The comment you’re replying to has nothing to do with response time. They’re specifying their preference for in-person communication even though it may affect individual productivity.

I 100% agree with them.

I’m more productive as a remote employee, my coworkers seem to greatly prefer remote work, and there is a 0% chance the next job I pursue will be at a remote company.

It’s just not my preference.

Same. I can't speak for personal productivity, because I think i'm waaay less productive, but I don't like remote at all. The hard part these days is finding interesting potential employers who aren't trying to lure me in with the remote hook, because it doesn't appeal to me. I was happy with the old norm of on-site, but with the ability to WFH on one-off days if something came up, like expecting a big delivery or something. I didn't like open plan offices, but I liked being in the office.

I'm the kind of person who simply doesn't have a social life if i'm not already out in town at the end of the working day; I just can't overcome the inertia of being at home. So for me, working remotely has made me the most depressed, and physically unfit, I've ever been.

> So for me, working remotely has made me the most depressed, and physically unfit, I've ever been.

This was the state I was in and I tried medication for anxiety/depression for the first time in my life. It didn’t work well for me, but it gave me the impetus to change something.

I ended up going WeWork and it’s been great for me. Gives me people to talk to (all the staff there are friendly and some of the other people there like to chat) and a reason to get out of the house. I run/bike commute to get there so I’ve been much more active since I started going.

Good luck, and I hope you find something that makes it better for you. I know how rough it is!

>> The comment you’re replying to has nothing to do with response time. I think you just hit the nail on the head right there.

There are a few things that I've realized make the difference between remote work and in person. When you are needing to talk to a team mate, working remotely you can just message them and get a response quickly, but this has the effect of interrupting them (or you), which can derail their train of thought. Sure, your still interrupting them when in person, but you can see that they are actively working on something and wait a minute or two for them to notice. They may also see you out of their pariferal vision, which alerts them without really interrupting them, so they can continue their thought before moving on to yours. It's possible to delay replying to a message, but for me personally this means I might take longer to reply to the message than I should because I forget to come back to it (also I swear Slack doesn't always play the notification sound).

The other thing I've noticed is that the lack of interruption can actually negatively affect me. Seeing others getting up for a break can trigger me to also take a break, which can prevent me from getting too lost down a tangent (or spending too much time on Reddit). Since it's in the preiphery though, this allows you to continue with your train of thought while still also being able to see it as a reminder. This allows you to better choose when (or if) to respond.

I think what message apps need, is to slowly fade in alerts, instead of harsh instant alerts. So you notice them, but aren't interrupted. This won't necessarily help with the tangent (or Reddit) problem, but it will help with the interruption of teammates.

> When you are needing to talk to a team mate, working remotely you can just message them and get a response quickly, but this has the effect of interrupting them (or you), which can derail their train of thought. Sure, your still interrupting them when in person, but you can see that they are actively working on something and wait a minute or two for them to notice

You're wrong. When I need to stay focused on something I may ignore messages and be 100% productive. However when I'm at the office most people don't care if I'm working on something with my headphones on, clearly in the zone. They'll just approach me about the most benign matters most of which can wait for days even.

Maybe they're right, for themselves. Most of the comments in this thread are just a remote-vs-onsite flamewar with everyone trading anecdotes about why one option is better than the other.

There are plenty of people who say they don't go to work to make friends, they go to do their job, and any kind of interruption not directly related to the work they're doing is unwelcome. Plenty of others who will go to great lengths to stay out of any conversation and work as independently as possible because "they're just there to write code" or whatever.

If it's not so wrong to say you want to go to work and be completely left alone, why is it wrong to say you actually go because you prefer the dynamics of office life and find it less disruptive than a remote equivalent?

Because this dynamic is heavily asymmetric. I need to stay focused for prolonged periods of time to do my work effectively.

An MBA - not so much.

No offense, but unless you're an MBA doing MBA work (whatever that is), how can you possibly know?

Sadly I have to work with a bunch of them

Do you think your attitude has any effect on the people you work with? When you think of their job as easier and taking less focus than your own — despite knowing little about the challenges of their work — do you ever wonder if they’re making the same assumptions about your work?

I know too much about managing teams. Did that for nearly a decade untill it almost broke me.

Then I went back to engineering as there's much more actual value in it and less politics.

Same. I've never had a problem. I typically talk to my team numerous times per day via Zoom, Slack, Phone, etc.

I think the poster has an issue with their company that they are projected onto the industry.

>I think the poster has an issue with their company that they are projected onto the industry.

Couldn't the same be said of you? I don't think anyone is asserting that one system is the best. If an entire team/company is able to be happy and productive in a remote-work situation, then more power to them. Its often the case that some people prefer remote, some don't. The ratio varies between companies. Personally, as a manager, I would prioritize overall team happiness and efficiency over placating a few individuals.

It sounds like the OP we're replying to wants a daycare, not a company. There's plenty of them out there (including the original subject of conversation), but I wouldn't call it a preference.

People like this don't want a structured workplace because they prefer it; they want a structured workplace because they need it, because they never figured out how to live by themselves after university.

May I recommend a nice solitary walk in a park followed by a picnic lunch for you? Might help calm thinks down.

OP said they prefer to resolve in person rather than Slack/Zoom/etc. They weren't projecting, just expressing a different preference for what they find productive.