If you might be doing hybrid working going forward...

[lljkk]

What equipment will you have issued to you by work?

Thinking of laptop &/or desktop,
screen(s)
cables
chair
docking station
webcam
headphones
printer (& cartridges etc)
laptop bag or sleeve
mouse, keyboard
ethernet cables
?

any of above?

Will you be issued just ONE of any of above... or will you have multiples, one for home & same again 'in the office' -- might well be hotdesked in some way? How will your space in office be allocated?

Will you have a locker or another space to keep any personal things in the office full time?

Will the equipment all be good enough quality?

[quote lljkk]@callmemaybee, no spare reading specs at work means risk of no specs if forgot to bring them or broke the ones I brought. I forget & break things.

I need stuff at work that other people don't need, I can live with that... as long as I have decent equipment at home which is the true huge great uncertainty.[/quote]
Could you buy your own?

You can get almost anything within reason where I work - some things you order, others you can buy and claim back via expenses. I've just got a laptop and mouse because I already had a home office setup I was happy with, but people can get desks, chairs, monitors, things for reasonable adjustments etc. if they need them. All remains company property & would have to be returned if you left.

A drying rack

I mean you may as well take a suitcase into work

Doubt I could buy my own laptop -- our IT security office is fairly paranoid they and only they must have admin privileges over any computer or laptop we use to process our datasets. They will only work on laptops & desktop purchased thru pre-approved suppliers, too. Me paying for it & having zero Admin privileges on it, sounds wrong.

I'm trying to understand what a good dock station costs, they seem to range in price from £30 to £250. How do you choose? Does a dock station present security risks, need an administrator or is it programmed in any way?

I hope most MNers have suitcases big enough to fit lots more than one spare pair of shoes, 1pr of socks, some leggings & a hoody.

I've just understood what a dock station is in modern terms. It's whatever you need in terms of ports -

I have this one
www.google.com/search?q=hp+mini+dock+usb-c&oq=hp+mini+dock&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l4.8533j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Dh has this one
www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-usb-c-a-universal-dock-g2
He has three monitors to connect - I have two - both do the job.

Why do so many of you have external monitors if you don’t mind me asking? What do you use them for? I have wfh for years before COVID but just use a laptop

My laptop is small and portable so the screen is small so it isn't safe for my eyes to be looking just at that screen all day. I also use my monitor (both in the office and at home) as a second screen in meetings so the meeting on Teams or Zoom or whatever is on the laptop screen and documentation for it is on the monitor.

@Mooonstone

Why do so many of you have external monitors if you don’t mind me asking? What do you use them for? I have wfh for years before COVID but just use a laptop

I often need to work on two sets of software at the same time so it's just easier and the bigger monitor makes it easier to read spreadsheets and I have a laptop stand for back health.

What do you do, Moonstone? One thing I do, I rephrase/rewrite info stated in one file (eg., in images in a pdf) to put it into another file (in a different data structure, eg., excel sheet). I need some way to look at both origin & destination at same time, hence big screens are nice since apparently printing on paper is distasteful.

Or I need to write an email while referring back repeatedly to other emails or content in other files and websites.

Or I might work on a big spreadsheet, trying to quality check many data columns simultaneously.

DH works only on a little laptop screen. I have no idea how.

You can get almost anything within reason where I work - some things you order, others you can buy and claim back via expenses.

I wonder how much difference it makes if your employers are public sector or private.
We (public sector) get to do all the e-learning H&S modules / wfh modules etc etc, but it's like trying to get blood out of a stone to get actual equipment.

@Mooonstone

Why do so many of you have external monitors if you don’t mind me asking? What do you use them for? I have wfh for years before COVID but just use a laptop

The screen is bigger than a laptop. It doesn't do your eyes any favours staring at a small laptop screen for long periods.

@lljkk

a tea towel for tea spills?? Just use a tissue from the bathroom?
Any & all things I might want to eat all day, including milk- do you not have a canteen/kitchen at all??
pain killers, plasters- EVERY workplace should have a sufficiently stocked first aid kit!!
If printing then staplers, plastic sleeves & scissors are useful- again these should most definitely be provided by a workplace.

Where on earth do you work??

@BackforGood

You can get almost anything within reason where I work - some things you order, others you can buy and claim back via expenses.

I wonder how much difference it makes if your employers are public sector or private.
We (public sector) get to do all the e-learning H&S modules / wfh modules etc etc, but it's like trying to get blood out of a stone to get actual equipment.

I'm in the private sector - huge multi-national.

We're expected to WFH and been told only to go into offices if necessary.

I have all of the things you've listed plus a monitor and mobile phone.

Offices are entirely hot desks which must be booked via an online system in advance, but each hit desk is set up with a docking station, monitor, keyboard and mouse so all I need to take if I go in is my laptop.

@Mooonstone

Why do so many of you have external monitors if you don’t mind me asking? What do you use them for? I have wfh for years before COVID but just use a laptop

I dual screen.

So say I was on a teams call and we were working on a document, I would have the teams open on one screen and the document on another.

Or if someone on a teams call was sharing a document on screen but I needed to look something up in another document I can have both visible at the same time.

Sometimes I need to work on two documents at a time, so I have one open on each screen

I'm also public sector, civil service to be precise.

QG, if you're interested:

There are forms to fill out if you take anything from first aid kit so kit content gets replaced. I'd rather handle my own menstrual cramps or blisters.

Staff kitchen doesn't mean free food

Right now... The kitchen & loo are 3-7 partly one-way firedoors away from my desk (+additional complicated long one way navigation system & extra doors, right now, "covid"). I'm a klutz, tea towel is good idea. No paper towels in kitchen area, but I suppose I have sleeves, anyway.

Hybrid means there's a decent chance my new hot desk will be in an unknown many-desks office in another building with diverse different features (still no free food & lots of firedoors).

DH dual screens, too. Even if he doesn't need both screens, looking at a big screen is more comfortable than looking at a tiny laptop screen for 8+ hours a day, particularly when he's trying to work out why a massive slab of code (not always his own) is throwing up errors.

DH triple screens - I think he just likes to show off!

@Mooonstone

Why do so many of you have external monitors if you don’t mind me asking? What do you use them for? I have wfh for years before COVID but just use a laptop

I work in journalism/publishing and need to see the quality of publications before sending to print, and a small laptop screen doesn't cut it.