Official (Alberta) Oil Discussion Thread

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by boogerz

Agreed on the decreased productivity. Herding a project team, cross-functional team, or whatever you want to call it can be a PITA remotely. Tablet culture is eroding people's technological literacy.

Same thing with videoconferencing. I can handle being in meetings all day without a problem, but a full day of video conferencing is incredibly exhausting and there's studies that back this up.

Relationship building is also quite difficult. Not so easy to swing by the cubicle of someone that you don't know, introduce yourself, and ask them a question when said people are screening their calls and Teams/Skype messages for names and numbers they don't know.

I'm very introverted and have the luxury of having my own private home office, but I'm looking forward to getting to go back into the office again

So if starting at a new company or with a new team is stressful and tough enough WHEN YOU CAN MEET THEM IN PERSON, how will working from home and only hearing voices (or seeing their top 1/3 as they sit in a small echoing office) make life easier? It doesn't. So, like yourself I have introversion tendencies but am able to force myself to come out of my double bubble often enough to be an effective manager (but sheeesh, I need my quieter recharge time after). A friend was looking for work... he's highly extroverted and so telephone and video interviews were extremely stressful for him. His people-skills and personality was harder to convey or recognize over a phone/video. Not sure what the solution is for any of us right now other than wait it out.



On a different note, I had another company providing engineering and construction services early last year. They had a remote office in India, and since my PM at this company was also Indian it was amazing how well they worked. He and I would talk deliverables at 4pm, and then by 8am he'd have everything in hand from his colleagues across the world. And it was actually good stuff. So it can definitely work well. On the other hand I had a local vendor doing work with folks in both Quebec and Europe and it was repeatedly a disaster.

[Weitz]

I can't wait till everyone else comes back to the office. Will be nice to have things done in a timely fashion again.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Bunk

I dread a future of way more people working from home, plus way more e-commerce and delivery replacing bricks and mortar establishments. Aside from incremental gains of less traffic congestion and pollution - image what that will do to civic life in cities. It'll severely dull the places that make civic life vibrant - places like downtown and commercial districts. It’ll also make us more socially isolated than ever. I sincerely miss the everyday human interaction of being out in the world, including at the office. If it is viewed as possible, I think the cost savings for employers will be too strong a factor compared to social desire of many employees to work in office environments. The knock on effects economically and societally are huge. And that’ll be a shame, I think.

This is a great point. Eventually there will be a negative affect on productivity as social isolation and depression begin to take their toll on people. Sure we might be as productive, at least initially, from home but as we lose our networks, lose social interaction, etc. and become increasingly isolated I can see work beginning to suffer. Not everyone is cut out to work from home permanently.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I can't wait till everyone else comes back to the office. Will be nice to have things done in a timely fashion again.

Agreed. We've been very fortunate to actually have benefitted from the work-from-home situation, but I would hit the rewind button in a heartbeat and revert all that benefit if it meant being able to see my friends and colleagues again, to be able to live normally. This is f--king brutal on all fronts, I hate it.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

So if starting at a new company or with a new team is stressful and tough enough WHEN YOU CAN MEET THEM IN PERSON, how will working from home and only hearing voices (or seeing their top 1/3 as they sit in a small echoing office) make life easier? It doesn't.

We're saying the same thing. Anyone that's trying to build new relationships within their organization or is new to a company at this time is in an incredibly, incredibly difficult situation.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by boogerz

We're saying the same thing. Anyone that's trying to build new relationships within their organization or is new to a company at this time is in an incredibly, incredibly difficult situation.

That's why I dont think the productivity companies are seeing now is sustainable. People are using the in person relationships they already have to continue getting stuff done. But over time you need to integrate new team members, etc, which is hard over zoom.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

That's why I dont think the productivity companies are seeing now is sustainable. People are using the in person relationships they already have to continue getting stuff done. But over time you need to integrate new team members, etc, which is hard over zoom.

I think a hybrid approach would be best for me. Go in Monday’s and maybe Thursday’s for meetings in tiny cubes (so you still save office space) then the other 3 days at home.

[Superflyer]

I have been working only from home for the past year and a half. My team is all across Canada and I know I will probably never see them in person. All of my interviews were over the phone and all of our meetings are through Skype\MS Teams. We are a pretty close group and we laugh and get a long quite a bit. It is not hard as long as you have the right people on your team.
I get that it is not for everyone, I was very skeptical at first but it has worked out well. I find that once my work day is over that I need to get out more since I do not have much human interaction outside of my wife and kids so that is something as well.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

That's why I dont think the productivity companies are seeing now is sustainable. People are using the in person relationships they already have to continue getting stuff done. But over time you need to integrate new team members, etc, which is hard over zoom.

Amen to this. My company has always been a 'siloed' culture but this is making it worse. Before you'd at least get invited to meetings or run into someone un the hall but it's far too easy to leave/forget about others under WFH.

[Lubicon]

Onboarding new employees is a challenge working remotely. And in particular how on earth do companies think they are going to bring on and train new grads from school in a purely remote environment? Mentoring and just plain old fashioned face to face time with these people is essential if we are going to keep bringing new people into the game, whichever game you are playing. Hopefully it won't be the strategy the energy industry (in Canada anyway) seems to have chosen to use which is to just poach experienced people from other companies instead of training their own. That is not sustainable.

