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Original poster

Team conflict about WFH

28 replies

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks · 23/06/2020 09:31

I work as part of a small team, 8 of us as we all get along fine, not overly friendly but we enjoy working together, have lunch together at the canteen, coffee breaks and the occasional pub after work.
Obviously with covid this has all stopped, and we are all working from home.

We have all been sent a questionnaire about WFH, how it works for us, do we want to come back etc. One team member (we weren't supposed to know who but she told me it was her) has said that they don't work well from home because they don't like video conferences, they prefer to interact face to face and other similar reasons. All valid reasons, and we have all been told that as soon as Govt guidance is that we can return to the office even if the work can be done at home then she will be allowed back.
But that is not what she wants.
She wants for everybody to be told to go back!

I understand her point, she still won't get the face to face if everybody else is still WFH. But I feel that mentalities are now changing and even after covid a lot of people will WFH more often, it might even become the norm for some teams. You can't just prevent everybody else from changing how they work just because you don't want to change.
What do you think?

OP posts:

Baybetterdays · 23/06/2020 09:33

I think she’s going to be sorely disappointed, OP! And possibly sitting alone in the office for a bit. But she’ll adapt, as we’ve all had to. Is it your job to explain to her why she can’t dictate what everyone else does?

Original poster

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks · 23/06/2020 09:35

Not my job to explain it to her, no, I am just a colleague but I like her and I understand her point of view - even though I disagree.

OP posts:

Dozer · 23/06/2020 09:36

Post covid everyone wfh full time seems unlikely.

bluejelly · 23/06/2020 09:37

Is there a compromise position she could get behind? Eg 1 or 2 days a week in the office? I think extroverts can struggle with WFH, as can those in cramped living conditions. Personally I love it!

OchonAgusOchonO · 23/06/2020 09:44

Post covid everyone wfh full time seems unlikely.

I disagree. I think employers are likely to facilitate much more working from home. I've always worked from home 1-3 days a week, depending on what I have on. It's a win-win. I don't have to commute (my commute is hellish - up to an hour for a 15km journey), costs are reduced for my employer (no electricity, heat) and I get more work done as nobody is bothering me.

If employers set up hot desking, the cost reduction for employers is huge.

I like the mix of being able to wfh a few days a week. If I could, I would just go in 1 day but that doesn't always work for me.

RoseAndRose · 23/06/2020 09:49

"What do you think?"

I think she is utterly correct to say toy what she thinks.

I would bpnit be making the assumption that she does not realise that the final outcome will be what suits the business the best, and there could well be compromises all round.

Is there a particular reason you want to second guess what your management will say once they have had time to consider everyone's responses?

Original poster

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks · 23/06/2020 09:57

The WFH has worked quite well for our team so I imagine in the future people who used to work full time from the office will ask to be at least some days from home, if not full time. But on a set day you probably always will have someone WFH so meetings will need to be video conferences anyway.

Is there a particular reason you want to second guess what your management will say once they have had time to consider everyone's responses I don't want to second guess, I am just interested in different perspectives.

OP posts:

FieldOverFence · 23/06/2020 10:00

I don't think she was wrong to express her feelings - I would actually agree with her, I find WFH painful. If there were others that felt like that it would be silly not to say it - who knows where the majority lies

However, she would be wrong to expect that just because 1 person wants to return to the office everyone should

Jaxhog · 23/06/2020 10:12

She can say what she prefers, but can't dictate the working preferences for everyone else. It would be a very foolish manager that allows this if others don't want it.

Original poster

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks · 23/06/2020 10:15

I absolutely agree she was right to voice her opinion!

OP posts:

Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 23/06/2020 10:15

She’ll get over it - I found all the video conferencing so odd when I moved from operations to IT, now it’s the norm to me.

I wonder what her home sitch is like? Maybe she liked coming into the office to escape?

TabbyMumz · 23/06/2020 10:17

Ultimately it will be the decision of management and if they have one person wanting to go back and the others wantinging to continue to be at home, I think I can guess which one will win. She will soon change her mind when childcare issues come.

Uhoh2020 · 23/06/2020 10:21

I can totally see where she is coming from I hate WFH. I have to work in the bedroom to get any peace and quiet ( I need to be on the phone most of the day and some info is confidential) I spend the majority of my time in the bedroom with only the garden and living room as an occasional change of scene. Its depressing! I cant wait to be able to get out the house back in a routine and have face to face contact rather than a headset and talking to a laptop. WFH does not suit everyone.

