Is most everybody working part of the week from home? Anyone required to be full time in office? How’s it working out?
Non Sequitur
Nov 20, 23 2:54 pm
We've been back full time in person for more than 2 years yet still keep flexible options open as long as people are responsible adults. I work 4 days per week in office and 1 day at home but often use my virtual desktop to pick-up work in evenings. This allows me to leave the office at 5sharp so I can be useful at home. We have one staff is full remote because they moved 2hrs away.
Richard Balkins
Nov 20, 23 3:06 pm
In my opinion, WFH/remote work, should be an option. Depending on the firm, it could be more used than in other cases. On the other hand, if everyone in the firm is more or less together in the same area, the majority of work should be together. Remote Work is fine if responsible members of the firm lives too far for reasonable commute on a daily basis. In all situations, if you do WFH, you should do the following: set up a spare bedroom or something into a professional / respectable office space much like if you had an office room in the main office. It should be separate as much as possible from the dwelling space if possible.
You should have as much as possible, have the space set up to look professional as it is in the actual work space. Dress as you would be at work. Who knows, you may have to attend a project site the firm is working on in your area and be on the video conference with project members. Set up should be like an actual professional home office of a solo architect. You should dress in a professional manner. Yes, wearing pants and all.
You should set things up much as you would an actual solo practice where you meet with clients. YOU could be over that video conferencing. So, it is something that should be treated with professionalism. N.S.'s point of "responsible adult" applies and is just part of it.
The rest is behavioral and being in a professional appearance standard acceptable in a work place.
Chad Miller
Nov 20, 23 2:59 pm
I never left the office. Everyone else did WFH but I was in the office. It was very nice! Rockin' out to great music, not wearing pants. Shorts, it's 100+ F here in the summer.
Richard Balkins
Nov 20, 23 3:11 pm
Ok. Shorts can be ok. Local context, and weather climate, makes sense. My point in my response is to not being on a video conference in underwear or naked. Not a porn show.... right. I don't think there is any problem for WFH where people listening to good music but of course you will want to pause or turn the music off if you are in video conference with others. More for sake a communication clarity and overall respect for others.
Chad Miller
Nov 21, 23 9:56 am
No clients came to the office. During a normal work week I dress like the local bankers.
Richard Balkins
Nov 21, 23 3:00 pm
True. Not sure how your local bankers dress. I think if it is normal then more or less, it is probably appropriate office attire with local climate context in mind with special exceptions. For me, it depends. If I am having a video conference call with a client or otherwise with others in a professional capacity, then I would be prepared to be dressed in a more professional manner otherwise, if it is just me and not seen by the public or co-workers, dressing more casual would be fine. I was of course lightly joking about anyone coming to work naked or in their underwear but things do happen so maybe not completely joking about it either. I probably wouldn't be on your butt about wearing shorts. A business partner (very minor share) is my brother and does welding stuff so aside from being in his welding attire, he would be in shorts in warm weather so it isn't something I would chastise. Taste in attire matters but is much lower on the totem pole of important issues than other matters. In the residential field, I think being a little more laid back and approachable with residential clients is appropriate and a suit and tie may get in the way. While commercial clients may expect more of the suit and tie / professional attire. We are a profession with some latitude when it comes to that.
Archi-Fartsy
Nov 21, 23 10:57 pm
I recall going into the office in shorts once when I was putting in some extra work one weekend… felt like such a rebel! That’s awesome!
Brightbury
Nov 20, 23 7:07 pm
I’ve been fully remote since 2020. Most of my firm was required to go back in person at least 3 days per week but I have a medical accommodation.
bowling_ball
Nov 20, 23 7:20 pm
Fully back in the office since September '21. Ramped up the January prior, to have everybody in 3x/week.
I'm sure some would like to work from home more, but we pay well enough that it's a non -issue. Of there's medical exceptions for some, and yes we're going to accommodate good performers with reasonable requests.
I will say that people are a lot better at going home when they feel ill, instead of sticking around and making others sick. Or, at least that's my perception.
Everyday Architect
Nov 21, 23 12:12 am
Been fully remote since the beginning of the pandemic. The office I was working for 2 years ago was pushing to get everyone back in at least 3 days/week. The office I work for now does the same, but I was hired as fully remote. The office I left was also willing to let me be fully remote, but I doubt it would have lasted more than a year. I'd have been ok with that, but the fully remote thing is super nice for me right now.
