You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Imagine thinking you can't collaborate via chat in Teams/Slack efficiently.

Boomer mindset.

I can also get way more productive work done during a Teams meeting than an in-person one. You just have your camera tilted the right way so it appears as though you are totally engaged, meanwhile responding to emails, etc.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

My life is infinitely better not having to use a ####ing Polycom ever again.

Those ####ers hoodwinked us good when we had to replace our conference room equipment at my last job. It was just when Teams was picking up steam and Skype for Business was on the verge of being retired, we met with the Poly sales guys and told them the #1 priority for a new system was compatibility with both Skype and Teams, and they said "No problem, this unit does both!". We buy the new setup for 2 big conference rooms, and for Skype meetings it was fine. But when we finally cutover and went to Teams fulltime, we found out their "compatibility" in Teams was audio only. My boss called them fuming, they hid behind the "legal definition" of compatible, then tried to sell him some subscription service that would apparently enable video calls in Teams. He told them to go #### themselves, ripped out all of the Poly equipment, and we bought one of the MS Teams certified systems the next day

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cappy

Ducay's post is funny, but it is certainly not an uncommon sentiment; particularly during COVID.

A few people i worked with noted that some of the big companies downtown had many manager (low-upper) come to work everyday and essentially drink the company kool-aid as it was a badge of honour to be filling out spreadsheets in a dead office during a pandemic...

After people started coming back to the office, there was some resentment and tribal mentalities among those who didnt work from home.

Oh it takes all kinds really. I've said it before, but the entire WFH infrastructure is going to take some time to really work out all of the little kinks.

Overall, there are clearly a lot of benefits to it but we shouldnt pretend that it doesnt have or never will have, any drawbacks, but the one thing WFH isnt, is standard.

There will be lots of deviations depending on the person and what their home life is like as well as their company, what they do and what their circumstances are.

And some people just straight-up arent cut out for it. For whatever reason, they dont necessarily have to be antique Boomer middle-management stereotypes.

[topfiverecords]

I'm surprised work from home hasn't been attempted to be inverted by big management to be live from work?

Everyone could work from home but be connected neighbours to their co-workers. Friday night obligation drinks at the bosses tacky penthouse. Office gossip while you're bringing your groceries up the elevator or getting your mail.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

I'm surprised work from home hasn't been attempted to be inverted by big management to be live from work?

Everyone could work from home but be connected neighbours to their co-workers. Friday night obligation drinks at the bosses tacky penthouse. Office gossip while you're bringing your groceries up the elevator or getting your mail.

I think old coal companies tried this way back in the day. Lose your job, lose it all!

[Hackey]

Shaw Mobility...

I've been with every provider, and they're all relatively the same, but Shaw is actually atrocious. If I'm driving on Stoney it's a guaranteed dropped call. If I'm in communities around the edge of the city, the internet always stops working. At my house, I get voicemails all the time because the phone didn't ring and goes straight to voicemail. If I'm at all outside of the city, it's multiple dropped calls, internet doesn't work, etc. And this isn't occasional, it's minimum weekly and often daily. 100% stay away from Shaw Mobility.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Shaw Mobility...

I've been with every provider, and they're all relatively the same, but Shaw is actually atrocious. If I'm driving on Stoney it's a guaranteed dropped call. If I'm in communities around the edge of the city, the internet always stops working. At my house, I get voicemails all the time because the phone didn't ring and goes straight to voicemail. If I'm at all outside of the city, it's multiple dropped calls, internet doesn't work, etc. And this isn't occasional, it's minimum weekly and often daily. 100% stay away from Shaw Mobility.

I've had several people I know say the same thing.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Shaw Mobility...

I've been with every provider, and they're all relatively the same, but Shaw is actually atrocious. If I'm driving on Stoney it's a guaranteed dropped call. If I'm in communities around the edge of the city, the internet always stops working. At my house, I get voicemails all the time because the phone didn't ring and goes straight to voicemail. If I'm at all outside of the city, it's multiple dropped calls, internet doesn't work, etc. And this isn't occasional, it's minimum weekly and often daily. 100% stay away from Shaw Mobility.

My wife switched to shaw mobility. She lasted a week. Although that was long enough to get a win-back offer from Fido so it worked out.

[peter12]

Anyone who really works in a team environment knows that an entire WFH strategy doesn't work. The hybrid model is here to stay though.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

On what basis are you making that evaluation?

Originally Posted by Wormius

I can also get way more productive work done during a Teams meeting than an in-person one. You just have your camera tilted the right way so it appears as though you are totally engaged, meanwhile responding to emails, etc.

Well here’s a great example of why these meetings are annoying. People are off in their own little world, answering emails, looking at their phone or whatever. Then you have people talking over each other because you don’t get the same cues as you do in person. It’s irritating.

