Return to office - your situation
Discussion
Had to do three days in the office this week as we have a client in from overseas. Reminded me how much of a complete waste of time working in an office environment can be.
Only strengthens my argument that I'll be coming in only when absolutely necessary for face to face, which will be pretty rare.
Only strengthens my argument that I'll be coming in only when absolutely necessary for face to face, which will be pretty rare.
Commuted into London twice this week. Tuesday the weather was very wet which maybe led to the Tube being busier. Not that pleasant with steamed up windows. Yesterday far less busy on Tube.
Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
ro250 said:
Commuted into London twice this week. Tuesday the weather was very wet which maybe led to the Tube being busier. Not that pleasant with steamed up windows. Yesterday far less busy on Tube.
Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
The irony here is that if the 2 days are "as needed" you will never have "enough people there to warrant working there".Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
Flooble said:
ro250 said:
Commuted into London twice this week. Tuesday the weather was very wet which maybe led to the Tube being busier. Not that pleasant with steamed up windows. Yesterday far less busy on Tube.
Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
The irony here is that if the 2 days are "as needed" you will never have "enough people there to warrant working there".Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
Flooble said:
The irony here is that if the 2 days are "as needed" you will never have "enough people there to warrant working there".
Quite. The "hybrid" compromises of having a mix of old-style office work with a large amount of working from home risk being the worst of both worlds rather than a genuinely useful balance between the two. These hybrids sound superficially attractive in the absence of proper analysis and a real strategy, and that should never be considered adequate.We went from having a COO who went into meltdown in pre-COVID days as he turned up unannounced and the office was mostly empty. I explained that I did not see the issue as he was not there to see me 
It also stemmed I think from someone somewhere claiming home office but was actually skiing rather than working.
My old boss was also a helicopter boss who did not believe anyone can work out of the office.
My background was an internal role in a Big 4 company and being a cost-centre, I gave up my desk within weeks of arriving in 2007; within 5 years I was doing mostly home office and coming in with focused face-to-face meetings on 1-3 days a week as needs must.
My present role involves me being in calls most of the time with people who could be in US, UK, Switzerland, Poland and India. I've gotten rid of my Aussie friend in Sydney, he was probably quite happy to not work funny hours for him.
I have been in once since 9th March last year and I expect to not spend any time in the office until May next year. I signed up for our HR-less minimum in the office of 2 days whenever that might be the new norm.
Home office is perfect for me, I've been working and on calls in the car, while skiing, at the lake sunbathing and of course in my home office. My home office at the moment is in Austria, just to confuse the issue. My boss does not care because he does not need to manage me.
But in the end they want bums on seats because banks and pension funds own the offices we use. Lease. Can't get out of.
The younger ones and new hires, especially younger, do take a hit. I try to have a few regular calls to chit-chat about whatever with people - these were popular in early home office times but less so now that people are used to home office. We have 50% capacity and some people do go in but I think it's because they're needing the social contact. FWIW I am in a building with 1400 people "homed" in it and know about 60 of them....
It also stemmed I think from someone somewhere claiming home office but was actually skiing rather than working.My old boss was also a helicopter boss who did not believe anyone can work out of the office.
My background was an internal role in a Big 4 company and being a cost-centre, I gave up my desk within weeks of arriving in 2007; within 5 years I was doing mostly home office and coming in with focused face-to-face meetings on 1-3 days a week as needs must.
My present role involves me being in calls most of the time with people who could be in US, UK, Switzerland, Poland and India. I've gotten rid of my Aussie friend in Sydney, he was probably quite happy to not work funny hours for him.
I have been in once since 9th March last year and I expect to not spend any time in the office until May next year. I signed up for our HR-less minimum in the office of 2 days whenever that might be the new norm.
Home office is perfect for me, I've been working and on calls in the car, while skiing, at the lake sunbathing and of course in my home office. My home office at the moment is in Austria, just to confuse the issue. My boss does not care because he does not need to manage me.
But in the end they want bums on seats because banks and pension funds own the offices we use. Lease. Can't get out of.
The younger ones and new hires, especially younger, do take a hit. I try to have a few regular calls to chit-chat about whatever with people - these were popular in early home office times but less so now that people are used to home office. We have 50% capacity and some people do go in but I think it's because they're needing the social contact. FWIW I am in a building with 1400 people "homed" in it and know about 60 of them....
ro250 said:
Flooble said:
ro250 said:
Commuted into London twice this week. Tuesday the weather was very wet which maybe led to the Tube being busier. Not that pleasant with steamed up windows. Yesterday far less busy on Tube.
Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
The irony here is that if the 2 days are "as needed" you will never have "enough people there to warrant working there".Went for drinks after work around Westminster and pubs very busy. I'm sure the nice weather was a factor but pubs definitely buzzing.
As for the office, I was there for specific meetings so was worthwhile but nowhere near enough people there to warrant working there 'just because'.
Word is we'll be told 2 days per week to work in office. That's fine by me if there's flexibility to do it as needed rather than some forced schedule for no particular reason.
Always made sure I worked at home on a Monday though.
Bluedot said:
I always used to 'enjoy' going in on a Friday. Trains, roads & tube were quieter, normally a more lax dress code and just a generally nicer feel in the office as it was a Friday.
Always made sure I worked at home on a Monday though.
I also used to enjoy Friday but that was when 5 days in was normal and I was committed to an annual season ticket. Now, I can't see much benefit paying to commute to a near-emply office on a Friday.Always made sure I worked at home on a Monday though.
My accountant mate says Fridays are the best in-office day for Finance as you don't get bothered by people!
