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A comment on Work-from-home boom leads to more surveillance. Parent comment

Re:Work-from-home boom leads to more surveillance by WalterBright on Wednesday May 13, 2020 @02:32PM (#23170086)
There is another aspect to this. Many employees need guidance here and there. A manager told me once that he'd often find his team members working on something that wasn't the critical path, and he'd have to nudge them back on it. Every day. Team members may also be working inefficiently, and the manager observing it can help with that, too.

It's not always an adversarial thing.

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Re:Work-from-home boom leads to more surveillance by pdonis on Wednesday May 13, 2020 @03:04PM (#23170469)
> Many employees need guidance here and there.

This is best done by regular check-ins, not by monitoring everything an employee does every single minute.

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Re:Work-from-home boom leads to more surveillance by WalterBright on Wednesday May 13, 2020 @03:54PM (#23171065)
Seeing what someone is doing is different from hearing a description of it. For example, someone may be using the wrong tool for the job. Or he may be using an ineffective sales pitch. Or he may be doing his job by going around the horn rather than using the canal.

I'm not saying it's never abusive. Just that it isn't necessarily abusive.

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Re:Work-from-home boom leads to more surveillance by pdonis on Wednesday May 13, 2020 @06:06PM (#23172380)
> someone may be using the wrong tool for the job

So ask them what tool they are using and why. Or set up a video chat where they can show you what they are doing and you can make suggestions about better tools.

> he may be using an ineffective sales pitch

So listen in on the sales call and then give feedback afterwards.

Still don't see why any of this requires minute by minute monitoring.

> I'm not saying it's never abusive. Just that it isn't necessarily abusive.

If there are obvious alternatives that are (a) much less intrusive, and (b) much more respectful of the employee's professionalism, then it sure seems to me like minute by minute monitoring is abusive.

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