While YouTube binging days happen, in general there's a higher expectations for results and more pressure.
At the office you could do 2000 breaks for coffee and smoke and it was more relaxed. If I was missing at my desk people would assume I was in a meeting or had some call or was on a break.
But online? Don't answer someone in 30/40 minutes and there was an instant assumption you were not working.
I don't believe that remote working is for everyone, it's tough, and I believe that many are less productive (countless coworkers I could see playing videogames on discord during the day). They pay the price at some point, but I don't judge.
But for many others the reality is tougher than office days.
Especially the first 18 months after COVID hit were hell for me.
That's not even counting the mental toll of isolation and lower socialization. Again, good remote work is not for everyone and I understand companies that oppose it.
But I don't share any view implying that it's less productive or less stressful, in many many ways it isn't.
Spot on. Things are actually MUCH more relaxed in the office, which is why some people don't want it (e.g. people with caregiving responsibility). Everyone I know with children 0-10 wishes there was some more flexibility in scheduling. RTO just steals that from you. It has nothing to do with the amount of work.
From observation my belief is that in-office work selects for slackers as equally as wfh work does, they just slack differently.
One of our well respected product owners was always so very busy, with back to back meetings when working in office. Then we started WFH and all figured out she was a Costanza - all those meetings were her way of looking important, while everyone routed work around her.
On the other hand, some of our more neurodivergent engineers benefited from the rigidity of sitting at a desk where they are too afraid to pick up their Switch and just game.
When slacking in the office, it's essential to find other slackers to slack with. At home, I can slack alone just fine doing all the stuff that I normally do at home.
That’s not what the government is proposing though - they are proposing working from home options and flexibility of working 5 day hours into 4 days (so, 4x10 hrs rather than 5x8).
Also though - studies have been conducted and companies shrinking days to 4 whilst keeping 5 days have seen an increase in/same productivity.
So, depends on whether the company is after results or presenteeism.
The failure of the organization to meet productivity expectations without questionable forms of psychophysiological manipulation of employees should not be met with open arms.
Yes, it can be effective to deploy such methods over the limited physical access to employees, but ultimately it is an unsustainable method of control that arguably breeds a cohort of disinterested middle managers over time. A successful organization for its goals has the most motivated workers, needless of such methods of control.
Exactly. I am full remote and this is the only thing I miss about the office.
The social aspects that have nothing to do with working or productivity. What comes with that though are massive distractions that don't exist remote.
I suspect the productive workers are much more productive remote and the unproductive workers are equally unproductive. The big difference is that the unproductive workers don't have to pretend to be working like they do in the office but at least they aren't such a distraction to the productive workers.
I don't know if most people's work ethic is that high. At least mine isn't as I'm writing this from my home office during working hours while having basically procrastinated all day today.