OlivejuiceU2 · 23/06/2020 10:29

We have a similar situation in our team. One person demanding we all go back to the office, has even mentioned breaking into the office they are that desperate to go back (I’m hoping they are joking). We have been told we will be working from home for the foreseeable, we think most of next year and certainly until Xmas. We’ve done brilliantly working from home as team despite the challenges but this one person is definitely bringing down morale for the rest of the team. It’s really difficult because I feel for them but at the same time I think they being a little bit selfish. None of us have chosen to be in this situation but her attitude is slightly immature in that surely we can all just go back, she can’t seem to understand why not.

MabelMoo23 · 23/06/2020 10:31

I get it. I’ve quite enjoyed WFH as we’ve got a home office and a garden, plenty of space and I have young children.

But if you are a young professional in a house share, which in London is a huge number; you are probably working in your bedroom and you rely on being in the office to network, meet people, learn from your peers and those more experienced.

Those who enjoy WFH are probably in quite a privileged position that working home suits their lifestyle - absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it’s about recognising what other people need as well.

Xiaoxiong · 23/06/2020 10:47

I like a bit of WFH but I am really missing the office - I find WFH draining and exhausting because I don't get back any energy from others over zoom like I do in person. I like popping out for lunch, getting a coffee and chatting to colleagues, etc.

However - it doesn't make sense to force others back, and it doesn't make sense to go into the office when there's no one else there!

We have no plans to return to the office yet, but when we do I'm hoping we have a designated couple of days where the office will be open and most people will be in, and the rest of the days the office is shut and everyone is at home.

QueenCT · 23/06/2020 10:49

I'm WFH as shielding and I kind of get it - work is my human contact and even if I return in August it will be 4-5 months since I've had an actual face to face conversation. I want to go back to the office!

OchonAgusOchonO · 23/06/2020 11:02

That does kind of defeat the purpose of a partial return as a way of protecting people's health.

As a long term strategy in normal times, it might make sense if the employer already owns the space. However, if the space is rented or a new space is being bought, a smaller space with staggered attendance makes more sense economically

Dozer · 23/06/2020 11:05

More wfh for part of the time is likely, most people being AH for ALL of their working time seems much less likely, even in jobs conducive to home working.

There are some significant disadvantages for teams and employers of most people wfh all the time. Eg reduced interaction and informal information exchange/problem solving, experience of new team members.

Xiaoxiong · 23/06/2020 11:23

I also thought of another thing - I was just on the phone with a prospective investor, and mentioned that in the past we have offered internships to junior members of our investors' team and we would be happy to do this for them as well. If we're all WFH, it would be pointless to have an intern as they wouldn't be able to see what everyone's doing and learn the ropes.

Similar to new team members - our most recent hire started on 1 Feb and we managed to integrate her well enough in the first 6 weeks before we closed the office. We need to hire someone else in the next year or so, and it would be really tough to hire someone completely remotely with no office contact at all.

cologne4711 · 23/06/2020 11:30

It should be possible to accommodate most people's preferences, really.

If someone wants to go into the office FT, crack on.

Any combination of days at home/otherwise remotely eg co-working hubs/office

And "FT at home" but maybe in the office once a week/fortnight/month for team meetings and other important meetings like appraisals.

It really shouldn't be that hard to give everyone a bit of what they want. Not perfection, but accommodate them to some degree.

I saw a great quote yesterday when I was reading a book about remote working and I love it:

"work is what you do, not where you go".

cologne4711 · 23/06/2020 11:31

we have offered internships to junior members of our investors' team and we would be happy to do this for them as well. If we're all WFH, it would be pointless to have an intern as they wouldn't be able to see what everyone's doing and learn the ropes

I think this is the biggest problem, but I do think that some people will always be in the office so there will always be people to learn from.

Clytemnestra2 · 23/06/2020 12:31

It’s tricky, especially as what might work best for one person might not be best for the team or organisation as a whole.

For example as someone who has worked in offices for 20 years I now have good knowledge and experience of how offices function, how teams operate, etc. So switching to wfh for a few months is not a big issue. But for eg recent graduates physically being in the office and learning how to behave in a work context is really important, and not something that can be fully picked up on zoom, MS teams etc.
Also for anyone switching jobs to a new company - face to face interaction will be vital. I think a compromise of the two is best - an office with a critical mass of people combined with flexibility to wfh to some extent.

usernotfound0000 · 23/06/2020 13:55

Last week I would've said she just needs to get on with it. However, we found out yesterday that one of our colleagues took his own life last week. He was really struggling with WFH, I don't think anyone realised just how much. I'm not saying that the WFH situation was the sole reason for his poor mental health but it has undoubtedly effected it. So now I think we (and businesses) need to accept some people are fine at home, others are not, and arrangements should be put in place so that individuals have the choice.

Original poster

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks · 24/06/2020 07:33

@usernotfound0000 that is horrifying!

OP posts:

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