Working from home - 2023 edition

[Pipo]

I feel the camera thing is a bit of a BOOMER need.

 

[Jark]

that said sometimes I'm just straight up SERVING so I like to watch myself in the corner of my screen.

 

[Ellie]

I sometimes start meetings camera off and then turn it on when I speak, or vice versa. usually morning calls start camera off because I'm still making coffee

who really cares if your camera is on or not though. most of it just comes down to a (baseless) lack of trust in people. if you do trust your workforce and they feel it, they'll be happier and work better, and in most cases won't take the piss. this should all be common sense.

I think it’s just difficult if you’re hosting a meeting with 20+ people and you’re doing all the talking. Everyone on mute with cameras off, it’s so isolating and feels like you’re talking to yourself.

 

[lolly]

I sometimes start meetings camera off and then turn it on when I speak, or vice versa. usually morning calls start camera off because I'm still making coffee

who really cares if your camera is on or not though. most of it just comes down to a (baseless) lack of trust in people. if you do trust your workforce and they feel it, they'll be happier and work better, and in most cases won't take the piss. this should all be common sense.

Yeah it's bullshit, promoted by managers who can't bear a loss of any aspect of control, and desperate to evidence their own worth.

 

[Jark]

I think it’s just difficult if you’re hosting a meeting with 20+ people and you’re doing all the talking. Everyone on mute with cameras off, it’s so isolating and feels like you’re talking to yourself.

oh of course. the host or main speakers and ideally half the group should be camera on. but ALWAYS CAMERA ON is ridiculous and rules for rules sake.

 

[lolly]

I think it’s just difficult if you’re hosting a meeting with 20+ people and you’re doing all the talking. Everyone on mute with cameras off, it’s so isolating and feels like you’re talking to yourself.

But you really don't need to enforce it as a rule or compulsory cameras on. For us it's just an expectation, but you accept that sometimes, people may not, for whatever reason. Unless people take the piss, let them get on with it however. I've been in meetings over 20+ people and I don't think there has ever been more than two or three without cameras on.

 

[Kratz]

that said sometimes I'm just straight up SERVING so I like to watch myself in the corner of my screen.

Oh I exclusively look at myself

 

[Pipo]

I think I misunderstood this option yet I voted for it. What I meant was, I would be willing to go into the office more frequently if the salary was a bit higher.

Salary being linked to office attendance is acceptable

 

[Indie]

I'm "smart working", which requires me to be in the office 50%+ of the time, so I sit roughly on that line. I'd take more home time if I could. Mind you, it is not particularly strictly enforced, but I do run a team so I suppose I should lead by example or some shit. Only the directors have performance linked to attendance.

I am more productive at home. Nobody pulling me aside for "quick chats" which end up being more guff than useful, and no pointless bants with people I wouldn't spend my spare time with.

In fact an interesting stat was uncovered and quietly hushed by the CEO - on average, there was no change in productivity from home or from the office. The CEO wanted to use it as a stick to beat us with, but couldn't, so had to parrot "collaberagion" and "mental health" instead. All the rhetoric really annoys me: "but what about the younger people who want training and face to face learning?" They don't. The younger generation are the ones wanting to WFH.

I rant, but office life is okay. I just prefer my own space.

 

[Indie]

If there's one thing that flexible working/pandemic brought for us, it's a quick relaxation of the dress code. I've not worn a shirt and trousers at work for 4 years.

 

[Indie]

I learned recently that our office attendance is monitored by card swipes into the building. One day, I popped in to use the toilet and it counted as an office day.

 

[Tisch]

I'm on full time proud mummy leave xxx

 

[Tisch]

But anyway, my office have recently brought in a two day PER MONTH policy and people are still finding room to moan. My boss was giving slightly mixed messages however about whether he wanted our particular department to do whatever days they pleased (which is the company's official rule) or whether we should do a set two days. It made it tricky for me to tell my team what was expected or them because I didn't really know myself...

