Rise of remote work

[wtburnette]

What I find funny is the number of people commenting that they think the company was in the wrong. I don't see those people having good future careers unless they wise up. The company was completely in the right putting her on a performance plan, since she was already having performance issues and missing meetings. Then she goes and posts what she did to social media...

This was a good quote, following up on what I said the post above:

“It’s complicated, but if I had an employee with performance issues and then I found out they were making it look like they’re at their computer when they’re not, I would absolutely fire them,” a third added. “That said, many companies obsess over appearing online when it’s not relevant.”

 

[KLB]

I have never heard of a mouse jiggler. Mother of invention, I guess?

‘My manager caught me': Remote worker says they got reprimanded for using 'mouse jiggler' app, sparking debate

'This is why you need a manual mouse jiggler!'

www.dailydot.com

Nothing new really.

Back in 99 a coworker of mine got fired for using company property for personal gain. He was using a program to auto browse websites and getting paid for it. His program started hitting porn sites, which is what got him trouble at first. His defense was that he wasn't even in the building when it happened. That led to finding the app.

 

[rhamersley]

I have never heard of a mouse jiggler. Mother of invention, I guess?

‘My manager caught me': Remote worker says they got reprimanded for using 'mouse jiggler' app, sparking debate

'This is why you need a manual mouse jiggler!'

www.dailydot.com

 

[wtburnette]

I thought this was a pretty good video:



I know it's not directly related to the topic of this thread, but it's at least tangentially related. We've discussed a serious issue with remote work not being necessarily the remote staff, but the manager managing those employees. I found this question listed in the video to be the crux of this argument:

Are staff workloads being managed effectively?

In many cases, the answer is NO! When I was in middle/high school back in the early to mid 80's, I remember hearing about IBM and other major companies clearing out "middle managers". I don't know exactly what that referred to, but I'm starting to wonder if that meant "people managers"? I know that when I started in IT in the late 90's, the managers at least seemed to try to manage the employee workload, even if they weren't very good at it. As time went on, this seemed to fall by the wayside.

I think more supervisors are needed. Supervisors are, inherently, people managers. A main part of their function is to manage employee productivity. It used to be you would have a manager who handled the "management" stuff, a supervisor, who dealt with employee productivity and day to day issues and staff. Now it seems like they cut out the supervisor, but still keep the same responsibilities on the manager so that they don't have the time do manage employee productivity and/or they just aren't good at that part of their job. I don't know, but as previously mentioned I'm always astounded at how many decisions are made about employees that are more due to improper management than anything the employee is doing or has done.

 

[Sigblaster]

Wow! Pretty cool seeing this thread get resurrected, and I'm surprised at the lack of snide remarks from people whose jobs are such that they can't possibly work from home (I did read most of the thread, and if it's there, I missed it).

Of course I saw the standard doomsayer remarks about foreign outsourcing and poor productivity, but of course if the work environment has those issues with work-from-home, they probably would have had them without it.

I started WFH full time from around the time this thread started. It has been awesome. I know it has saved both me and my employer time and money. I can sleep an hour later. I spend much less on gas. I don't have to eat fast food for lunch. If I need to take a leak, I can walk 30 feet to do so instead of 300 feet. If I want to refill my water glass or get a Pepsi, I can wlak 20 feet instead of 200 feet. I don't have "time burglars" coming up to my desk to chit chat 30 minutes out of my workday.

My productivity is at the same high level as it has always been. I don't know about anyone else's productivity in my section, and I don't really care. That's the supervisor's problem. He has no complaints about my productivity.

Now, my supervisor pissed me off a cuple years ago, and there's no way to fix that one. Since then, I have been waiting for that last straw to be added to break this camel's back. With the Covid hysteria winding down, there is talk of returning to the office, and that may just be the straw. No big deal for me, I'll just retire a little early. I just don't see myself being happy back in the office. There is so much less stress in my life without having to deal with all that comes along with that.

I would like to add just one thing: MS Teams sucks.

 

[wtburnette]

I just don't see myself being happy back in the office. There is so much less stress in my life without having to deal with all that comes along with that.

I would like to add just one thing: MS Teams sucks.

That hits the nail on the head for me (both actually)...

