Hacker News Reader

Comment by rspeele | Hacker News Reader

I actually kind of like when I go into the office and nobody is there. It's the least distracting possible work environment.

View on HN

I like that, too. The problem is, those who are left enjoy catching up. That is fine in general but I noticed I'm much less productive in the office than at home because I need to listen to small talk whenever I go to the kitchen or just pass my coworkers. I'm not an introvert and I enjoy talking to people in general, but when I'm at work, I have a certain amount of things to do and I really want to complete them all. When I'm WFH, nobody is calling me on Zoom saying, "Hi, what's up, have you seen the last Batman"? That is perfectly fine by a friend after work, but during work hours I prefer to be focused on my work and decide when to take a break when I need to, not when someone comes to my desk (sometimes with trifle issues that could be solved more easily by async communication).

People see this as a waste, but that is how team relationships are formed. Jeff from accounts may be eating up time today talking about Batman, but 3 months down the line you'll be ringing him up saying "hey buddy, I need a favour on those TPS reports" and he'll oblige because you've formed a bond. It's human nature.

I found WFH was great when we all left the office en masse and had already got a close-knit team. Changing jobs during the pandemic and trying to build new relationships remotely was really, really hard because that human-level interaction wasn't there.

Yes, I agree with you and I didn't see it as a problem when we had just one day in the office - I just took into account I'll do 1/4 less than usual - but now that we have 3 days in the office, it becomes visible. It's not a huge problem, just one of these little hings that make me think about finally switching my job to one of these companies offering giving you a choice between hybrid and fully remote, meaning you can come to the office when you want/need rather than when your boss thinks you should.

We solved it by every now and then burning a friday and having potlucks at the beach or some park. Not mandatory but if its convenient people show up, and people actually do make the trek from far off sometimes just to have a cookout and a little fun. Its all social too, work isn't mentioned at all in conversations.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com