Return to the office campaign...



MonkeyLove said:
It won’t go back to how it was.

The sooner the government and the economy accepts that and looks at Howe we change to replace the gap the better
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They’ve got absolutely no concept of reality at all. Private business can do as it chooses, much like it did with home working pre Boris pulling his finger out.
 
Charlestonian said:
They’ve got absolutely no concept of reality at all. Private business can do as it chooses, much like it did with home working pre Boris pulling his finger out.
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That is it.

There were a few hurdles regarding working from home, with the main ones being trust and online collaboration platforms. Things like MS Teams has been positioning itself for the working remote environment for a while now, but ended up rushing out rapid changes as masses of people changed. Google and Zoom did the same. For the tech companies, they never expected anything like this. Local events might create a surge in demand, but balanced out over the entire world, they barely notice. However most of the world suddenly going to working from home at the same time with only a few weeks notice, that caused some problems! However it all worked and we have seen big improvements in the services offered. A few years ago and the technology just would not have been there. (faster home broadband, driven by streaming demands has been a big help too)

Then there is a trust issue. I had an argument with someone senior where I work when during bad snow days everyone worked from home. He said very few people working from home actually worked and he love to find a legal way to just not pay them. I took exception to that as my team commented how nice it was to have a few clear days without interruption and no meetings. This senior person has been very anti-working from home for years. A few months ago he admitted how wrong he was and impressed with the work ethic of everyone. He also noted what he has been told by people in the past, that those working from home tend to stretch their day out.

Now both have come together, there is no immediate incentive to have people back 9-5, Monday to Friday. We are more likely to see hybrid working patterns, some days in (or half days if transport allows) and some at home. A common one at my place for years has been for a couple of people to start early, leave around 2:30, pick the kids up and be back online a bit before 4pm, then work for a couple more hours. I do have a concern about adding new members to teams. I think the initial training and team building will be more difficult, but then I expect that teams will make more of an effort to come in and new members of staff will start mostly based on site and then home when they can work more independently.

Unless the government can pass some law about working from home/in the office or make it a tax issue, they can bleat all they want. It is not up to them and would anyone really want a country where the government tells people how to run their lives on that minute level? Communist countries are the only ones who have really done that and it has not ended well. They are making themselves look silly, but they are experts at that.
 
DaveH said:
That is it.

There were a few hurdles regarding working from home, with the main ones being trust and online collaboration platforms. Things like MS Teams has been positioning itself for the working remote environment for a while now, but ended up rushing out rapid changes as masses of people changed. Google and Zoom did the same. For the tech companies, they never expected anything like this. Local events might create a surge in demand, but balanced out over the entire world, they barely notice. However most of the world suddenly going to working from home at the same time with only a few weeks notice, that caused some problems! However it all worked and we have seen big improvements in the services offered. A few years ago and the technology just would not have been there. (faster home broadband, driven by streaming demands has been a big help too)

Then there is a trust issue. I had an argument with someone senior where I work when during bad snow days everyone worked from home. He said very few people working from home actually worked and he love to find a legal way to just not pay them. I took exception to that as my team commented how nice it was to have a few clear days without interruption and no meetings. This senior person has been very anti-working from home for years. A few months ago he admitted how wrong he was and impressed with the work ethic of everyone. He also noted what he has been told by people in the past, that those working from home tend to stretch their day out.

Now both have come together, there is no immediate incentive to have people back 9-5, Monday to Friday. We are more likely to see hybrid working patterns, some days in (or half days if transport allows) and some at home. A common one at my place for years has been for a couple of people to start early, leave around 2:30, pick the kids up and be back online a bit before 4pm, then work for a couple more hours. I do have a concern about adding new members to teams. I think the initial training and team building will be more difficult, but then I expect that teams will make more of an effort to come in and new members of staff will start mostly based on site and then home when they can work more independently.

Unless the government can pass some law about working from home/in the office or make it a tax issue, they can bleat all they want. It is not up to them and would anyone really want a country where the government tells people how to run their lives on that minute level? Communist countries are the only ones who have really done that and it has not ended well. They are making themselves look silly, but they are experts at that.
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I completely agree, I’ve had the ability to do so for about 4 years and I’ve gone through spells when I’ve done 1 day a week at home when we’ve been busy etc.