And that doesn’t mean there’s no advantage. It’s great to not have to commute to meetings or do a super quick 10-15 minutes on Teams instead of going somewhere specifically for the meeting. There are advantages for sure. But in-person is so much better.

[TheIronMaiden]

Video conferencing works great if you are dividing labor, assigning tasks or presenting and answering questions.

It starts to faulter when you have more creative or conceptual meetings or need more democratic discussions.

That said both in person and virtual meetings need the same thing, a clear agenda and a good chair person.

[White Out 403]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...aval-1.6740987

I wish we had the death penalty.

Two children are dead and six others were injured after a city bus crashed into a daycare on Wednesday morning in Laval, Que.

The driver, a 51-year-old man who was employed with the Société de transport de Laval (STL), was arrested and is facing reckless driving and homicide charges. Several sources told Radio-Canada that the suspect is Pierre Ny St-Amand.

Around 8:30 a.m., a bus from the Société de transport de Laval (STL) hit a daycare in the Sainte-Rose neighbourhood on Terrasse Dufferin, according to Laval police spokesperson Erika Landry. Landry said two children are confirmed dead and six others are injured and in hospital, but they are expected to survive.

The Garderie Éducative de Sainte-Rose is located on that street.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Video conferencing works great if you are dividing labor, assigning tasks or presenting and answering questions.

It starts to faulter when you have more creative or conceptual meetings or need more democratic discussions.

That said both in person and virtual meetings need the same thing, a clear agenda and a good chair person.

Companies downtown 1,000% over-meet, and meet unnecessarily. I can’t count how many times I’ve been in meetings when simple direction could have been given from one person to another directly (without wasting 10 other peoples time) or even better, by email.

WFH can strip away some of this inefficiency. Inefficiency usually created by lazy middle managers who want a 1 hour meeting to go around the room on a weekly basis and hear about what all their underlings are doing so they can go report up, rather than being a little bit more involved (but not micromanaging) and going to their reports directly during the week and discussing next steps with them in detail / collaborating / thinking through things.

There’s an enormous amount of wasted time and resources in downtown Calgary. Like, massive. WFH does help eliminate some of that.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well here’s a great example of why these meetings are annoying. People are off in their own little world, answering emails, looking at their phone or whatever. Then you have people talking over each other because you don’t get the same cues as you do in person. It’s irritating.

And that doesn’t mean there’s no advantage. It’s great to not have to commute to meetings or do a super quick 10-15 minutes on Teams instead of going somewhere specifically for the meeting. There are advantages for sure. But in-person is so much better.

You’ve just described in-person meetings as well, but at least when online you can be more productive at your non-meeting related tasks. Trying to answer emails during an in-person meetings is a pain.

This is all assuming you got invited to a meeting because your manager just does blanket invites or your need to be in the meeting does not extend the entire duration.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...aval-1.6740987

I wish we had the death penalty.

Check out the “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore”. This is trivial, fun gear grinders, not deathly depressing stuff.

[TheIronMaiden]

It all comes down to the same thing, online or in person. A meeting is only as good as the chair person.

[peter12]

Meetings are a sweet spot. I've been on 1-2 hour Teams meetings as well. In fact, I find them even more common than overly long in-person meetings.

There is a sweet spot with any meeting where business is efficiently discussed, side business is worked out, and the team gets some friendly face time with another.

[pseudoreality]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...aval-1.6740987

I wish we had the death penalty.

Do you honestly think that would make the situation any better? It definitely would not have prevented this. Anyone who is actively trying to murder kids is not thinking logically. He's not going to be like, I would, but Canada has the death penalty. I don't know what qualifies as a mental illness, but I don't think this person was in their right mind.

Another reason to have the death penalty is revenge. Do you think the families would feel any better watching him die? I don't think I would if my children were among the victims. I wouldn't want him walking around on the street free, but whether that happens relates more to the whole idea of being not criminally responsible, which is a totally different thing. Even with a death penalty, NCR is a whole other thing that's not going away.

I really feel for the families here. I'm sure this tragic event will expose all sorts of gaps in our system, but in my opinion, not having a death penalty is not one of them.

[TorqueDog]

I will drive in two days a week and Ducay can go cry into my exhaust fumes. I missed being around colleagues, so I try to go into the office a couple times a week. It has been a boon for my own mental health to be around people.

Working from home as an option is great. Working from home and being forced to do it (ie: the pandemic) sucked ass, and it f--ked up a lot in my home life, fall-out that I'm still dealing with.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I will drive in two days a week and Ducay can go cry into my exhaust fumes. I missed being around colleagues, so I try to go into the office a couple times a week. It has been a boon for my own mental health to be around people.

Working from home as an option is great. Working from home and being forced to do it (ie: the pandemic) sucked ass, and it f--ked up a lot in my home life, fall-out that I'm still dealing with.

Same. He's two years old now.