Work from home or Work from office?
Shalin Doshi
165 replies
Someone told me a line, which I thought would be good for a discussion to have:
Accept it - "If you can't trust your team to work from home; you don't trust them at all."
Ps: I like to work from the office
Please share your comments and views on the same.
Replies
Graham Beck@grahambeck
Marketing & Coworking Management Tech
Honestly think this is a gray area. Not everyone has a great at-home environment and some people don't want to commute. This article covers a ton of pros, cons, etc: https://drop-desk.com/hybrid-work
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@grahambeck what’s your take on it?
Marketing & Coworking Management Tech
@shalin_doshi My take is that it should be down to the individual to choose whether to work from home, the office or a local space. As long as productivity does not suffer, why wouldn't companies want employees to have a better quality of life?
@grahambeck if I may ask, you want a better quality for employees or better output?
@grahambeck working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
For all the benefits that WFH gives, I guess its important for people (especially early in career) to come to office occasionally. Creative collaboration, serendipitous conversations and feeling of trust are something that I don't think can replicated easily in WFH
@luka_vasic @morg7801 What's your take on this?
LeadDelta professional relationships CRM
@shalin_doshi I agree with @jareer_samad , hybrid work is the best. I currently work in a fully remote position and I do feel like working from office one or two days a week would be great. It breaks monotony and can give you a burst of motivation to see others work around you. I cherish every day I can spend with my colleagues outside of virtual meetings. We are social creatures and need real contact with people to be sane.
@jareer_samad @luka_vasic that’s what the work Culture brings a change. I believe 4 days should be work from office and 1 day work from home. Because WFH time files sitting in front of the desk
@shalin_doshi I agree with Jareer, for those early in their career or those who are eager to climb the ladder, important to get the face time. But I don't agree with Jareer abbreviating work from home :)
And to Luka's point, we are social creatures, so it's important you cater to those needs. For those who don't have the hybrid option, you can met those needs by going to a co-working environment, meet a friend for lunch, make a portion of your video meetings personal (talking about happy stuff).
@jareer_samad are you just starting out? Or already in the business?
As a marketer, I need to connect with people, hear their ideas, brainstorm, and "talk-it-through". Couple of days working from home — okay, to focus and execute your plans, but no more.
@armenuhi_yeganyan are you in the zone when WFH compared to office culture?
@armenuhi_yeganyan working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
I prefer working from office. Working from home makes me feel more lazy. I can't control when to wake up. and I feel like everything is mixed up, doing home stuff while doing my work tasks.
@dina_mostafa working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Always find it a very interesting discussion as there is of course an extensive list of pro's and con's. I for myself, think that remote work and culture can be as daunting as building culture in the office. We do see a trend that big companies like Microsoft and Google return workers back to the office, however, I do not see this as a permanent development (https://www.protocol.com/bulleti...). I think progressive organisations should actually support remote/hybrid working positions to save costs and improve employee satisfaction.
However, given a development towards remote working, I do see two types of workforces developing within the same organisation. I believe the actual struggle we should be addressing is how do you keep both workforces well connected to maintain a strong company culture!
@noah_hofmann I always had a question in my mind, huge companies spend money on assets/offices and etc, wfh culture existed before pre-covid, so why didn’t the companies adopt to it?
I’m sure they had great leaders during that time as well, that’s why they are where they are today.
What do you suggest, how to keep companies employees engaged? As it’s difficult to keep the same culture up.
@shalin_doshi That's a good point, I do think leadership, especially in times of crisis is important to direct and transform company culture.
To answer your question, I do believe it is about reinventing your company culture and finding new ways to connect people and keep them engaged. Specifically, I find company offsite's, weekly checking, and bi-weekly/monthly social events an effective approach to keep employees engaged. Hope that helps!
@noah_hofmann agreed, but still why is there such a heavy investment in office spaces? Things could be done from
Home as well, this is what I daily to understand.
Plus by giving a seat we work has turned into a unicorn just imagine.
To change a culture, the company needs to spend sometime in the business to get to know how the company is adopting to situations, post which they can take a call to change the culture.
Some yesterday told me Apple, fb, Google and etc are a cult. What’s your take?
