Tell the truth: are you more productive at home than the office? How much more? How about your coworkers? Are they more productive in your estimation? And lastly, your whole team - is it more productive in a remote environment?

likefunnysmart
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I think I'm more productive at home because I have autonomy over my time. I don't have to deal with a commute so it gives me more time to cook food and do tasks here and there. I wouldn't mind going back for a day or two per week but can't imagine going back 5 days per week.

No amount of kombucha could convince me to go back.

likefunnyupliftinghelpful

Also, cannot tell you how many times I’ve had clients tell me “nice buildings, am I paying for that office?” Yes, emphatically yes.

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Pre COVID worked in a fully virtual team that traveled to a central location one week a month to co locate. I think this was ideal.

We could plan ahead any camaraderie stuff during that week as well as schedule any important brainstorming / collab sessions, etc.

I think condensed/focused together time like that is way better than get together once a week or go to office 2-3 days of your choice and see who you bump into.

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Had a project like this- LOVED it

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Sorry just got here: so this topic is a bunch of people confirming how and why they're more productive at home and OP arguing with them about why they're wrong, yes?

likefunnysmarthelpful

I am operations technology so there is our internal operation and then the customer experience on the other end.

We can go to our respective operations that are in closer proximity to our homes and as necessary if we need to coordinate or share experiences, we can use video. Also as needed we’ll get on a plane to meet and work together but we can largely dive into the ops and technology to map the end to end, then sync.

Product managers like my team then develop user stories and incredibly detailed business requirements documents and specifications. From there I can hand this to the TPM’s and Devs for development and testing.

We can work by phone and video to develop the various scenarios and software test cases. Once we pass functional testing virtually we can deploy and go run tests in a test environment on-site, then work out the bugs until it’s correct.

Then promote to prod, work on or with the site tomonitor, then deploy remotely.

90% of the work is detailed document and specifications development, software development, and software testing. 10% is generally needed onsite and in site launches we may spend a week or two at a time.

We all already have simulated setups in our homes with scanners, label printers, and equipment where we can replicate much of my our areas of ownership.

What we do is actually more physically tangible so if we can do 70-90% remotely then most functions should be able to do a majority remotely.

likeuplifting

Home by far

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Yes, by far, it’s not even close

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Way way more at the office. Everyone is always tied up in Zoom meetings, it’s impossible to pass on the smallest pieces of information. You don’t have those pass by opportunities to ask a client something. Not to mention I am convinced no one pays attention during meetings unless they’re the explicit topic of conversation.

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Capital one, speaking of wasting people’s time, could your Company please stop mailing me 2 times a week to get a credit card with you? Thanks!

likefunny

More productive at the office but I’ll never go back to the office full time again.

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I’d be ok with a hybrid model but definitely not full time in the office.

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Individual work: home. Anything collaborative or requiring other input: office.
Yea, it’s convenient getting to wear sweatpants and all, but finding 30 minutes on someone’s calendar to ask them a question is a nightmare.

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Agreed. Not to mention if your client doesn’t use video it’s impossible to read body language. I will say it makes presenting to senior leaders easy because they’re just voices on the computer.

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I can't give you a comparative because I graduated in the pandemic, but I will say onboarding is an absolute nightmare. It's been said many times but asking a high number of small questions is pretty key to learning this job, and, no matter how open my team members on slack are, it's just not the same to have to type out questions or take the effort to get on zoom. It disrupts the workflow for both people too while usually a small question essentially doesn't disturb anyone in person.

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This is a popular narrative but I actually don't really understand the difference. How is leaning over to ask someone a question different from pinging that same question on Teams? Both disrupt workflow and for a similar amount of time.

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I would propose it varies based on a couple of factors; the challenge is that many of these vary project to project, team to team, person to person such that it’s hard to nail down objectively which environment is consistently more effective.

