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Post by Humph on Apr 27, 2020 12:50:07 GMT
Heh heh, I'm sure you're not too infected with that disease !
It's remarkably easy to spot that characteristic in some folk though. Usually office workers with far too great a fondness for Excel. I take way too much pleasure in trying to provide them with answers that won't fit with their usually binary analyses.
😈
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 27, 2020 12:50:42 GMT
I think it’s inevitable. It’s going to be ages before people consent to packing into commuter trains again — if they ever do. It won’t matter what distancing arrangements employers introduce in their offices if the employees refuse to travel because they don’t feel safe.
The real benefit of offices is social contact rather than productivity. People, to put it crudely, go to work to escape from home. There are some things that just don’t work online, and employers will have to find ways to maintain social contact even as they’re counting the savings from closing their expensive city-centre offices.
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Post by bromptonaut on Apr 27, 2020 14:46:10 GMT
The real benefit of offices is social contact rather than productivity. People, to put it crudely, go to work to escape from home. There are some things that just don’t work online, and employers will have to find ways to maintain social contact even as they’re counting the savings from closing their expensive city-centre offices. That exactly. As long as I've got a phone and a computer with a decent sized screen I can do my job at home much the same as in the office. We've a Google App we can use to chat with immediate colleagues including bouncing technical questions off one another but it's no substitute for the bits of banter and social titbits that pass when we're all in one room. More than that there's no opportunity to nip downstairs and see how colleagues in other areas are getting on; also a way we exchange knowledge. |
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Post by Humph on Apr 27, 2020 14:56:52 GMT
I know I'm weird, and in truth I'm completely at peace with that 😉
But, when people say they like being "part of a team" it just gives me the heebie jeebies. I'm much better operating on my own when it comes to work. You know how you're "supposed" to put how good you are at being a "team player" on your CV? Well, if ever I have to write one, I really couldn't truthfully say that. I'm more than happy to work alone, or be a team leader I suppose, but I've never wanted to be "one of the gang" so to speak. I think conflating your work and social life is just an oil and water thing.
I have a work life, and a private life and rarely discuss my off duty activities with any colleagues. Not that they would find them particularly exciting anyway I'm sure.
But like I said, I'm a bit weird probably !
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2020 15:00:44 GMT
We use Agile, with projects broken up in to three week chunks. Before this WFH scenario, we would deliver 80-90% of the planned work in each chunk, which is where you want to be (i.e you're being ambitious in target setting, but not too ambitious). Since we've been WFH, it's suddenly up over 100%. Evidently when people work from home they're not sloping off watching the telly all the time as management imagine, and banter and social titbits aren't all they're cracked up to be. But I'd put good money on us being instructed to go back to the old pattern of office based work as soon as they humanly can make it happen.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2020 15:02:38 GMT
Wish I had the time to stand by a water cooler or pop anywhere to 'chat'.
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Post by dixinormus on Apr 27, 2020 22:28:51 GMT
Wish my employer was as forward-thinking as you lot. Redundancies loom, starting with salespeople ☹️
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Post by EspadaIII on Apr 28, 2020 6:50:24 GMT
I'm sorry to hear that Dixi. We will certainly drop two or three part time staff in the next month. Espadrille who manages that team, (residential property management) only wants full time staff, better for continuity of service to tenants and landlords.
I can see the surveying team doing more home working, but having fixed meeting times during the week where we actually meet over coffee either in the office or a convenient cafe. As two of us live within 20 minutes of the office that's easy; the others live much further away, and in opposite directions, so we may have to compromise on location each week..
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 28, 2020 7:00:43 GMT
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Post by Humph on Apr 28, 2020 7:43:37 GMT
Wish my employer was as forward-thinking as you lot. Redundancies loom, starting with salespeople ☹️ So many businesses fail to grasp the basic principle that without sales, they don't have a business. All very well having people sitting in front of screens producing spreadsheets, but if there are no numbers to put on them... |
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Post by dixinormus on Apr 28, 2020 8:50:52 GMT
Exactly Humph. Management have unilaterally decided that sales will fall due to Covid-19, so we’ll sack the sales team to cut costs...! And they want us out and gone within a week, no discussion 😡
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Post by Humph on Apr 28, 2020 9:08:27 GMT
Ah, the all chiefs and no injuns theory of management?
Let's see how well that goes...
🙄
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Post by Humph on Apr 28, 2020 9:20:06 GMT
It may seem counter intuitive to the bean counters, but when sales are falling that's the very time you put extra effort and yes, budget, into generating new ones. Either by hiring more sales personel or redeploying other staff members into direct sales roles. The more often you ask for an order the more orders you get. If you stop asking, you stop getting.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 28, 2020 9:46:42 GMT
My sales process is much longer term — bids that run for months — but the same principle applies. At the moment I’m as busy as I’ve ever been, but a lot of it is entertaining our customer opposite numbers who are stuck at home and trying to impress their own bosses by keeping their suppliers busy. We’ve never tried pushing a deal to closure over Webex, but that’s the next thing we’ll have to do to justify our continued existence.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Apr 28, 2020 13:25:25 GMT
Sorry to hear the news dixi.... madness on the part of your management. Sales will go down but there will still be some due to the sales teams previous efforts. As soon as things pick up you need to push for more sales. But you know that.
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