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I’ve done WFH about 1 day per week for the last 5 years but also spend, sorry spent, an inordinate amount of time on planes, around 130 domestic flights and 25 long haul last year alone according to my BA app. I hated it. It broke me and I genuinely had had enough after Xmas. Ironically I probably caught c-19 on one of those trips and have therefore been home since the second week of Feb.
Upside is I see may daughter all the time and we have really bonded - I block out slots in my calendar for PE with Dads and we always have breakfast and supper together. It’s ace. Home life is generally much nicer and I am also way fitter as a result of having more time and more energy.
Downside is I am a loner anyway and not seeing anyone means I do suffer a bit with anxiety and stress. I struggle to walk away from work and was drinking a bit too much to ‘relax’. Of course then I don’t sleep and it gets worse.
If it is permanent then I need to reset my mind, I could cope If other aspects like meeting friends and having domestic holidays was in the mix. At the moment it’s all a bit tunnel like.
We’ve got 22,000 people, I have over a hundred and I doubt we will ever work like we did before.
Herself has the kit supplied for a home office, desk & chair, screen, dock and keyboard. I expect that she will WFH for a good part of her remaining time until retirement.
All of the job titles bandied around here sound like high scoring bullshit bingo phrases. I pity you all.
Lets see...
Transformation Director of Data which is a fancy title for moving our clients computer systems from old technology to new technology
Pre-sales technical consultant
Developer
IT worker x 6
IT consultant
IT Support
IT / programming
SME/Technical PM
Director of IT and Digital
R&D
IT trainer
Classroom teaching
Developer
Civil Engineer
Sales
Conference production
Resource lead, so overseeing all our recruitment,resourcing
Designer
You lot are barely trying. My title is "Account Technology Strategist".
Lots of good points made - the one about the informality on video calls I can relate to. I work with a whole range of people at my customers, from IT support to CIOs, and pretty much everyone is comfortable in jeans and hoodies with kids and pets running in and out of the room.
Don't worry, JP has form for less than positive posts on other peoples threads
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Beej - I worked somewhere once where we were allowed to make up our own, and other peoples job descriptions.... It was lucky dip on who sent the order to the printers. I was, for 250 business cards Principal Conceptual Engineer
A lot of the comments seem to follow a trend of “I can work from home but would like to go to the office to meet real people / socialise / be seen / team build”
I think this comes from the feeling of comfort you get with doing what you always did. It is like a lot of retired people still go shopping on weekends because that is when they shop rather than during the week when there are less people around. People add to the experience.
It's more that I'm an engineer in a department, there's say 12-15 teams/types of engineers on a project, if I have a question about the correct level of flange lubrication I need to go and ask a pipe layer, or if I need to ask about a large column I need to go ask the heavy erections group. In the office that's straightforward, you walk over in the general direction of that team and ask your question loudly at the first desk and they'll figure out who's looking after it.
Teams makes that a PITA, projects end up too big to have one big team room for that sort of inane question, so you struggle to actually get to know who your counterparts are in the other teams.
Beej – I worked somewhere once where we were allowed to make up our own, and other peoples job descriptions…. It was lucky dip on who sent the order to the printers. I was, for 250 business cards Principal Conceptual Engineer
I once introduced myself to someone I didn't recognized as "tea bitch" and joked it was because I had no clue what I was doing and was overcompensating for it by being nice to everyone.
He was the excec and probably knew my day rate 🤣
You lot are barely trying. My title is “Account Technology Strategist”.
My actual job title is "Subject Matter Expert." I genuinely can't decide whether that's awesome or pretentious toss.
I'd love to WFH again but our firm have just fulfilled their dream of owning their own flashy office and no longer leasing, they've kitted it out with new furniture and fancy lights and even got a break out space....there's no chance they are letting this sit idle, they want bums on seats so WFH is just not happening. They also have this notion that when we are all in together we collaborate and work things through....truth is we just chat shit and argue over trivial stuff for hours....and the pointless meetings arghh... Oh and the miserable gits have a strict no radio policy and insist we do the whole trousers, shirt and smart shoes crap...because it's so much more professional.
My actual job title is “Subject Matter Expert.”
Can we refer to you as Bosun SME then?
Downside is I am a loner anyway and not seeing anyone means I do suffer a bit with anxiety and stress. I struggle to walk away from work and was drinking a bit too much to ‘relax’. Of course then I don’t sleep and it gets worse.