There seems to be a naturally occuring one day a month which is an "everyone in the office day" so that's happening and people are filling the quota with their own voluntary days, I think that's a pretty perfect balance of giving people the choice and keeping an element of face time in.

 

[Ellie]

We’re now currently on “on average 50% in the office”, which isn’t all that clear as we suggested one week in, one week off which they rejected. Doesn’t make any difference to me as I’m in 99% of the time anyway, but the teams have expanded so much, we literally don’t have enough room for everyone to be in every day so they have designated days on and off each week per team.

Train strikes and people having Covid etc. of course they WFH, but some managers are more militant about it than others and they cause massive stress to their teams. I’m just sick of hearing about all the reasons why people can’t come in as it’s relentless monotony regarding their personal lives. The parents of older kids and teenagers are actually the worst whiners, whereas the parents of toddlers who have way more stress seem to just get on with it and find workable solutions.

I’ve recently stopped managing people for a one year secondment for a massive pay rise, and my new direct manager is so hands-off, he might as well not be there, so my new role is currently far less stressful than before. Really hoping it gets extended!

 

[Lee]

I’m on 50%. But the bulk of my office don’t ever have to come in. I love the 50% but I would never want 100% either way.
We’re currently struggling with the bulk that WFH as much as they like. They’re taking the piss and the senior management are trying to encourage them back in. My observation of all this is the problem with it is if you give people the opportunity to take the piss. Most will.

 

[Kala]

I work 100% from home. This is due to getting a new job two years ago in a different department. My old department were based in Glasgow where we have an office. My new department are based in London where also have an office.

My company have an ethos of remote first this means that you can go into the office as much or as little as you want. During the pandemic we recruited people all over the UK, so with only having two offices, it seems unfair to recruit people who live where we have no office so then give them a mandate to come into an office.

Technically I could go into the Glasgow office. In fact I’m going in next week to meet colleague who is coming up from London, but I have not been in the office since April 2022. I could go into the Glasgow office more often but none of my colleagues that I work with now work there and my old team are in once a month, so it defeats the purpose for me to go into the office when I have to travel for half an hour to get into the office, and get up extra early to have a shower etc. my job as a data analyst requires me to work alone around 80% of a time anyway, apart from when I have teams calls so I don’t really see what the point of going to the office is unless it’s for a collaboration of some sorts.

I actually get a lot more work done at home. When I didn’t go into the office, I would spend half a day chatting to colleagues who I hadn’t seen for months about random useless things going for lunch which is quite nice. I like to have the social aspect, but I think I would rather for that to have the freedom to work from home and live a much more flexible life.

I have adapted to working from home well of course I’m not changed my desk 9-5 but I do tend to work slightly longer hours but I have more breaks during the day and I don’t have the commute anymore. Working from home is all about making sure that you have a space that is completely separate from the rest of your daily life. For me, I have an attic conversion which should I use as an office I can close the door. When I finish work, go down the stairs I completely separate that from my personal life, the danger of getting distracted is when you’re sitting sitting on the sofa with a laptop that rather than actually having a dedicated space to work.

 

[Kate]

I'm 100% remote now and since my team is all over the world there would really be no point going to the office.

Being VERY much NOT a morning person I MUCH prefer it. I've had offices I enjoyed working in, but I still absolutely loathed having to get out of bed and get ready to go there.

I get all my desired social activity in the evenings and at weekends. I can imagine it would be isolating if you lived in the middle of nowhere. Unless you're a complete introvert who hates people I suppose.

We NEVER have our cameras on perhaps cos we're all nerds...

 

[Ill Advised]

I’ve been a home worker since 2010 for various reasons and roles

Working in the office gives me such anxiety and if I do have to go in it’s unbearable and I get no work done

It does make me think so much home working does effect social aspects of life

 

[COB]

I can't do my job from home so

 

[Peekaboo]

My observation from all of this is the corporate world is 90% fucking bullshit of politicking and meetings about meetings and no one should really need to be tied to an office desk eight hours a day five days a week.

People are "taking the piss" because the veil has been lifted.