Question Could this be the new normal? (1 Viewer)

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jasonl55 said:
I work for a major retailer who has the entire home office working from home right now. I can tell you that based on what is happening so far, I don't see it becoming the standard any time soon. Video and email can not make up for being in a room with a team and getting results.
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It does take a little while to get used to. More than a month or two. It’s easy to get distracted at first but once the newness wears off you get bored and start getting better at planning your day. Our office’s work is about half independent/ half teamwork. We have done a great job of slowly implementing the technology to work more from home so it’s not all too much at once. Of course it all depends on the nature of work and your reluctance to change. We have a couple of senior people who are against it for no other reason than they just like the camaraderie and keeping it the way it’s been their whole career.
 
jasonl55 said:
I work for a major retailer who has the entire home office working from home right now. I can tell you that based on what is happening so far, I don't see it becoming the standard any time soon. Video and email can not make up for being in a room with a team and getting results.
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There can be a learning curve and it isn’t 100% for everyone. I’m pretty good a Working from Home BUT I’ve been doing this for more than a decade. Management styles MUST change. For instance, I’ve had Walmart as a customer for a long time. Most of their managers are more concerned with what you are DOING than what you are ACCOMPLISHING. That’s a philosophy that has to change in a WFH scenario...
 
Rickboy said:
There can be a learning curve and it isn’t 100% for everyone. I’m pretty good a Working from Home BUT I’ve been doing this for more than a decade. Management styles MUST change. For instance, I’ve had Walmart as a customer for a long time. Most of their managers are more concerned with what you are DOING than what you are ACCOMPLISHING. That’s a philosophy that has to change in a WFH scenario...
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WFH won’t work in every industry and job sector, but it definitely works in some. What we will see is the office footprint of some companies shrink because of the cost savings that it provides. That flexibility will be touted as a perk to attract talent in the future as well.
 
So, just pontificating again this morning before I start my workout.

How will COVID19 affect the populations outlook on their personal health. I’m not out to throw anyone under the bus here but we’re learning more and more that people that are obese, diabetic, have heart conditions, vapers, smokers etc., etc. are MUCH more likely to have a bad outcome from this disease. We live in a a culture where the words “fat shaming” is a thing. I’m not the kind to make fun of people for their bad habits but this has to be a wake up call of some sort for folks in those categories. My own Mom is getting a super whammy from this. She’s 72, obese, has heart issues, diabetic, used to smoke, used to do drugs, etc., etc. If she catches this, she’s likely to have a very bad outcome. Fortunately she’s taking it very seriously. Seeing how my mom is NOT enjoying her elderly years was the last straw for me. I finally got off my arse, dropped 35lbs, and started taking better care of myself. Heck, my wife is out there running 5-10miles per workout.

When this is all said and done, I want to see the data on bad outcomes from COVID19 correlated with risk factors. Does this push a cultural change where poor healthy habits are simply accepted or do we start pushing each other to take better care of ourselves. Do we see regulatory changes to greatly reduce sugars in our diets? Things like that.
 
rob22278 said:
WFH won’t work in every industry and job sector, but it definitely works in some. What we will see is the office footprint of some companies shrink because of the cost savings that it provides. That flexibility will be touted as a perk to attract talent in the future as well.
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Yea, obviously not for all but the number is a very significant amount.

Another thing on this. Non manufacturing jobs in the US have seen reduced gains in productivity over the last several years. WFH can be a driver to really push it up. There are A LOT of people that spend and hour or two just getting to work in the morning. That's a lot of lost productivity. It has been proven to GREATLY reduce turnover. It has also been shown that the majority of WFH people will actually work more hours (especially salaried workers) without even being asked.
 
Rickboy said:
Yea, obviously not for all but the number is a very significant amount.

Another thing on this. Non manufacturing jobs in the US have seen reduced gains in productivity over the last several years. WFH can be a driver to really push it up. There are A LOT of people that spend and hour or two just getting to work in the morning. That's a lot of lost productivity. It has been proven to GREATLY reduce turnover. It has also been shown that the majority of WFH people will actually work more hours (especially salaried workers) without even being asked.
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Anecdotally I know that to be the case. I spend 8 - 10 hours per week commuting. To a large degree, this was a choice I made when we moved to the Boston area to make sure that we are near family (for many reasons). Any time that I have worked from home, including the past several weeks, I have worked more hours and accomplished much more. I don't disengage as easily as I do in the office because the peace and quiet of working from home allows me to focus more effortlessly on tasks and projects. I can see the same in my peers.
 
Rickboy said:
There can be a learning curve and it isn’t 100% for everyone. I’m pretty good a Working from Home BUT I’ve been doing this for more than a decade. Management styles MUST change. For instance, I’ve had Walmart as a customer for a long time. Most of their managers are more concerned with what you are DOING than what you are ACCOMPLISHING. That’s a philosophy that has to change in a WFH scenario...
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That doing/accomplishing thing is VERY important- and probably should be a management style regardless
 
guidomerkinsrules said:
That doing/accomplishing thing is VERY important- and probably should be a management style regardless
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Thats what I love about my job. Don't have a person I answer to. Nobody stands over me and tells me what has to be done. Just need to accomplish what I know needs to be accomplished and be self motivated. If I don't then lots of people notice.
 
My daughter and I have jobs that can’t be done remotely. My wife, if her old style boss will change his mindset, could go about 50/50 home vs office as all her planning and such can be done at home. She just has a boss that believes I pay you from 8-5, your butt is in this office from 8-5. No matter what is going on productivity wise. My son on the other hand has a great set up. After getting some testing done, his company was affected by the county lockdown. So there was a pile of data that had to be done, so my son on his own time sat at home (what else was I gonna do dad?) and did all the processing information and number crunching. A couple weeks later, once they got their essential job standing and went back to work, he walks in with everything done, as had the entire team. Which the boss knew. So, as his boss said that at least for now, you guys have proven what you can do, except for meetings it’s your choice to be here or not. As long as the work gets done, he doesn’t care. But, as my son says his job has an awesome espresso maker, his boss buys excellent coffee and when he’s at work his boss pays electrical, air conditioning and provides a well stocked snack bar for the employees, and allows them to drink on the job if they need a mental break. Son hasn’t missed a day of work since he could come back
 

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