If WFH works for you, what do you do?

[QueSyrahSyrah]

I often see people on MN talking about how WFH works better than the office for them (and presumably their employer if they're still doing it) and I'm really interested in what these people do that works so well in isolation.

I work for a company of about 20 people in an office split across customer service, marketing, systems/operations and accounts and we collaborate and share information between us all day every day, in quick exchanges of words that take far less time than a call or a zoom. We were all back in the office at the very earliest opportunity after lockdown because we were clunky, slow and information sharing was severely hindered by home working, especially for less experienced members of the team. We were all really frustrated by it.

I can't imagine working in full time in a situation where I can't just say 'Dave; have you got 30 seconds to look at this with me?' or 'Who was that supplier you wanted me to call back?' or (with a client on hold) 'does anyone know who was dealing with X?' or and receiving an immediate response and resolution.

So what are these roles that work best with little or less team interaction? Or does everyone just constantly call, email or zoom everyone else all day every day, which to me seems extremely tiresome. I'm intrigued!

*overhear not overhead

I’m a development manager at a university (applying for research grant funding). Mostly WFH. Very flexible as long as get my work done

Why aren’t you storing the files and quotes somewhere everyone can get to them?!

Contract negotiations and data analysis. So much easier without background noise and interruptions. When I was in the office I used to have to book meeting rooms to get some quiet… so much easier now.

I should’ve said, I mean electronically.

I’m a designer. WFH is great because I have the space and peace to think and do deep work. I collaborate with my team when needed over Teams and Slack.

I like seeing my team in the office but I get far less done there.

When the pandemic hit and we we were all told to WFH indefinitely, despite my previous conviction that I would hate to work away from the office, I found I took to it surprisingly well. I had been in my job for 11 years and therefore had all kinds of knowledge that the newer members of staff didn't have, and I was always being interrupted with questions (I didn't mind this, but it did often break my train of thought). Because of the way the office was set up (four banks of six desks), I sat with my back to most of my colleagues, and the department was so busy, there was never a chance to take five minutes for a breather. Once we were working from home, we used the text part of Teams and I actually got to know my other colleagues far better than I was able to when working in the office.

It was much better working from home due to no interruptions, no overhearing other people's telephone conversations, no one walking past our desks to get to the toilets or kitchen, with the inevitable stopping and chatting to someone or other, which was distracting.

Last year, I took a year's secondment to a different department, and after two weeks' training in the office, I have been working wholly from home. We now have hybrid contracts and are required to be in the office "at least one day a month".

Again, we communicate via Teams or email, although this team tends to use the video calling, rather than the texting that the previous team did.

That said, in a 1:1 with my manager this week, he asked me if there was anything in particular I would like to be trained on, and I said that this was the downside to not being in the office - you don't see/hear what your colleagues are working on, which you might think sounds interesting. (I currently work in the Planning Department of the Local Authority.)

We have a very small team, only 4 of us. We have a work WhatsApp group for us all, loops everyone in at the same time or single WhatsApp chats. We email if not as urgent or call if we need an immediate answer. We have 3 teams meetings a week for anywhere between 10mins to 2hrs depending on what we're working on.
It works better than the office as often I'd be the only one in, the others would come and go so I couldn't get an answer or paperwork signed off from them for hours or even days.

I've wfh since 2007, and work in a fully remote team who are in 5 different countries. Everything is online and instantly accessible and we chat all the time on teams and if we need to do something together we have a working meeting. I really like the balance of quiet to get on with things and collaboration

Marketing. Me and my team have a 15 minute chat at 9am every morning. The company uses Google chat and we also have a WhatsApp channel. We do a lot of content writing so being able to do that in peace really helps productivity.

@hahahalloumi A couple of reasons;

Firstly because to obtain a quote we're already typing into at least one system, sometimes up to 3, and having a conversation, so quick shorthand written notes are easier, more accurate and less time-consuming / confusing than swapping into another system or document to make them digitally and then save them. We have tried it in the past and it slowed everything down - people were trying to do it after a call had finished and our call waiting times went up.

Secondly; Customer service / sales is 4-5 people who sit round one bank of desks, not 100s in a call centre. It's really not necessary.

Just to clarify I'm not looking for tips to make WFH work, every single one of the 20 of us hated it to a greater or lesser degree so we won't be going back in a hurry, just interested in what the people who thrive from it do.

A bit like @HurdyGurdy19 I've got many years experience and across 3 different areas of the business, so I'm also a go-to for questions from less experienced team members. It's annoying at times, but the impact on them would concern me if we were all at home - to answer a teams chat immediately would presumably be just as much of a distraction, but when they've a client on the phone 'I'll have to find out and get back to you' doesn't cut it like 'please hold for a second while I get that answer for you'.

3d artist/designer in the landscape field.

There are some days I need to see clients or visit a site but mostly its building the garden virtually or drawing plans which can be done at home. Some of my clients come to me too.

When I have research and content creation tasks I try to save them for wfh days. It's much easier to read and absorb something dry and complicated (and often Google translated) without the background office chatter.

Local Government Officer for a few different organisations within tier 1 local government.
I'm my own boss, work rhe hours I choose and it works for me - been doing it for 5 years now. Never missed a school run or assembly and always around to make sure dinner is cooked and served at a reasonable time!