Remote work

[NotUrsula]

Nope, nope, nope. I only had to WFH for two weeks at the beginning, when I was in quarantine. It was only bearable because it was so short-term but no way was I fully productive. Neither was any of my staff.

My department has two types of jobs - field and administrative. Of course the field tasks have to be done in person and the admin work relies heavily on paper files/records and the office equipment and proprietary software employees don't have at home. Staff working remotely required somebody being their "hands and feet" in the office which was an unfair burden on whomever had to do it. As the department manager, after a few very unsatisfactory experiments with staff working from home, I declined all further requests. Anybody who wasn't in officially mandated quarantine had to come to the office.

With all due respect, it sounds like part of the reason why WFH didn't work for your company was that the company did not properly leverage technology to enable it. The barriers you noted for administrative work all can be overcome by investment in equipment and training, if the desire to support it is really there. It's not cheap, but it can work much better than it seems it did for you all.

 

[ronandannette]

With all due respect, it sounds like part of the reason why WFH didn't work for your company was that the company did not properly leverage technology to enable it. The barriers you noted for administrative work all can be overcome by investment in equipment and training, if the desire to support it is really there. It's not cheap, but it can work much better than it seems it did for you all.

It isn't. There's no advantage to the company and had Covid not forced our hand, it wouldn't ever have been a consideration.

 

[RamblingMad]

I split 3 days in the office and 2 days at home. It works great.

 

[LYSE]

It isn't. There's no advantage to the company and had Covid not forced our hand, it wouldn't ever have been a consideration.

Paper is antiquated and more expensive to deal with, Sounds like your company hasn't updated its business for a long time and that's the real (common) problem

 

[Toolulu22]

I have several friends that have been working remotely... overall most of them really liked it during the pandemic, due to the fact that their work loads had slowed down, and they were able to work and get what they needed done in a short amount of time, and still get paid... and the bosses where much more in tune with the kids at home, and trying to school them.

Now things are swinging the other way...

Now most of them don't like it so much... Due to the fact that they are working all the time now, people feel free to email and text after mid-night, calling all weekend long, the division of family life and work life those lines are becoming blurred for them... which now they are working more, and putting in much longer hours, and the pay is the same. Basically on call all the time...

One of my friends has a co-worker that does her work in the middle of the night, because her kids play on the lap tops during the day... so around 10:30 pm, she starts sending emails, and the work that my friend has needed during the day to complete her work, is arriving in the middle of the night.

Another friend her phone is constantly going off, She said that "office hours" don't exist anymore... Her Boss was in California on vacation, and called her at midnight to have her take care of something right then, when she said it's midnight here, his response well you work from home, just get up and take care of this for me, It's not like I'm asking you to go to the office or something...


For me personally I would not like working from home... People talk about keeping Work and Family separate... That's not happening, when you open the door and let your work life into your living room.

I have always tried to keep work and home separate as much as possible, and can relate to your point about the blurring lines and crossing boundaries with remote work. I am a high school teacher. We were fully remote last March-June. This year, teachers were in school Mon-Thurs (then Mon-Fri as of April) with office hours on Fridays from home, and a week of remote after Thanksgiving. With remote learning, students and parents had the ability to message us anytime of the day, and weekends- and some were surprised or upset if they didn’t get an immediate response. I have my messages set up so that I have to log into my work account to see them, and nothing but emergency/school wide announcements are sent to my phone. Some of my colleagues received email and messages non-stop, with no filters, day and night and stress levels were high. If I happened to be working at night or on the weekend, sometimes I’d get caught up answering messages, but because I happened to be working.

I didn’t mind the schedule this year, but it’s hard for me to teach from home, especially if my husband is also home. Meetings can stay remote, that would be great! I liked using Google Classroom and other applications, but did not like trying to teach HS kids who I couldn’t see or speak and interact with in person (some only responded to roll call, and they did not have to show their face- they were letters). When summer break came I realized that I was not stressed at all, but remote teaching was a no go.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My company was already 40% remote and has officers throughout the US, Canada, and India.

I live in the same area of Pennsylvania as 3 other members of my team at work. Our manager lives in San Antonio, two of our other team members live in Austin, one lives in Maryland, one lives in St. Pete, FL, one lives in Sacramento, and one lives in Bejaloru, India.