It’s daft things I’ll miss if things were to go full circle, prepping an evening meal at dinner time etc. It’s much more convenient and less stressful being at home.

Some of the people newer to it under me have struggled at times but they’ve adapted over time, as you do. I’ve only really had one manager above me being an arsehole complaining about people not being 100% maxed out with work but when pressed, she had no further tasks anyway, so just standard office politics really.
 
Charlestonian said:
I completely agree, I’ve had the ability to do so for about 4 years and I’ve gone through spells when I’ve done 1 day a week at home when we’ve been busy etc.

It’s daft things I’ll miss if things were to go full circle, prepping an evening meal at dinner time etc. It’s much more convenient and less stressful being at home.

Some of the people newer to it under me have struggled at times but they’ve adapted over time, as you do. I’ve only really had one manager above me being an arsehole complaining about people not being 100% maxed out with work but when pressed, she had no further tasks anyway, so just standard office politics really.
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Yeah, there is a feeling about being in the chair that some mangers like. One post in my team is part funded by a partner organisation and the manager up there moans like hell if the lad is not in that chair for that day. One day he was at the main site but working remotely, phone rings “we are not getting our money worth”. Hopefully that attitude will change.
 
DaveH said:
Yeah, there is a feeling about being in the chair that some mangers like. One post in my team is part funded by a partner organisation and the manager up there moans like hell if the lad is not in that chair for that day. One day he was at the main site but working remotely, phone rings “we are not getting our money worth”. Hopefully that attitude will change.
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Aye fingers crossed, it’s a little different for me at the minute as I’m in a business that’s winding down and people are working to end dates for redundancy etc but even so, if everything you need is being done and no one has any other requests just settle down.
 
I already worked from home pre-lockdown, and since everyone else has been, I haven’t noticed a difference in the work tbh.

If anything, people have been easier to get a hold of.
 
WFH is here to stay, no doubt about it. But I am prepared to bet big time that it will be the employers and not the employees who end up the winners once the dust settles. Reduced overheads, and reduced wages for those who are prepared to wfh, only one winner there.
 
Been working from home since April and would happily never go back. Reckon I’ve saved about £400-£500 in petrol and Tyne Tunnel expenses since then, not to mention the hour and a half travel from Sunderland to Newcastle and back every day.

Haven’t noticed a massive drop in productivity in people since they could WFH, apart from the usual shirkers who apparently can’t take phone calls from home for whatever reason. Been class not having to make small talk or having people pestering me every few minutes, if they need anything it’s a quick message on Teams and away they go. I get the impression the civil service are desperate to get us back, but impossible for the time being with distancing measures in place for the foreseeable.
 
maghater said:
WFH is here to stay, no doubt about it. But I am prepared to bet big time that it will be the employers and not the employees who end up the winners once the dust settles. Reduced overheads, and reduced wages for those who are prepared to wfh, only one winner there.
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i believe one council north of the river are consolidating their office estate, closing down buildings and moving everyone onto one smaller site on the assumption that moving forward not everyone will ever work from the office at the same time again.
Dexter said:
apart from the usual shirkers who apparently can’t take phone calls from home for whatever reason.
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people use this as a reason for getting people back to the office, rather than using it as an example of the business needing better management...
 
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errant said:
i believe one council north of the river are consolidating their office estate, closing down buildings and moving everyone onto one smaller site on the assumption that moving forward not everyone will ever work from the office at the same time again.
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That will be an interesting shift and to see how people adapt to that. Working from home is fine, but when in work, people like their own space, their own desk filled with their own stuff, their chair adjusted just how they like it, to sit near the people they like etc. At the moment people have the best of both of those worlds, but it does not make economic sense.

When you hot desk, you take pot luck, and there has been loads of stories over the years of desks in places left really messy or people permanently 'reserve' hot desks. Employers will need to work with staff to make sure each desk is clean and tidy.

These days, me and a lot of people I work with all have similar models of HP laptop with docking station. I don't have a desktop PC at all, and just plonk it on my desk. On a rare occasion I have worked from someone else's desk without a bother. It does start to make it all more feasible.

