To feel WFH has had its day a bit?

[Seaswimminginwinter]

Bosses think workers do less from home - bbc article

My job doesn’t lend itself to WFH but I have noticed on nearly every thread on here about WFH, people insist that they are more productive. However, I have to admit that this doesn’t match with my experiences. But I am one person so maybe I’ve been unlucky, except this article is quite interesting about perceptions.

I also think it changes homes and areas. My own DH is WFH today and it is my day off, meaning I will spend it feeling as f I am I the way in my own home. Homes aren’t meant to be offices.

I get there are advantages but overall I don’t think it works well at all.

It works very well in DHs team. He works in a global role and has always ha so calls at very strange times. He used to leave he house at 7, get home around 7-8 and often had evening calls. We never saw him. Since lockdown, his team has been more efficient, he has achieved more thy an ever before (probably because he's not constantly knackered from his commute), and we get to see him more. His life is so much more balanced, and clearly his work is better. He has now gone over to hybrid working, and this seems to work well too.

@kc431

For me, WFH hasn’t been a good thing. As a naturally lazy person I find it really hard to motivate myself and not get distracted at home. I’m someone who does best under micromanaging. I’ve always needed to be in a “place of work” to knuckle down and concentrate - the only reason I got a first at uni is because I went to the silent section of the library and sat there 6 days a week! When I can knuckle down I’m really good at my job. At home I’m scrolling on my phone, on the Daily Mail, cleaning etc. I’m writing this now instead of working! In the office my manager sits in front of me so I have to actually work.

Thanks for your honesty... but many of us are not like this and we get tired when people like this tar us with the same brush.

I have a team member who is very evangelical about how everyone needs to be in the office eight hours a day five days a week. This person cheerfully admits to being a "dosser" when she's at home and is permanently chatting and making teas etc when she's in the office.

I'm someone who has been forced to be single minded at work because I'm a lone parent and I have to work twice as hard as anyone else not to fall behind and to counter any suspicion that I might be a pisstaker. I find working at home vastly more productive mainly because I don't get dragged into gossiping, time-wasting and pointless office politics from people who are more interested in this than in the actual work itself.

It's highly frustrating when these same people turn around and say people can't be trusted to WFH and should all be forced in.

Tech industry we have been doing this for years, especially hybrid working.

Works really well, gives flexibility and better for the environment.

I’ve been WFH for 2 years now and it’s been a very unproductive 2 years! At uni I couldn’t do any work at home, only the library, and it’s a similar story now. The knuckling down kind of hinges on being in a work-y place surrounded by other people also working. A lot of people I speak to also say they take the piss a lot. I probably get more done in my 1 office day than the rest of the week! Everyone is different and I’m just giving my POV.

In the office works well for micromanagers, slackers, people incapable of organising their own day, gossips, etc.

I don't miss the fish in the microwave fuckers at all.

WFH opens up opportunities for the disabled and carers to work and have some other adult interactions.

OP your DH can sort his problem by creating a dedicated work space.

@gatehouseoffleet - it bamboozles me. she can still drive and I cannot fathom why she would want the stress of driving during the rush hour when she doesn't need to. I'm a good 20 years plus younger and hate driving in the rush hour as everyone is so impatient.

DH was talking to a patient at work who was in his 70s and said he likes to get his clothes all laid out the night before so he could make a quick start on his shopping in the morning - he'd been a shift worker doing day and night shifts before retirement so it wasn't like he couldn't give up his morning routine. I used to imagine him sleeping on his back, body totally straight, fully-clothed so he could eject himself from bed and get going at 730am!! I myself am easing into semi-retirement and the absolute best thing is having my coffee and wandering around in my pjs until at least 10am on my non-working days!

YANBU.
I can absolutely see the upsides for those actually doing the WFH, but when it’s my day off and dh decides to wfh, it does feel as though I’m still at work too.
Dh on a work call seems to permeate the whole house. I don’t like that part of our home is now permanently not part of our home (even though he does have another actual office he can use) And being shushed and shooed out when in my own home, if anyone says something at the wrong moment, irks me to the max🙄

I definitely wouldn’t insist on dragging other people in to the office if I ever got to management level, of course not everyone’s like me. But for me PERSONALLY, and my husband, the office is much better. I think it’s because my job doesn’t really have many meetings, and the tasks don’t really have deadlines, so it’s hard to be disciplined and concentrate on coding 8 hours a day. In my last job my manager didn’t give a shit and was always busy so I basically did nothing for a year and got severely depressed - I left.

I’d take a pay cut for wfh job or 1 day per week in office. If I had a choice, I won’t go back to full time in office, but I would suck it up if I absolutely had to. I’m more likely to do overtime and work weekends if I wfh and don’t have to do extra commuting hours.

That's fine, but when wider work policy which affects the lives of millions of people (and to the massive detriment of working women in particular) is made by people who can't get their act together it sticks in the throat a bit.

