https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/13/dyson-tells-many-of-uk-staff-to-work-in-office-even-after-plan-b-guidance-change
Dyson sucks.
I don’t much like the guy, but I this case I think he has (IMO natch) a point. Remote R&D isn’t going to work. Many organisations are less effective when people work from home, it takes longer to do simple things, or to get them done - we’ve found that out ourselves.
I do think there are some benefits to working in the same place - that said, absolutism is off-putting and there are ways to do these things successfully remotely (and most businesses are learning this, and tbh, given the international nature of business these days, you are missing out if you are reliant on co-location).
(That said, a three hours Neo4j Bloom virtual workshop has just given me a headache.)
I guess I look at it (as most do) through the prism of my industry, which is design, manufacture and adaptation of physical equipment (X-Ray CT systems). I don’t feel that I can quite so readily discuss a potential design solution remotely, as opposed to sitting down with the designer in front of his screen. And trying to round up parts to get packed and shipped is much easier in person. But certainly our buyers, software developers and finance teams worked well from home the last time around. Remote IT support was less successful, but it was ever thus.
I does require a different way of thinking and doing – I do miss getting together for meetings and things and I do find things more creative that way (in part because everyone is focused on the task at hand rather than checking their email, buying a new pair of shoes etc.) and you also get the cues of body language. I've become a camera Hitler, mostly because knowing they might be watched drags a bit of attention back to proceedings. Plus I always make people speak, in part for attentivity, also because some people spend their lives getting talked over on calls, and they often have valuable opinions just not the confidence to bulldoze them through. Or they're just polite. They're the sort of adjustments to be made, I suspect businesses that just think they can continue as before are will struggle.
As in most things there's a balance, our business has gone with the hybrid approach of allowing people to work from wherever they're most comfortable and mix and match between the two. My wife's, on the other hand, are still pushing hard on some compulsory office attendance, the effect of which is people are leaving.
This all said, if your job includes nuclear reactors, seek permission before taking fissile material home.