If it is permanent then I need to reset my mind, I could cope If other aspects like meeting friends and having domestic holidays was in the mix. At the moment it’s all a bit tunnel like.
I wish I could describe this so eloquently. But this is Exactly the same for me. I’m not alchoholic but it’s easy to turn to a beer or two as “something to do” or “something different”. And cancelling the family Hols has been a real blow to me mentally as I face 6 months of a very high sales target with just 2 of us sharing a 5 person teams load and no real break from it.
Strategic Account Director fwiw, basically means I work with the company‘s biggest customers to embed ourselves via sales growth aligned with their strategies.
My travel has gone from > 2 flights a month to zero. I was getting sick of the travel too but it lifts my wages by 25-30%. Replacing that is hard.
Strategic Account Director
That abbreviates nicely!
Here's a question for us who've 'suddenly' been thrust into WFH.
If, you got an e-mail today saying "Dear Intergalactic Key Accounts Emperor" in these unprecedented blah blah blah you're WFH forever.
What changes would you, could you and have to make?
Would you give up that London flat and buy a somewhere with a bit of Land?
Give up that expensive PCP car you wouldn't need so much now?
If you're single, could you accept you might not get to 'chat shit' with anyone M-F?
Does you sofa look like an explosion in a post-it factory?
Are you counting the seconds until the chiropractor reopens because you've been bent over a 13" laptop at the dining table for 2 months?
My, Boss has seen the writing on the wall, he's given up his Lease Car (it was end of term anyway) and bought an E-Scooter for his 1 mile commute / trip to the shops as he's decided he's not doing F2F meetings anymore. But then, he's got the advantage of having an office a mile from home that's he's largely kicked everyone else out of.
Not purely driven by WFH but this has appeared on my drive, my V8 Diesel Range Rover has gone and the Mercedes is hooked up to a trickle charger
What changes would you, could you and have to make?
We'd have to lose one of our dining room tables ( that we're both currentle sat either end of) and substitute it for two desks instead. I'd change the carpet for something a bit more office chair friendly.
I'd buy a better printer too. Our occasional home use cheapo HP OfficeJet is struggling to keep up.
We'd only need one car.
And a spade, to bury the childrens bodies.
How many of you WFHers also use a Messaging app? We found it to be an invaluable "back-channel" for informal requests, chats, even just office gossip.
WE have an office WhatsApp group.
I'd imagine that we're not unique in that regard.
Have loads of WhatsApp groups due to all the different groups of work related stuff. Trying to move it over to teams for work related stuff to be honest to encourage separation of social and work.
We use Teams for everything - so I'll have a call with a customer running, and be using the chat for the call participants and then sometimes another chat for just our attendees, or individual 1-2-1 chats with specific people on the call.
We've got running team chats for informal stuff, gossip, stupid stuff. They tend to be a mix of work and non-work, very like you'd have in an office environment.
I've also got a few running group chats with specific work topics and multiple 1-2-1 chats going too.
Teams groups and channels tend to be used for more formal stuff, e.g. working on a proposal response.
What changes would you, could you and have to make?
Tidy my desk up properly. Add a third monitor.
Already have a good printer. Already picked up a secret hand office chair.
"
Working from home forever
- my wife has just been told to plan/expect on working from home either partially or full time for the next two years. They are looking at closing a number of their offices which will be difficult to set up to maintain social distancing and need to reduce numbers in the other offices.
If, you got an e-mail today saying “Dear Intergalactic Key Accounts Emperor” in these unprecedented blah blah blah you’re WFH forever.
What changes would you, could you and have to make?
I’d have to move house which isn’t going to happen. I’d love to, but that would require money. No room and the last few weeks have been a nightmare tbh. Don’t miss the social side of work, just having a desk, being able to concentrate and having home and work completely separate to each other. For me it’s not healthy having no separation between the two.
Try and reduce the wiring clutter as per another thread
My new thinking is that I stick the two laptops up one end of the desk so I can see their screens if any messages pop up. The desktop will continue to live underneath. I will use the Microsoft Wireless display adaptor to allow me to mirror which ever computer I want to onto the main screen in front of me.
I will have a single wireless keyboard & mouse connected to the 4 way USB switch along with the wired microphone and camera.
I would like the laptops to be able to connect to the USB switch wirelessly to reduce the desk clutter. I am guessing that there might be a dongle to dongle solution for this but does this really exist. Also, will all the wireless to wireless links in such close proximity cause issues?
How many of you WFHers also use a Messaging app? We found it to be an invaluable “back-channel” for informal requests, chats, even just office gossip.
