boundaries would be crossed more - currently, when I do my overtime from home, I am conscious that I should rather do home stuff instead - if home is to become formally my office, will I totally forget about that ...

_Kaiser_ · 08-03-2020 8:55am

I WFH 2 days a week and it's become a prerequisite for any job offer I might consider now.

Commuting is time consuming and expensive (especially when you're living an hour away from the office) and the flexibility is invaluable.

It very much depends on the role as most may not be suitable. Mine involves primarily conference calls and emails with people in the UK or locally (but not many face to face meetings), so I don't really need to be in the office anyway. If I was still managing a team it would be different, or if it was a front line customer facing role.

Also requires discipline. When I'm WFH I'm working from home - not lazing on the couch watching TV with the laptop open. I setup the spare bedroom as a home office with big desk, dual screen monitors, speakerphone etc. It means you're actually in an environment where distractions and temptations are minimal when you need to get stuff done. In fact, I'd say that I get more done most of the time and work longer hours (as I log on at the same time that I'd otherwise still be in the car).

It's not for everyone as not everyone is comfortable with the isolation either, but I've never minded my own company. Could never go back to a full week in an office to be honest. I used to really enjoy the social aspects in previous jobs but that changes when you're older, more senior roles, and have other priorities and responsibilities outside of work.

mirrorwall14 · 08-03-2020 9:14am

My husband works from home full time and it’s been brilliant for our family once early teething issues were removed. His commute meant he was up at 5, leaving at 615. Finishing work at 5 and traffic meant he was getting in anywhere between 615 and after 7 on a bad day. Now he gets up with us, has breakfast with us and starts work at 745 in the office we now have in the garden. Finishes work at 6 and now rarely needs to work too much outside hours as so much less time is wasted on the commute.

It did take discipline initially to agree on work/home boundaries and times etc. He also would say that the worst scenario is partially working from home because it disrupts the flow of the week. Full time at home there’s no chopping and changing routine. He works with an international company so the morning is coding and when America wakes up it’s mostly meetings. He’s constantly talking to one person or another and they still seem to have all the usual office politics and craic with each other tbh

suicide_circus · 08-03-2020 9:19am

working hard or hardly working, AMIRITE?

whippet · 08-03-2020 9:20am

My wife has been working from home for over a decade (multinational - managing a global team so no Irish colleagues) .. and my company have introduced a smart working policy for the last two years - there is an office there but only if you want to come in or have to come in.

We live somewhat rural and this work enviorment allows us to live where we want and not be crippled by a commute.

Apart from all the obvious benefits - saving on fuel, commute time etc we get to have a proper family life .. drop the kids to school, pick them up, have homework done early and loads of time to do any extra curricular activities.

It also mean that we spend more of our money locally .. lunch out once or twice a week, all out shopping is done locally and a coffee every day.

Personally I believe that companies should get some form of tax break / incentive for facilitating smart working .. the tech is out there and it’s relatively cheap and secure.

Self discipline is another story .. however people adapt and find their level

Bobeagleburger · 08-03-2020 9:25am

No commute, and can free up valuable sq footage for employers.

I wouldn't like to do it fulltime though. The social aspect of work is important. Two/three days a week would be ideal.

Can see it been adopted in a lot more companies post coronavirus. A lot are being semi forced into it now, and using it as a live test.

suicide_circus · 08-03-2020 9:27am

whippet wrote: »

My wife has been working from home for over a decade (multinational - managing a global team so no Irish colleagues) .. and my company have introduced a smart working policy for the last two years - there is an office there but only if you want to come in or have to come in.

We live somewhat rural and this work enviorment allows us to live where we want and not be crippled by a commute.

Apart from all the obvious benefits - saving on fuel, commute time etc we get to have a proper family life .. drop the kids to school, pick them up, have homework done early and loads of time to do any extra curricular activities.

It also mean that we spend more of our money locally .. lunch out once or twice a week, all out shopping is done locally and a coffee every day.

Personally I believe that companies should get some form of tax break / incentive for facilitating smart working .. the tech is out there and it’s relatively cheap and secure.

Self discipline is another story .. however people adapt and find their level

sounds brilliant, wish i could do it but i manage a large number of people in an operations setting so not possible for me unfortunately.

threetrees · 08-03-2020 9:40am

I work from home too. I wouldn't recommend it early in a career but it's brilliant when you are settled. I work in the office in a hot desk scenario once per week. That keeps the contact going with others.

Instant messaging is your friend when working at home and you need to initiate calls sometimes as people have a tendency to keep questions "until you are in" but I prefer to get things sorted over the phone rather than keeping them.

