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Coronavirus

Mikey10 said:
I think you misunderstand my original point. No one is saying people won’t return to work; but the way plenty work has already changed. And there is plenty of emerging evidence (relatively empty city centres, businesses not renewing leases on office space) that models of business will change as a result of this pandemic. I know a number of people who already know that they will work from home from now on.

Bosses are not going to order productive home workforces back to the office to save Pret A Manger (despite the government’s increasing desperation) - not when they can save themselves thousands each year on the rental of office space.
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Scara's touched on it above, but this is a massive, sweeping assumption that I strongly suspect will unravel over time.

Of course, it's being taken as read by the media that people, en masse, can work just as effectively from home, and that isn't really being challenged right now because it's what the situation demands - we're in an emergency and as temporary, emergency fixes go, it seems to be working ok to muddle us through. That said, my own experience over recent weeks has often been that I've had to re-dial several times to get through to certain of my business contacts who are 'working from home', in a way that simply wouldn't occur if they were in their offices...

As I said, on the whole it's working reasonably for the situation we face. That's a very long way from saying that it's just as efficient as office working on a permanent, ongoing basis.
 
Parklaner81 said:
Scara's touched on it above, but this is a massive, sweeping assumption that I strongly suspect will unravel over time.

Of course, it's being taken as read by the media that people, en masse, can work just as effectively from home, and that isn't really being challenged right now because it's what the situation demands - we're in an emergency and as temporary, emergency fixes go, it seems to be working ok to muddle us through. That said, my own experience over recent weeks has often been that I've had to re-dial several times to get through to certain of my business contacts who are 'working from home', in a way that simply wouldn't occur if they were in their offices...

As I said, on the whole it's working reasonably for the situation we face. That's a very long way from saying that it's just as efficient as office working on a permanent, ongoing basis.
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There are also huge efficiency in having all the ancillary services together.

In the same way that banks want to be in the same city as their insurers, lawyers, etc employees have less down time if they're in the same building as all the spare laptops, the HR team, etc.
 
scaramanga said:
I don't know of a single senior level director who thinks that employees are nearly as efficient from home as from the office.
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I do. My business has hit record sales numbers this year and we're all very busy delivering the work, with the MASSIVE bonus of not having to spend hours each day commuting.
 
Bullet said:
I do. My business has hit record sales numbers this year and we're all very busy delivering the work, with the MASSIVE bonus of not having to spend hours each day commuting.
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What effect does commuting have on your business?

Don't your employees do that in their own time?
 
scaramanga said:
What effect does commuting have on your business?

Don't your employees do that in their own time?
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I'd say many employers gain as employees log on earlier and log off later due to not commuting.
Also (from a commuting into London perspective), less time is lost due to broken down trains/leaves on the track/wrong type of snow etc.

Ultimately some businesses will do wfh better than others.
I think the end result for many office based roles will be something like 3 days at home, 2 days in the office per week, at most.
 
Glenda's Legs said:
I'd say many employers gain as employees log on earlier and log off later due to not commuting.
Also (from a commuting into London perspective), less time is lost due to broken down trains/leaves on the track/wrong type of snow etc.

Ultimately some businesses will do wfh better than others.
I think the end result for many office based roles will be something like 3 days at home, 2 days in the office per week, at most.
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That's what I meant earlier when I was talking about 50-60hr weeks.

If people start work when they would have started commuting and end when they would have returned home, it will probably make up for the lack of efficiency of being in the same place as each other.

Our IT/phone systems were a seamless transition to home working, but it's still not the same as being im the same place. My office has a door linking to the accounts office and I only close it when I need them to not hear my conversation. I don't need updates from them all the time because I hear the phone calls and conversations all day. If I feel someone is taking the wrong approach I can put my head through the door and right that in seconds before it becomes a problem. Every day at least two if the board here will have lunch together. Again, we don't need to go out of our way to update each other, because we are talking all the time.

That doesn't work remotely. It can still be done but is far less efficient.
 
scaramanga said:
That's what I meant earlier when I was talking about 50-60hr weeks.

If people start work when they would have started commuting and end when they would have returned home, it will probably make up for the lack of efficiency of being in the same place as each other.

Our IT/phone systems were a seamless transition to home working, but it's still not the same as being im the same place. My office has a door linking to the accounts office and I only close it when I need them to not hear my conversation. I don't need updates from them all the time because I hear the phone calls and conversations all day. If I feel someone is taking the wrong approach I can put my head through the door and right that in seconds before it becomes a problem. Every day at least two if the board here will have lunch together. Again, we don't need to go out of our way to update each other, because we are talking all the time.

That doesn't work remotely. It can still be done but is far less efficient.
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The only reason employers will change to more working from home is if it gives some efficiency or saving. If it doesn't, they won't. It sounds that for your company the latter applies.
Maybe it works better for multi-nationals already accustomed to remote contact, or certain roles where autonomous working is the norm.
For me personally, my manager is in a different country to me anyway, so our interactions haven't changed dramatically, although right now he can't travel to London every couple of months as he might otherwise have done. I have colleagues around the globe, so same thing, no change (except I'm happier to take later calls to fit US time or earlier calls for Asia (preferably not on the same day) as I'm home anyway). My workload is my own, whether I am in the office or at home, if I don't do it, no one else will. I do however miss the ability to turn to my neighbour and ask a quick question or seek a second opinion on something, or just stopping by someone's desk rather than trying to find a slot in their calendar, or just the general chit-chat stuff that helps build work relationships. All that goes away with more regular working from home, so in that respect it's not all ideal.
 
scaramanga said:
Every day at least two if the board here will have lunch together

That doesn't work remotely. It can still be done but is far less efficient.
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I doubt 2 of your board have time for lunch every day but if they need to talk remotely, just talk. One doesn't need food/lunch/walking to a restaurant to enable talking. Talking over a visit to a restaurant is a poor/wasteful way to talk.

In general, zero commute means I can spend more time doing what I want (family time or fun or exercise or whatever) and hence less tired, more energised for work.
 
My productivity is through the roof at home.

Also getting fitter and the garden looks great, and my diet is considerably healthier

I’ve spent £50 on diesel since February and overpaid the mortgage twofold each of the last four months.

We’ve also got a lot more time for intimacy and I’m wearing my knob to a nub.
 
Bullet said:
I doubt 2 of your board have time for lunch every day but if they need to talk remotely, just talk. One doesn't need food/lunch/walking to a restaurant to enable talking. Talking over a visit to a restaurant is a poor/wasteful way to talk.

In general, zero commute means I can spend more time doing what I want (family time or fun or exercise or whatever) and hence less tired, more energised for work.
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We always have time to lunch - that's where most of the important stuff gets done.

That sounds to me as if you weren't working to your full potential before. Now your employer knows what they can get out of you I'm sure they'll expect the same once you're back in the office. That or they can just make a quarter of the workforce redundant now you're all more efficient.
 
On the working from home issue. I support a change towards better work-life balance. The technology is being better utilised now and its working. We began yesterday a five/six week Hearing which requires about ten barristers plus around forty other professionals. Initially I thought it wouldn't work, but it does. Everyone is learning when to butt in, raise a hand, share screens, use software to demonstrate positions etc. Driving 45 mins to sit in a white collar factory (which is basically what offices are) is a waste of the most precious resource, we all have, time.

Having collaborative days when people come together on a regular basis, is an important element of the new world working order but companies paying millions on leasing commercial floor-space is simply a waste of money. Facebook and Twitter have already developed new policies to facilitate the new working way, i.e predominantly from home or wherever else people choose to be.
 
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