Archi-Fartsy
Nov 21, 23 11:02 pm
Do you find it hard to coordinate with colleagues and consultants? Or has remote work collaboration technology made it seamless enough to be just as productive?
Everyday Architect
Nov 22, 23 11:40 am
I haven't found it harder to coordinate or collaborate at all. If anything it's gotten better as the technology has improved or been accepted more and more due to the pandemic and hybrid workers. I think I'm more productive at home vs. in the office.
Going back at least 10 years and with 3 offices now I've had a role where a portion of my job was working 'remotely' with teams in various office locations. So collaborating over distances has always been a part of my job. Where I used to spend something like 50% of my time on projects in other locations, now it's 100%.
sameolddoctor
Nov 21, 23 10:23 am
Fully remote and I am totally ok with this
square.
Nov 21, 23 10:36 am
fully remote - never going back
Chad Miller
Nov 21, 23 11:35 am
Oh dear gowd, you're only in your underwear right now aren't you?
square.
Nov 21, 23 11:46 am
transitioning to sweatpants season
Chad Miller
Nov 21, 23 12:11 pm
whew!
Almosthip
Nov 21, 23 12:28 pm
We worked from home for one week only. Our boss was having none of it.
reallynotmyname
Nov 21, 23 12:28 pm
We've fully customized each person's work arrangement to fit what works for the firm and the staffer. Some people are fully remote and others are in the office up to 4.5 days a week.
We've lost a few people that couldn't adjust. They were pre-COVID hires. Nowadays, when there's evidence someone may not be able to work remote, we don't hire them.
Bench
Nov 21, 23 1:14 pm
"when there's evidence someone may not be able to work remote, we don't hire them."
Curious how you make that call?
reallynotmyname
Nov 21, 23 7:38 pm
We mainly ask them what their desires are regarding remote work. That and their past experiences with remote work. If they say they hated it, we try to figure out if it was things we could conceivably correct like frustration with the remote technology, or the management they worked under.
What we can't fix is people who can only function when they always in close physical proximity to their manager and/or team members.
Archi-Fartsy
Nov 21, 23 11:06 pm
really interesting! thx for sharing. with so many firms asking for staff to come back to the office, yours is making sure folks can adaptable to remote work.
Chad Miller
Nov 22, 23 9:14 am
I personally think remote work can be done for everyone at any level of experience. It just takes a lot more of an investment in tech and more work by managers for it to happen.
sameolddoctor
Nov 22, 23 10:00 am
We are finding remote work to be a difficult to on-board younger hires who do not have much experience. But somehow we are making it work...
axonapoplectic
Nov 22, 23 10:45 am
My experience if someone says they hated working remotely it’s usually because they have a tough home situation and/or no available space to work remotely.
Chad Miller
Nov 22, 23 11:22 am
Or they like separating their work and home life, they could enjoy being around people, they may be very collaborative . . . . I didn't like working from home. I had plenty of room and my home situation is great!
axonapoplectic
Nov 22, 23 12:02 pm
That too - I’m just trying to point out that if there is someone who struggles with remote work that there could be something else going on and that it isn’t necessarily about needing someone to hold their hand.
Chad Miller
Nov 22, 23 12:45 pm
What I they like hand holding. ;)
Richard Balkins
Nov 22, 23 3:35 pm
Work from home isn't for everyone in there current situation. I would hate WFH if my work environment was such that family members don't interfere. There is something to be said about segregation of work and home. A home office as a building designer, it can be tenuous at times because family members don't always respect your need to focus on work.
Wood Guy
Nov 22, 23 10:43 am
I've worked from home for the 8 years I've been self-employed. I often think about renting an office (or possibly buying something that could include an office) but it's just not worth the expense at this time. I would like more work/life separation but would miss aspects of WFH.
whistler
Nov 22, 23 1:58 pm
Never left the office!
Chad Miller
Nov 22, 23 2:47 pm
Aren't you a single practitioner who's office is you house? ;)
whistler
Nov 22, 23 3:13 pm
Sorry I have a staff of 6 and been that size since 2002!
