For remote workers to be effective, a lot of things that go unsaid or unwritten have to be written down. If you have that, then the difference between sitting in the same building and being remote isn't as pronounced.
But also if you have that, the advantage of sitting next to each other instead of just in the same building is also less pronounced. It's also easier to train your replacement, and some people are terrified of that.
You can learn a lot about the problems or architectural issues with your system by participating in conversations, and that supports the bullpen organization of offices. But you learn a ton more by participating in private or one-on-one conversations. In public only the brash get to talk. In private people will share their real fears as long as you don't belittle them for it. And those fears may reveal existential crises that are brewing in the system that nobody talks about.
It's much easier to have a private conversation with a remote person than it is to have a private conversation in a bull pen.
But also if you have that, the advantage of sitting next to each other instead of just in the same building is also less pronounced. It's also easier to train your replacement, and some people are terrified of that.
You can learn a lot about the problems or architectural issues with your system by participating in conversations, and that supports the bullpen organization of offices. But you learn a ton more by participating in private or one-on-one conversations. In public only the brash get to talk. In private people will share their real fears as long as you don't belittle them for it. And those fears may reveal existential crises that are brewing in the system that nobody talks about.
It's much easier to have a private conversation with a remote person than it is to have a private conversation in a bull pen.