Telework confessions

[Anonymous]

I wish people would just get it in their heads that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Telework if you want to telework, work onsite if you want to work onsite. Be an adult!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I manage a team where someone (or multiple people) are teleworking every day of the week. I don't suspect anyone of not working (productivity is easy enough to monitor), but I really hate the resulting environment. Since TW has been implemented, I've seen a drastic decline in teamwork, interpersonal communication, and general team morale. It's not that people don't get along; it's just not a very dynamic work environment.

And I can't believe anyone who would tell me that having everyone on a conference call together is anywhere near as engaging as having everyone in a meeting. All of you have kind of made that point by acknowledging that while you are on calls, you are folding laundry, watching news, making dinner, driving kids, etc. Imagine an in-person meeting where someone is looking at their phone or reading a newspaper during the meeting.

- Guy who's in the office every day

I wouldn't want to work for you

Ditto. Guy who's in the office every day, maybe you need to live a little. Sounds like work is your life.

I dunno. I find this to be true. We went from having 1 teleworker to having 4 on our team of 9 and things have rapidly gone downhill. Sloppy work, no communication, apathy like crazy. It sucks.

[Anonymous]

I take calls and pace my yard while on them. I crank out email. I move the laundry from washer to dryer or wipe counters while listening to the blather on my handsfree.

[Anonymous]

Go for walks
Watch movies at home
Nap
Surf the web

And I still get more work done at home than when I’m in the office. I socialize too much at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I manage a team where someone (or multiple people) are teleworking every day of the week. I don't suspect anyone of not working (productivity is easy enough to monitor), but I really hate the resulting environment. Since TW has been implemented, I've seen a drastic decline in teamwork, interpersonal communication, and general team morale. It's not that people don't get along; it's just not a very dynamic work environment.

And I can't believe anyone who would tell me that having everyone on a conference call together is anywhere near as engaging as having everyone in a meeting. All of you have kind of made that point by acknowledging that while you are on calls, you are folding laundry, watching news, making dinner, driving kids, etc. Imagine an in-person meeting where someone is looking at their phone or reading a newspaper during the meeting.

- Guy who's in the office every day

I wouldn't want to work for you

Ditto. Guy who's in the office every day, maybe you need to live a little. Sounds like work is your life.

I dunno. I find this to be true. We went from having 1 teleworker to having 4 on our team of 9 and things have rapidly gone downhill. Sloppy work, no communication, apathy like crazy. It sucks.

Agree in principle, though my office has fairly limited TW and so the downside has been less dramatic. TW is great for independent projects where the peace and quiet allow people to focus. But for teamwork, physical presence is just different. Even video "telepresence" is not the same, and the reality is that when someone has a question, they go looking for the first live body in the office.

In my group (where I am one of two supervisors) I tell people some version of this and say that I expect them to manage their TW appropriately. For example, if there will be a meeting in which they expect to have substantial input, I expect them to modify their TW plan for the week if possible in order to be physically present instead of calling in.

As in so many aspect of work life, some people do a great job of being available during TW time and adjusting as needed to be in the office as needed and others do not. The ones who do not end up wondering why they don't have a handle on what's going on and why others become the "go to" people.

[Anonymous]

In my fed agency you would hear more confessions from the in office people falling asleep in the copier room and having affairs in offices. The extreme strivers and losers stay in the office while the rest telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I manage a team where someone (or multiple people) are teleworking every day of the week. I don't suspect anyone of not working (productivity is easy enough to monitor), but I really hate the resulting environment. Since TW has been implemented, I've seen a drastic decline in teamwork, interpersonal communication, and general team morale. It's not that people don't get along; it's just not a very dynamic work environment.

And I can't believe anyone who would tell me that having everyone on a conference call together is anywhere near as engaging as having everyone in a meeting. All of you have kind of made that point by acknowledging that while you are on calls, you are folding laundry, watching news, making dinner, driving kids, etc. Imagine an in-person meeting where someone is looking at their phone or reading a newspaper during the meeting.

- Guy who's in the office every day

Studies disagree with you. The new open office floor plan, for example, which companies put in place to INCREASE communication and team work was just shown to LOWER communication and teamwork. People are protective of their privacy, so they will adapt and find ways to get it. They will IM for example, instead of chat, to get that privacy which totally negates why companies wanted open floor plans. They were also do things like put on noise canceling head phones which leads people to hesitate to talk with them unless absolutely necessary.