I find the no commute fantastic and it's handy to be here when kids get in from school, take in the washing of it rains etc.

I use a dedicated workspace, I have a desk and proper office chair. Of course this doubles up as a study desk in the evening for one of my kids but that's ok.

I work in accounts btw and am in my current work at home job for over 10 years

Ohmeha · 08-03-2020 9:46am

I would love to do a 4 day week with 2 days WFH, best balance between work-life/autonomy for WFH and maintaining contact with colleagues for developmental, engagement, social reasons

However my job requires too many high security systems so no option to WFH on a laptop, it can be done but costs too much apparently, and of course all the departments with less complex/risky IT have the ability to work remotely on laptops, so my department's continuity plan is to locate some staff in different buildings, however when the virus spreads everywhere and likely building shut downs are implemented then they are completely screwed

ChikiChiki · 08-03-2020 9:56am

rosiem wrote: »

Sorry was just interested in what the job area was my background is science and data analysis. I wasn’t looking for a job either so no need to reply like I asked you for one a polite question was all I asked.

Hi Rosie

I work in Project Management and have the option to work from home. I never studied it coming from a financial background and kind of fell into it and more opportunities came up which I grasped. Now I am starting to do some professional certificates to compliment my experience.

I'd imagine someone with a background like yourself has good critical thinking and organisational skills so perhaps it could be something for you to look at. There are even data migration projects out there as companies move to cloud based applications.

What I love about Project Management is the variation of projects. So far I have worked on Software systems, IT architecture, Office Moves, Data Migration and Governance projects. Thrown into the deepend of each but PM skills are transferable across all.

A lot of this work can be managed remotely with the right equipment. Also lots of flexibility in hours comes with it once organised.

Best of luck!

05eaftqbrs9jlh · 08-03-2020 11:39am

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

I can understand the benefits in this particular situation but my initial gut reaction to reading the idea of virtual classrooms for kids is that it wouldn't be the greatest idea. Those formative years for children in schools are where kids learn so much about how to develop themselves as young adults, social interactions with adults and peers, introductions to people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, structure and a whole host of other things beyond the direct educational itself. Now I can see plenty of benefits towards the direct education itself but I think those would come at too high a cost.

I don't mean in general. Just because of the pandemic going on. Several schools have had to close.

Ferm001 · 08-03-2020 12:02pm

Find it very hard to WFH, to many distractions. No actual fixed office in country, as involved in National sales, but find get more done in the various service stations / fast food outlets.

Would love if there was a cheap network of pop in office spaces around the country. Good B/B, coffee machine, communal area, sealed office cubicles for quiet work, phone calls etc. Would benefit communities, as would allow people the office environment, but not the commute.

Sonics2k · 08-03-2020 12:19pm

I worked from home a couple of years ago and after a few months I ended up with cabin fever. Totally lost my mind and was miserable.

I'm not exactly a social person but with no real interaction with others it was just incredibly draining.

Working from home once or twice a week is grand, but permanently it's just an awful time.

WhiteMemento9 · 08-03-2020 1:19pm

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

The underlined bits are quite interesting, and contradictory.
I know in my job we have people who will refuse to work from home because this was not something that was ever a requirement of their job/contract. And in many cases wfh-ing was refused or at best a struggle.
Unapologetically, I'm on the side of those who have been called 'the trouble-makers' - but I don't think any company big or small can go from 'tell us 2 weeks in advance why you need to work from home' to 'you must work from home next week'.

I don't think any company could introduce such a mandatory policy without consulting staff and getting individual approval. This event is unique though and gives rise to circumstances where companies are doing it for other reasons than trying to enforce it on staff. In a large company that was mentioned in the corona thread they didn't even have the facilities in place for people to work from home prior to this but have over the last weeks put in the place the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the option and now issuing guidance to work from home.

They are doing it based on their own analysis and risk assessment of the current situation and deciding for a number of reasons it is the best option during the current period. If it is for your own safety, the safety of those around you and ensuring the future viability of the company then I don't understand how staff under current conditions would have arguments against it.

_Kaiser_ · 08-03-2020 1:32pm

suicide_circus wrote: »

sounds brilliant, wish i could do it but i manage a large number of people in an operations setting so not possible for me unfortunately.

Ah even then you can do it one day a week anyway if you have things like Skype/teams and full vpn access when off site.

Build the right team and they'll work away regardless of whether you're there or not and it actually empowers them too. Although my guys were level 2/3 deskside. It would be different with something like a service desk.