It's amazing how much stress vanishes from your life when you no longer have to be in the office. Morning and afternoon commute is gone, saving you from that stress, wear and tear plus mileage on your vehicle and gas money. No sitting staring at the computer faking that you're working when you don't have enough work to keep you busy, or when you're just not motivated to do more than the minimum. No stopping work when you're in the groove and getting done because someone feels the need to chit chat, or ask you a question that derails your train of thought.

I had gotten into management years back, because I had a goal of having my own office. Not a corner office like some big city lawyer or something, just a standard broom closet sized office that had a desk, a few chairs and a bookcase, cause that was a measure of success from back in the day. The problem is, while I was just a regular worker, all managers had offices, but by the time I got to management, offices were hard to come by and most companies were sticking everyone under executive management into cubes to show some sort of "solidarity" with the staff.

Ever since I started working from home, I have a much better office than I would have had working in an office building. Even at only 10x12 it's larger than any office I would have had otherwise, especially since I left management behind and don't see that in my future.

Oh and don't get my started on the hot mess that is MS Teams...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Ever since I started working from home, I have a much better office than I would have had working in an office building.

Me too.

 

[wtburnette]

Me too.

View attachment 217454

Okay, ya got me beat...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Okay, ya got me beat...

Well, late April thru late October anyhow.

 

[wtburnette]

Well, late April thru late October anyhow.

Yeah, I can imagine that would be a bit chilly in late January or February...

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

With both kids off to college now, one of my goals this fall is to move my 'office' downstairs to the basement... I'll have a fireplace in my office then.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Yeah, I can imagine that would be a bit chilly in late January or February...

Yeah, my table top propane heater can only do so much. Takes the edge off on mornings like today though.

 

[KLB]

I couldn't do that. Three monitors would be hard to move around.

On top of what you guys said, I will add that I have a better setup at home.

The first month of WFH, I bought new 27" monitors for myself and dumped the 24s from work.

The second month, I bought a new chair, which is superior to the piece of I had at the office that was killing my back and neck.

Both of those were more than paid for by the money I saved not going to Chicago everyday.

Plus like WT, I have an office here instead of a cubicle.

 

[BugI02]

“It turns out there’s a dangerous line between arguing for remote work and arguing yourself out of a job.”

@KLB will be here to tell us this is all wrong.

And @wtburnette already has. LOL

Work that easy doesn't seem like it requires much in the way of unique capabilities that require a human

It will likely been done by AI a lot sooner than you think

 

[Ingomike]

Work that easy doesn't seem like it requires much in the way of unique capabilities that require a human

It will likely been done by AI a lot sooner than you think

Sadly I agree with this…

 

[BugI02]

Our management would rather figure out ways to confirm if we are dropping off dry cleaning, running a load of laundry or walking out to the mailbox on "company time" than assess our output.

I am working full time in the office because some douchebag told our former CEO that I was working on my home while WFH.

Which was pure rubbish and easy to check. Did my former CEO press that person for proof? Heck no. She told my manager to tell me about it and that it was a "perception" and that needs to be addressed.

I would have been all over the guy making the accusation to provide proof and I would have had a meeting with the accuser and myself to discuss it in person if I was the CEO. Then I would have had a stern conversation with the accuser to mind his own business and quit making unfounded statements.

So, here I am in the office full time responding to INGO posts.

You misunderstand most managers. Their goal is merely to maintain a 'manageable' level of discontent

 

[Ingomike]

Of course I saw the standard doomsayer remarks about foreign outsourcing and poor productivity, but of course if the work environment has those issues with work-from-home, they probably would have had them without it.

Just some crazy way out there thinking that could never happen. LOL

Bug is right that AI will likely take its chunk.

I expect near 60 year old folks to have productivity down pat but newer and younger workers need supervision, and camaraderie.

So silly of me to put the pieces together and see a potential issue and warn others, but that is what sheepdogs do…

 

[wtburnette]

I expect near 60 year old folks to have productivity down pat but newer and younger workers need supervision, and camaraderie.

I would say that number can be as low as 40, but agree about the younger workers. The only one on our team having issues working remote is the 20-something year old. I know, I know, shocking.

 

[BugI02]

Sadly I agree with this…

And AI (at least until CyberDyne manifests) will be a model employee, always loyal and hardworking as well as always available (because it is a box attached to all the other boxes) and it will not mind its managers constantly looking over its shoulder and checking its work

And no InfoSec concerns, proprietary info never leaves the building

 

[Route 45]

that is what sheepdogs do…