WFH/Lockdown/Future of office work

[Paralytic]

Friend of mine works for one of the city firms and in a departmental meeting one of the Directors pointed out they were actually more productive since everyone started working from home.

Depends what they mean by "more productive".

It's one of these things where its very easy to make the question fit the answer you already want.

[vwdan]

I've never really wanted 100% wfh as I prefer being in an office environment, mainly because I like the separation between work and home. Since this started my anxiety has been off the scale for no real reason, to the point where some days I can't breathe. I can't wait to get back to the office tbh.

I'm not going to bother reading the rest of the thread before responding as I'm 100% with you on this.

Before COVID I'd had 14 months of nearly pure WFH - it started as mix and match, but the guy who recruited me left which meant nobody was in the local office that knew me. Anyway, that represents my second long stick on pure WFH (Previously did a year as a permie where I was a "field based" consultant - i.e., at home unless I had a customer site to be at) and I was really looking forward to doing something different at the end of the contract.

It has advantages, for sure - but somewhere along the line it's just not great for me. I do all the right things - I have a full on office, I have a sweet setup, I take nice lunches out (well, I did!) but ultimately my ideal is a close office. Like you, for some reason, WFH increases my stress and anxiety and I find it next to impossible to switch off.

So having done it for 28 months in all over the last 5 years, I've accepted I need the mix.

[LondonManc]

Depends what they mean by "more productive".

It's one of these things where its very easy to make the question fit the answer you already want.

If you have always measured an agile teams on quality and velocity, then "more productive" is very easily measurable. If you're an old-school presenteeism subscriber, then having nobody in "your" office to micromanage must seem like a total catastrophe. The control freaks will be struggling in all this no doubt about that.

[SussexSeagull]

Depends what they mean by "more productive".

It's one of these things where its very easy to make the question fit the answer you already want.

I wasn't in the meeting but if Senior Management are coming out with such things it begins to mean something and as office space is hugely expensive in London it doesn't take a genius to work out a potential cost saving.

[LondonManc]

I wasn't in the meeting but if Senior Management are coming out with such things it begins to mean something and as office space is hugely expensive in London it doesn't take a genius to work out a potential cost saving.

A key point; as long as you're "as productive" over a sustained period, cost could become a driver instead. Especially if it's as cheap a fix as bunging all employees a sizeable IKEA voucher or similar each year to refresh their WFH kit.

[SussexSeagull]

I'm not going to bother reading the rest of the thread before responding as I'm 100% with you on this.

Before COVID I'd had 14 months of nearly pure WFH - it started as mix and match, but the guy who recruited me left which meant nobody was in the local office that knew me. Anyway, that represents my second long stick on pure WFH (Previously did a year as a permie where I was a "field based" consultant - i.e., at home unless I had a customer site to be at) and I was really looking forward to doing something different at the end of the contract.

It has advantages, for sure - but somewhere along the line it's just not great for me. I do all the right things - I have a full on office, I have a sweet setup, I take nice lunches out (well, I did!) but ultimately my ideal is a close office. Like you, for some reason, WFH increases my stress and anxiety and I find it next to impossible to switch off.

So having done it for 28 months in all over the last 5 years, I've accepted I need the mix.

I did a near 100% WFH contract involving quite long hours as the permies didn't fancy the overtime and I did and it was one of the hardest things I ever did. I did another one involving two days a week in the office and was fine.

[Paralytic]

If you have always measured an agile teams on quality and velocity, then "more productive" is very easily measurable. If you're an old-school presenteeism subscriber, then having nobody in "your" office to micromanage must seem like a total catastrophe. The control freaks will be struggling in all this no doubt about that.

I'd argue that velocity only has a fairly loose relationship to productivity (there are many articles on web that will discuss the finer details either way).

Any velocity is also easily manipulated. Want it to be higher? Split any incomplete stories and count the bit that was finished. Want it to be lower? Move the story over to the next sprint as incomplete. I've had very few clients who measure velocity itself, never mind use it to measure productivity.

As for quality, that is also hard to measure consistently and in a timeline manner, and also easily manipulated to give the answer you want at any one point in time.

Both need to measured consistently, over a period of time, to show anything.

[LondonManc]

I can see solutions. Local businesses that have been forced to close could be replaced by hot-desking or cubicle type setups where you can walk to work and have a bit of social interaction, distance yourself from others and home and feel like you have a proper 9-5 again (other hours are available). Would certainly be a beneficial arrangement for those without their own room who are treating the dining table as their desk at the moment.

[Paralytic]

I wasn't in the meeting but if Senior Management are coming out with such things it begins to mean something and as office space is hugely expensive in London it doesn't take a genius to work out a potential cost saving.

Exactly. Office space is expensive, so reducing office space is a good thing. Ergo, how do we show that people are more productive, so we can reduce office space.

[Maslins]

I've been reading this thread with interest. We're a (very small) firm who previously had always been in one office, but recently forced to fully remote work.

One thing that hasn't really got a mention above is training. I guess someone doesn't become a contractor when they're still very new and have limited knowledge. It's what you do once you've earned your stripes, got the T-shirt, know what you're doing and just want to get on with it.

We are and always have been a training firm. We typically take on youngsters with no accounting experience, and train them up both in house and via the external accounting exams. Whilst we're coping, I'm certain the juniors aren't learning as much now as they would be in the office. They're not absorbing as much knowledge just from overhearing conversations by more experienced staff.

Perhaps not relevant to a typical contractor, but I think this is one area where at least some people being in the same place at the same time has real value. Video chats can't replicate it.