Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by gozur88 on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @12:47PM
(#15028982)
I work on a big company with offices all over the US. My team is spread out over five different offices (which is pretty impressive given there are only seven of us). There's not much difference between being the only one on your team at your location and working from home.
While it's true you have to have software and processes in place to communicate, it is doable.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by borski on Thursday August 17, 2017 @06:18AM
(#15035315)
I didn't say it was impossible. Plenty of companies do it successfully. All I said was it isn't /insane/ to not want to do it.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by artursapek on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @12:38PM
(#15028895)
> Also, there are things a remote worker just can't do; stand at a whiteboard and evaluate paths forward, for example. If a company values that sort of collaboration above anything else, it is certainly not "insane" to want people in the office.
In my experience, meetings like this are more often than not a huge waste of time. Since I started working remotely I am less distracted and more productive, and have no trouble collaborating with other devs.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by maxxxxx on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @12:50PM
(#15029007)
I agree. I contracted with a pure remote company for a while and we had less scheduled meetings but actually collaborated more. The one thing the remote company didn't have was the project management types who call meetings all the time like in my current job.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by borski on Thursday August 17, 2017 @06:18AM
(#15035312)
Great, if all you're given is a set of requirements. If you're trying to figure out what a product should do, look like, or build a larger system, a whiteboard is invaluable. Most of those meetings aren't scheduled, either.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by sidlls on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @11:48AM
(#15028419)
Your last point is one I'd take a step further. The kind of collaboration you describe is necessary for non trivial products. So for them, at least for the people working on the harder problems, 100% remote just isn't feasible.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @11:57AM
(#15028504)
Non-trivial projects aren't very common even in the bay area.
Edit: I just got out of a meeting with someone in eastern Europe. An extra $20 for a camera pointed at the whiteboard solves the collaboration problem 90% of the way.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by sidlls on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @01:32PM
(#15029414)
I certainly agree with that. The Bay Area takes itself too seriously in this respect.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by x220 on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @12:17PM
(#15028692)
You can do whiteboard collaboration with a web app and voice chat.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by maxxxxx on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @12:51PM
(#15029014)
Not really. A big whiteboard is still much better. It's surprising to me that this hasn't been solved a long time ago.
Re:83 percent of Bay Area renters plan to leave, says survey
by Eugr on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @02:28PM
(#15029892)
One can buy a MS Surface or iPad Pro (or Wacom tablet for PC/laptop) and share a virtual whiteboard via webex/gotomeeting/etc. Remote work can be incredibly efficient. It is easier for new companies/teams to start as remote vs. switching existing team to support remote work, but it can be done.
A culture of remote work takes a lot of discipline, as it's so easy to have an in-person conversation, make a seemingly small decision at the time, and immediately the remote workers feel out of the loop.
Remote work is actually /hard/ to support, and a company has to make it a priority to do it well and be disciplined about writing down all communication. Otherwise, they're setting up their remote employees for failure, which nobody wants.
Also, there are things a remote worker just can't do; stand at a whiteboard and evaluate paths forward, for example. If a company values that sort of collaboration above anything else, it is certainly not "insane" to want people in the office.