A Permanent Change - Working from Home

[wooders1978]

Just been informed today that if anyone knowingly goes anywhere for a preplanned holiday that leads to them having to self isolate, they have to take any time for meetings in the office that they are unable to attend in person as unpaid leave, which is lovely, as they are also expected to join the meeting remotely via video conference.

[honeychile]

That doesn't sound legal.

[wooders1978]

That doesn't sound legal.

Agreed - I'm not going anywhere anyway so didn't fancy leading a citizen smith style revolt, but thought the same thing that it surely is a breach of some sort and not legally enforceable

[Dex Sawash]

When in our small one bedroom place until a month or two ago, Mrs Ferris would work on the sofa (turned to face the wall so Ferris Jr couldn't climb on it and smash the place up), and I'd work sitting on the edge of the bath, with a cardboard box on top of the bog which I'd balance my laptop on.

If mrs Ferris had a call at the same time as me and Ferris Jr was napping, I'd put a folding chair in the front closet and sit in the dark with the door closed and she'd take up my spot in the bathroom, as those were the only two doors we had in the place that we could close

5 months we did that. What on earth were we thinking. Thank fuck we have more space now but passing these costs on seems pretty unfair if you're not prepared to take them on.

guffaw/desolation

[Ferris]

guffaw/desolation

Will see if I can find a photo. I enjoyed the absurdity of it, but it was fucking shit.

[popcorn]

So Ferris has been posting on the lav.... appropriate... big lols.

[flotemysost]

All sorts of ethically very dodgy stuff going on here and I'm sure it's widespread. I've been very fortunate with my employer really - we all had work laptops already, but the Tech department posted mice, keyboards and extra monitors (where needed) to employees' home addresses free of charge.

They've also encouraged us to expense anything else we've bought ourselves specifically for working from home. In the heady throes of the first payday after lockdown, giddy on the money I'd saved from not getting the Tube/going to the pub etc. I splashed out on some nice AKG headphones and a Habitat armchair for my room (massively reduced, tbf). Although I probably wouldn't have bought them if not for working from home, I'd still feel a bit chekky filling out an expenses form for either.

I realise how disgustingly privileged this post is, so I certainly don't want to sound too hard done by, but one thing that I think management could improve on (and is probably an important consideration for any team working remotely) is the team culture/social approach to speaking with colleagues about their personal/home lives. I think there's a fine balance between taking a friendly interest in people's lives while adding some informal non-work chat (not easy at a time when there isn't much going on in many people's lives), and unintentionally making people feel a bit shit by highlighting the disparities between everyone's individual home situations.

For example, I've posted here before about how crap I felt after a team Zoom call ended with a perfectly innocent "What's everyone doing for dinner tonight?" and everyone's reply round the group apart from mine started with "We're..." (as in, it really hammered home that I'm the only single person on my team).

However, I've also had other colleagues tell me they've felt like shit when similar 'round the group' type questions have been asked about "has anyone got any holidays booked" (yes, great if you can afford it) and another friend whose manager kept asking "What's that noise?" when her flatmate was on another call in the same room - as if he genuinely couldn't get his head around the idea that people in flatshares might not have their own individual soundproof sanctuary to work from.

[Shit Good Nose]

So Ferris has been posting on the lav.... appropriate... big lols.

I sat in on one of his Zoom meetings and he had a habit of spraying whenever it was someone else's turn to speak.  I don't think he realised that his video feed stayed on the whole time.

[popcorn]

I did actually do an entire shit in a meeting once. And I also did it while working from home!!!!!

I had my mic and camera turned off and was walking around the house listening, then nature called and it felt natural to simply do the deed with the laptop placed on the floor looking up at me, so I could keep watching. It was only as I was flushing that it occurred to me how strange this was - I'd done it all sort of on autopilot - and then in a panic double-checked the camera and mic were both definitely turned off. They were, or at least that's what Zoom promised, but you never fucking know do you

[H-O-W-L]

I did actually do an entire shit in a meeting once. And I also did it while working from home!!!!!