Chad Miller
Nov 22, 23 3:29 pm
Sorry, I must of confused you with someone else. Did everyone else WFH or did you state have exceptions that allowed everyone to stay in the office?
whistler
Nov 22, 23 5:05 pm
I came in every day and once we had the okay from the government we brought back everyone slowly and staggered the introduction a few folks Mon / Wednesday then the other half Tuesday / Thurs
day and progressed from there. Staff only work 4 days a week too, which we have done for 20 + years
kenchiku
Dec 9, 23 8:24 am
Where I work is totally flexible, both with WFH and general start/end times. Some people are rarely in the office, others are always in the office. Some start at 8, some at 10. I WFH a few times a month, usually decided on a whim the morning of. Really appreciate the flexibility, it 100% makes me a better employee.
baobap47
Dec 12, 23 11:44 am
Where I employed was totally flexible to work either in office or remote. I used stay home unless I have a meeting with a client or office-wide metting and I was very productive at home by saving time / energy to commute.
3tk
Dec 14, 23 10:33 am
We're not required [except a few admin staff, some of them are remote and nowhere to be found when you need them,,,] - some people do 4 days a week, but many are fully remote. Most team seem to make it work - though perhaps not as productive overall [really annoying when people go international for a few weeks and have little overlapping work hours or terrible internet].
Main observation is that there seems to be consistently a different learning curve for younger and newer-to-role staff. Harder to gauge what you don't know when you don't get exposed to day-to-day conversations around you, maybe?
Is most everybody working part of the week from home? Anyone required to be full time in office? How’s it working out?
We've been back full time in person for more than 2 years yet still keep flexible options open as long as people are responsible adults. I work 4 days per week in office and 1 day at home but often use my virtual desktop to pick-up work in evenings. This allows me to leave the office at 5sharp so I can be useful at home. We have one staff is full remote because they moved 2hrs away.
In my opinion, WFH/remote work, should be an option. Depending on the firm, it could be more used than in other cases. On the other hand, if everyone in the firm is more or less together in the same area, the majority of work should be together. Remote Work is fine if responsible members of the firm lives too far for reasonable commute on a daily basis. In all situations, if you do WFH, you should do the following: set up a spare bedroom or something into a professional / respectable office space much like if you had an office room in the main office. It should be separate as much as possible from the dwelling space if possible.
You should have as much as possible, have the space set up to look professional as it is in the actual work space. Dress as you would be at work. Who knows, you may have to attend a project site the firm is working on in your area and be on the video conference with project members. Set up should be like an actual professional home office of a solo architect. You should dress in a professional manner. Yes, wearing pants and all.
You should set things up much as you would an actual solo practice where you meet with clients. YOU could be over that video conferencing. So, it is something that should be treated with professionalism. N.S.'s point of "responsible adult" applies and is just part of it.
The rest is behavioral and being in a professional appearance standard acceptable in a work place.
I never left the office. Everyone else did WFH but I was in the office. It was very nice! Rockin' out to great music, not wearing pants. Shorts, it's 100+ F here in the summer.
Ok. Shorts can be ok. Local context, and weather climate, makes sense. My point in my response is to not being on a video conference in underwear or naked. Not a porn show.... right. I don't think there is any problem for WFH where people listening to good music but of course you will want to pause or turn the music off if you are in video conference with others. More for sake a communication clarity and overall respect for others.
No clients came to the office. During a normal work week I dress like the local bankers.
True. Not sure how your local bankers dress. I think if it is normal then more or less, it is probably appropriate office attire with local climate context in mind with special exceptions. For me, it depends. If I am having a video conference call with a client or otherwise with others in a professional capacity, then I would be prepared to be dressed in a more professional manner otherwise, if it is just me and not seen by the public or co-workers, dressing more casual would be fine. I was of course lightly joking about anyone coming to work naked or in their underwear but things do happen so maybe not completely joking about it either. I probably wouldn't be on your butt about wearing shorts. A business partner (very minor share) is my brother and does welding stuff so aside from being in his welding attire, he would be in shorts in warm weather so it isn't something I would chastise. Taste in attire matters but is much lower on the totem pole of important issues than other matters. In the residential field, I think being a little more laid back and approachable with residential clients is appropriate and a suit and tie may get in the way. While commercial clients may expect more of the suit and tie / professional attire. We are a profession with some latitude when it comes to that.
I recall going into the office in shorts once when I was putting in some extra work one weekend… felt like such a rebel! That’s awesome!
I’ve been fully remote since 2020. Most of my firm was required to go back in person at least 3 days per week but I have a medical accommodation.
Fully back in the office since September '21. Ramped up the January prior, to have everybody in 3x/week.
I'm sure some would like to work from home more, but we pay well enough that it's a non -issue. Of there's medical exceptions for some, and yes we're going to accommodate good performers with reasonable requests.