Neither? I don't like working at home, because I need a separate space to feel productive. But I also think the benefits of remote work are amazing and far outweigh in-person offices.
My solution: rent a small private office about 5-10 minutes from where I live. It allows me to get out of the house and have a separate work space while still eliminating the negatives of the office.
@exemplar Hey Kiefer, working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Virtual Sapiens
I am building a fully remote company currently and it's imperative to build in practices to foster trust with your employees.
We had performance issues with one employee early on and it was hard to know exactly what this person was up to all day when those deadlines weren't met.
However, we also romanticize the 'in office = trust' framework. If someone doesn't want to work, they will find creative ways to skirt responsibility whether they are at home or at the office.
Finally, in-person meetings can happen with a remote first work culture, just like virtual meetings will continue at an in-office first work culture.
As a leader, it's important to have systems in place to check in regularly, to have clear deadlines and to build up team members so they feel empowered and that they can have an impact. This isn't a factor of remote or in-person in my opinion.
@rachelonpointe I always had a question in my mind, huge companies spend money on assets/offices and etc, wfh culture existed before pre-covid, so why didn’t the companies adopt to it?
I’m sure they had great leaders during that time as well, that’s why they are where they are today.
@rachelonpointe Hey Rachel, working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Virtual Sapiens
@shalin_doshi Oh nice! Thanks for sharing, I will take a look. I am also building a solution to help make video meetings feel more human and impactful with Virtual Sapiens (www.virtualsapiens.co) We have a convenient free trial if you want to give it a whirl!
@rachelonpointe I’ll
Check it out and give you a feedback on it, so is this your own company ?
Virtual Sapiens
@shalin_doshi Awesome:) Yes, my company:) What is your website? For some reason I am having a hard time finding it
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@sewell_stephens what’s the product you are working on?
@sewell_stephens who is your target audience for the product?
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@sewell_stephens business owners right? Imagine if you are at a we work space working from there not home, how many people you could have Interacted with as business owners? Before even you launched your project you would have a set of customers ready, because you are already interacting with them and they know you. It’s all about hustling and working in an environment with people, homes give you leisure’s not networking which you need.
@sewell_stephens working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
I agree with the statement. And if the managers can't trust their employees then create deadlines and if those deadlines are getting met, then trust your employees.
Remote working is of high value for the employer and employee, but does need discipline.
@morg7801 True, but many a times people take remote working for granted and when countered they always have a reason backed to it. But I personally feel, 1v1 physical interaction is a must. It really helps to gain the best out of you rather than virtual meetings. There are few things which virtually can't be achieved
@shalin_doshi That's where the discipline comes in from the employer and employee. You both agree to realistic deadlines and if those deadlines are not met, then after the third time, the employee should be fired or rather not have the option to work remotely.
I agree, 1v1 physical interaction is important, not important for work, more for relationships, camaraderie. I say not for work, because most in-person meetings are unproductive. What should take 3 minutes, ends up taking 30 minutes.
@shalin_doshi It's depends on your job position. In most cases in order to be successful at your position it's not necessary to network. In some position it's very important. Collaborating is important (being around people), but it doesn't always create growth, in fact it can stunt growth. You are only as skilled as your superiors allow you to be. And it comes full circle... trust.
@morg7801 I strongly believe networking at any position is important, which can in future lead to collaborations. Being around people has its pro and cons, surround yourself with positive people who actually help you grow in your life, because it's easy to find negativity rather than positivity. Hence, I believe someone or the other will surely see your skills in an organisation when working from office and give you the benefit of it.
I like to have an opportunity to do both.
The most suitable model of work for me - 3 or 4 days at office and 2 or 1 days at home per week.
At office it's easier to connect with a coworkers, have a small talk and etc.
But sometimes I feel like I need to work remotely (because of mood for instance).
@xsofikox haha, I believe everyone has started the WFH because there is a new trend started of it pre covid. I only can think of freelancers working from home before but, now everyone want’s to jump on the trend. Because homes existed before but never there was such a huge craze about working from home.
@xsofikox working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Content Quality Score(E-E-A-T)
Currently, we are working from office.
@zhitao_yan what’s your work like ?