1) natural propensity to be distracted (goes both ways - if you’re overly social, team room is worse, if you’re just inattentive, solo is worse without social pressure to work)

2) quality of environment (if you have a studio with no desk in a loud city, home is worse than any team room, if you have a large, quiet house with dual monitors and a good chair, it’s clearly better)

3) nature of the work and coordination requirements (if the team has worked together before and knows the requirements well, minimal impact remote, even to brainstorming- if the team doesn’t know each other, work requires lots of idea bouncing, coordination, etc, much worse.

likesmart

Also have to believe a hybrid model will be the happy medium. We just need to make sure this doesn’t wreck collegiality and that we put apprenticeship front and center for the time we have together on site. It’s a special model and one we shouldn’t get rid of! Even if we can make it a little more comfortable by not traveling all the time

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Look everyone, I get it. Individuals feel more productive at home and love flexibility. But what about your coworkers and your team as a whole? Does that productivity look the same when you are looking at your coworkers and your full team??

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I feel more productive overall in person.

I'm very productive when I'm not bothered by other people - over the short run. I'm definitely bothered much more in person and less at home.

But, over the longer run, I've become much less engaged and motivated, and most of my teammates have as well. I'm not even an extrovert, but I get a lot of energy from interacting with people and my teams are much closer and more fun in person.

In an ideal world, there would be a mix of the two. An ability to work at home when you want to focus and crank out work on your schedule should be a no brainer for every company, but also ensuring there's a critical mass of people in the office on certain days I think would be much better for my own mental health and motivation, and ultimately, my productivity.

likehelpfulfunny

Definitely more productive + less tired working at the office.

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And grossly overrated

Exponentially, absolutely, without question more productive at home because I am more motivated to get done with work and see and spend time wi the people I am at home with. I am happier. I am healthier. I’m not swearing off travel forever, but as a woman with a growing family I feel as though my eyes have opened to just how much needless pomp and circumstance was in my day I didn’t need and didn’t benefit my productivity. I feel the balance of work, home, and family is much more manageable. I don’t spend every day on Tuesdays feeling guilty I’m missing my husband, or even my dog. I would encourage particularly men to appreciate just how much travel lifestyles have asked women in particular (or men who are the predominant caregiver in your families) to sacrifice. I hope this period, however painful for many reasons can help us appreciate we have lives and the need for humanity in the workplace. Also the fact that I am home means I have more regular doctor’s visits, and suspect in the LT that makes me more productive as well.

likesmart

Am I the only one who gets highly distracted by things like household chores, books/tv and my phone when at home? I am definitely more likely to procrastinate at home vs. in the office (unless on a very pressing deadline) because there is no firm “hard stop” (commute home) and so sometimes feel less productive 😬 that said, I think hybrid is the right answer!

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Same for me. I don’t want to live at work. When I’m home, I want to be happy and relaxing, not working.

I hate working from home.

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Yes that does sound awful! Hope you have great help.

Ppl are complicated this thing way too much. Just have a hybrid model. Let ppl do as they see fit. Those who wanna go back 5 days go, those who want 1-3 days do that, and those who want 100% remote so be it.

likesmart

Doubt a hybrid model will work to that level of flexibility. The project lead will work out a cadence with the client and the entire project will be forced to abide. In many cases, I see it becoming remote as the default (cost measure) with only senior people traveling for workshops or bigger meetings.

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If I make everything have a collaborative component and make it so there is one scheduled every day. Bam! I can now micromanage your ass back into the office. Hybrid future no more. My inability to plan can now be hidden again.

likefunny

That's literally it.

There is no debate. Work for home = ultimate productivity. Going back into the office isn’t even an option anymore.

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It is though

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Absolutely more productive. Long commutes, crammed open offices, and constant distractions butchered my productivity and skyrocketed my stress level. Never again will I go to the office more than 2 days a week. I’m sure partners with their big offices can get work done, but us plebes abhor germ infested noisy open offices

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About 20% less productive at home

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I’d agree with this. I actually miss my commute (I’m in Manhattan so I bike or subway to work, which makes it much more pleasant than driving) and I definitely feel less connected to my coworkers. That said, my teams have always been geographically dispersed, so WFH hasn’t been a major stopgap for us. I would say too that we don’t have any requirements to work from the office or client site unless our contract stipulates something.

likefunny

I can be remote for life.

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