I had my mic and camera turned off and was walking around the house listening, then nature called and it felt natural to simply do the deed with the laptop placed on the floor looking up at me, so I could keep watching. It was only as I was flushing that it occurred to me how strange this was - I'd done it all sort of on autopilot - and then in a panic double-checked the camera and mic were both definitely turned off. They were, or at least that's what Zoom promised, but you never fucking know do you

One for the deso thread: Zoom assuring you that your mic and camera are off when they actually aren't, during your combination afternoon Hitler cosplay fitting and fist-first arse reaming from a heavy-set Glaswegian.

[Shit Good Nose]

I did actually do an entire shit in a meeting once. And I also did it while working from home!!!!!

I had my mic and camera turned off and was walking around the house listening, then nature called and it felt natural to simply do the deed with the laptop placed on the floor looking up at me, so I could keep watching. It was only as I was flushing that it occurred to me how strange this was - I'd done it all sort of on autopilot - and then in a panic double-checked the camera and mic were both definitely turned off. They were, or at least that's what Zoom promised, but you never fucking know do you

I sat in on one of popcorn's Zoom meetings once.  At one point he took the laptop into the bathroom and sat down to curl one out.  I think he thought the camera and sound were off cos he was furiously checking something, but he didn't realise the video feed was live all the way through.  No one said anything when he "came back" to spare him the embarrassment, but his crap was the subject of multiple instant messages for several days after.

[Ferris]

I sat in on one of his Zoom meetings and he had a habit of spraying whenever it was someone else's turn to speak.  I don't think he realised that his video feed stayed on the whole time.

The paranoia was so great that I put electrical tape over my laptop camera.

[Icehaven]

I realise how disgustingly privileged this post is, so I certainly don't want to sound too hard done by, but one thing that I think management could improve on (and is probably an important consideration for any team working remotely) is the team culture/social approach to speaking with colleagues about their personal/home lives. I think there's a fine balance between taking a friendly interest in people's lives while adding some informal non-work chat (not easy at a time when there isn't much going on in many people's lives), and unintentionally making people feel a bit shit by highlighting the disparities between everyone's individual home situations.

For example, I've posted here before about how crap I felt after a team Zoom call ended with a perfectly innocent "What's everyone doing for dinner tonight?" and everyone's reply round the group apart from mine started with "We're..." (as in, it really hammered home that I'm the only single person on my team).

However, I've also had other colleagues tell me they've felt like shit when similar 'round the group' type questions have been asked about "has anyone got any holidays booked" (yes, great if you can afford it) and another friend whose manager kept asking "What's that noise?" when her flatmate was on another call in the same room - as if he genuinely couldn't get his head around the idea that people in flatshares might not have their own individual soundproof sanctuary to work from.

In the first few weeks of lockdown when we had all that glorious weather I had a colleague who twice said "Enjoy sitting in the garden!" in her emails despite the fact I'd already told her I live in a tiny 2nd floor flat with no outside space whatsoever.  Another colleague (that I get along with really well so I almost feel churlish saying this) gave a running commentary throughout April, May and June of how her and her family were thoroughly enjoying the weather and doing up their large garden, and when we came back into the office for a pre-return catch-up meeting in August, showed me all the before and after pictures of this huge, beautiful garden in the sunshine. Obviously it's not her fault where I live and you can't expect people to consider every single potential sensitivity in everything they say, but it was still hard to delight in their newly renovated outside space and all the fun they'd had doing it having spent the same three months cooped up in a stifling hot flat enjoying my views of a main road and a car park.

[flotemysost]

Exactly - to be fair, in my case, I probably was being oversensitive just because I was fed up and feeling sorry for myself (although video calls do have a way of putting you on the spot, as opposed to the more organic overlapping conversation if you're all in the same room, which can make anyone feel pretty self-conscious) - but referring specifically in writing to a nonexistent garden, more than once, is either catty or just a bit nuts.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I went for a shit and came back to my laptop in a meeting without anyone knowing.

[GMTV]

I went for a shit and came back to my laptop in a meeting without anyone knowing.

