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.

In my experience people who slack off will do it regardless and whatever their situation.

It really does depend on the person - I've always worked better from home, to the extent that I would leave work and go home to ensure I met deadlines (with the approval of my bosses). At work there were far more distractions - people asking me things, which would then lead to them chatting to me etc. I was still available via the phone, but with people not being able to see me, they mostly saved their question until they did.

I now work from home full time, so these types of distractions have to be scheduled and are thus far less intrusive. I do perform all aspects of my job online or by phone, so nothing is being neglected (this has always been a work from home job).

Whereas other people will have distractions from home or need the motivation of others being around.

And of course if systems are not properly integrated, so that the job cannot be done fully from home, then yes, people do need to return to the office.

The customer service in many places has deteriorated substantially since covid - and covid is still being used as an excuse. If WFH is the real reason, then that needs to be sorted. But I doubt it is, as customer service from many companies was fine during lockdown and is rubbish now - I do think it is an excuse used to cut costs at the expense of the customer.

I am happy to admit that I tke more "me" time during my working day when wft. But equally I am much more productive. A task that could take me half a day in the office due to noise, distractions, etc will take me an hour at home. Even if I then spend half an hour on laundry, on mums net, for a run or a school run, work are still winning. Plus I am winning too which makes me a happier and more motivated employee.

And I don't have to take time off to do personal things or sick days. So if I have an awful cold I will work from the sofa rather than taking an entire day off because I can't face the commute and noone will appreciate my germs being spread around the office. Work has then gained a day's work they would otherwise have lost. Similarly if I have a dentist appointment I can pop out in a lunch break rather than having to take a whole or half day off.

We have a hybrid arrangement with 2 days in the office and 3 at home. It is the perfect balance for me as although WFH gives me a good balance with childcare/travel costs, during covid I did really miss the camaraderie of the office and some things are just easier face to face. I will also admit that on days when I am lacking in motivation, it is easier to force myself into the swing of things in the office than at home. I also think it is a good balance from an economic and environmental perspective - less commuting without totally abandoning city centres.

No. I was WFH 2 days a week before the pandemic and I do the same now.

The customer service in many places has deteriorated substantially since covid - and covid is still being used as an excuse. If WFH is the real reason, then that needs to be sorted. But I doubt it is, as customer service from many companies was fine during lockdown and is rubbish now - I do think it is an excuse used to cut costs at the expense of the customer

I think furlough was a major issue, with companies abusing the system (though that wouldn't account for customer service being ok during lockdown). I think a lot of companies decided to cut costs and don't care if they annoy customers. It's weird, because it's cheaper to keep a customer than win a new one, but maybe if you simply spend money on advertising and minimal money on customer service staff, that isn't the case!

Sadly, to go back to the environmental cost of commuting, the government's mini-budget has lots of road projects mentioned but no new cycle infrastructure. That said, one of the road projects I looked at has no pavement at the moment and the work being done to improve it will add pavements and cycle paths, so maybe it's not all bad!

I am happy to admit that I tke more "me" time during my working day when wft.

Me too, but the fact it's on my terms and that I can easily plan really makes a difference.
I like to run. When in the office, I'd run with others, which was lovely and I do miss that, but the time was set and did mean an impact on work (that it might be disjointed rather than not finished).
Now I can decide I'll run during the day, and just go when it suits me work wise.

f I have an awful cold I will work from the sofa rather than taking an entire day off because I can't face the commute and noone will appreciate my germs being spread around the office. Work has then gained a day's work they would otherwise have lost

Indeed, quite often you feel ok to work but not ok to drive or do a long commute. I will still go to bed and take a day's sick leave if I feel too rubbish to work, WFH doesn't mean that I force myself to work when I don't feel up to it, which I know is a concern for some people.

I am working hybrid and its a good compromise, but I much prefer my WFH days. The office is noisy, there are too many distractions and I am much more productive at home. I also hate wasting time commuting, although my commute is short. I get that it doesn't work for everyone, and it really helps to have a dedicated office, but there is no way I will go back to the office FT again.

I've WFH for almost a decade and adore it. Maybe because I'm a pretty quiet person who works well independently. Totally get it doesn't work for everyone, though.

What I hate is the "hybrid" model to be honest, which my company has just introduced (so I'll be leaving...).

Hybrid is nice if you live locally and don't mind popping in for a few days a week, but if you live quite far away (which I do), and have your own working space all set up at home (which I do), then 3 days of office work is so unbelievably disruptive. Plus, with everyone coming in on different days, there's never a full turnout for in-person meetings anyway.

Btw - of course the c-suites of MSoft think WFH is a load of rubbish. Their careers were largely formed by shmoozing and social climbing, and their days are 99% meetings based.

Some jobs require people going to a place like teaching or doctors but frankly I see zero reason people need to drive into a city to sit at a computer desk.

I think offices have 'had their day' and most people prefer the flexability, comfort and both time and cost savings of being at home and not having to commute.