I’m hybrid but wfh some hours means I can be a mum and have a career. I do both well (if I do say so myself!) so I’m incredibly in favour of it. But I do have a colleague who is, let’s say, less than conscientious (he is a man and isn’t caring for his kids so no ‘reason’). It’s annoying and I feel personally ‘offended’ by it even though I’m not his boss and it only indirectly effects me when we work on projects together.
Things like not answering your phone or emails or returning them for days is just being plain lazy and probably nothing to do with wfh and everything to do with his personal work ethic!

Stupid but genuine question…what does “WFM” stand for? Work from maison? Work from mothership? I am stumped!

I think it depends on your personal circumstances and the role and organisation. I agree it works really well for some, and for others about the same as being in the office.

I really feel for those who live in house shares or studios. I remember being in an office job for the first time and how useful it was to listen to calls and ask others for their opinions. That's why we sat next to our supervisors. My whole social life in a new city was also through work. There must be some poor people who didn't get to have the proper uni experience and are now missing out on the new office experience, and possibly just sat in their room at home.

I've had to resort to getting my MP to chase up something with a public body, after my trying for eighteen months, with their excuse people WFH. The sooner these people get their backsides in gear and start doing the job they are paid to do in the place they are expected to do it, the better.

Does he not have a door he can shut? (and get soundproofed if he's that loud).

My DP WFH for a while in Covid and, if he'd shushed and shooed me out while he was on a call (or if my lodger did, for that matter), they'd get very short shrift from me.
Then again, rather than them shushing and me silently resenting it, if any issues about noise/use of space etc did come up we all just talked about it and sorted it out like adults.

We love it here. We have a 4 bed home with one of the bedrooms fully kitted out as an office. When we’re done we just shut the door and that’s that. It’s our day off today and I don’t feel at all like I’m at work.

Thing is, some people are just lazy, it’s a very hard trait to change. They have to live on this planet too! If they were sat on benefits people would moan they’re sponging off the system. If the office is what gets certain people to be less lazy, then surely it’s a good thing. I don’t know of any companies “forcing” anyone in, but if it gets some people to work a bit harder, it’s a good thing? One size doesn’t fit all and I certainly can’t relate to being more productive at home or even enjoying it.

I hate office working. Wfh suits me much better and if my company said you're coming back in, I'd say bye. There's other jobs out there for wfh, and I'm not loyal if you're going to ruin my work-life balance.

Those who try and criticise it - don’t try and ruin it for the rest of us.

This^

DH and I both work from home. Me for the last year. DH for the last 2 years. We love it.

Albeit, we do have dedicated work space.

Oh, btw, it's not just for parents. Let's not have parentism bought into wfh please.

My current employer will never convince me Back to the office on a regular basis
If they try I will work elsewhere

I've not spent one single day in an office since 2012. Works for me and has done since way before it became 'the norm'.

Would never go back to working in an office full time. Finally have some control of my own schedule, flexibility and don’t have to spend two hours in the car everyday! Everyone I know loves WFH and is still popping into the office for a day a week etc. it’s mostly outdated company bosses that are trying to make it “not a thing” anymore. No idea why, they’d be better saving the money on the office rental fees!

I worked for a large FTSE company for many years WFH with visits to clients as required. The company did have offices and any internal meetings were held there.

I also now do still work at home.

What I saw over 25 years of WFH is:

Senior level was normally fine. Their jobs required that they needed to be available almost all of the time. If you couldnt be got hold of then words would be had and it was very clear what you were up to.

Junior people much less so. They often didnt have a proper office at home, and during Covid they often made hay. Dogs barking in the background on Zoom calls and children in the background even after the schools went back.

Ignoring calls between 1500-1600. Funny - that is pick up time for most schools. Not being keen on having calls after 1600 because said children needed their tea and some attention.

With regard to Central Gov. I worked with them for over 20 years. Placing all the staff at home during Covid for obvious reasons was a requirement. I have rarely met such a lazy, process driven group of people (where the processes are truly rubbish) in my life . Imagine you apply for a new passport. Where are your documents going? Surely not to some employee's house? Yet they are refusing to come back into the office. Its not the demand for passports. That is an old excuse. Ditto with Land Registry, DVLA etc.

I've been WFH for seven years. I have a garden office and an excellent 'office' set up. I am definitely more productive because I know the commute to the head offices in California and Hong Kong would really impact my time management.

I don't think I can ever go back into society the office, all those people with their breathing and tapping and chatting and eating and sniffing and the wrong temperature.

I like hybrid. Love the flex and balance of home working, and would hate to lose it. Would look elsewhere if the office became mandatory 5 days again, it's not necessary.

Then again, despite the earlier get-ups, morning faff and traffic, I realize it does me good to get out the house, change the scenery and see other faces in the office. The bit of extra activity and effort is a good thing for me overall. There are natural interactions that undoubtedly benefit our work. And I do find some people less accessible via Teams.

At my company there are people who are flat-out refusing to attend the office at all which I find absurd. We used to do 5 days! I think face-to-face interaction has value, and it's not unreasonable of the company to want that. Hybrid is the way to go IMO.