They heard

[Blinder Data]

They heard

That plop was unmistakable!

[poo]

anyone got gash/knob rot from WAH?

[Sebastian Cobb]

They heard

Mute, obvs. Although I once, at a house party in polite company farted while having a piss and it was so loud the people in the lounge heard it through the wall.

[GMTV]

Back into the office tomorrow morning, first time since mid March. That Sunday feeling is creeping in and its weird. Should watch songs of praise and make a roast dinner like maw used to make just to maximise the feeling.

[wooders1978]

I'm heading in on Tuesday - my boss is a great bloke and has now formally made me a home worker (Per the rest of his team) however he has asked me to show my face occasionally as, I already eluded to this in this thread, there is big pressure on managers from above to get their folk back in as soon as possible.

[bgmnts]

You probably would for a decent boss though wouldn't you? No matter how pointless it is.

The old you catch more flies with honey than vinegar is a foreign concept to most bosses.

[wooders1978]

Yeah I would definitely be digging my heels in if I thought he was a cunt

[dissolute ocelot]

All sorts of ethically very dodgy stuff going on here and I'm sure it's widespread. I've been very fortunate with my employer really - we all had work laptops already, but the Tech department posted mice, keyboards and extra monitors (where needed) to employees' home addresses free of charge.

They've also encouraged us to expense anything else we've bought ourselves specifically for working from home. In the heady throes of the first payday after lockdown, giddy on the money I'd saved from not getting the Tube/going to the pub etc. I splashed out on some nice AKG headphones and a Habitat armchair for my room (massively reduced, tbf). Although I probably wouldn't have bought them if not for working from home, I'd still feel a bit chekky filling out an expenses form for either.

My employer has been very good about us basically taking home anything from the office we might need, in addition to work laptops, as well as providing extras. Although the first monitor I took home I managed to break the screen en route, and I had to go back and get another one. Lots of people have chairs, tables, racks of equipment, actual storage racks, multiple monitors, thousands of pounds worth of AV gear "for testing", etc. And some are now getting very worried with the thought that at some point in the future they'll be forced to work in the office one day a week, but are agitating to get another table, desk, monitor, etc, for those days.

[Fr.Bigley]

Working from home has been super easy for me. Took loads of equipment home, manage to carry out my duties relatively successfully an doing some side work that my boss doesn't know about. can't really put in expenses for other things I need because the HR people don't know the extent of the extra fluids and things I've had to peruse 3rd party.

I'm a Neurosurgeon.

[Shit Good Nose]

Spent some of yesterday and today clearing my office desk and boxing up stuff to be put into accessible storage and waved goodbye to my quiet little corner at the back of the office with access to a veranda and pleasant views across the rural south west, for as of pretty much now I'm going to be an almost full-time homeworker.

Our remaining office space retained for staff (around 50% of it has already been let to third parties as a way to balance the financial shit we're in) is going to be for those who are unable to work from home for whatever reason (space, health/mental issues, domestic abuse etc etc etc).  One of our colleagues is trying to sort out an office for our small team of 5 for at least 2 days a week, but I don't hold out any hope.

On the one hand I'm saving a lot on my daily commuting costs (which I've currently diverted to overpaying the mortgage) and will soon be getting a tasty brand new laptop issued to me, on the other I'm going to miss some of my colleagues (unlike most people on here I actually like and get on with most of the people I work with) and virtual meetings are all well and good but they're absolutely no permanent replacement for a face-to-face gathering.

Ho-hum.

[wooders1978]

Went to the office - completely pointless exercise that cost me 2 hours of my day - Boris made the "work from home if you are able" a few hours after I arrived so most people (there was only about 10 people in) went home and there was 3 or 4 of us, all in different departments so ok interaction apart from a bit if a chat every now and then through the day - not going back this year I reckon

[NoSleep]

The Guardian published these photos a few days ago. They show you why they are so keen to get everyone back to their offices, as there has been massive investment in office space properties in recent years, all now potentially lying empty and useless for the forseeable future.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/18/aerial-changing-face-london-then-now-jason-hawkes-in-pictures