htxag09 said:

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The point on new hires goes further than just training, IMO. It goes into full on mentorship and development outside of just learning systems.

And I'm not saying none of my points above are deal breakers or can't be done in WFH. What I'm saying is we just don't know if they are being done or if they're being done effectively because all of this is relatively new.

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I'll add to this that it's not just new hires where WFH exclusively can be an issue. I worked for a company that was acquired and nearly the whole staff merged into the new acquiring company. We got moved into the new company's office 2 weeks prior to being sent to WFH due to COVID shut downs. While we remained productive because our team was largely in tact from the acquired company, we didn't really start integrating into the new company until they brought us back into the office a year and a half later. it really slowed down the process of integrating the two staffs together and probably caused some lasting tension between the two sets of staffs. I personally loved WFH but I also see some of its draw backs from a corporate standpoint.

YouBet said:

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What's it like being one of the only people in America that is on Skype? Do you frequently have meetings with just yourself since no one else has this app?

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Lol. It's awesome. I don't get assigned any actions in my meetings.

We use a few different platforms, especially externally, but internally it's exclusively Skype. Personally, there's not enough of a difference between platforms for me that I really care which one I'm using, so long as I know how to quickly tell if I'm muted.

We go to Rockport every year for the 4th of July holiday. We have good internet there and an office set up. I work from there. Basically, if I take PTO, then I'm off. I'm going to go wade fishing, go with the family to little beach, have vodka/grapefruit and watch the kids fish in the canal, etc.

If I'm working, I stay in the office or in the house and answer emails, attend meetings, make calls, etc.

So, the company can let me work from there efficiently, or I'm taking PTO and nothing gets done.

Also lived down there while our house in Katy was getting built in 2020, height of Covid and offices were closed.

I thought skype was gone. Are yall using AIM to message each other too?

Find myself in a crappy situation now.... before covid, i was remote, but would visit the local Houston office to hang out with people on occasion. None of the people in the Houston office were part of my team or org, but it was still nice to see other parts of the company and hang out with someone other than my dog and wife for months on end. To make things simple, they went ahead and assigned me a desk in the Houston office if i wanted to come in.

Then covid hit, everyone had to work from home, which was no big deal for me.

Now, after covid, everyone that has a desk assigned to them is being forced to go back in, and their compliance is being monitored. As I have a desk assigned, that includes me. I am being forced to go into the office, so I can sit sit at a desk, and be in virtual meetings.

Sounds like something that could easily be discussed with your manager?

overrides are only granted on a VP level approval. Having seen several of the requests, and the justification for the request (not yet approved), I am struggling on how, or if it would be wise to put in for an override. The few requests I saw were for individuals who had to move to take care of a sick family member, or live 2 hours from the nearest office.

I had an agreement with my manager, and had been going in once a week since the new rule went into effect.... but as of last Friday, we got word that they are now pulling metrics at a VP level and everyone needed to go in.

Not much I feel I can do here but suck it up and just play along and hope that with time, they revert back to a pre-covid state.

Yeah, definitely seems some companies are reverting back even further.

My wife has been wfh fully since well before COVID. During COVID she transferred to a new team which was also aways wfh, here team is all over the country. Her company has announced people are going to have to go back into office. Her team is getting some flexibility, but nobody knows if it'll be permanent or they're buying time, and if they do have to go into the office what that will mean. She's in Houston, her boss and main office is North Carolina, but that's the only person on her team there.

$30,000 Millionaire said:

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I think early in career people should work in an office to understand what it's like if they have the ability to do so. Not necessarily full time, but at least hybrid, and I think it will be a future competitive advantage. There is no replacement for regular mentoring that an early in career person needs and the ability to watch and participate in interactions that are crucial for their development, like standing up and making a presentation in a conference room or white boarding.

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This is the part I think most overlook. For mid-career doers, checking off tasks from home is probably more efficient than doing it in the office, but for people early in their career there is no substitute for in-person interaction when it comes to learning their current role and positioning for future success.

jh0400 said:

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$30,000 Millionaire said:

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I think early in career people should work in an office to understand what it's like if they have the ability to do so. Not necessarily full time, but at least hybrid, and I think it will be a future competitive advantage. There is no replacement for regular mentoring that an early in career person needs and the ability to watch and participate in interactions that are crucial for their development, like standing up and making a presentation in a conference room or white boarding.

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This is the part I think most overlook. For mid-career doers, checking off tasks from home is probably more efficient than doing it in the office, but for people early in their career there is no substitute for in-person interaction when it comes to learning their current role and positioning for future success.

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Agree completely.

I've worked from home for 20 years, but I'm a senior person at the end of my career. I'm judged by what I produce, not by whether I show up on time or how well I interact at the coffee bar.

