Canadian Federal Politics Thread v5

[Coach]

Middle management want people back in the office because it's the only thing that gives their job meaning. The jobs below them may be able to get offshored or something, but they still need to be done by someone somewhere. Middle management have always been adult babysitters breathing over the necks of people that would otherwise be perfectly productive with like a weekly zoom check-in vs a daily "Hey Peter, what's happening?" And they are where the real salary bloat is. A couple hundred grand a year to a handful of "VPs of whatever" that can be done by one person making 1/2 that.

[Scroopy Noopers]

As an engineering consultant, I don’t understand what people even talk about when they say “slacking off working remote”.

My timesheet is 15 min increments, billed to individual projects. I either work the time, or I don’t have a timesheet to submit… and you can’t cheat that at all… like, I have to finish the work… and share it… work from home made my days easier but way longer.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

You can do that remotely, too, FYI.

But it doesn’t happen as naturally. I worked remotely for years and few people called outside of meetings, but when I travelled to a location I was overwhelmed with individual discussions. I’m not sure that made me more productive but sure made me more connected.

Edit: there’s also something about a white board that just can’t be replicated online for complex technical discussions, without actual smart boards in each location.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I don't think that is what he said, or is my experience. The management needs to adjust its management style to ensure that the work-from-home experience is working for everyone. It absolutely does not mean more micro management. It means clearly delineating tasks and ensuring they are completed properly. That can be, and is in hundreds of work settings, being done already. Peggy from HR and the boomer bosses are the ones that are the dicks. I know one of the companies I WFHed saved millions of dollars a year when they went to WFH. That buys a lot of production declines, except there were'nt any.

You just said the same thing in a nicer way. Management needs to adjust its management style means you need to replace half your management. This may be a good thing long term but you just identified the costs of working from home.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by edslunch

But it doesn’t happen as naturally. I worked remotely for years and few people called outside of meetings, but when I travelled to a location I was overwhelmed with individual discussions. I’m not sure that made me more productive but sure made me more connected.

Edit: there’s also something about a white board that just can’t be replicated online for complex technical discussions, without actual smart boards in each location.

This is my experience as well. When I am in the office I get engaged in a lot of questions and discussions that don’t really happen over Teams.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by edslunch

But it doesn’t happen as naturally. I worked remotely for years and few people called outside of meetings, but when I travelled to a location I was overwhelmed with individual discussions. I’m not sure that made me more productive but sure made me more connected.

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

This is my experience as well. When I am in the office I get engaged in a lot of questions and discussions that don’t really happen over Teams.

It just takes people putting in the same effort they put in in-person online. I understand it not feeling natural or whatever, especially if you’re older or have been doing it one way for a long time, but it really isn’t any different when you put the effort in to the point where eventually it feels just as effortless and natural.

In my experience, I would say people 45-50+ struggle the most. You pretty much have to reach out to them because they won’t reach out to you, but they place a lot of importance on it, so they take a bit of extra management. Younger than that it mostly depends on the person, but in either case, you can accomplish the same.