After the flood of spiritual posts I’ve been delivering, I’m going to change the pace a little and write about some random things for the next week or so. Today is all about work models.
The need for me to write this post is due to reading more and more about tech companies requiring that their developers to come back into the office. Remote work is getting some bad publicity. Elon Musk, for example, has said that remote workers are “detached from reality” and lazy. There have been pushes from big tech companies like Meta and Amazon for workers to come back into the office as well. This might have something to do with these companies investing millions into their half empty buildings. All is not lost in remote work: see here and here.
My day job is working as a software engineer. In the past, I have been in a few in-person office positions, a few WFH positions, and a hybrid position. After working in all of these conditions, I have to say that remote work is not for everyone and if you aren’t careful, you can prove the Elon Musk’s of the world right. Honestly, I don’t think remote is for people that can’t do 95% of their job independently and at the highest quality. Also remote work requires a high level of maturity and connection with your job. The worst part is the isolation / narrow vision you can get if you don’t initiate more interaction with humans.
Office work has no shortage of socialization opportunities. It’s a place to get to know people and share in challenges together. It’s really easy to have organic conversations about your work and your struggles and get direct help with issues. Although, working in an office also has some challenges. Distractions are the largest challenge you will face. Co-workers tend to make everything high importance and often times, you are distracted by their woes, especially if you are in a leadership position. Being in a leadership position in the past and being in-office, I struggled with how the work / life lines blurred since I heard more of the urgent conversations that happened in-office. I would find myself thinking about work after my work day. Also, it really sucks commuting to work every day.
After saying all of that, I must say that my preference is the hybrid model. The hybrid model offers the best of both worlds. Let’s say you go into the office two or three days a week. In those two or three days, you have all of the organic conversations, you can get to know people, and you can communicate difficulties and work through them. And, if you time everything right, you can take your heavy project work home for the next few days, crank up the tunes, and get in the flow. Commuting a few days a week is much better as well. The office drama is also minimized so that you can spread more positivity when you see your office peeps instead of ruminating in the sludge.
How about this too? Let’s say your family wants to go on a long vacation. A hybrid model would lend itself to taking a few weeks of remote work + your days off to compliment a longer vacation. It’s the best of both worlds. I understand the opposite arguments of in-office and WFH camps. I think there are flaws in both models, but hybrid is awesome.
It’s time that employers really start to think about where their work force is heading. Gone are the days of the traditional 8 to 5. People across the board want more experiences in life. A life constrained by the office will force the younger generation to seek other jobs and the remote life is challenging in its own ways.
The bottom line is that people should do what is right for them. Find work that is meaningful to you and find a company with the culture to embrace your needs to produce the highest level of your work. As I get further into my career, I have come to negotiate my needs instead of settling for something subpar.
Let me know your thoughts on this subject. It could lead to a great discussion.