Harvard Business Review published this one: https://qz.com/work/1322146/a-harvard-business-school-study-found-open-plan-offices-have-a-surprising-effect-on-our-collective-intelligence/

There's a lot of middle ground between telework and open office floor plan. I think the ideal situation is people are in the office, but they have either cubicles with high walls or offices. And if they have cubicles, there are plenty of community spaces around (meeting rooms, break rooms, etc.). But this thread does show the problem with telework. I'm sorry, but people overestimate their ability to multitask. If you are doing other things while on a call, you're not fully present for the call. I hate talking to someone on the telephone while they are doing other things. You can tell that they are distracted and only 60 percent paying attention. In an in-person meeting, sure, people can daydream or whatever, but it's much more difficult to get away with. You are definitely more engaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I manage a team where someone (or multiple people) are teleworking every day of the week. I don't suspect anyone of not working (productivity is easy enough to monitor), but I really hate the resulting environment. Since TW has been implemented, I've seen a drastic decline in teamwork, interpersonal communication, and general team morale. It's not that people don't get along; it's just not a very dynamic work environment.

And I can't believe anyone who would tell me that having everyone on a conference call together is anywhere near as engaging as having everyone in a meeting. All of you have kind of made that point by acknowledging that while you are on calls, you are folding laundry, watching news, making dinner, driving kids, etc. Imagine an in-person meeting where someone is looking at their phone or reading a newspaper during the meeting.

- Guy who's in the office every day

Studies disagree with you. The new open office floor plan, for example, which companies put in place to INCREASE communication and team work was just shown to LOWER communication and teamwork. People are protective of their privacy, so they will adapt and find ways to get it. They will IM for example, instead of chat, to get that privacy which totally negates why companies wanted open floor plans. They were also do things like put on noise canceling head phones which leads people to hesitate to talk with them unless absolutely necessary.

Harvard Business Review published this one: https://qz.com/work/1322146/a-harvard-business-school-study-found-open-plan-offices-have-a-surprising-effect-on-our-collective-intelligence/

That study compares open office plans to traditional office settings. I don't see the relevance at all.

When employees are in the office, there is so much social interaction in the halls, in the doorways, in the breakroom, etc., that I believe it makes people more comfortable interacting with each other on a professional level as well. As for meetings, it is difficult to hear, there's always somebody who can't seem to see the shared content, etc. Sometimes it just helps to have everyone in the same room.

Don't misunderstand me - I know we're getting our work done. I just don't think we're reaching our highest potential and/or highest level of job satisfaction and engagement.

DP here, and this is one of the main reasons my leadership won't approve more frequent telework. Personally I don't see that interaction happening at all. People want to get in, do their work, and get out. They don't want to chat, and the point of PP's article is that as people get crammed together in open offices they want to interact even less. One of the big things people always ask in soft skills trainings is, How can I move along somebody who is chit-chatting me while I'm busy?

I have also had people call into meetings from elsewhere in the building, which is totally inappropriate but a good example of how people feel about meetings; the only people I know who like meetings, have very little to do. The rest of us would rather get an email.

I think the in-office, chatty, management by walking around model is completely incompatible with the increased productivity demands of modern work. If you want people to operate this way, you need to scale back your productivity expectations to 1990s-2000s levels. In the modern workplace people need their whole workday (if not more) to get done what they need to.

I call BS. Obviously, they don't if they are doing so many other things at home while working. I'm sorry, but if you are doing other things while working, you're not as productive as if you are focused solely on work. I know people *think* they're productive when they multitask, but studies prove otherwise.

There is a benefit to having people physically interact with their coworkers. Of course, there are some jobs that are well-suited for telework (jobs that don't really involve team work, are mainly solo-type jobs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I manage a team where someone (or multiple people) are teleworking every day of the week. I don't suspect anyone of not working (productivity is easy enough to monitor), but I really hate the resulting environment. Since TW has been implemented, I've seen a drastic decline in teamwork, interpersonal communication, and general team morale. It's not that people don't get along; it's just not a very dynamic work environment.

And I can't believe anyone who would tell me that having everyone on a conference call together is anywhere near as engaging as having everyone in a meeting. All of you have kind of made that point by acknowledging that while you are on calls, you are folding laundry, watching news, making dinner, driving kids, etc. Imagine an in-person meeting where someone is looking at their phone or reading a newspaper during the meeting.

- Guy who's in the office every day

Studies disagree with you. The new open office floor plan, for example, which companies put in place to INCREASE communication and team work was just shown to LOWER communication and teamwork. People are protective of their privacy, so they will adapt and find ways to get it. They will IM for example, instead of chat, to get that privacy which totally negates why companies wanted open floor plans. They were also do things like put on noise canceling head phones which leads people to hesitate to talk with them unless absolutely necessary.

Harvard Business Review published this one: https://qz.com/work/1322146/a-harvard-business-school-study-found-open-plan-offices-have-a-surprising-effect-on-our-collective-intelligence/

That study compares open office plans to traditional office settings. I don't see the relevance at all.

When employees are in the office, there is so much social interaction in the halls, in the doorways, in the breakroom, etc., that I believe it makes people more comfortable interacting with each other on a professional level as well. As for meetings, it is difficult to hear, there's always somebody who can't seem to see the shared content, etc. Sometimes it just helps to have everyone in the same room.

Don't misunderstand me - I know we're getting our work done. I just don't think we're reaching our highest potential and/or highest level of job satisfaction and engagement.

