Workplace Flexibility

[Braivo]

5 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

My experience has been that the longer I have worked for an employer, and established my worth, the more flexible they become as far as "work rules."  At this point in my life my knowledge is more valued than my presence so I work when I have nothing else going on.

Keep working hard and eventually one gains flexibility.

This has been my experience as well. The more knowledgeable I become the more they "need" me and I can essentially ask for more. 

[Lihu]

6 minutes ago, Braivo said:

This has been my experience as well. The more knowledgeable I become the more they "need" me and I can essentially ask for more. 

Be a bit careful with this one, because anyone and everyone is replaceable. I've seen many people go through this phase, and it can get ugly sometimes.

[colin007]

Public school teacher here, so....not really. I'd rather do my prep work here whilst I have to be here instead of taking it home if I can avoid that.

[Braivo]

15 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Be a bit careful with this one, because anyone and everyone is replaceable. I've seen many people go through this phase, and it can get ugly sometimes.

Yes, of course, but the same way these boomer bosses value face time, as I move into the "boss" role I can value different things. Changing of the guard so to speak. However, during the transition I need to be careful to still respect the old timers until they are actually out the door. 

[Lihu]

12 minutes ago, Braivo said:

Yes, of course, but the same way these boomer bosses value face time, as I move into the "boss" role I can value different things. Changing of the guard so to speak. However, during the transition I need to be careful to still respect the old timers until they are actually out the door. 

Exactly! But not all "boomers" think the "old way". Our company and founder's MO has been "Build Cool Stuff, Deliver Great Product, Make Money, Have Fun, Change the World" for 25 years.

Edited April 7, 2017 by Lihu
World, not world :-P

[JonMA1]

A very small amount of my work can and is performed at home (usually on my own time), but the bulk of it requires the opening, processing and saving of high quantities of large files. It's just not worth the file transfer time outside the network. I'm ok not working from home.

15 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

According to an undated question-and-answer document distributed recently to some HP employees and shared with AllThingsD, the new policy is aimed at instigating a cultural shift that “will help create a more connected workforce and drive greater collaboration and innovation.”

Yeah, this is what companies are going towards and is BS in some cases. "Proximity" is the buzzword. Face-to-face interaction is highly overrated, IMO.

Our company has begun gathering data and using "metrics" (#!@$ing buzzwords) to evaluate systems and methodologies, something I believe strongly in and have been practicing for years. Unfortunately, many only use the data which supports their agenda while dismissing that which disproves it. Much as @Braivo mentioned in one of his posts, I have numbers which overwhelmingly support a reality that is sometimes opposite to the "more connected" workforce ideology.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Braivo]

33 minutes ago, JonMA1 said:

Yeah, this is what companies are going towards and is BS in some cases. "Proximity" is the buzzword. Face-to-face interaction is highly overrated, IMO.

Don't even get me started on these new "open office" environments meant to spur "collaboration". 

[Lihu]

33 minutes ago, Braivo said:

Don't even get me started on these new "open office" environments meant to spur "collaboration". 

Collaboration:

 

1 hour ago, JonMA1 said:

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That's primarily because people don't change. We've been the same lazy workers since the days of serfs in Europe, Asia or wherever, and bosses have tried everything from whips to whipped cream to make their workers "more productive"

[dennyjones]

11 hours ago, Lihu said:

Be a bit careful with this one, because anyone and everyone is replaceable. I've seen many people go through this phase, and it can get ugly sometimes.

+1  Been there, done that.

[jkelley9]

I'm also a millennial. 

Half of my work could be done at home, easily. The other half would be critical that I'm in the plant. Analyzing data, working on project stuff like spec'ing equipment, drawings, contacting vendors etc could all be done from home.

I won't ask to do that though. Nobody does that here. Then again, we're a Japanese company with the "open work environment" that's frustrating at times. They'd never let us work from home so I don't even bother asking. And I feel like I have a LOT of pull at my work due to performance. I enjoy my job, so I put a lot of effort and drive into it. 

All that said, it doesn't bother me that I can't work from home. But I only live ~17 minutes from work. 

My brother works for one of the big accounting firms and does a lot of work out of the house. He has they key fob thing that rotates passwords for some type of secure log in. Never used one myself but the concept is simple enough.

[Zekez]

As the Director of a Public Library I can't work from home for the most part.  The best part of my job is socializing (working) with the public!

Although there are jobs that could be done by employees working at home.

[jamo]

I'm an engineer. There are certainly some things I could do from home, but the vast majority of my current job involves collaboration, talking to people, meetings, and networked software that would be extremely slow away from work. Security is the main concern, but even if there was a way to get around that I'm not sure I'd work from home more than like 20%. 

I also personally value having off the clock time and space, where if I'm not physically at work during work hours I don't have to think about work. When I was in college I was always very anxious because I felt guilty any time I wasn't doing work or studying (not to say I was studying/working nonstop, I was just  constantly anxious about it). I really value being able to unplug when I leave. For security reasons I can't even access my work email away from my work computer, which I really, really enjoy. 

That's not to say I couldn't do well or find value in working from home if my job were different, but that's where I'm currently at.