But for young employees, those in-office experiences are invaluable.

YouBet said:

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What's it like being one of the only people in America that is on Skype? Do you frequently have meetings with just yourself since no one else has this app?

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Reminds me of a story. Back in the day, one of our clients was a company that made videoconferencing equipment. Big, clunky gear that worked ... most of the time.

It never once dawned on me that in 20 years, everyone in the business world would be videoconferencing from their laptops/desktops, some using free software.

dahouse said:

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We go to Rockport every year for the 4th of July holiday. We have good internet there and an office set up. I work from there. Basically, if I take PTO, then I'm off. I'm going to go wade fishing, go with the family to little beach, have vodka/grapefruit and watch the kids fish in the canal, etc.

If I'm working, I stay in the office or in the house and answer emails, attend meetings, make calls, etc.

So, the company can let me work from there efficiently, or I'm taking PTO and nothing gets done.

Also lived down there while our house in Katy was getting built in 2020, height of Covid and offices were closed.

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You are me! I'm sitting in my newly renovated home office here in Rockport. We live her part-time and now that I have my home office done it's about to become 50/50 vs 80/20 from a part-time perspective.

Looking at the canal and a big ass heron as I type this.

Foamcows said:

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Find myself in a crappy situation now.... before covid, i was remote, but would visit the local Houston office to hang out with people on occasion. None of the people in the Houston office were part of my team or org, but it was still nice to see other parts of the company and hang out with someone other than my dog and wife for months on end. To make things simple, they went ahead and assigned me a desk in the Houston office if i wanted to come in.

Then covid hit, everyone had to work from home, which was no big deal for me.

Now, after covid, everyone that has a desk assigned to them is being forced to go back in, and their compliance is being monitored. As I have a desk assigned, that includes me. I am being forced to go into the office, so I can sit sit at a desk, and be in virtual meetings.

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That is just utter horsesh^t. I'm not a remote work or die kind of person but making you go into the office only to attend virtual meetings while being remote....at work...is peak corporate dumb.

I assume there are at least some in-person meetings you are going to?

YouBet said:

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dahouse said:

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We go to Rockport every year for the 4th of July holiday. We have good internet there and an office set up. I work from there. Basically, if I take PTO, then I'm off. I'm going to go wade fishing, go with the family to little beach, have vodka/grapefruit and watch the kids fish in the canal, etc.

If I'm working, I stay in the office or in the house and answer emails, attend meetings, make calls, etc.

So, the company can let me work from there efficiently, or I'm taking PTO and nothing gets done.

Also lived down there while our house in Katy was getting built in 2020, height of Covid and offices were closed.

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You are me! I'm sitting in my newly renovated home office here in Rockport. We live her part-time and now that I have my home office done it's about to become 50/50 vs 80/20 from a part-time perspective.

Looking at the canal and a big ass heron as I type this.

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Headed there this weekend. Managed to finagle our schedule so we will miss the family outing to the Rockport Art Festival this year.

If there is one event I'm sure is run by Satan, it's the Rockport Art Festival. It's guaranteed to be happening on the hottest day of the year every single time.

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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YouBet said:

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dahouse said:

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We go to Rockport every year for the 4th of July holiday. We have good internet there and an office set up. I work from there. Basically, if I take PTO, then I'm off. I'm going to go wade fishing, go with the family to little beach, have vodka/grapefruit and watch the kids fish in the canal, etc.

If I'm working, I stay in the office or in the house and answer emails, attend meetings, make calls, etc.

So, the company can let me work from there efficiently, or I'm taking PTO and nothing gets done.

Also lived down there while our house in Katy was getting built in 2020, height of Covid and offices were closed.

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You are me! I'm sitting in my newly renovated home office here in Rockport. We live her part-time and now that I have my home office done it's about to become 50/50 vs 80/20 from a part-time perspective.

Looking at the canal and a big ass heron as I type this.

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Headed there this weekend. Managed to finagle our schedule so we will miss the family outing to the Rockport Art Festival this year.

If there is one event I'm sure is run by Satan, it's the Rockport Art Festival. It's guaranteed to be happening on the hottest day of the year every single time.

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Lol. We've actually never been solely because of this reason; however we have committed to going this year. They are saying the main tent will be air conditioned. Probably always been that way but we are going to attempt it.

YouBet said:

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Definitely Not A Cop said:

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YouBet said:

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dahouse said:

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We go to Rockport every year for the 4th of July holiday. We have good internet there and an office set up. I work from there. Basically, if I take PTO, then I'm off. I'm going to go wade fishing, go with the family to little beach, have vodka/grapefruit and watch the kids fish in the canal, etc.