Edit:
I see bizaro86 has already mentioned this.

[Ozy_Flame]

I have been working from home for the better part of three years now, and while there are a few challenges, I wouldn't change it for the world. I have my own private workspace that I can play music during and talk as loud as I want, have the CPU setup that caters to what I need, and I have access to amenities at home. Plus I am in pure digital workplace technology so it's great to practice what we I preach.

I know it's not for everyone, but WFH has dramatically changed my life to be less stressful and a major step away from the "rat race" that felt pervasive during my commute days. Plus, I get motivated to do things after work for hobbies and chores way more, because I know it's a break and much needed physical activity when the day is done.

I don't mind having to go into an office once or twice a month if I have to for in-person meetings, but I hope to never have to go back to full-time office work again. I personally am glad to see WFH accelerated as a corporate culture standard and the kinks will be worked out as technology grows and businesses find a balance between office and home.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I have been working from home for the better part of three years now, and while there are a few challenges, I wouldn't change it for the world. I have my own private workspace that I can play music during and talk as loud as I want, have the CPU setup that caters to what I need, and I have access to amenities at home. Plus I am in pure digital workplace technology so it's great to practice what we I preach.

I know it's not for everyone, but WFH has dramatically changed my life to be less stressful and a major step away from the "rat race" that felt pervasive during my commute days. Plus, I get motivated to do things after work for hobbies and chores way more, because I know it's a break and much needed physical activity when the day is done.

I don't mind having to go into an office once or twice a month if I have to for in-person meetings, but I hope to never have to go back to full-time office work again. I personally am glad to see WFH accelerated as a corporate culture standard and the kinks will be worked out as technology grows and businesses find a balance between office and home.

Whilst my career has been almost exclusively office based, I had done a few short stints at home here and there. None of that truly prepared me for the mind-shift. And necessity for having a dedicated space away from the family and distractions. I now have a private office, heater, tunes, huge desk, quiet when I need it. Best of all it's relatively easy to schedule a 2hour mid-day window for "life stuff" (ie garage, health, yard, family, de-stress), or even start early and end super early, or start a stellar bike ride at 3pm and home by 6pm and still have family and chill time. Hopefully I'll be allowed to continue working from home 1~3 days/weekly, but not full time. FT at home... nope. rather not. for now. (famous last words?)

[TSXCman]

I'm just onboarding some new Engineers to our company. They are taking it pretty well so far. I've given them packages to review and tasks to get familiar with the business. I do make sure I video conference with them so they can see a face. My normal team/group never shows their faces on anything though.

[Ashasx]

Trudeau says wealth fund blacklisting of Alberta companies a wake-up call on climate change action

On Wednesday, Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway's sovereign wealth fund, announced it would stop investing in Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Cenovus Energy Inc., Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. after concluding they produce unacceptable levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

It also excluded three other non-Canadian companies, two over environmental concerns and one for human rights reasons. It said its holdings in all of the companies have been sold.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...sted-1.5567293

I feel like Alberta has finally lost this war when Norway of all countries is doing something like this.

Tougher times are ahead for this province and this country. It's going to be ugly.

[Bunk]

^ Is this us getting unfairly targeted for political reasons, or us (our companies and governments) having underreacted to the imperative of emissions reductions and the threat of Climate Change?

[nik-]

I, for one, am super impressed by Norway's moral stance taken after pumping a trillion oil dollars into their wealth fund and now that their production is declining.

[burn_this_city]

Not to mention their Johan Sverdrup field is still ramping up production.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Trudeau says wealth fund blacklisting of Alberta companies a wake-up call on climate change action

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...sted-1.5567293

I feel like Alberta has finally lost this war when Norway of all countries is doing something like this.

Tougher times are ahead for this province and this country. It's going to be ugly.

Well, part of the problem is that the leader of our country then takes this as an opportunity to further support his own battle against Alberta.

Especially in light of current events, where COVID brings to light a need for increased self sufficiency as a nation

Our politicians have been losing the battle of public perception and self sabotaging the country for years and refuse to stop

[accord1999]

If I'm an exporter of oil and gas (like Norway), I would try not to invest in my competitors (like Alberta).

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Well, part of the problem is that the leader of our country then takes this as an opportunity to further support his own battle against Alberta.

Especially in light of current events, where COVID brings to light a need for increased self sufficiency as a nation

Our politicians have been losing the battle of public perception and self sabotaging the country for years and refuse to stop

This new loans package with the blackmail clause that they can decide on whether you survive or not based on your climate plan is getting a lot of heat out there. Its equivalent to blackmail.


I mean if we actually exported more oil and took the market share of other nations it would probably decline greenhouse gases.



Instead there's a constant assault by politicians who don't say shyte about Saudi Arabia and Venezuela's and the US' and Russia's low environmental standards in terms of oil and gas production. Until a Justin Trudeau or the environmental groups stand in front of those bulldozers, what they say is somewhat meaningless to me as they're going after us because we're all too concerned with being nice about it.