Generic Virus Thread

[bickster]

9 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

We don’t need anymore lockdowns. 

Jah War!

[Rugeley Villa]

4 minutes ago, bickster said:

Jah War!

Jamaican gingerbread 

[Xela]

3 hours ago, Genie said:

He’ll need another furlough scheme if he’s closing stuff again.

I reckon he’ll hold off October and wait for the really smelly stuff to hit the fan around Christmas 

Speaking to clients in the last few weeks, they've having difficulty in getting people to come back to work full time, now that furlough is winding down! They've either been fully furloughed or flexible furlough for 18 months. Most have had a great time!

 

[Genie]

2 minutes ago, Xela said:

Speaking to clients in the last few weeks, they've having difficulty in getting people to come back to work full time, now that furlough is winding down! They've either been fully furloughed or flexible furlough for 18 months. Most have had a great time!

 

It’s all quite softly softly at my place. The senior manager will be going in 2 days week. The managers at least 1 day a week. Everyone else optional, but welcomed.

[LondonLax]

Covid or not, if you can do your job remotely you don’t need to be in the office every work day. If something good comes out of this it will be the shaking up of the usual commuter routine.

[Xela]

8 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

Covid or not, if you can do your job remotely you don’t need to be in the office every work day. If something good comes out of this it will be the shaking up of the usual commuter routine.

Yeah but think of those Prets and Costas empty in city centres!

Corporate landlords will no doubt be lobbying the government to get people back into city centres. 

[sidcow]

I seem to recall that there was a lot of commentary before reopening about the fact that we would have a big spike which would peak towards mid October so what's happening does seem to be what was expected to some extent. 

[Tegis]

At least two at our office have moved houses during the "wfh" period, so far away that a commute is not feasible,  and are now shocked that they have to come in a few times a week.

**** imbeciles.

[Seat68]

I learned today that my office in Solihull, the lease ends in March and in the new year it will be hybrid working, the new office is 3 buildings away. Looks like I am at home until at least then. 

[HanoiVillan]

3 hours ago, Xela said:

Yeah but think of those Prets and Costas empty in city centres!

Corporate landlords will no doubt be lobbying the government to get people back into city centres. 

We saw *a lot* of that last August/September if you remember, but it's been pretty half-hearted and mostly absent this year. 

[Davkaus]

52 minutes ago, Tegis said:

At least two at our office have moved houses during the "wfh" period, so far away that a commute is not feasible,  and are now shocked that they have to come in a few times a week.

**** imbeciles.

I did the same. My employer told me to come in twice a week, I said "lol, no".

I've been doing my job for 18 months fully from home. Productivity is up. Profits are at a record high. Why the **** would I go back to a daily commute that costs me 40 hours and a couple of hundred quid a month? I've since quit, and they rolled it back after another 15 or so people in my department did the same.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a large portion of workers to establish better flexibility around work, and we shouldn't give it up without a fight.

It's not perfect for everyone, and I know some individuals either want a hybrid scheme or just don't have the home setup so would rather work from the office, but companies that insist on office working when remote is perfectly possible are going to lose staff and find it much harder to attract recruits. 

[Tegis]

11 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

I did the same. My employer told me to come in twice a week, I said "lol, no".

Lets just say they are not in a position to take that stance Our company is flexible as hell so it's generally no problem. I think the only "problem" we have to face is the spontaneous transition of knowledge in an office-environment that takes a hit.

[Davkaus]

20 minutes ago, Tegis said:

Lets just say they are not in a position to take that stance Our company is flexible as hell so it's generally no problem. I think the only "problem" we have to face is the spontaneous transition of knowledge in an office-environment that takes a hit.

A couple of really good points here.

I am well aware that in my own team, while the business benefitted in a few ways from some individuals, it lost out on others:

• Some people were just more productive per hour. I count myself among them. I started late or early, I had long lunches, I did stuff around the house when it was quiet. But when shit hit the fan, or when I had focused periods, I just got *so* much more done. For a few reasons. I was more comfortable, I was happier, I had better equipment, there were fewer distractions (we'll come on to that)
• Some people may or may not have been more productive, but also put in more work, either because they lost track of time more easily, felt guilty about the lack of commute so put in more work, or other reasons. I am less enthusiastic about this. People should be working for the hours they're paid. I  took a firm line in my team of telling people to go and enjoy their evening when I saw them on late when I knew they shouldn't be, but a lot of people felt the compulsion to keep working, and that's not a good thing in the long term
• Some people, as I suspect your first sentence suggests, just took the piss. I strongly suspected one of my team either had a second job, or was just spending his days watching Trisha. In the first few months we walked on eggshells because, you know, pandemic, stress, anxiety, we did everything possible to support people, but a year in, I had to just do something aboutt he fact he was frequently away, was "struggling" but had no excuses, and we had to just manage him out.Some people just can't be trusted to work without people looking over their shoulder and WFH isn't going to be a good idea
• Knowledge transfer is hard. I just started a new job this week. It is harder than being in an office and just observing someone, and having whiteboard sessions. We (as a workforce) have got better at this, but it still doesn't compare. Screenshares and voice calls don't stack up, and while it's an obstacle I'll overcome as a seasoned professional, I do worry about complete novices who join the sector who need more help. Which goes back to my point about interruptions. Anyone who is interrupted sees it as a nuisance, but a senior worker being interrupted might lower their productivity but be better for the team/business if it saves someone else going down a rabbit hole
• You miss out on some collaboration, without a doubt. Those "water cooler" moments. There is no making up for that virtually, but I do think it's probably outweighed by general office bullshit, small talk, and distractions. I dread to think how many man hours we used to lose to arguments about lightning and air con.

As with everything in life, it's many shades of grey. As a fairly senior figure in my old and new company, the approach I'm taking is: no, I'm not going in day to day, or even once or twice a week, in general, but I'll make some compromises to try and get the best of both worlds:

• Digital social events are fine, but nowhere as good as in person ones, so we're having regular but not particularly frequent events, every month or so, a half day of a lunch, some games and drinks, completely optional, but trying to get the team a bit more joined up and talking about non-work stuff to appreciate each other as people. Some people have no interest in coming, but most do.
• In person strategic planning events which are mandatory,  but as infrequent as we can make them, maybe once every 3 months, to ensure we're all on the same page and can plan out big milestones
• Ensuring an office presence for some senior people, yself included, when we onboard new staff to have face to face KT which will taper off for each individual over time but only when they're happy for it and meeting expectations so we're sure they settle in.
• People that want choose to work from home but aren't delivering will be handled exactly the same as someone who works from the office and doesn't deliver; presenteeism, and bums in seats are worthless, managers need to measure performance and work output in meaningful ways.

What I'll never do again is accept "you need to come in x days a week" without justification. I'm in a fortunate position where I can dictate terms, and I realise many can't, but I won't sign an employment contract with my place of work as anything other than my own home. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Davkaus

[Davkaus]

Speaking of offices, I'm going in to my new one for the first time today. Among one way systems, and masks in communal areas, they'd like people to wipe down chairs with antibacterial wipes before and after use. Covid theatre is alive and well

[Genie]

24 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Speaking of offices, I'm going in to my new one for the first time today. Among one way systems, and masks in communal areas, they'd like people to wipe down chairs with antibacterial wipes before and after use. Covid theatre is alive and well

When I go into the office I do that anyway. There’s loads of big tubs of special anti bacterial / virus cleaning wipes. Before I start I wipe down all the desk bits and bobs, mainly to get rid of the dust that has accumulated since I was there last.

[Wainy316]

I'll be 3 days a week from October.

Commute is 5 mins each way so no inconvenience there but having to wear a mask for the whole working day is not pleasant.

[chrisp65]

Went to an office for a meeting yesterday, face masks optional, anti bac wipe down of the desk and sanitize your hands… mandatory.

By mandatory, I mean literally a pack of wipes at every desk, a mini personal take it home with you pot of hand sanitizer, and an office manager stood at the door to watch us all clean table tops and wipe hands before the meeting could begin.

Where are these people getting their guidance?

 

 

[sidcow]

2 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Speaking of offices, I'm going in to my new one for the first time today. Among one way systems, and masks in communal areas, they'd like people to wipe down chairs with antibacterial wipes before and after use. Covid theatre is alive and well

We have to wear masks when walking down the middle of the office past peoples desks, but can then get together with them in a meeting pod or room and take the masks off.   I don't get that at all.  Does Covid only exist when walking down a corridor?

Also have to have our temperature scanned upon arrival by one of those infra red thermometer thingies which are notorious for being completely unreliable.  Most of the times it beeps and red lights at me on the first go (when I've been walking around in heat and up the stairs) then randomly turns green on the second or third go.  

[Genie]

6 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Also have to have our temperature scanned upon arrival by one of those infra red thermometer thingies which are notorious for being completely unreliable

My wife had a raging temperature for about a day, it’s was normal for the other 6 that she was testing positive. 

[fightoffyour]

2 hours ago, Genie said:

Before I start I wipe down all the bits and bobs