If I'm working, I stay in the office or in the house and answer emails, attend meetings, make calls, etc.

So, the company can let me work from there efficiently, or I'm taking PTO and nothing gets done.

Also lived down there while our house in Katy was getting built in 2020, height of Covid and offices were closed.

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You are me! I'm sitting in my newly renovated home office here in Rockport. We live her part-time and now that I have my home office done it's about to become 50/50 vs 80/20 from a part-time perspective.

Looking at the canal and a big ass heron as I type this.

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Headed there this weekend. Managed to finagle our schedule so we will miss the family outing to the Rockport Art Festival this year.

If there is one event I'm sure is run by Satan, it's the Rockport Art Festival. It's guaranteed to be happening on the hottest day of the year every single time.

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Lol. We've actually never been solely because of this reason; however we have committed to going this year. They are saying the main tent will be air conditioned. Probably always been that way but we are going to attempt it.

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Rented a place on Copano Bay the first weekend of August. Hopefully all the fish don't die of heat exhaustion!

Bird Poo said:

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YouBet said:

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Definitely Not A Cop said:

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YouBet said:

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dahouse said:

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We go to Rockport every year for the 4th of July holiday. We have good internet there and an office set up. I work from there. Basically, if I take PTO, then I'm off. I'm going to go wade fishing, go with the family to little beach, have vodka/grapefruit and watch the kids fish in the canal, etc.

If I'm working, I stay in the office or in the house and answer emails, attend meetings, make calls, etc.

So, the company can let me work from there efficiently, or I'm taking PTO and nothing gets done.

Also lived down there while our house in Katy was getting built in 2020, height of Covid and offices were closed.

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You are me! I'm sitting in my newly renovated home office here in Rockport. We live her part-time and now that I have my home office done it's about to become 50/50 vs 80/20 from a part-time perspective.

Looking at the canal and a big ass heron as I type this.

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Headed there this weekend. Managed to finagle our schedule so we will miss the family outing to the Rockport Art Festival this year.

If there is one event I'm sure is run by Satan, it's the Rockport Art Festival. It's guaranteed to be happening on the hottest day of the year every single time.

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Lol. We've actually never been solely because of this reason; however we have committed to going this year. They are saying the main tent will be air conditioned. Probably always been that way but we are going to attempt it.

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Rented a place on Copano Bay the first weekend of August. Hopefully all the fish don't die of heat exhaustion!

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It's actually not that bad right now. You can sit outside in evening no problem. We are on the water though so that helps.

I had ability to randomly work from home before covid; sick kids, subcontractor doing work on my house, etc..

April of 2020 we went to 2 days at home for 3-4 months, but while others starting going back 4/5 days a week, I carried it on for 2.5 years. Back in Early winter or so, I was kind of forced to go back 4 days, so 1 day at home still, always Friday, but I'd say once a month it's still 2 a week.

For example this week I WHF Monday (traveling back from a quick weekend trip with family) and yesterday (had a plumber at my house doing some basement work). Tomorrow, we leave for Yellowstone. My wife will drive, so I'll still get a work day in on my laptop instead of taking a day. 8 hour drive, so perfect.

Same will happen later in July when we go to Table rock lake, we'll leave thurs, come back the next friday, but I'm only using 4 days PTO, cause I'll work the travel days (thurs and fri) and work from the lakehouse on the first friday since the other families won't have arrived yet.

I love the flexibility. It allows me to turn my 3 weeks vacation into easily 4 if not more by working travel days, whether in a plane or the passenger seat of my truck, and occasionally working a day or half day while on the trip if it allows.

YouBet said:

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Foamcows said:

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Find myself in a crappy situation now.... before covid, i was remote, but would visit the local Houston office to hang out with people on occasion. None of the people in the Houston office were part of my team or org, but it was still nice to see other parts of the company and hang out with someone other than my dog and wife for months on end. To make things simple, they went ahead and assigned me a desk in the Houston office if i wanted to come in.

Then covid hit, everyone had to work from home, which was no big deal for me.

Now, after covid, everyone that has a desk assigned to them is being forced to go back in, and their compliance is being monitored. As I have a desk assigned, that includes me. I am being forced to go into the office, so I can sit sit at a desk, and be in virtual meetings.

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That is just utter horsesh^t. I'm not a remote work or die kind of person but making you go into the office only to attend virtual meetings while being remote....at work...is peak corporate dumb.

I assume there are at least some in-person meetings you are going to?

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I'll never have an in person meeting in Houston. I'm the only person from my org here, much less my team.

Lately I've been going in around ten when traffic is low and then leaving around 2 without badging out. Work a few hours when I get home and then shut it down a little earlier than I would if I were remote. Don't want to have them thinking me going to the office is helping me get more done.