Teams.
We don't gossip / chat much.
The Boss is hard to read, at first we were having scheduled video conferences twice a day, it was the youngest team members idea. Sometimes he would get a bit shirty if we went off topic, sometimes he wouldn't, but we were insanely busy at the time. I'd argue it was the best time for going off topic, stress levels were high, but that's an aside. Anyway we don't do that now which is a blessed relief.
When lock-down first happened my social / mates whatsapp groups were crazy, endless memes, jokes, arguments etc, but they're dead quiet now, a bit like the kids we're adjusting to a lot less social interaction which I don't think is good.
At the start of this, all the talk was about what we were going to do when it was over, we were never going to take life for granted again blah blah blah, but rather than a huge endless party when it's over and a return to a more friendly society, I think there's a chance we might become more distant than ever. People aren't looking out for each other any more (well not as much) but treating each other with more suspicion "are they sick" "how many times have they been out today?" "is than an essential worker coming to fix a pipe or an old friend popping over?" "does he need to go out in the car all the time?"
Already picked up a secret hand office chair.
Sounds very cool, I want one!
Best thing we did was switch our broadband to SIM based (with associated antenna etc). I reckon without that no way could I have - with any confidence - used all the video stuff I've done this last two months. Bought a second monitor but that was mostly so my daughter could have a big screen to see what was going on video/chat when she was helping facilitate.
Otherwise all set up from WFH for years. Glad I moved back in from the big shed we used when kids were young. It's about 85 degrees in there at the moment!
We're already talking about having just one car. Mine goes back in Nov and right now I'm wondering if I'll bother leasing another one.
Get some work done on the house, stuff sorted and either moved on or board the loft and get it up there. Decorate the current box room/ office, new desk. Have IT kit and chair from the office already, but looking like months more at home and possibly beyond that. I used to enjoy a couple of days a week from home, but full time isn't doing me any good.
Some of our staff and managers are struggling to get their heads around the 'new normal' at the moment. I have a daily catch-up chat on Teams or Skype with video with my guys to keep us on close terms. Some staff have had hardly any communication from their manager since lock down and are fed up and want to go back into the office. None of my team do.
I’d have to move house which isn’t going to happen. I’d love to, but that would require money. No room and the last few weeks have been a nightmare tbh. Don’t miss the social side of work, just having a desk, being able to concentrate and having home and work completely separate to each other. For me it’s not healthy having no separation between the two.
We're not quite in that boat. My Wife is a Community Nurse, at first the dreaded middle management couldn't accept that the grand tradition of 'Handover' made be a thing of the past and they we were still cramming 12 of then into the same room before and after they headed out to see some of the most vulnerable people. Even the blindingly obvious stupidity of that couldn't persuade them to stop, but finally it seems to be. She works from a small laptop anyway.
I've sued to dual 24" monitors, I've slimmed down to a laptop, monitor and keyboard. It's about as slimline as I can go.
We can't move, we've only been here 5 months and will likely be in negative equity now, at least for 6 but more likely 12 months, maybe more.
There's no room for a home office, I've been looking at conservatories, or "glass extensions" as they call them, I can get them at 'Trade' from a client, but I don't have money for it at the moment.
No way to extend here and no money to do so if it was possible. The house was too small before WFH happened and it’s putting a lot of strain on home life tbh.
I face 6 months of a very high sales target with just 2 of us sharing a 5 person teams load and no real break from it.
Why?
I really struggle to comprehend this mindset. A company's under-resourcing (presumably) isn't your fault. If I had to do the work of three people I wouldn't think "wow, I'd best work 24-hour shifts," I'd think it sucks for them to be getting a third of the work done until they hire more staff.
We are just a few weeks away from completing a house rebuild and extension. It includes a new study, large dining room table surrounded by windows and small summer house with power and wifi access. I have a dog and a brand new bean to cup coffee machine. Never been a better time to start full time WFH!
Would you give up that London flat and buy a somewhere with a bit of Land?
I've been wondering about this. Could this be the beginning of the end for the London powerhouse? If you're not trailing into the office every day it makes little difference whether you're in The City or the Orkney Islands.
If you’re single, could you accept you might not get to ‘chat shit’ with anyone M-F?
I do rather tend not to shark work colleagues.
Are you counting the seconds until the chiropractor reopens because you’ve been bent over a 13″ laptop at the dining table for 2 months?
Nor do I visit quacks. My neck is rather sore though.