Most people dont enjoy being forced to work in person with people, just look at all the posts of overly chatty, bitchy, can you do me a favor, oddly smelly, eats constantly leaving crubs/greese, random annoying habit, insists on eating 2 week old fermented sprouts, you must contribute to sandras who you never mets leaving fund organiser type co-workers.

I wfh 1 day a week often on Friday. The nature of my job allows me to arrange my week and morning so that basically from lunch onwards i am monitoring emails only. If something comes up then i work.

i think biggest problem with wfh is the temptation that if you finish a piece of work at 4pm then its job done, down tools. Whereas as if you’re in the office then you find something else to do.

Most people dont enjoy being forced to work in person with people

Outside a particularly loud and misanthropic cohort of people on social media, I don’t think this is true…

WFH is here to stay. Bosses may not like it because it gives them less control, and I suspect for many bosses it's down to insecurity (they miss the ego boost of having a office full of employees they think need watching over). But employees want to WFH and will vote with their feet if they don't get it.
I'm sure some people are less productive at home, but definitely not all of them.

No it’s been the best thing to happen to us for a while.

As well as being more productive (always get less done in the office due to interruptions and distractions), we’ve also saved money (saved a few thousand in fuel and all the food and coffees in 2020 alone!) and saved time (2 hours of commuting dead time a day).

Work life balance is now so much better, I was close to burn out before the pandemic and WFH came at the right time for me.

Oh, andi love the office its a fun place to be.
mv wife is the same and actually left her last job because it became fully remote and absolutely hated being at home alone 5 days a week.

wfh suits some but not others.

Do you do your job?

I wfh and honestly I don't miss the office. A long commute to go and not talk to anyone because we are all cracking on to ensure we can disappear as soon as we possibly can to beat the main rush hour.

My flexi time is through the roof because I am spending more time working because of the lack of commute. I hit my targets. My manager can contact me whenever. Other members of my team can contact me whenever.

None of us want to go back into the office because there is absolutely no reason to do so.

I worry for the future where wfh is so prevalent.

People insisting that they'respnlich more productive because of fewer distractions don't understand that those distractions are valuable to te overall development of the business. All the tines you interrupted a colleague to ask for help weren't important.

It's good for people well establishing in careers who don't want to get involved in developing the next generation IMO.

I also think that whilst some people may be more productive at home, the majority aren't.

I personally love working with other people and enjoy the “buzz” of the office. The introverts are more vocal on social media about how much they hate their colleagues. If I hated my colleagues I’d find another job, to me it’s important that I like and get on with them. TBH I’d have picked a more sociable job like doctor or teacher but they all seem to involve long hours/abuse from the general public/rubbish pay.

Hybrid is nice if you live locally and don't mind popping in for a few days a week, but if you live quite far away (which I do), and have your own working space all set up at home (which I do), then 3 days of office work is so unbelievably disruptive. Plus, with everyone coming in on different days, there's never a full turnout for in-person meetings anyway.

I disagree - it's obviously a personal thing though. My commute is over an hour each way.

Crucially though we have a core day for the team to be in the office and don't allow any online meetings (except with other parts of the team who are in other offices) on that day so we can maximise face to face collaboration. Hybrid as an unmanaged free for all is quite fraught I think.

I’m an academic and work from home except when I’m teaching or having a face to face meetings. I work best - marking, research, preparing lectures - in a quiet space free from interruption (my home office) and go into work when I fancy a chat or catch-up. Definitely less work gets done then, though I suppose you could call it team building!

I am much less productive working at home. And lonely. I don’t like it. It’s normal for me to speak to no one in my working week. I lose concentration easily. Two or three days a week in the office would suit me.

SOme of them are valuable. Some are really not. Plus, there are ways to keep the benefits if people just adapt to different means of communications.

I do think that some face to face is good. I try make it into an office at least once a month to keep relationships going. Maintaining relationships can be tricky if you never see people in person. That said, I work for a global company, most of the people I work with are abroad. I still try to see him in person from time to time, but if anyhting it's strengthened by relationships with them as we, as a company, have become a lot better at communicating virtually.

I've been fully remote for almost 15 years so I'm not sure WFH has "had it's day."

I think it's fair to say that, post-Covid, people have a better understanding of their preferred working style and are gravitating towards companies who offer it.

I've noticed that WFH skivers are less able to fluff around the office distracting those of us who like to get things done. They're easier to mute on Slack than in person.

no it hasn't. If your work isn't suited it may be difficult for you to understand for those that it is suited to.

Also I find the hypocrisy from companies frustrating.

If we want to wfh for less commuting time/cost, better work/life balance - we're called lazy.

before Covid, when companies were asking us to hotdesk because they didn't want to move to bigger premises, or they specifically rented smaller premises - thats 'efficient'.

Before covid, companies would hire india/china/eastern europe based staff to keep employee costs down and we'd have remote teams mixed up across time zones and have to handle that - that is 'efficient' so even if we were all in the office, we'd still not all be in the same office.

they want their cake and eat it. Too bad.