Ficheall · 08-03-2020 1:44pm

I've also in the past gotten some short-term contract work from Upwork; in general I found it was absolutely not worth my time - finding and winning contracts takes a lot of work in itself, and the site takes a pretty hefty cut.

Shortly after I stopped using it, I think they started charging people to apply for contracts, ostensibly to make the hiring process simpler.

I'm glad I did it, for blagging on my CV, but in my area at least, pay earned for work done was not great. I did get $10 for putting a title on a document once, but that was the far and away the exception.

There is (was?) also no recourse for unfair feedback - as with Uber, I suppose - if someone gives you three of five stars on a whim, that has a big impact on you getting future clients, and there's nothing you can do about it. I had one guy give me 3/5 stars for punctuality after he took three weeks to send me the job and I returned it in less than 24 hours. Once you lose the 5-stars, it's very difficult to get it back.

I didn't find it was a great site for me, but some people do seem to make decent money from it.

r93kaey5p2izun · 08-03-2020 1:50pm

Working from home is not possible in my job, but I wonder about many people, especially younger workers, being physically able to find a suitable space for working for home to make it a viable option even temporarily for this crisis. With so many people living in quite overcrowded conditions at home, or sharing a room in a house share, or even as a lodger in an owner occupied house, WFH could be near impossible. Of course these conditions are also going to be very problematic in a scenario of widespread infection and need to quarantine, but just from a WFH perspective I don't see it being really possible for many people.

08-03-2020 1:52pm

Sonics2k wrote: »

I worked from home a couple of years ago and after a few months I ended up with cabin fever. Totally lost my mind and was miserable.

I'm not exactly a social person but with no real interaction with others it was just incredibly draining.

Working from home once or twice a week is grand, but permanently it's just an awful time.

That would be my preference too. Generally my industry is suited to it but never seeing people ever isn't healthy for my own head and I think it's better to have time in person with teams.

jester77 · 08-03-2020 1:53pm

I work from home a few days every week. Definitely a lot more productive when working from home as there are less distractions. The only difficult part is knowing when to call it a day, much easier in the office. I do miss going out for lunch, the free beer fridge in the afternoons and the office banter. Few days in the office and a few days at home is a nice balance.

Quin_Dub · 08-03-2020 2:09pm

I've been working 100% remote for 12 years or more at this stage.

Work for a US Multi-National . I'd only go in to the local office here about 4 or 5 times in the year . I do travel overseas quite a bit but 70-80& of my time is from home.

It suits my lifestyle and I would find it extremely difficult to go back to 9-5 in an office now.

As other have mentioned there are a few key things that you need to have/do to make it work.

You must have a dedicated "Office" with a door you can close - Sitting at the kitchen table or whatever just will not work. You need to make sure that you block out timeslots during the day for personal stuff e.g. 3:30pm-4pm - Collecting Kids from School or whatever . Put them in your calendar and make yourself unavailable. You'll more than cover the required hours , so make sure you allocate space for your self. Get up and take coffee/lunch breaks , you'd do it in the office , make sure to do it at home. It's very easy to find that you've skipped breakfast and lunch at home.. Also - It might sound silly , but get up and get showered/dressed every day , don't sit at the desk in your PJ's until lunchtime. Certainly for me that act of "Getting ready for work" is an important mental transition. Family understanding that "you are at work" is also important . Partners & Children need to understand that if you are at work you are at work regardless of the fact that you are upstairs in the spare bedroom or whatever. That's why having a door to close is important. For me , if the door is closed then the family know that I am busy and can't be disturbed , but if the door is open they can drop in for a chat etc.

Tea Shock · 08-03-2020 2:49pm

What about the finances of working from home?

My commute to the office costs practically nothing. It is 1 mile door to door.
In the event of being forced to work from home, who is responsible for the stability of my broadband connection - Most people's home broadband occasionally goes AWOL and has variable dependability/capacity depending on who your provider is. And who is responsible for paying for it? Most people have it anyway but can get rid of it if they need to save money - we cant if we need it for work. And what about home heating and electricity use? It would be pretty darn cold sitting in the box room for 8 hours per day at this time of year, in a house where the heating is usually off during daytime - and the heating bills will quickly add up. Why should I pay for it while the office get to turn off their heating coz nobody is there?

zweton · 08-03-2020 3:42pm

Ferm001 wrote: »

Find it very hard to WFH, to many distractions. No actual fixed office in country, as involved in National sales, but find get more done in the various service stations / fast food outlets.

