Comment by matthewsinclair

I find the “remote vs onsite” debate to be a little bit misguided. I try to reframe it as a balancing act between “broad work” and “deep work”. The difference being that broad work is the kind of thing that needs collaboration and interaction and deep work needs focus and singular attention.

As an engineering leader, I have had some success and traction with non-engineers by re-framing the debate in this way.

I wrote these ideas up as a blog post earlier this year:

Broad work vs deep work https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0165-broad-work-vs-deep-wor...

Terr_ 4 days ago

Now that we're in the spiffy sci-fi year 2024 with video calls for all, I find that 90% of the "collaboration" work benefit is achievable remotely. (Like a co-debugging session.)

Less task-oriented stuff--general office chatting--doesn't work quite the same though.

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matthewsinclair 3 days ago

I think the main thing you miss with 100% remote working is what I call "corridor creativity" [0]. As good as working from home is (or can be), I do miss the serendipity of walking past someone in a corridor, having a quick chat, drawing something on a whiteboard, and then continuing on about my day. In a fully remote world, I need to organise a meeting (over Zoom) for just about every interaction, which ends up being quite a chore and far less than serendipitous.
[0]: Corridor Creativity: https://matthewsinclair.medium.com/0124-corridor-creativity-...

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- squigglydonut 3 days ago
  
  It's possible to have this remote. The communication style of gen z and younger is entirely remote and also for younger millennials. But in a remote setting there has to be complete trust "in the chat". Just like in office you have to be open to allowing communication and ideas to be voiced. You also have to allow for impromptu video calls which can be disruptive but it's the same at a desk in office. I remember having to put up signs "do not disturb" that people promptly ignored. It's the same but different. My opinion is that what is happening now is just an uncomfortable generational shift. There is a very wide age range in the tech workforce because it's not limited by physical ability.
  
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  mezzie2 3 days ago
  
  I'd say another generational issue here is that informal digital communication is often seen as 'unprofessional' by the older generations in a way informal in person conversations are not. If you greet someone with a high five and a 'how's it hanging?' in person, that's fine and you making connections, but if you use emoji/abbreviations/gifs/deliberately are informal in your digital communication, it's 'unprofessional'. The only reference points the elders in the office have for digital communication is email: The most formal of digital communication media.
  I'm a core/elder Millennial and there's a wide gulf in how I communicate in a Teams chat with my immediate team versus how I communicate via email to an external party. I find that a lot of Gen X+ people bring a really sterile, HR approved vibe to all their digital communications and then complain there's no way to build relationships. (Not all - my supervisor is a Gen X former teacher and he manages informal digital communication fine, as do the few Gen X and Boomer coworkers who've been online for decades.)
  
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