I probably could hot desk without a problem, though I'd want a locker for my at work stuff and probably my own keyboard and mouse. I've never liked sharing those anyway, but now people are really aware of what can live on keyboards. Not sitting with my team when in would be the big concern. I'm the team manager and I pick up on so many issues just from office chit chat, I have lost those when working from home but have caught up on a few bits when I have been in. Going in and being the other side of the building to the scattered team would not be great.
 
Dexter said:
Been working from home since April and would happily never go back. Reckon I’ve saved about £400-£500 in petrol and Tyne Tunnel expenses since then, not to mention the hour and a half travel from Sunderland to Newcastle and back every day.

Haven’t noticed a massive drop in productivity in people since they could WFH, apart from the usual shirkers who apparently can’t take phone calls from home for whatever reason. Been class not having to make small talk or having people pestering me every few minutes, if they need anything it’s a quick message on Teams and away they go. I get the impression the civil service are desperate to get us back, but impossible for the time being with distancing measures in place for the foreseeable.
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Tbf, some areas of the civil service have had home working long before this. Albeit not 100%.
errant said:
i believe one council north of the river are consolidating their office estate, closing down buildings and moving everyone onto one smaller site on the assumption that moving forward not everyone will ever work from the office at the same time again.

people use this as a reason for getting people back to the office, rather than using it as an example of the business needing better management...
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People who have had little uns with no access to child care shouldnt be taking customers calls IMO. It's supposed to be a professional service. Suppose the alternative is having people warn customers of the situation at the start of the call and see if they are happy to continue.
DaveH said:
That will be an interesting shift and to see how people adapt to that. Working from home is fine, but when in work, people like their own space, their own desk filled with their own stuff, their chair adjusted just how they like it, to sit near the people they like etc. At the moment people have the best of both of those worlds, but it does not make economic sense.

When you hot desk, you take pot luck, and there has been loads of stories over the years of desks in places left really messy or people permanently 'reserve' hot desks. Employers will need to work with staff to make sure each desk is clean and tidy.

These days, me and a lot of people I work with all have similar models of HP laptop with docking station. I don't have a desktop PC at all, and just plonk it on my desk. On a rare occasion I have worked from someone else's desk without a bother. It does start to make it all more feasible.

I probably could hot desk without a problem, though I'd want a locker for my at work stuff and probably my own keyboard and mouse. I've never liked sharing those anyway, but now people are really aware of what can live on keyboards. Not sitting with my team when in would be the big concern. I'm the team manager and I pick up on so many issues just from office chit chat, I have lost those when working from home but have caught up on a few bits when I have been in. Going in and being the other side of the building to the scattered team would not be great.
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I thought most places did hot desking these days tbh.
 
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Dexter said:
Been working from home since April and would happily never go back. Reckon I’ve saved about £400-£500 in petrol and Tyne Tunnel expenses since then, not to mention the hour and a half travel from Sunderland to Newcastle and back every day.

Haven’t noticed a massive drop in productivity in people since they could WFH, apart from the usual shirkers who apparently can’t take phone calls from home for whatever reason. Been class not having to make small talk or having people pestering me every few minutes, if they need anything it’s a quick message on Teams and away they go. I get the impression the civil service are desperate to get us back, but impossible for the time being with distancing measures in place for the foreseeable.
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Depends where you work within The Civil Service. DWP seems terrified of keeping people at home whereas Education (where I work) have barely mentioned offices for months.

I’ve been working from home since I started in November ‘18 and I love it like. Only go into an office for certain meetings etc. and lucky if that is monthly.
 
SAFC_Jack said:
Depends where you work within The Civil Service. DWP seems terrified of keeping people at home whereas Education (where I work) have barely mentioned offices for months.

I’ve been working from home since I started in November ‘18 and I love it like. Only go into an office for certain meetings etc. and lucky if that is monthly.
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DWP and HMRC still have most at home with no noises of a return this year.
 
dangermows said:
Suppose the alternative is having people warn customers of the situation at the start of the call and see if they are happy to continue.
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churchill play a hold message about their staff being in the majority wfh due to covid so for customers to expect some "background noise"...
 

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