{"id":8098,"date":"2021-09-29T19:59:06","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T19:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=8098"},"modified":"2021-11-03T18:01:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T18:01:43","slug":"the-remote-or-office-spectrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2021\/09\/29\/the-remote-or-office-spectrum\/","title":{"rendered":"The remote or office spectrum"},"content":{"rendered":"
[Note:<\/strong> Based on some useful feedback, I wrote a follow-up to this post<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

I feel so fortunate to have been one of the minority of people in the UK that could work from home<\/a> during the COVID-19 pandemic. I found the initial stages of the pandemic completely terrifying, and my anxiety continued throughout the whole of 2020 while it seemed that everyone around me was relaxing their guard<\/a>. I\u2019m grateful to have now had two doses of a vaccine, and based on my perception of relatively low numbers of vaccinated people getting seriously ill, ending up in hospital or passing away, I\u2019ve been tentatively out and about in society again.<\/p>\n

My employer has asked for UK-based staff to come back to our office in London on a trial basis from October, for around 50% of the time. I don\u2019t envy the people involved in making the decisions around this as they will never completely satisfy everyone. I know that they have put a lot<\/em> of thought and care into the decision and I think that this request probably strikes the right balance for now.<\/p>\n

I think of \u2018where you work\u2019 as a spectrum, from completely remote to completely in the office. In the future, where will the optimal point be?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I have not heard of anyone that promotes being completely remote, 100% of the time, as ideal. Technology companies such as Automattic (creator of WordPress<\/a>, which powers around 40% of all websites<\/a>) or Remember The Milk<\/a> (creators of a very good to-do list application that I have used for many years) pride<\/a> themselves<\/a> on remote working as a core philosophy, but even they bring people physically together on a regular basis. When I read Scott Berkun\u2019s book about his experience of working for Automattic for a year<\/a>, it was amazing how much of the text was dedicated to their in-person meet-ups.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The founders and leaders of Basecamp<\/a> also agree:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Back in August, my company organised a get-together in Hyde Park for all of our London staff. For many people, it was their first time getting back on a train into Central London since we first locked down. At the event, people expressed very different views about how much they thought that we need to be back in the office, but everyone seemed to enjoy being together again. More than one person commented that they were happy working from home, but they hadn\u2019t realised just how much they had missed their colleagues.<\/p>\n

My conclusion is that it seems to make sense to be in the same place with your team, or your organisation, for at least some<\/em> points in the year. But how much is the right amount?<\/p>\n

All about me<\/h2>\n

On a personal level, aside from the terror of a deadly disease sweeping through the population, I think that I am going to have very positive memories of my experience during the pandemic. Partly I think this is because I am wearing rose-tinted glasses \u2014 I was extremely<\/strong> anxious for a lot of 2020, and this has definitely abated since my vaccination \u2014 but looking back I can see so many positive things to take from the lockdown.<\/p>\n

I am a 44-year-old man who has spent 22 years at work. I have two (almost) teenage children and a wife who doesn\u2019t currently work long hours at her job. For many years my usual pattern of work was to leave the house at 7am, commute into London, spend the majority of my day in meetings, and then to work late in order to catch up with emails and messages, and to get other work done. So many times I would grab a sandwich for dinner on the way home and arrive back after the children were asleep. Sometimes I might go a couple of days without seeing them. The lockdown forced me to see that my staying late in order to be productive had been at the expense of seeing my family. Obvious, perhaps, but I hadn\u2019t really felt<\/em> it until I\u2019d experienced the alternative.<\/p>\n

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Ah, the joys of an Upper Crust Taw Valley Cheddar & Tomato baguette for dinner. Like an old familiar and slightly stale friend.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Andrew Doran (@adoran2) May 12, 2011<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n