Working from home-Hows that going?

[HeelYeah2012]

I can not imagine how I would train a new employee on Zoom

It’s extremely hard. Not to mention it’s hard to form a meaningful relationship with a new person on the team if both of you work remotely and the only times you ever talk to each other are either pinging about work or having Zoom meetings about work.

There aren’t nearly as many conversations about people’s families or sports or dogs etc that occur over the computer screen. And those conversations are critical for me as a leader to garner trust and buy-in with my teammates.

 

[aGDevil2k]

It’s extremely hard. Not to mention it’s hard to form a meaningful relationship with a new person on the team if both of you work remotely and the only times you ever talk to each other are either pinging about work or having Zoom meetings about work.

There aren’t nearly as many conversations about people’s families or sports or dogs etc that occur over the computer screen. And those conversations are critical for me as a leader to garner trust and buy-in with my teammates.

Seems to me your company needs to add some Slack or Teams channels for those purposes. Companies have to be intentional (more on that in my next reply) to foster it.

My company has "random" channels and there were live play by plays going on with some of the Olympics. We have pet pictures, food discussions, etc

 

[HeelYeah2012]

Seems to me your company needs to add some Slack or Teams channels for those purposes. Companies have to be intentional (more on that in my next reply) to foster it.

My company has "random" channels and there were live play by plays going on with some of the Olympics. We have pet pictures, food discussions, etc

That’s a good idea but not needed for me since we’re back in the office 5 days a week now company wide. Probably a bit overkill for departments like accounting and IT, but I would prefer 5 days in the office over fully remote.

 

[mpaer]

Seems to me your company needs to add some Slack or Teams channels for those purposes. Companies have to be intentional (more on that in my next reply) to foster it.

My company has "random" channels and there were live play by plays going on with some of the Olympics. We have pet pictures, food discussions, etc

I have no f$%king idea what you are talking about Old guy trying to learn here lolol

 

[HeelYeah2012]

I have no f$%king idea what you are talking about Old guy trying to learn here lolol

Instead of sending an “instant message” to an individual person that only the two of you can see, a company can set up a company-wide spot on Microsoft Teams where anyone in the company can share live thoughts on a given topic. For example, Olympics. You could have people across the company posting their thoughts into a “live chat” about the Olympics to help simulate the kind of organic conversations that would occur in an office environment.

 

[aGDevil2k]

How do you really feel? Lol The 40 ish types I know would universally agree with you

That's us Gen Xers. Leave us alone (our parents did!) and we will be just fine!

Doesnt mean we are anti-social, but work isn't my family. Those "we are a family" BS posts on LinkedIn can die. Work will dispose of you in a second. You die? Backfilled. My family doesn't make me track when I need a break.

To the person who asked about Slack/Teams for a class, that would be really hard IMO. BUT I think Teams is better designed for classes. I do think school in person is irreplaceable. But a Teams setup for both class sessions (video) and questions/discussion is the next best thing. Slack is harder because it's poor video conference tools.

Training new employees virtually is very easy if thought-out correctly. You need an onboarding program with set meetings and training. It depends on the job, but in tech, 100% can be virtual.

Face to face meetings? Again don't project an individual need for being in person (regularly) onto everyone. Sure it's cool to hang out sometimes, but once or twice a year is fine. I dont need a week of teambuilding either. Getting to know people? Be intentional. That's the difference being virtual - you have a question, reach out to someone. Want to get to know people, have meetings that aren't just about work. Each week for my team, we start out with an icebreaker question. It's all up to whomever leads the meeting (we rotate weekly) but can be on your favorite food to the best moment of the Olympics you saw. Just be intentional to get to know people and it happens.

One thing: in tech, the vast majority of startups and scale-ups are remote-first. Why? It works, you can establish a GREAT company culture if done right, and it's cheaper. No stupid waste on corporate real estate. My current company has some manufacturing in the headquarters...the rest of the company is remote. The headquarters is catching up, but even an old school company like that is evolving and adapting well.

 

[aGDevil2k]

Instead of sending an “instant message” to an individual person that only the two of you can see, a company can set up a company-wide spot on Microsoft Teams where anyone in the company can share live thoughts on a given topic. For example, Olympics. You could have people across the company posting their thoughts into a “live chat” about the Olympics to help simulate the kind of organic conversations that would occur in an office environment.

This -

It's like a message board for the company. You can set permissions. Some are open forums for anyone. Some are mandated for the whole company to join (announcements, etc). Some are restricted to teams/departments. Some are based on projects or products.

 

[aGDevil2k]

That’s a good idea but not needed for me since we’re back in the office 5 days a week now company wide. Probably a bit overkill for departments like accounting and IT, but I would prefer 5 days in the office over fully remote.

Ewww. Banking? What industry?

 

[farce©]

Each week for my team, we start out with an icebreaker question. It's all up to whomever leads the meeting (we rotate weekly) but can be on your favorite food to the best moment of the Olympics you saw.

No offense, but that sounds terribly contrived. Sort of like the BS “role playing” bits in corporate HR training programs.

 

[aGDevil2k]

No offense, but that sounds terribly contrived. Sort of like the BS “role playing” bits in corporate HR training programs.

Glad it sounds that way. It is contrived. It's on the agenda each week. The team enjoys it way more than just diving into more work stuff. We get into side discussions from it all the time (and I usually have to cut it off because we are going long). I even watched some good movies from suggestions given. You have to be intentional when remote. And it works for us. I got it from a former boss and it worked great on that team for years. I do think that corporate HR icebreaker games are terrible. They were even worse in person.

