I would much rather be in the office where I can engage my workers and clients in a more professional setting. I'm sick of ZOOM calls with co-workers wearing shirts and sports jackets from the waist up and cargo shorts and sandals from the waist down. Also backgrounds of their dining rooms and the noise of barking dogs, shouting children, etc. Would much rather grab some coffee at the office with them and hash things out in person.
Maybe I'm just old school. I'm a Baby Boomer just a few years from retirement so what do I know.
We had an on-site departmental meeting a few months before the holidays. It was a great experience and I’m glad to have been part of it.
But the cost was enormous even though 1/3 to 1/2 of the people were locals.
I’d have preferred to meet a lot of the people I support, but some are in VA, some in NC, some in FL, some in TX. Plus not everyone works the same hours. It’s just not practical.
This eliminates one of the major disruptive factors that emerged in our economy after World War II — when it became commonplace for people to spend most of their waking hours miles from home, working in places where they had no say in how the local government is run.
Of course, my job enables me to do this easily because I work for clients spread across multiple states, and I am the boss. My office isn’t a spare bedroom, either … it’s a full walk-out basement with extra desks for contractors, meeting space, and all the office electronics I need.
You’re absolutely correct. High quality communication —essential to business— requires physical presence. Other forms can do quite well, but the amount of information being exchanged at the subliminal level when two or more people gather cannot be replaced by any technology.
I’m glad I have the option to work from home.
My health tanked in December. I wound up collapsing twice in a 2-week period. It’s been a never-ending round of doctors and tests. Had an angiography done in early January which confirmed my heart was in excellent shape and was not the issue. Now they are checking my brain.
I’m restricted from driving.
Were it not for being able to work from home, I would be out of luck.
I think it has a lot to do with what you do. In IT, at least in the technical/engineering roles (as opposed to the managerial roles), there’s not much benefit to being in an office. I don’t really need to be in a conference room to communicate technical details. In fact, I find it much more effective to communicate in writing, and it gives me a written record of everything I say and do (which can be pretty important when/if the SHTF).
> I would much rather be in the office where I can engage my workers and clients in a more professional setting.
That’s cool but who pays for the lost hour(s) commuting, costs of transport, the building, the light, heat or cooling, water, maintenance, and assorted other businesses taking up more space, energy, and people meeting needs from parking to food, so you can have your rather?
Then, at least in my work, if I went into an office, I’d be in daily calls with people across the country anyway. Maybe we could slow things down for a week and put everyone on planes for that face to face feeling, and incur all the expenses and per diems.
That said the actual meet itself is better in person, but the overhead is massive.
There's a lot of communication that's actually hindered when one attempts to mediate it by technology. You can say stuff face to face through random meetings in the break room or hallway that would never be said in a Zoom meeting.
It’s job- and personality-specific. SamAdams76, you sound like you have a job where you really need to be in the office and actually enjoy it. Great.
Many people don’t. I don’t manage anyone, nor am I closely managed beyond the occasional check-in, and I am an introvert with a “worker bee” attitude. Get in, put my head down, get stuff done, and leave. I can do that just as easily from home as from the office.
Making me drive an hour each way to and from the office is a waste.
I am amazed that LeQuisha blabbing loudly on the phone all day about her “good boy” in trouble with the law—again—has not scared you away from the office.
When her “good boy” showed up at the office one day and started looking at me like I was his next meal that was it for me—I was working from home!
Working from home is more stressful because you are always in the office. I didn’t see it but my wife did. That is driving me to retire earlier than I wanted.