I will say that people are a lot better at going home when they feel ill, instead of sticking around and making others sick. Or, at least that's my perception.
Been fully remote since the beginning of the pandemic. The office I was working for 2 years ago was pushing to get everyone back in at least 3 days/week. The office I work for now does the same, but I was hired as fully remote. The office I left was also willing to let me be fully remote, but I doubt it would have lasted more than a year. I'd have been ok with that, but the fully remote thing is super nice for me right now.
Do you find it hard to coordinate with colleagues and consultants? Or has remote work collaboration technology made it seamless enough to be just as productive?
I haven't found it harder to coordinate or collaborate at all. If anything it's gotten better as the technology has improved or been accepted more and more due to the pandemic and hybrid workers. I think I'm more productive at home vs. in the office.
Going back at least 10 years and with 3 offices now I've had a role where a portion of my job was working 'remotely' with teams in various office locations. So collaborating over distances has always been a part of my job. Where I used to spend something like 50% of my time on projects in other locations, now it's 100%.
Fully remote and I am totally ok with this
fully remote - never going back
Oh dear gowd, you're only in your underwear right now aren't you?
transitioning to sweatpants season
whew!
We worked from home for one week only. Our boss was having none of it.
We've fully customized each person's work arrangement to fit what works for the firm and the staffer. Some people are fully remote and others are in the office up to 4.5 days a week.
We've lost a few people that couldn't adjust. They were pre-COVID hires. Nowadays, when there's evidence someone may not be able to work remote, we don't hire them.
"when there's evidence someone may not be able to work remote, we don't hire them."
Curious how you make that call?
We mainly ask them what their desires are regarding remote work. That and their past experiences with remote work. If they say they hated it, we try to figure out if it was things we could conceivably correct like frustration with the remote technology, or the management they worked under. What we can't fix is people who can only function when they always in close physical proximity to their manager and/or team members.
really interesting! thx for sharing. with so many firms asking for staff to come back to the office, yours is making sure folks can adaptable to remote work.
I personally think remote work can be done for everyone at any level of experience. It just takes a lot more of an investment in tech and more work by managers for it to happen.
We are finding remote work to be a difficult to on-board younger hires who do not have much experience. But somehow we are making it work...
My experience if someone says they hated working remotely it’s usually because they have a tough home situation and/or no available space to work remotely.
Or they like separating their work and home life, they could enjoy being around people, they may be very collaborative . . . . I didn't like working from home. I had plenty of room and my home situation is great!
That too - I’m just trying to point out that if there is someone who struggles with remote work that there could be something else going on and that it isn’t necessarily about needing someone to hold their hand.
What I they like hand holding. ;)
Work from home isn't for everyone in there current situation. I would hate WFH if my work environment was such that family members don't interfere. There is something to be said about segregation of work and home. A home office as a building designer, it can be tenuous at times because family members don't always respect your need to focus on work.
I've worked from home for the 8 years I've been self-employed. I often think about renting an office (or possibly buying something that could include an office) but it's just not worth the expense at this time. I would like more work/life separation but would miss aspects of WFH.
Never left the office!
Aren't you a single practitioner who's office is you house? ;)
Sorry I have a staff of 6 and been that size since 2002!
Sorry, I must of confused you with someone else. Did everyone else WFH or did you state have exceptions that allowed everyone to stay in the office?
I came in every day and once we had the okay from the government we brought back everyone slowly and staggered the introduction a few folks Mon / Wednesday then the other half Tuesday / Thurs
day and progressed from there. Staff only work 4 days a week too, which we have done for 20 + years
Where I work is totally flexible, both with WFH and general start/end times. Some people are rarely in the office, others are always in the office. Some start at 8, some at 10. I WFH a few times a month, usually decided on a whim the morning of. Really appreciate the flexibility, it 100% makes me a better employee.
Where I employed was totally flexible to work either in office or remote. I used stay home unless I have a meeting with a client or office-wide metting and I was very productive at home by saving time / energy to commute.
We're not required [except a few admin staff, some of them are remote and nowhere to be found when you need them,,,] - some people do 4 days a week, but many are fully remote. Most team seem to make it work - though perhaps not as productive overall [really annoying when people go international for a few weeks and have little overlapping work hours or terrible internet].
Main observation is that there seems to be consistently a different learning curve for younger and newer-to-role staff. Harder to gauge what you don't know when you don't get exposed to day-to-day conversations around you, maybe?