Would love if there was a cheap network of pop in office spaces around the country. Good B/B, coffee machine, communal area, sealed office cubicles for quiet work, phone calls etc. Would benefit communities, as would allow people the office environment, but not the commute.

Yes office spaces are a problem when outside the big cities. There is a hot desk option near me I would like to use but at roughly 200 a week its hardly worth it! That's 800 p/m...

Harpon · 08-03-2020 4:16pm

I’ve been working from home for 2 days a week for the past 2 years and love it. It has really improved my health and well-being. I get to skip my 2 hour minimum roundtrip commute on those days which is a godsend and means I have so much more energy throughout the week.

I’m more productive as it’s quiet at home and I can concentrate and focus, whereas in the open plan office it’s nothing but noise and constant distractions, the printer going every couple of minutes, people talking on the phone, people shouting over to others about stuff, people coming in and out of the room, I just find it really hard to work in that environment. I also feel like I am under constant surveillance in the office so I am a lot more relaxed at home.

I have the heating on for about an hour extra per day on the days I work from home, but that’s only during the winter months. Any extra costs there are offset by the saving on petrol and less wear and tear on the car and tyres etc. I also save money by being able to make lunch at the house on those days.

Going to ask my company soon if I can work from home 4 days a week, that would be ideal for me.

antimatterx · 08-03-2020 5:01pm

I'm a software engineer and is a result, WFH is a perk that we receive. Since I started my current job in June 2019, I've taken the opportunity to WFH maybe 4 times. I don't particularly like it, and I find it quite boring. I like going into the office and having a laugh with lads. I need the interaction (even as an introvert).

Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have the option. If the Coronavirus has an outbreak we will be forced to WFH indefinitely as the office will be closed.

Kidchameleon · 08-03-2020 5:15pm

Ficheall wrote: »

You'd need a phd in maths, and we have no vacancies at present. No more PMs, please.

08-03-2020 5:21pm

antimatterx wrote: »

I'm a software engineer and is a result, WFH is a perk that we receive. Since I started my current job in June 2019, I've taken the opportunity to WFH maybe 4 times. I don't particularly like it, and I find it quite boring. I like going into the office and having a laugh with lads. I need the interaction (even as an introvert).

Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have the option. If the Coronavirus has an outbreak we will be forced to WFH indefinitely as the office will be closed.

I've found it most useful when I've had health stuff going on and still wanted to work.

swampgas · 08-03-2020 6:09pm

I've converted one room at home to an office, have similar equipment to the main office (office chair, multiple screens, docking station, wired LAN, etc), and don't have much in the way of disturbances. Although sometimes there will be a noisy lawnmower outside or a bin lorry tearing around making a racket which can intrude on calls, so it's good to have reasonable sound-proofing in your home office if that's going to be an issue.

The team I work in is scattered between multiple locations, here and in the US. Some of us work remotely on a permanent basis, the rest of mix working from home with being in the office as we prefer. From a social perspective it works, as my co-workers are often working remotely also. It does pay to have a decent web camera and headset (we use high end logitech HD cameras and top end Plantronics headsets), and decent video conferencing software. Zoom is nice and easy to use, webex is popular too but a bit clunky. Video conferencing done properly works really well, in fact sometimes when we're in the office a few of us will set up a Zoom call anyway so that we can share our screens with each other more easily.

Messaging channels such as Slack can be great but can also be a distraction if not managed well. One of the challenges I find is how best to indicate my "presence". In the office I'll put on headphones to indicate that I'm in "do not disturb" mode, when working remotely I have to remember to set my online status properly so my colleagues know whether I'm open to being disturbed or not.

I do regret not installing an adjustable standing desk at home when I had the chance. I have one at work now and I find it a great improvement over a normal desk. I deliver online training occasionally and being able to stand when teaching really helps project in a more alert way compared with being seated.

Having a structured way of managing team work can help, some form of Agile (if appropriate) using Jira, or Trello, or whatever, so that everyone can see what everyone else is working on can help a team to function better when physically remote from each other.

As it happens my boss works from home quite a bit too, and weekly meetings on Fridays are done by video conference with most of the team logged in from home. If only a few of us were working remotely, I think we might feel excluded from the office gossip, but as we are all in the same boat that really doesn't seem to happen.

I still have a desk at the main office, which is 30 minutes away, so if I want to show my face in the building, or talk to HR, or if my home broadband goes down, I can just throw the laptop in a bag and drive on in.

I don't think I'd like to work 100% from home, but given the choice of 100% in the office or 100% at home, I'd definitely take the home option. I guess it's worth clarifying that I'm well established careerwise and not looking for any additional promotion, nor am I in a management role, so what suits me might not work for everyone else.

