I play Xbox while on certain long conference calls that I don't need to really be on.

I'm way more prone to going out to lunch when WFH because my town doesn't have such crazy lunchtime traffic as where I work does.

Sometimes I take a lunchtime dip in the pool. Or afternoon dip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

And you don't see the irony in this? Do you know what soft skills are?

Do you? Time management is a soft skill. So is communicating effectively in service of a goal, like the goal of getting back to your desk instead of talking about Larla's graduation in the bathroom.

Anonymous wrote: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?

And you don't see the irony in this? Do you know what soft skills are?

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:start the washing machine and the dishwasher, sometimes fold laundry. get the roomba going. pick up a little. But I'm an attorney and they don't care what I do as long as I bill hours. I don't bill the time I do these chores.

Similar. Maybe start dinner or run an errand at odd time, but then Lao work outside traditional time. Bill by the hour and am probably more productive.

Same. Attorney and I bill by the hour and, if anything, I tend to shave time when I think I spent too long on something. I am certainly not representing that I am working when I am doing laundry, running errands, etc.

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.

It is very relevant - the workplace where everyone has an office is dying. Just because you cram people together doesn't mean they are going to work the way you want them to.

Also, not everything is team work. A lot of my work is managing things - clients who don't want to see me but need to email or talk to me by phone, responding to emails, writing a report or putting together a deck. I don't need to have a trust fall with my team every day. We don't need to be together every day.

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.

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

Honestly this says more about the meeting though. I just posted the study BTW but wanted to add: if i am presenting at a meeting, or think i'm going to be asked a question, of course i'm not going to zone out on a conference call from a remote location. I don't want to look stupid in front of my colleagues. The only times people multi task during these calls is when they feel there is no point.

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/

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

feel free to apply for a federal job

Anonymous wrote:I have cnn on in the background. And often have my cat in my lap for phone calls. I also listen to conference calls where I just need to listen and not participate when I’m out walking.

Yep I have TV on in the background -- but its just sort of for back ground noise. I don't really watch.

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've experienced what you describe but IME it's characteristic of spreading telework around so that some people are in and some are at home on any given day. If everybody is at home on the same days and in on the same days I think you'd find more cooperation.

For example, it's often hard to hear if some people are calling in to an in-person meeting but easier when everyone is calling or two people are screen sharing. Various chat programs work well for "drop by" questions when everyone is at their home desks but less well when the in-office people have walked off somewhere. And so on. I also think videoconferencing is underutilized.

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 agree with everything you said except I think there is a piece missing from the conference call issue. I'm put on the "Required" list for conference calls that I would NEVER be expected to attend in person if we're co-located. They want me on the call just in case there is an issue or question they need me for but the assumption is it's no biggie to have me on the call if I'm not needed as I can get other work done while I'm on it. If it were an in person meeting, they wouldn't invite me and would instead just follow up with me later. I think conference call culture has led to a dramatic increase in the number of meetings we're expected to attend since it's expected you can multi-task if it doesn't have anything to do with you.

TLR - people get invited to way too many conference calls now. If you wouldn't expect me to attend in person, maybe don't invite me to call in. I'm either needed or I'm not and if I'm not, don't put me on the required list.

Jack off

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