@zhitao_yan can you explain us on how better or easy work life is when In office compared to wfh? Or vice versa
@zhitao_yan working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Content Quality Score(E-E-A-T)
Because we are busy building our major version of the current product, sitting in the same office is more convenient for problem discussion. And new team members also can build a good relationships with current members. If some guys need to work from home sometimes, we can support that.
@zhitao_yan true, I'm totally pro for that, but still some people feel wfh is better than working fom office I believe things need to be stated clearly for every individual before joining the organisation.
@gamerseo working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Due to recent events, working from home has become more acceptable and common.
The ability to travel to other locations without a break from work. Complete freedom of movement, you become location independent and can even live/travel with other remote professionals.
@evgeniyyakubovckiy as mentioned by you in your comment, you can live/travel with other remote professionals, my take on that would be 1v1 interaction is important with anyone, that can never be replaced by virtual meetings. I hope we agree on that
@evgeniyyakubovckiy working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Wfh is something which we all started enjoying recently and it helps in balancing professional and personal life.
@inam_from_outgrow for me WFH is only balancing personal life, with the number of distractions at home, it becomes hard to work. Plus you need a change after some time. It's like food can be cooked at home as well, why go to a restaurant? For change. Anyways what's your take on it?
@inam_from_outgrow Hey Iman, working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
Verticalls
Hybride, I go to the office for the big meeting that can take a lot of time. And for my personnal mission, remote work!
@enola_vedovotto Hi, I wanted to understand from you when you are remote working, what is your duration on the calls/meetings and how much time is actually devoted to work apart from meetings? Also, what are the working hours, do you have to clock some hours and does it exceed the number of hours in most cases?
@enola_vedovotto working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
CookieLawInfo
As a working parent, I really appreciate the flexibility of remote work. I used to think it would be distracting and hard to manage, but I prefer working from home over going into the office. But I think it would be nice to have to sit down with my team occasionally and have face-to-face conversations.
@shreya_r_nambiar For working parents 100% I agree, since you want to definitely give the time to your child, more over see them grow as those things can never be replaced. But I'm a strong believer of working from office, A. you can network better and grow B. Physical interaction over virtual is always better C. The entire culture of office gives you a sense of motivation to work as things are always handy.
CookieLawInfo
@shalin_doshi I think it depends on the company. My company follows hybrid mode and we try to meet in person, whenever possible. It works great for us since there is no geographical barrier when it comes to hiring.
@shreya_r_nambiar Fair enough, but I have seen the hiring cycle is quit frequent in that case, because employee start with being pumped over the months their interest levels go down, because it's only them and the screen then
@shreya_r_nambiar Hey Shreya, working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
I think there should be blend of both the modes of work. Since, we all have seen that WFH is workable so employees should be given privilege to do WFH and if possible then they can visit office once a week to interact with their co-workers because no matter how much they talk on zoom or google meet, meeting in person hits differently.
@srishty_chaudhary Hey Srishty, working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
I love the social aspect of working from the office, but commuting + distractions are so tricky for me.
We have a hybrid team across timezones and recommended WFO days, but are flexible which is nice!
I've found connecting with team members that are remote by DMing them with less-work related stuff has been really helpful to connect while remote, which means that when I am in the office for a social event / team strategy meeting, I'm a lot more present and energised! ⚡️
@shalin_doshi absolutely! I find being in the office constantly quite tiring and distracting, and prefer to have time to WFH 😊
@kina working from home comes with challenges and we have tried to solve one of the issue of networking with people by launching our product DashLynk https://www.producthunt.com/post..., so check it out and give us your feedback if possible.
I think it's not necessarily the location itself. I'd imagine I'd have the same adverse reaction to "Work ONLY from this coffee shop" as I do to "Work from office."
The flexibility is what I appreciate.
@reecekjones flexibility in terms of location or does it even include timings?
@reecekjones can you let us know what business are you into?
@shalin_doshi I am a founder! Just launched my health education company. Actually you can check out our page here! https://www.producthunt.com/post...
@reecekjones imagine if you were at a wework, how many people you could have reached? Potentially to try your product out
@shalin_doshi That's a good point, I think having the option of WeWork would be awesome. But being forced into a 9-5 is not something I'd enjoy.