Remote work opportunities allow for more flexibility, decreased distractions, and cost savings, but sometimes those advantages come at the expense of communication challenges, lack of social interaction, and difficulty disconnecting.
For those of you who work remotely in tech: do you find that you’re working smarter or harder? What are the benefits? The challenges? And given the choice, would you ever go back to the office?
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Top comments (16)
have been back working remotely since the pandemic, and went back to the office only 4 times (in 3 years). it is nice to meet colleagues, have lunch together and play table tennis but for working... no thanks.
meetings are shorter and more effective when remoting, I have less distractions while coding/designing and I don't have to listen to other people chatting two row of desks behind me.
if I feel lonely or I get stuck I just start a slack huddle.
working from home (and even more working from my van the few time it happened) it's really a dream.
it is working harder and smarter
Could not agree more. By experience, some workshops, requirements meetings and creative discussions are better held in person, but with todays tools reviewing, pair programming and solo working undisturbed is way better for my head and productivity.
However, for juniors and certain devs in our team, its absolutely necessary to be in a populated office env. to get the most out of them, i have noticed. These are the ones needing more attention, quick tips or mentoring in general. Most of our senior devs/ops love working remotely AND they get to spend less time traveling = more time for family and health.
Any CTO/PMO should measure productivity AND employee health in combo when evaluating wether to force people to the office or not, IMO
For me remote working really a dream job for a person who don't like too much human interaction like me. Also it can help me reduce the time of travelling between work and home that I have more time to spend for friends and family
Just like iam
remote work is hands down the winner for me.
Then there is the financial savings remote work provides
Its estimated working from home saves between 2k to 12k a year depending on the individual.
I've had the opportunity to have all my professional experience be remote, and it has been quite an experience.
Starting out as an out of school grad in 2020 I found it hard disconnecting since it was remote, work was basically my life. A couple of months in, I would get burned out, recover and get back in. This cycle kept repeating itself, after some realisations I started to rethink my time management and priorities. So since last year I've been sticking to a 9-5 weekday schedule, no work weekends and getting the work done sustainably.
My best advice for early remote workers is you're no use to your team dead (figuratively), so pace yourself, there's always the next day.
I like my dogs so I prefer remote work, but to answer the post itself
Questions:
do you find that you’re working smarter or harder? smarter definitely, try debugging and teaching your dog to DROP IT at the same time. Gotta be smart for that.
What are the benefits? I can pet my dogs whenever I want to.
The challenges? My dogs are very demanding and want my attention most of the day.
And given the choice, would you ever go back to the office? no, I find the demands of my dogs more reasonable than the demands of a boss/coworkers.
Yet SOMEHOW everyone at the office has heard of my name even though I'm remote. Whenever I'm there they'll be like "Pandita? I've heard of you but never see you around, it's so great to finally meet you!". How did I do it? not sure. But at least they know and recognize my work... and also the dogs 😂
Haha! Plus, I'm right there with you. I love working with my cat on my lap.
I go to the office to socialise. I stay home to work.
Company should really hire people they trust - this includes trusting them to do their jobs in the best way they see fit (blah blah more nuanced points about trade-offs etc, but the general point still stands).
If my company tried to take us back to the office 100% of the time, I would quit. If they tried to regulate it in terms of arbitrary n-days in office, I would find that pretty condescending and indicative of micro-management.
Perhaps this perspective is a little skewed by what I do - based in the UK, but the clients I work for are in the US. Going into the office just means communal remote working anyway.
I have been remote working since the pandemic, but I have always had a computer job (between engineering and technical writing). As an introvert, I enjoy limited social interactions (virtual meetings and slack huddles provide this) and I feel so much more productive without the random office chatter and more effective without the constant distractions.
For me it is about balance. I would never go either fully remote or fully office!
I think I have cultivated a love for both work-styles... I work remote and definitely sometimes miss all the in-person socializing, so I compensate by finding different ways to socialize by working in public. I definitely think both are great (and sometimes super challenging) ways to learn new things about yourself and the way you best focus.
This question once a rare one, is now a mainstay of every tech job for decades to come. Having encountered it myself, I summarised my thoughts here
Pros & Cons of Remote Work?
Vinay Hegde ・ Apr 19 '20 ・ 2 min read
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