When the pandemic happened Florida, where I live, didn't have a statewide mask mandate, but locally in my city they instituted a short shutdown for a while. Like everyone else, I was going to try the Work From Home thing.
Clearly, it wasn't the same for me. I had been working remotely for 10 years, but traveled regularly for conferences and work events. I also had an office that I could go to and do my work. My company rents an office for me, which comes in handy when you have a lot of kids and they are not the quietest.
Today, most companies are trying to figure out a way to bring people back. Most got used to some sort of work from home with it's benefits and problems. I probably don't have to tell you that remote work can feel like you're 'on' all the time.
The challenge of hybrid work, some people being on video, some people in [the office], is how do you really make it feel like everyone seems they’re fully participating
This week Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced his feelings on what the return to work policy should be. He is pushing a three days a week in the office and four weeks from home. I can't imagine how this could possibly work.
Good and Bad News
I think some interesting things are about to happen. The hiring talks will be more than just about compensation and benefits, the remote policy will probably be the biggest driver of talent. Now that people got a taste of remote, if it's what they prefer, they'll look for companies with either that option, or a remote workflow.
The downside to companies offering remote options is that they will be able to hire from anywhere in the country, places where the cost of living is way cheaper like Texas and Florida with no state taxes, so talent will concentrate where life is perceived as being more affordable. It's not just employees that have had a taste of remote work, but also companies.
What Works for Me
Remote work works really well for me, but I do see some instances where being next to your co-workers is great. I'm not a particularly social person, but being able to hang out with my co-workers has created bonds that are hard to duplicate with those people whom I only known as remote employees.
One of the things that happened when I visited our headquarters is that it always seemed that I got to meet the half or more of the company that I'd never met before. I don't think that collaboration is as big of a deal, but I do think that it depends on the group.
Everyone has gotten used to remote work, but not everyone enjoys it. What do you think?
The Toolbox
My little show grows in leaps and bounds each week. Not necessarily in traffic, but definitely in my experience. I'm working on making this a part of my job where I create content for the show that can also work for courses. I'm thinking about interviewing people, adding more live interaction. I'm getting a lot of analytics about the episodes and trying new things every. It's a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Here's the last Episode.
I'm also experimenting in pre-recording specific clips from the show for release as individual videos. Because they're more polished and focused, I feel like they can perform better on search. Here's a quick 1 minute excerpt from the show on a terminal command called history, I've grown to love.
Impromptu Lives
This week, there was a big announcement from Github/Microsoft releasing vscode.dev. It's a limited codespaces environment That isn't tied to Github like github.dev is. I did a short, impromptu live stream covering it.
Also, Mojo the Coding dog made an appearance, so you can check him out.