The worst part is not being able to check out what outfit the trainee in Accounts is rocking today 🙁
I do rather tend not to shark work colleagues.
It is possible to talk to people for reasons other than wanting to bang them, it's even possible to interact socially with members of the same sex.
For most people their colleagues are probably their social circle. As nice as the idea of a nice big house in Orkney is to a middle aged bloke with a wife and 2.4 kids, it'd be miserable if your only interaction with the world was via skype.
Then again, tinder.
If you’re single, could you accept you might not get to ‘chat shit’ with anyone M-F?
I do rather tend not to shark work colleagues.
Ha ha, I meant gossip with people Monday to Friday, as in you live alone and might not see your Pals until the weekend, although reading it back it does seem more like chatting up people.
It is possible to talk to people for reasons other than wanting to bang them, it’s even possible to interact socially with members of the same sex.
And bang those too?
Of course it's possible, but I didn't think that was the thrust of the comment I replied to.
For most people their colleagues are probably their social circle.
Really? How depressingly sad if that's true. Other than Mandatory Corporate Fun evenings and the very occasional pub lunch I don't think I've socialised with work colleagues since I was in my 20s. I have actual friends for that sort of thing.
it’d be miserable if your only interaction with the world was via skype.
Sounds like bliss to me TBH.
I have actual friends for that sort of thing.
It's possible to have both, especially if you don't work with arseholes*.
*edit: appreciate that might not be within your control 🙂
I have actual friends for that sort of thing.
Maybe you have the wrong job? I have many "actual friends" I've met via work - both colleagues and people who I've met through colleagues. It's not the only way to meet people, but it provides a usefiul first filter to select out people with similar interests and outlook.
One thing we still need to do face to face is get together in a room to thrash out work allocation. Doesn't seem to work well via Skype audio.
Suspect it will work even worse in next week's Skype meeting to finalise it, when I am on leave. I'm gonna get screwed over big time.
Three of us WFH. Son in his room (not ideal, get's distracted), and me and the Mrs downstairs. We have a table for a PC in the lounge and I'm either in the conservatory, or the summer house. As both these are used for craft stuff by my Mrs, I'm in a much 'messier' environment than I like - fabric all over the place. Mrs is likely to be out of a job soon as she's on a fixed term contract, but she drove me nuts when she was on furlough recently - busy sewing, but would barge into the conservatory and start sewing something up, right next to my laptop, and I'd lose one of my screens due to interference.
I'll be looking to make the summer house far more like an 'office layout'. Downside, it's not secure so means taking everything in and out every day. Long term might be an additional 'shed' to work from. I know I'll at least be 2 or 3 days WFH, maybe more in the Autumn. 20 folk in our office, in banks of 6, no social distancing possible.
One thing we still need to do face to face is get together in a room to thrash out work allocation. Doesn’t seem to work well via Skype audio.
That's probably the easyist bit where I am, it's an agile project and it's all neatly divided up into small parcels of work with points assigned. Total points / number of developers and off you go...
Maybe you have the wrong job? I have many “actual friends” I’ve met via work
Actual friends that I could ring up out of the blue, suggest going for a pint or popping round for a brew and it not feel weird or otherwise atypical, that I've met through work? I can probably think of one off the top of my head and that's a 30-year old friendship now.
I move in various circles and am fortunate enough to have a large and diverse set of friends acquired variously via school / uni / conventions / board game groups / escape rooms / a supporting cast of thousand other hobbies. Work, not so much. I get on really well with my team and other peers, but if I quit my job tomorrow I'd probably never speak to any of them again.
Most of my Wife's friends she made through work, she rarely speaks to her Older friends anymore.
I'm the complete opposite, I get on well with the Guys from work and I'm, pretty pally with my Boss, but I find it hard to be completely unguarded with people from work - I mean, how can you moan about the people you work with, if they're you're mates?
a few interesting things happening, I live and work in London
enjoying working from home, had that pre lockdown on an infrequent basis, have set up the office since going into lockdown so wfh is now straightforward
BUT, i have a London house, I could move to a non-London house and have a big infrequent commute instead, and then be able to leave nearer the hills which would be ace. Pre lockdown I used to cycle commute 4-5 days a week
What is this going to do to house prices, be nice if they rebalanced a bit. Are London weighted salaries needed if everyone is working remotely
Is HS2 really needed now? Could put money into fibre instead?
Did we really need to travel/fly so much? Lower CO2 emissions are definitely a good thing
Interesting times