That seems uncomfortable to you, but I felt nauseous reading you write that you walked around "to make yourself available as a manager." Unless I am in a meeting, my teams knows they can ping me at any time. Just night and day differences in working, which is understandable based on your age. I am sure when I am nearing retirement in 12 years (I hope) that there will be things going on with the Gen Z crowd that I just can't understand.

 

[RockyMtnHoo]

I like Teams channels for team building/morale purposes but have to watch use.

90% of people will use and not abuse, but have to watch that 10% whose job becomes more posting jokes, talking sports…especially fantasy football and March Madness discussions. Before you know it you’ll have other employees complaining in one-on-one chats, “what does Johnny do all day other than post in this thread?”

I’ve worked remotely since I retired from the Air Force a couple of years ago. Love it like 80% of the time, but occasionally have days I just want to get out of my home office. I manage a team of about 20 who are remotely spread out around the country, and as long as they get their work done and are available if the client needs to call during business hours, I don’t really care where or how they get it done.

 

[farce©]

That seems uncomfortable to you, but I felt nauseous reading you write that you walked around "to make yourself available as a manager."

Sorry to make you nauseous. I had factory floors, fulfillment centers and product development labs to tend to where people can’t just leave their workstations and ping other people.

 

[HeelInTheOzarks]

What I don’t understand are people who travel all the time for business. I thought Covid would absolutely kill that. Our team works with an outside consulting team and not only do they travel one week a month here to meet with us but also one if the other three weeks THEY also meet internally. And they travel from all over the US to do so. It seems incredibly wasteful

 

[CFordUNC]

What I don’t understand are people who travel all the time for business. I thought Covid would absolutely kill that. Our team works with an outside consulting team and not only do they travel one week a month here to meet with us but also one if the other three weeks THEY also meet internally. And they travel from all over the US to do so. It seems incredibly wasteful

A couple of years ago, during the height of the pandemic, I too thought that the ability to conduct meetings virtually would dramatically reduce the need for travel in my line of work (. We tried it all throughout 2021 and early 2022 and it just didn’t work. Our clients, so to speak, just were not receptive to and did not want to do virtual meetings.

 

[tallheel95]

I’ve worked remotely since I retired from the Air Force a couple of years ago.

Thank you for your service!

 

[HeelYeah2012]

Ewww. Banking? What industry?

Commercial real estate - doesn’t sound like an industry you love

 

[HeelInTheOzarks]

A couple of years ago, during the height of the pandemic, I too thought that the ability to conduct meetings virtually would dramatically reduce the need for travel in my line of work (. We tried it all throughout 2021 and early 2022 and it just didn’t work. Our clients, so to speak, just were not receptive to and did not want to do virtual meetings.

Luckily my work travel is only to drive 3 hours from Fayetteville to Little Rock…but these people who are constantly flying cross country for work meetings and who basically live in airports and hotels, that truly boggles my mind.

I did wonder a lot during Covid how many traveling business guys would now have to actually see their families or at least lose their girlfriends or second families around the country.

 

[CFordUNC]

Luckily my work travel is only to drive 3 hours from Fayetteville to Little Rock…but these people who are constantly flying cross country for work meetings and who basically live in airports and hotels, that truly boggles my mind.

I did wonder a lot during Covid how many traveling business guys would now have to actually see their families or at least lose their girlfriends or second families around the country.

Ha! That’s definitely me. I’m on an airplane and in a hotel room pretty much every single week… but no side pieces or second families. The hardest part is certainly being away from my wife and our two-year-old son- I won’t even pretend that I have not struggled with that part frequently, especially over the last two years since our son was born. But I absolutely, positively love what I do and can’t imagine doing anything else, and it allows me to make more money than I ever imagined I would make and provide a much better life for my family than I ever had growing up. As with most things in life, there are certainly trade-offs. I won’t even pretend that the nights where I’m not at the dinner table with my wife and son, and the nights where I’m not able to do the bathtime and bedtime routine with him, I won’t even pretend those aren’t hard. Thankfully, FaceTime has made a massive, massive positive difference. And I’ve been doing this for the entire time that my son has been alive, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary for him. My wife is extremely supportive, as well, which is obviously very important.

 

[aGDevil2k]

Sorry to make you nauseous. I had factory floors, fulfillment centers and product development labs to tend to where people can’t just leave their workstations and ping other people.

Ahhhh. 10000% different. I'm talking computer based jobs on my side.. totally get your side now

Still made me nauseous. Had a boss that used to do just that... But it was more micromanagement

 

[Peppers49]

I have been WFH since 2020. Compared to commuting to the office 5 days per week, it has been a godsend.

I would say I am generally more productive as far as work goes (especially on days when I have a busier agenda), and the flexibility to be able to run errands and take care of things during the day as my schedule permits is priceless. Not having to commute daily is probably the biggest thing. I’ve had jobs where I would spend ~2 hours every day in awful traffic commuting. Didn’t fully realize how much of drain that was until I didn’t have to do it anymore.

There are downsides though. I changed jobs in 2021 to a company that doesn’t have any offices in my city, and it’s tough only seeing my coworkers once or twice a year in person. I definitely don’t have the same level of cooperation with them as I have had in other jobs, but for the purposes of my role that’s not a complete deal breaker. Of course there’s also just the general social aspect of an office setting that I miss too. In an ideal world, I would work from home 3 or 4 days per week and have the option to go into an office the other days.