DP here, and this is one of the main reasons my leadership won't approve more frequent telework. Personally I don't see that interaction happening at all. People want to get in, do their work, and get out. They don't want to chat, and the point of PP's article is that as people get crammed together in open offices they want to interact even less. One of the big things people always ask in soft skills trainings is, How can I move along somebody who is chit-chatting me while I'm busy?

I have also had people call into meetings from elsewhere in the building, which is totally inappropriate but a good example of how people feel about meetings; the only people I know who like meetings, have very little to do. The rest of us would rather get an email.

I think the in-office, chatty, management by walking around model is completely incompatible with the increased productivity demands of modern work. If you want people to operate this way, you need to scale back your productivity expectations to 1990s-2000s levels. In the modern workplace people need their whole workday (if not more) to get done what they need to.

I call BS. Obviously, they don't if they are doing so many other things at home while working. I'm sorry, but if you are doing other things while working, you're not as productive as if you are focused solely on work. I know people *think* they're productive when they multitask, but studies prove otherwise.

There is a benefit to having people physically interact with their coworkers. Of course, there are some jobs that are well-suited for telework (jobs that don't really involve team work, are mainly solo-type jobs).

I'm the PP who posted about moving from 1 to 4 teleworkers on our team. Our work is very solo, but it still affects us greatly. One person (our most talented) left because she was sick of half of her job becoming helping teleworkers get what they needed to do their job. I am planning to leave too. Our remote colleagues basically have zero relationship with us over video chat even though we do it daily. It's lame af.

[Anonymous]

I’m a millenial fed and work more at home than in the office where it’s easy to have long lunches, chat with coworkers, grab coffee etc. on telework days, I’m in pjs and cook a lot more because I can make my lunch and breakfast but that’s about it. It’s obvious to me when people telework but aren’t working (sent from iPhone coworker ...)

[Anonymous]

I try to work normal hours on telework days. I have many colleagues who telework sun up to down but I try to shut off by 6. I do sneak in a vacuum and laundry. I also sit on the sofa instead of my desk.

I was guilty this week of taking care of a sick kid while teleworking. I usually put in for a sick day but didn’t have time to plan (dreaded am call from school nurse) and had a deadline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh you cushy feds who get to telework ... some of us work on systems that we can’t access at home.

Many feds do, also. Telework is more common in the private sector: I'm considering leaving my fed job for that reason.

Me too. I am over not being able to wfh due to all of the layers of security at my agency. At this point I would trade my clearance just to have a regular public trust position.

[Anonymous]

I work.

I have more flexibility those days, because I have no commute. So, I can start earlier and end earlier, and then take kids to ECs. My day runs 7:30-4 on telework vs 7:30-6, once the commute is factored in. Opening up the hours of 4-6 with MS and HS aged kids is really helpful.

I try to stectch, get coffee and move around 10-15 minutes in the morning and 10-15 minutes in the afternoon, and not eat lunch at my desk. But if I am going to be away from my computer more than the standard 15 minutes in the morning or 15 minutes in the afternoon, or lunch break, I take leave or flex out.

The real benefit of telework is being more productive because there are fewer distractions. And that I can roll out of bed, put my hair in a ponytail, put on leggings and an oversized shirt with no bra and skip the makeup.

So here are the confessions of a Fed attorney. I am able to spend time with my kids in the late afternoon, because not commuting frees up 2 hours.

And I look like a slob.

No grass mowing. No manicures. No lunch parties. Maybe switch laundry during my coffee break or stir whatever is in the crockpot.

I am measuarably more productive at home. I produced more work in the same number of hours.

It’s definately win-win. Especially since my agency is looking at moving to a smaller space since everyone is not there at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Fed, and I telework 3 days a week. And everyone chooses their own days, so there is never a time when everyone is there. I do a very solitary job. Almost never have conference calls. I do mentor and train, but I go into the office to do that person to person. I only have one other person on my section in the office with me one of my days. And she is in a different room. Plus my manger, who has been out a lot recently. I can literally go into my office, work,for 8.5 hours and leave and never talk to anyone else.

My office would be perfect if we got a 4th telework day and had one core day when everyone had to show up,for necessary training, meetings, and interpersonal interaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh you cushy feds who get to telework ... some of us work on systems that we can’t access at home.

Many feds do, also. Telework is more common in the private sector: I'm considering leaving my fed job for that reason.

Me too. I am over not being able to wfh due to all of the layers of security at my agency. At this point I would trade my clearance just to have a regular public trust position.

My federal agency does not allow me to telework. I do not have any special clearances or anything, just bad management. I just spent 1.5 hours in the car trying to get to work - time wasted that could have been better spent online. My particular office doesn't allow it, but other divisions do get to telework. We are treated like children. It's a poor policy in this area considering time and money wasted in traffic. I have heard though that the agency checks up on teleworkers here, so I would never run around and have lunch or go to doctors, etc. It would just be nice NOT to sit in the traffic.