Just out of interest, those people who say "I've been working and on calls in the car, while skiing, at the lake sunbathing and of course in my home office"
What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
ro250 said:
Bluedot said:
I always used to 'enjoy' going in on a Friday. Trains, roads & tube were quieter, normally a more lax dress code and just a generally nicer feel in the office as it was a Friday.
Always made sure I worked at home on a Monday though.
I also used to enjoy Friday but that was when 5 days in was normal and I was committed to an annual season ticket. Now, I can't see much benefit paying to commute to a near-emply office on a Friday.Always made sure I worked at home on a Monday though.
My accountant mate says Fridays are the best in-office day for Finance as you don't get bothered by people!
I've also found buying a rail ticket a week or even better a few weeks in advance makes a huge difference, if I were to turn up at 6am at my local station for a London return it would be £100, buying in advance and travelling on specific trains brings that down to a much more reasonable £30.
It's the extortionate car park charge that annoys me.
Flooble said:
Just out of interest, those people who say "I've been working and on calls in the car, while skiing, at the lake sunbathing and of course in my home office"
What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
I'd be interested too. I was on a call recently to negotiate contract terms. One of the (client) parties was in his car with his kids. It kept cutting out and every now and then the Google Maps lady would shout a direction too. He seemed to cope fine actually but I found it distracting and unsure whether we was really taking in the whole conversation.What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
ATG said:
Quite. The "hybrid" compromises of having a mix of old-style office work with a large amount of working from home risk being the worst of both worlds rather than a genuinely useful balance between the two. These hybrids sound superficially attractive in the absence of proper analysis and a real strategy, and that should never be considered adequate.
We're trying to get around this by mandating Tuesday and Wednesday as being our in office days. You can come in any other day if you want to, but Tuesday and Wednesday we will try to do all our face to face meetings and chats with as few Teams calls as possible.We're have been told 3 days in the office as a minimum.
I don't mind going in, but I am finding it frustrating that I'm spending time travelling rather than doing something productive. It's even worse when you have to go in, yet every single meeting you have is with a third party so you're on a video call anyway.
I get why they want people in the office (ain't cheap) but it would be nice to be treated as an adult be allowed to decide when I needed to be in.
The resentment seems to be building already, and the number of people doing more than the required minimum can be counted on a single hand...
I don't mind going in, but I am finding it frustrating that I'm spending time travelling rather than doing something productive. It's even worse when you have to go in, yet every single meeting you have is with a third party so you're on a video call anyway.
I get why they want people in the office (ain't cheap) but it would be nice to be treated as an adult be allowed to decide when I needed to be in.
The resentment seems to be building already, and the number of people doing more than the required minimum can be counted on a single hand...
Podie said:
We're have been told 3 days in the office as a minimum.
I don't mind going in, but I am finding it frustrating that I'm spending time travelling rather than doing something productive. It's even worse when you have to go in, yet every single meeting you have is with a third party so you're on a video call anyway.
I get why they want people in the office (ain't cheap) but it would be nice to be treated as an adult be allowed to decide when I needed to be in.
The resentment seems to be building already, and the number of people doing more than the required minimum can be counted on a single hand...
Office indeed ain't cheap, but rather than insisting people therefore go in to use it, it'd be better to be a bit more honest and say "we're locked into a lease that is expensive to finance and expensive to terminate and is providing us with a facility that demonstratively adds little value ... so whichever way we look at it, the truth is we're pissing money up the wall." Insisting that the office be refilled is, I fear, often a fig leaf used to try to obscure the nasty truth that the company has got itself stuck in a position paying a huge amount for virtually no return, and with a bit more insight it might have started extracting itself from that position a year ago.I don't mind going in, but I am finding it frustrating that I'm spending time travelling rather than doing something productive. It's even worse when you have to go in, yet every single meeting you have is with a third party so you're on a video call anyway.
I get why they want people in the office (ain't cheap) but it would be nice to be treated as an adult be allowed to decide when I needed to be in.
The resentment seems to be building already, and the number of people doing more than the required minimum can be counted on a single hand...
Flooble said:
Just out of interest, those people who say "I've been working and on calls in the car, while skiing, at the lake sunbathing and of course in my home office"
What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
thanks for quoting me What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
I have to say there are some calls I can do this for and some I cannot - I have to judge this. If I am presenting then I am in office mode, clearly.
Sitting in the sun with my phone or iPad in a call is easy, iPad better if someone is presenting something.
I am managerial and an SME, this results in me telling people what they need to do. If there are notes to be taken, the organiser does that - if I am that person, I am at my desk.
Work/life balance.....but it depends on what you are able to do and what your role is.
I have done the odd call when skiing this year. But skiing demands little concentration to do and as the slopes were pretty empty with COVID, no others to really think about.
It's also very much the minority - but it sounds good
ro250 said:
Flooble said:
Just out of interest, those people who say "I've been working and on calls in the car, while skiing, at the lake sunbathing and of course in my home office"
What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
I'd be interested too. I was on a call recently to negotiate contract terms. One of the (client) parties was in his car with his kids. It kept cutting out and every now and then the Google Maps lady would shout a direction too. He seemed to cope fine actually but I found it distracting and unsure whether we was really taking in the whole conversation.What do you do when you are having a call while skiing or driving? I'm trying to imagine the sort of job where you are vital enough to need to be on a call but not vital enough to need to concentrate on it instead of driving, or have reference materials to hand/presentations to drive/notes to take.
Some sort of management role where you just assign tasks to other people and someone else sends you minutes afterwards? General motivational type call where you can just busk it?
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