gerardflo

Why would you discuss things that are not work related? Some people don't have boundaries apparently.

2hr/day commute gives ~ 40hr a month of unpaid work commitment.

and then you forget to list them.

I would say that is not professional. If there is anything work related, you book a meeting and then discuss. For this reason I know few people are on the look out when to go get the water without stumbling upon a boss or a manager, because they take it as a harassment. This adds huge amount of stress and knocks the productivity. Workplaces with "we are big family" approach are the worse. This should be illegal.

> but some things that otherwise might never have been done/resolved got handled

This is a fallacy. If something really needs resolving, the setting is not relevant.

You can have misunderstandings face to face. This is a matter of communication skills. Having entire conversation in text form also means you can easily make references and go back to it even weeks later, whereas with face to face conversation you don't have that luxury.

> to stay as long as they can in the office because their home life is hell.

This is pathetic. They have hell at home and instead of fixing it, they bring it to the office. My home life is awesome and I'd rather spend more time at home than in office full of miserable people. Sadly they are the loudest one and their moans are music to the ears of managers who are control freaks. Thankfully I decided never again work for a company that doesn't allow remote.