Depending on the group/team/organization, physical presence makes a huge difference.
Even though I can work from home at will, I still go to the office a lot, about 60%-70% of my time is there. Physical presence just makes a lot of things easier, and it makes teams more cohesive. I can’t imagine spending less time at the office - those random hallway conversations make a world of difference. If you’re not there for the convo, they’ll tap someone else, not by design or intention, just by that person being in front of them.
Now a call center? Maybe not so much, though I was once on a call center team and the ability to tap a teammate on the shoulder was a big help. Much better than using chat tools. So it really depends on the organization.
And then there’s management that need you there to justify their role. That’s just a poorly managed company, when senior management permits that (though some of them need their own staff count to justify their roles).
It totally is job dependent. I have had WFH since 2009. Mostly Engineering CAD work and design feasibilities. Some peoole needed the office interaction for learning, but I already had 20 years experience so I really didn’t need input until design reviews.
That role changed to more consulting in 2015 and I had to be onsite to learn the clients process and products, and get differing views from each “expert”. Since COVID WFH i have been solo at home again. I get way more accomplished without random coworker hellos and idle chatter interrupting my flow.
60-70% seems nuts to me. 10%-20% feels about right to me. That’s a day every week or two. Builds cohesion and lets you do some effective brainstorming sessions, and then the rest of the time you do actual work far more efficiently. I mean you do you, but I thought I was suffering from lack of office time, but that’s way too far in the other direction for me.
It’s been 5 years and 3 jobs since I’ve been to an office. My last job I honestly don’t even know what state my job was based out of. That’s a little too disconnected. But just a little.
At our small company many of us became more productive with working from home, to the point that they closed the office. A couple of people are finding it difficult because of their home situations, so it would be good still to have a space to work outside the home. But generally we’re getting more done these days, and most who do work that needs prolonged concentration find this more conducive to that.
It varies between different companies, teams, roles and temperaments. What Dell is doing sounds like corporate heavy-handedness.
A couple of people are finding it difficult because of their home situations
This is why most of the nice cafes in my city are packed for most of the afternoon. A lot of people are WFH but don’t want to stay home for whatever reason they have.
My uni forced us to resume in-person classes barely five months into the pandemic. No one is more productive. To this day, I’m only in the office when my contract says I have to be there. Even then, the door is closed and the lights are off. I can literally count on one hand the number of useful hallway conversations in the last four years. Generally, I’m far more productive without the interruptions and pointless random socializing.
It really depends on the company. You can make fully remote work, you can make 20-40% work or you can do 80-100% work. However the company needs to be run with that in mind to ensure good communication/team building etc.
You also can’t just change the rules. If you change the split someone is going to be unhappy.
(And accept that your possible talent pool is reduced when you don’t offer remote work)
It’s a way to filter out people, for good or ill.
Depending on the group/team/organization, physical presence makes a huge difference.
Even though I can work from home at will, I still go to the office a lot, about 60%-70% of my time is there. Physical presence just makes a lot of things easier, and it makes teams more cohesive. I can’t imagine spending less time at the office - those random hallway conversations make a world of difference. If you’re not there for the convo, they’ll tap someone else, not by design or intention, just by that person being in front of them.
Now a call center? Maybe not so much, though I was once on a call center team and the ability to tap a teammate on the shoulder was a big help. Much better than using chat tools. So it really depends on the organization.
And then there’s management that need you there to justify their role. That’s just a poorly managed company, when senior management permits that (though some of them need their own staff count to justify their roles).
It totally is job dependent. I have had WFH since 2009. Mostly Engineering CAD work and design feasibilities. Some peoole needed the office interaction for learning, but I already had 20 years experience so I really didn’t need input until design reviews. That role changed to more consulting in 2015 and I had to be onsite to learn the clients process and products, and get differing views from each “expert”. Since COVID WFH i have been solo at home again. I get way more accomplished without random coworker hellos and idle chatter interrupting my flow.
60-70% seems nuts to me. 10%-20% feels about right to me. That’s a day every week or two. Builds cohesion and lets you do some effective brainstorming sessions, and then the rest of the time you do actual work far more efficiently. I mean you do you, but I thought I was suffering from lack of office time, but that’s way too far in the other direction for me.
It’s been 5 years and 3 jobs since I’ve been to an office. My last job I honestly don’t even know what state my job was based out of. That’s a little too disconnected. But just a little.
At our small company many of us became more productive with working from home, to the point that they closed the office. A couple of people are finding it difficult because of their home situations, so it would be good still to have a space to work outside the home. But generally we’re getting more done these days, and most who do work that needs prolonged concentration find this more conducive to that.
It varies between different companies, teams, roles and temperaments. What Dell is doing sounds like corporate heavy-handedness.
This is why most of the nice cafes in my city are packed for most of the afternoon. A lot of people are WFH but don’t want to stay home for whatever reason they have.
My uni forced us to resume in-person classes barely five months into the pandemic. No one is more productive. To this day, I’m only in the office when my contract says I have to be there. Even then, the door is closed and the lights are off. I can literally count on one hand the number of useful hallway conversations in the last four years. Generally, I’m far more productive without the interruptions and pointless random socializing.
What a bot response.
It really depends on the company. You can make fully remote work, you can make 20-40% work or you can do 80-100% work. However the company needs to be run with that in mind to ensure good communication/team building etc.
You also can’t just change the rules. If you change the split someone is going to be unhappy.
(And accept that your possible talent pool is reduced when you don’t offer remote work)