Do you like going in to the office?

i dont have any choice - but then i dont hot desk, i do have my own desk

Its not about MN antisocial. I’m pretty extrovert and love meeting and socialising with people.

But I am also insanely busy and stretched and am working more or less from when I wake up to 6 or 7pm.

It makes no sense to add an hour of unproductive time each way into this just so I can sit at a desk there rather than sitting at one here.

Plus all the pointless faff finding a desk, finding headphones that work and an obligatory ten minutes chatting to someone about the holiday you don’t really care about.

I’m really busy and its phenomenally inefficient and wasteful.

I go in about once a week. My team are all in different cities so I still have to spend most the day in teams meetings but it's nice to see other people around the office who I don't work with on a day to day basis. But it's way less productive and the travel is a pain.

This is why I hate going to the office. Everyone treats it like a social get-together these days. I can't concentrate, because the team behind me spend all day chatting and gossiping at full volume. I try to only go in for specific meetings or delivering sessions.

One day a week is enough

I think the lesson here is some people thrive and are more effective in an office, some people thrive and are more effective at home. A good workplace that is focused on outcomes will accomodate both types of workers rather than ham fistedly implementing a policy across the board.

I now WFH full time. I might go into the office once every few months at most. My work life balance is now the best it’s ever been.

I’m in my late 40’s in a very senior role and settled down with a family so I don’t feel the need for any of the social aspects that office attendance can offer. If I were 20 years younger I’m not sure I’d feel the same though. At that age I think the social benefits of face to face contact is important. I also think it’s hard to progress your career if you don’t build the face to face contacts first.

We do a mixture of both however I spend more time in the office as I need to see people really as I supervise them! I do one day a week from home and 3 days in the office
however we currently all have a desk but we are all moving offices and there will be double the number of people than there is desks which is going to cause an issue because we can’t have only 50% of teams in at any one point in a hospital - it won’t work as we need to see the doctors!
then in the next breath it’s “everybody back to the office full time”
we have flagged this to management and they are “reviewing” this as the current plan won’t work!

Honestly, I have no interest in meeting colleagues. I'm extremely happy talking to them via email and teams.

I much prefer socializing with my friends and family. I tend to go for a walk with a friend who lives around the corner once a week and my mum pops in for a coffee several times a week.

The advent of working from home in my profession was only brought about by covid because it's such an old-fashioned profession and it's been an absolute god send to me.

At 56 there is no way I could work full time in a stressful job and be in the office. I don't go in at all and I'm far more productive at home and much happier.

Hybrid works perfectly for me. We have a minimum of two days a week in the office but I usually do three or four. Lots of our meetings now are in-person and while there’s often a dial in option, I don’t think hybrid meetings work very well. I think it’s really important for my junior team to get some in-person interaction as well and I like getting to know people. While WFH is better for getting things done, so much of my job is about coaching and relationship-building that I don’t feel like a day in the office is unproductive at all.

I don’t blame you.

My last but one job was fully remote and I’d still be employed with them if the new manager hadn’t been impossible to work with. I’m too used to having my own space now and it’s much easier to have private conversations, which I have all the time due to the nature of my work, when I’m at home.

I went on to do a job that was hybrid with a 3 days in the office, 2 from home split and it was a complete waste of time going in. I also managed to get a stomach bug and a stinker of a cold virus when I returned to a job that was office-based. Hadn’t experienced either when fully working from home.

As it was with that hybrid job it was pot luck if anyone in my team would be in on the same days. The one colleague was like the Scarlet Pimpernel and would vanish for over half the day. Nobody from other teams came into the office for help. What exactly am I here for went through my head every day. I felt like I had to make an effort to talk to people when they were in. They were stilted, awkward conversations.

I’m glad I wasn’t working there when we had that spell of hot weather recently as you could tell the place would be a furnace.

I love it, but I only do it twice a month so it's the change of scene and different energy. WFH every day gets monotonous. I also love my team and we usually do something social on those days. If that wasn't the case I'd be less bothered.

Hate it. Noisy, the toilet seat is always left up, roadworks around the town turn a 20 minute commute into a 50 min slog and generally people are annoying. Thankfully I only have to go once a week. I’m more productive at home.

I can't believe how many people love WFHall the time... well I can as this is MN (antisocial to the least)..,

I go into the office twice a week and would go mad if I didn't see my colleagues apart from on Teams.

I go in twice a week and enjoy it, it’s not far, nice to see people and nip into town on my lunch break.

It is only a 15 minute drive away, I like knowing what is going on, people stop by my desk where they wouldn't go to the effort of messaging me and it means work can stay at work, home can be home. Also it stops me eating loads of chocolate and wasting time on my phone. I cannot think of a single advantage for me personally to WFH.

I much prefer office and go in most days. I am a people person.

I’m ND and hate it. Being ‘on’ exhausts me and I hate trying to work out and read between the lines with people.i’ve just been offered a role with one day a month on the office and much more money too. Just waiting for all my paperwork to be sorted and work my notice.

Same

I first began WAH in the 90s when it was unusual (academia) and came to the conclusion that the commute and being in the office was a waste of time. I spent most of my on site time in the library. I hated and despised office politics. I dont know how anyone can concentrate in noisy busy offices.

I find it really distracting, colleagues talk too much. Even when I'm clearly really focused in the middle of a piece of work they will talk to me just to have a conversation. I don't mind as much when it's important ie work question/emotional support after a difficult experience but I had one just comment "you look busy". Yes, I was, trying to get everything up to date ready to go on leave, that one comment interrupted my flow and it took me ages to get back in to it. I'm easily distracted and struggle with focus so things like 2 minutes chatting are more like a loss of 30-60 minutes work. The office is either too hot or too cold, rarely a nice in-between. The blinds are rubbish and the window position means I have sun blaring in my eyes some of the day. Taking calls is difficult with people talking around me, especially if it's those directly next to me, everyone gets louder and louder to drown out the next person. I can't stand it when people try and ask me a question when I'm on the phone too.
The office is just not a place where I can work well. I'm a lot more productive at home. On the other hand, I do really see the value of it for relationships and shared learning. Hybrid is the best way in my opinion.

I only have to go into the office once every 6 weeks. I'm used to WFH but not sure it's good for me, I do feel isolated and I do think some things are best done face to face. I could go into the office more often but I don't like hot desking and being on Teams while I am there. I wish I could go back to the pre covid set up with my own desk and my team colleagues around me.

I hate going into the office. I'm currently job hunting and have decided not to apply for anything with more than 2 days on site. It's such a waste of time and money, travelling in and back again and I'm far more productive WFH.

I go in once a week along with the rest of my team. That suits me, it's nice to connect with people but I wouldn't want to do it every day.