Mr. CooL ICE · 08-03-2020 6:09pm

I recently left a job where I WFH full time for a job with no WFH options for a variety of reasons.

I'd echo everything Quin_dub said, but in particular the door to close. I started working from the kitchen table and did that for a few months because I had to convert the spare room into an office first. It was a nightmare. Family members coming into the kitchen and making a cup of tea can't resist the temptation of small talk while the kettle boils.

JustAThought · 08-03-2020 8:10pm

My ex flatmate whi Intented a room to last year decided they were going to ‘work from home’ - total nightmare. The house went from quiet haven to angry tantrums on the phone and a permanent bad termpered flatmate nagging at people on the phone and thinking it was fine or of interest to shre it with me. That and a huge increase in heating bills ( 20 extra days of 8 extra hours aprox) and significant uptake in Lx use too - plus the comfy rooms became office hangouts for whwn they were bored ir wanted a change of scene - with work files and papers scattered about. Never again.

I had to take a conference call out of hours the other day & set it up in the main open plan room downstairs - sun beating in necessitated furniture change and an umberella
indoors and then I had to stage the background as I didnt waNt my private space or photos and drying laundry on show. I really felt intruded upon by the corporate world who felt it was a great idea - not to mention the fear of inconveniencing my (new) flatmate whi had to creep in and whom I had to ask not to cook or use the huge common room in for that hour and a half in the evening. Not impressed.

From working with a multinational with a lot of sub contractors and young staff it always seemed to
keep to the same pattern - out of sight out of mind - when the chips were down and there were less contracts to renew it was those who were in the office networking that got the renewals and not those invisible drones who nobody remembered who wete ‘working’ from home.

Regardless of how hard they might have worked everybody felt they were just in the doss and being paid to mind their own babys - as was often evidenced by the disruptions on skype calls by their children who clearly were at it all day long and clearly rarely corrected.

As for those I often see in small cafes and stRvucks using their wifi and discussing private figures and details with spredssheats out on public display I have to wonder. I would not be happy if that was my company or vendor and my details out on view like that or being discussed publically. But thats not what working from home is supposed to be.

Princess Calla · 08-03-2020 8:20pm

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

coming into the kitchen and making a cup of tea can't resist the temptation of small talk while the kettle boils.

Sounds like a normal office environment

WhiteMemento9 · 08-03-2020 11:29pm

Princess Calla wrote: »

Sounds like a normal office environment

That was my first thought too. For some reason, though as I said in the OP this stuff enters your mind in a negative way far more than if you are in the office. In my line of work, the reality is even if I took a few hours off at home that I am far productive overall than at the end of the day than in the office. The kind of work requires a decent amount of concentration and focus into your own world and in the office that is interrupted often and can be hard to even engage the kind of headspace that is optimal to the work in an open office environment.

Just to add also the natural cut off point of the day in the office can be extremely helpful to reset and move out of the work headspace for the day. I quite enjoy what I do and am naturally inclined toward becoming invested in solving something or working until I have some cut off point that I feel happy leaving it. That can mean sometimes if you get heavily involved in something interesting it can be hard to just leave the laptop to one side and move on with the day while the ritual of finishing work and commuting home gives it that natural end.

Mrs OBumble · 09-03-2020 12:22am

If you can do your job 100% from home, then there's a lad in China etc who can do it from his home for a fraction of the price you charge.

Right now, timezones and standards of English are saving your job. But the Indian lads timeshift their working hours at the drop of a hat. And the Latvian ones are working on their English.

Princess Calla · 09-03-2020 12:26am

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

That was my first thought too. For some reason, though as I said in the OP this stuff enters your mind in a negative way far more than if you are in the office.

I think it's psychological to be honest.

When you are in the office you're seen, your at your desk it's fairly obvious if you're super busy and if things are going right or wrong.

In my work, the task can go right and it will probably take a day or day and a half to complete. In can also go wrong and take the day/day and a half to get to the point where you realise it's wrong then the finding the error can be 5 mins to the full day depending.... If I'm in the office that's fine, if I was at home I'd probably end up doing extra work off the clock as I'd be convinced they'd think I'm dossing.

Bobeagleburger · 09-03-2020 12:27am

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If you can do your job 100% from home, then there's a lad in China etc who can do it from his home for a fraction of the price you charge.

Right now, timezones and standards of English are saving your job. But the Indian lads timeshift their working hours at the drop of a hat. And the Latvian ones are working on their English.

That's a very black and white view of things

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