
IBM is ordering its work-from-home employees to stop working from home - molecule
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2017/03/24/ibm-is-ordering-its-work-from-home-employees-to-stop-working-from-home/
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chinathrow
Previous:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13603831](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13603831)

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dang
And more recently here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13922235](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13922235).

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joshstrange
I use to think that remote work was goal I should be aiming for but after have
a few friends did it and I thought more about it I've decided I would hate it.
On the surface it sounds great and while I fully support working from home a
few times a month I can't support any more than that.

One of my good friends that did it has an interesting take, he said that since
he was more introverted he thought he was perfect for remote work when in fact
it made him miserable. His dad worked remotely for a large part of his life
but was an extrovert. He concluded that contrary to what may seem like common
sense introverts do worse in remote work because the office is where they get
a majority of their human interaction while extroverts are going to make that
happen regardless of if they go into an office every day.

I have no experience with working from home for a long period of time but I
know calling into meetings is the worst and that there are a TON of
decisions/conversations that you get ZERO input on (most of the time you don't
even know they happened) when you are remote. I have never been so happy that
I didn't get a remote job I interviewed for a few years ago.

As much as I hate companies giving a perk and then taking it away I can't help
but think this is the right move for IBM.

PS: Yes HipChat/Slack/Jira/GitLab/GitHub/etc/etc/etc can help with this but
you are fooling yourself if you think that the people in the office are going
to record every single interaction/conversation/etc of note. Remote-only teams
_might_ be an exception but even then you really do lose the ability to roll
over to co-workers chair and have an impromptu conversation.

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ap3
So you have never tried it but think you won't like it because something your
friend's dad said?

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joshstrange
Something my friend said about his bad experience with remote work, his dad
loves remote work. Also from my experience working from home on occasion and
from working with remote team members.

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holydude
Work from home should not be considered a perk but standard.Those who get
hired in cities like hong kong where you cant afford to buy/rent close to the
office have to often cope with commute times > 40min and home offices can
relieve the pain. For example in my company we have home office every friday
as we are not starting anything big before weekend.

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Waterluvian
I agree and disagree. Workplace interaction has been critical where I work.
But we all work from home a day or so each week. I struggle to mesh with those
who work exclusively remotely/from home.

Like most things in life, balance works best.

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ekzy
I agree balance is best. With the craziness of open plan offices, I like to
have a day or two at home, so I can get the non-trivial programming done.

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markangelortuyo
Our Team in IBM tried work from home every friday. it didn't work, i hate it.
you can't grab people fast, communication is terrible.

