this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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He’s not saying Zoom is a bad product.
Teams and Zoom are great for remote work, and I get how a lot of people love just dialing in to meetings, but there’s definitely a different dynamic to being in the office.
During the pandemic my dev team grew from two people to six. Since it was in waves we got to try being at the office and being at home using remote work only interchangeably.
Especially as a manager I see the benefits of working in the office. Not necessarily every day, but regularly.
Not necessarily from a raw productivity perspective. The office has a lot of apparent drawbacks, but these drawbacks are what triggers the dynamic that makes the office better - at least for me and my team.
I find that the office conversations triggers more ideas and better collaboration.
With my manager hat on I find that it’s easier for me to see if I need to get involved in discussions or let people handle it themselves.
People are different, teams are different, but it’s not black and white.
People love the flexibility of remote work, and some people are certainly better off working “alone” at home than being with the team, but for me it’s all about finding the balance. I don’t want to micromanage anyone, but there’s a reason a lot of people need managers, and that is simply that left to their own devices they will start working on 200 things and not finish anything.
As boring as it is our job is to deliver value to the company.
But on occasion, I will let people run wild with ideas and see where it goes. And then rein them back in when there are deadlines to be met.
As someone else in management I would take the higher morale boost I have from my completely remote engineering team to some “good conversations” and “interesting ideas” that may pop up from time to time. It’s not their job to come up with that shit. It’s either mine or products and they are definitely able to do it organically if you facilitate casual working sessions that promote conversation over productivity.
Edit: also if you have people who can’t manage their work without you stating over their shoulder that’s a failure on your part not theirs. Yes some people just aren’t cut out for some jobs but if the difference is being remote or in the office that is totally on you.
Agreed with this. But that's part of the problem. It takes effort to foster those conversations and "casual working meetings" like you stated. Many managers that push for back to office just don't do that.
We are going through a transition where we need to change how we work top to bottom.
Those who are less adaptable will push for the older way of doing things because the older way is more efficient for THEM. They aren't wrong, they just don't know they would be more successful if they changes how they worked.
Typical manager mentality.
You are trying really hard to keep your micro manager position aren't you?
Maybe understanding the nuance will help get everyone what they want, rather than talking past each other.
If people are working on 200 things at once it's your job to provide them with clear cut tasks, priorities, and deadlines.
No, he's saying that the product is ineffective at what it aims to do.