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Why return-to-office mandates fail
(www.computerworld.com)
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this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2024
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I dunno, you really come across as an engineer who doesn't like to use Zoom or Teams. Yes it can be easy to point at a piece of paper in front of someone, but there's nothing to stop you from getting on a call a couple of times a day for a few minutes each.
I was 100% WFH for about a decade before the pandemic. I'm perfectly fine with both teams and zoom. When I finally got my previous company on board for webex (the company was split in 2 small locations, and then me WFH), and then eventually a move to teams, it was great. I like in person meetings better, for sure, but I've long been very comfortable using video meetings.
And while I agree there is nothing actually stopping people from jumping on zoom, my experience is that there is a lot more psychological friction because it doesn't happen nearly as much as it does when we are in the same physical space. And this doesn't even touch on all the times I'm talking to someone else about something, and another person overhears me and either has a similar question or something to add. And it almost reads as if you are saying I should schedule meetings with these people to meet a couple of times a day, but that would be even more painful.
People on my team have a question, I start up Zoom and we chat for 5 minutes. I have a question for my boss that's too big for Slack? Well we'll just Zoom for a few minutes.
You definitely don't want an ad hoc ticketing system, but nothing wrong with ad hoc meetings, especially if you're trying to capture the random encounters that occur in the office.
But this is my point. . .when I'm in the office they'll just turn around and ask me, on average, close to 3 questions a day. If it averages below 3 questions per week when one or both of us is WFH, I wouldn't be surprised.
I'm not saying that there is no way to make it happen, but that it simply doesn't happen. (Although I will say the ad hoc jump-in is something that can't happen over video chat. . .unless everyone is always in the room, which is even worse than working in an office lol) I can't explain why, but the barrier to initiating a conversation is much higher when it's not just "turn around and ask" and instead "send a message."