The Unexplained Fear Of Remote Employees

http://ramenapp.net/post/53b191df6231390002000000

by kirillzubovsky • 12 years ago

14 6 12 years ago

bjchrist• 12 years ago

I find this to be a very delicate balance, and it of course are heavily dependent on the tasks at hand. On one side you want peace and quiet, in order to concentrate, on the other hand you want close communication with your colleagues.

I think 37signals from lot of good answers to these concerns. I highly recommend reading from 37signals, Remote.

jpgvm• 12 years ago

Remote work has it's ups and downs. I have been remote for about 18 months now as a senior software engineer.

On the plus side you are way more productive. Working from home also means no time is lost in commute and depending on your team you can generally work whatever hours work well for you.

However there are some downsides.. specifically it can be a little lonely at times if there is no-one else at home. This isn't a problem short term but it can become one. Physically it can not be good as if you work from home there suddenly is very few reasons to leave, resulting in less exercise if you are not careful. etc.

That being said, I think overall it's important to be flexible , remote employees can be many times more productive than their 9-5 counterparts.

ggchappell• 12 years ago

However there are some downsides.. specifically it can be a little lonely at times if there is no-one else at home.

I imagine so. But note that this isn't really a problem with remote work per se; it's a problem with working in a way that is different from what the vast majority of people do.

Once upon a time (before the Industrial Revolution) most people worked at home. The kind of loneliness you describe was rare, because home and its environs were where the people were.

Maybe there is a societal "hump" we need to get over. If more people worked remotely, then working remotely would become a more pleasant thing.

mswen• 12 years ago

I have worked primarily remotely over the past 15 years as consultant, industry analyst, developer, statistician and writer. The settings have ranged from me being in about a 5% minority of a corporate workforce, to a small start-up that was formed as 100% remote, To solo freelance where physical presence at clients is largely my call.

While it has been a clear benefit on the productivity and family life balance side of the equation, I do feel that I have sometimes lost out to opportunities. Opportunities for career advancement, or interesting projects that would have been nurtured by the more subtle communication patterns and interpersonal bonds formed by extended in-person interaction with co-workers and higher level executives.

Life is full of trade-offs.

contingencies• 12 years ago

Rule of Diversity: Distrust all claims for "one true way". - Eric S. Raymond, The Art of Unix Programming (2003) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy

nautical• 12 years ago

There is one I work for colearnr.com ; the company is in London , UK . Awesome work environment . The best part of remote job is certainly the freedom , because you are most productive in environment which suits you the best . In a closed cabin offices you are put into a different environment which may or may not help you . We are also looking for people to join our company . So please feel free to contact ;)

The Unexplained Fear Of Remote Employees

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