So it's not like having the three of us in the same city work in the same building really matters. All of our meetings are via Slack or Zoom, and we communicate via chat in Slack, to begin with. Right now my office building is closed for renovations. When it opens, we will be offered the opportunity to work in the building full time or do a 3 day/2 day split. I'll probably go for the split, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

One problem I've had since going remote is being able to "leave work at work" because now I work at home. There isn't a physical break between the two places anymore.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Paper is antiquated and more expensive to deal with, Sounds like your company hasn't updated its business for a long time and that's the real (common) problem

I don't think I've printed a single thing out at my office since 2010

 

[RangerPooh]

I loved working remotely No commute, laundry done between meetings, dinner served an hour earlier than previously, and higher quality meals too. Plus I could wear shorts and slippers or sandals all day. I did miss chatting with my coworkers, but honestly we often kept to ourselves in our own offices.

Sadly I returned to the office last week. Now I have a 25-60 minute commute each way. Plus I have to wear dress clothes and shoes again. Of course we return to work just in time for Covid numbers to increase, masks to be required on our college campus, spacing requirements to be followed, etc. trying to maintain distance in our one on one student appointments is challenging.

 

[ronandannette]

I don't think I've printed a single thing out at my office since 2010

Granted not every job calls for it, but try working off a 15-page set of blueprints when viewed on your smart phone.

 

[Wendy1985]

My company was already 40% remote and has officers throughout the US, Canada, and India.

I live in the same area of Pennsylvania as 3 other members of my team at work. Our manager lives in San Antonio, two of our other team members live in Austin, one lives in Maryland, one lives in St. Pete, FL, one lives in Sacramento, and one lives in Bejaloru, India.

So it's not like having the three of us in the same city work in the same building really matters. All of our meetings are via Slack or Zoom, and we communicate via chat in Slack, to begin with. Right now my office building is closed for renovations. When it opens, we will be offered the opportunity to work in the building full time or do a 3 day/2 day split. I'll probably go for the split, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

One problem I've had since going remote is being able to "leave work at work" because now I work at home. There isn't a physical break between the two places anymore.

that is out of line

 

[indimom]

I worked from home for 16 years (long before covid) and one of the reasons I changed careers was because I was sick of being isolated at home all day every day. lol
I'm a nurse now, so I worked throughout 2020. Some of my work can be done remotely (the intake/administrative side) and that's what I did when I actually had covid. I was perfectly happy to get back to the office once I tested negative.

I will add that commutes have never been an issue for me. That could certainly change my mind about WFH vs the office. I wouldn't want to waste hours of my day in a car.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I really believe that I am MORE productive when I work from home. There are fewer distractions. My co-workers are very chatty to say the least and a lot of what they have to say is more interested in what we are supposed to be doing. Also, I can get more of my own work done because I do not have to do tasks to cover for people who called in. I cannot do stuff like run checks or pull car titles from home (which is not my job), but when I am in the office I end up doing that because the people who are supposed to do that call in. When I am at home, I can focus on my own work.

 

[nkereina]

For me personally I would not like working from home... People talk about keeping Work and Family separate... That's not happening, when you open the door and let your work life into your living room.

This is a fair point and certainly problematic for a lot of people. I have been working at least partially from home for 10+ years now. For me, its important to have a designated office space in my house and keep a routine. I designate working hours. I still get up early to shower and get ready for work with hair and makeup. But instead of getting in my car and driving to my office, I walk down the hall to my office. For lunch, I'll go downstairs to eat for a half hour as a break. When work is over, I sign off and leave the room and don't return until the next day. This is what I would do if I were in the office, so its no different at home. Having the dedicated space in my house also keeps my relaxation/family time in the dining room/living room feeling somewhat separate since its not the same room I've been stuck in all day. You have to have some discipline when working from home - striking a balance between being unproductive/lazy and not over-working because of the convenience. A good routine has helped me with that.

 

[LovesTimone]

I have always tried to keep work and home separate as much as possible, and can relate to your point about the blurring lines and crossing boundaries with remote work. I am a high school teacher. We were fully remote last March-June. This year, teachers were in school Mon-Thurs (then Mon-Fri as of April) with office hours on Fridays from home, and a week of remote after Thanksgiving. With remote learning, students and parents had the ability to message us anytime of the day, and weekends- and some were surprised or upset if they didn’t get an immediate response. I have my messages set up so that I have to log into my work account to see them, and nothing but emergency/school wide announcements are sent to my phone. Some of my colleagues received email and messages non-stop, with no filters, day and night and stress levels were high. If I happened to be working at night or on the weekend, sometimes I’d get caught up answering messages, but because I happened to be working.

I didn’t mind the schedule this year, but it’s hard for me to teach from home, especially if my husband is also home. Meetings can stay remote, that would be great! I liked using Google Classroom and other applications, but did not like trying to teach HS kids who I couldn’t see or speak and interact with in person (some only responded to roll call, and they did not have to show their face- they were letters). When summer break came I realized that I was not stressed at all, but remote teaching was a no go.

This is what the neighbor said as well... lots of late night email, text and calling... Lots of parents demanding attention right now, and lots of complaints about the load of school work, and how this is effecting the whole family and on and on she said it went... one parent actually threatened her because they were camping, and " all this school work was messing up their camping".

I know several of our friends grand-kids will be repeating the grade, due to the fact they were virtual learning, and basically mom and dad were making sure they were there for roll call, then basically they were on their own to do whatever, as mom and dad were working from home at the same time... A lot of logistic and planning on how to get everyone on task between school and work, and get everything completed...
Then they blamed the teacher for not allowing late turn in on classwork or projects, basically laying this at the feet of the teacher, which is not the teacher fault. It was just this situation, and of course no-one was prepared for it...

For me personally, Kids need the classroom, they need the structure that it provides, the classroom is a place to learn, as well they learn how to follow instructions, play with our, social skills, and if kids need extra help the teacher is right there. Another aspect is that alot of kids depend on school for breakfast and lunch, and as well teacher and other faculty can look for signs of domestic and child abuse.

 

[shawthorne44]

For me, I didn't like to have the designated office space. Our house came with "The Conductor's shed." Original owner had been the train conductor at the town's station and when it closed down, he brought the shed where they worked home. It was an ideal office. It has lots of electrical outlets, AC and was completely separate. I felt isolated. I found myself using the home desktop more and more just to be in the same room as the family. Eventually I realized that I had de facto abandoned the office and brought my equipment in. It might help that DD is 11, so she's old enough to not need constant parenting.

 

[shawthorne44]

I know several of our friends grand-kids will be repeating the grade, due to the fact they were virtual learning, and basically mom and dad were making sure they were there for roll call, then basically they were on their own to do whatever,

Then there are many that SHOULD be repeating the grade, and aren't. Several school districts instructed their teachers that final exams with the kid's name and none right, get a 50. One question right is a 70. These instructions were given before final exams. That tells me that these schools knew their kids wasted the school year.

 

[LovesTimone]

This is a fair point and certainly problematic for a lot of people. I have been working at least partially from home for 10+ years now. For me, its important to have a designated office space in my house and keep a routine. I designate working hours. I still get up early to shower and get ready for work with hair and makeup. But instead of getting in my car and driving to my office, I walk down the hall to my office. For lunch, I'll go downstairs to eat for a half hour as a break. When work is over, I sign off and leave the room and don't return until the next day. This is what I would do if I were in the office, so its no different at home. Having the dedicated space in my house also keeps my relaxation/family time in the dining room/living room feeling somewhat separate since its not the same room I've been stuck in all day. You have to have some discipline when working from home - striking a balance between being unproductive/lazy and not over-working because of the convenience. A good routine has helped me with that.

I agree, you were very lucky to have a space to work from, and already had a routine to keep you grounded. Most people were just thrown into this and really had no idea on how to handle it.
I know my best-friend's - DD and Son in law were trying to work from home, with 2 elementary school aged kids doing distant learning... and both kids had different lunch break times. My friend would go over some days, and help take care of their lunch, due to the fact both parents were on conference call or zoom meetings during the kids designated lunch times... so way more chaos than normal in their everyday life. Their 8 year old broke out in hives due to the stress.

 

[LovesTimone]

Then there are many that SHOULD be repeating the grade, and aren't. Several school districts instructed their teachers that final exams with the kid's name and none right, get a 50. One question right is a 70. These instructions were given before final exams. That tells me that these schools knew their kids wasted the school year.

I agree, this year is going to be so hard for kids and teachers alike, so many are going to be so far behind. Like our neighbor said, normally when you get a class everyone is sorta on middle ground, not this year... and her main concern is how is she going to keep the kids that were in school last year motivated, and moving forward, which is how she would normally approach the classroom, She said then you have kids that will be so far behind how will they ever catch up...then there is the grading scale...plus some of these kids haven't been in a classroom in 18+ months, then behavior and what is expected in the classroom will come into play...

She did tell us that her plan is to see with a series of testing and classroom work kinda were everyone is. She said that the school stance is follow your lesson plans, and basically it is what is... when asked how to they handle it when half the class is struggling, they said stick to your lesson plans... When asked on the amount of kids that could possible fail, again it is what it is...

She teaches Sunday school and she said if that is any indication on how things are going to go, everyone is in for a very rough year.

 

[soccerdad72]

Remote work has its challenges, but overall, it worked for my department. Unfortunately, we're back to full time in office work now and it's not really changed the way we do work, meaning most meetings are still virtual and there's still restrictions on what we can do. We're just doing it from an office instead of our home now.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Granted not every job calls for it, but try working off a 15-page set of blueprints when viewed on your smart phone.

Ok, that's fair.