Coronavirus Thread

[Paninistickers]

3 minutes ago, Izzy said:

‘We're at a moment of real change in the world of work’

Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to allow 50,000 staff to work from home for the rest of 2020 underlines radical changes in the workplace, experts say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53484767

 

Gotta say I'm loving this shift in working practices and businesses finally waking up to the fact that people can be trusted to work remotely. I've been banging on about it for years and the only good thing about this pandemic is that it's opened people's eyes to a better way.

 

Keep challenging the norm people!!

Wouldn't fancy being in commercial property right now. 

 

Office rental and retail rental are both gonna fall off a cliff

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, Paninistickers said:

Wouldn't fancy being in commercial property right now. 

 

Office rental and retail rental are both gonna fall off a cliff

Good point well made. Although you could argue that many have been taking the piss on rate hikes for years and this will be their comeuppance.
Hopefully the game changes and leases become more affordable as there could well be more space available in the future.
 

[filbertway]

Working from home out of necessity is manageable, doing it full time would be crap though 

 

I miss the office banter and getting out the house. Atm its better than having to go into a crap atmosphere caused by the social distancing. As soon as the social distancing regs sack off though, get me back in that office

[Izzy]

5 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Working from home out of necessity is manageable, doing it full time would be crap though 

 

I miss the office banter and getting out the house. Atm its better than having to go into a crap atmosphere caused by the social distancing. As soon as the social distancing regs sack off though, get me back in that office

Not for the millions of introverts out there, trust me. Some people fvckin love WFH and don't miss the office or commute one bit. 

 

I think there will ultimately be a hy-brid solution for many businesses and flexible working being the norm (i.e. you only have to go into the office if the work can't be done remotely)

 

In saying all that, I'm a raving extrovert and can't wait to get back into clients' businesses doing my thing  (with the odd day WFH mixed in)

 

What all this hopefully proves is that the 'one size fits all' approach to managing people has gone for good.

[Costock_Fox]

I’ve quite enjoyed working from home, I’ve been here for over 4 months now which is astonishing when I think about it as it really hasn’t seemed like that.

 

I only live a 15 minute drive from work but some days when I’m in the office I get to security and realise I really can’t manage talking to people which is unavoidable when I’m in the office. I also struggle without structure so if I’m doing something and someone asks me for help adhoc it can throw me a little bit so being at the end of the phone has really helped to manage that.

 

Like Izzy says though, it’s probably about moderation for most with some days in the office and some at home working. The difficulty with that I guess is that unless you work in a huge office with loads of spare equipment companies won’t be allowed to hot desk so that could cause a real issue.

[RowlattsFox]

I would class myself as an introvert but I've had enough working from home. At least on a full time basis, could maybe split my working week. I dislike some of the office banter and small talk, happy to just get on with my work but I miss just going out to work. My job needs face to face contact though so slightly different to some. 

[Leicester_Loyal]

I could probably work from home for a day or two a week, but doing it everyday would be a nightmare (not that my job can be done from home anyway). I remember when I used to work in an office, I lasted about 15 months before leaving, staring at the same four walls was my worst nightmare.

[Izzy]

4 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

I’ve quite enjoyed working from home, I’ve been here for over 4 months now which is astonishing when I think about it as it really hasn’t seemed like that.

 

I only live a 15 minute drive from work but some days when I’m in the office I get to security and realise I really can’t manage talking to people which is unavoidable when I’m in the office. I also struggle without structure so if I’m doing something and someone asks me for help adhoc it can throw me a little bit so being at the end of the phone has really helped to manage that.

WFH requires a lot of self discipline IMO and it took me years to get a proper structure in place to get stuff done. You've got to be good at time management, prioritizing and delegation and also build in flex/contingency time for ad-hoc stuff. 

 

4 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

Like Izzy says though, it’s probably about moderation for most with some days in the office and some at home working. The difficulty with that I guess is that unless you work in a huge office with loads of spare equipment companies won’t be allowed to hot desk so that could cause a real issue.

I think hot desking is the way forward but it will take some organising. If we ever get over all this social distancing and sanitizing it makes perfect sense for everyone to have a laptop (if affordable) to plug in to the network wherever they are. I'm sure there will ultimately be less desktop PC's and 'my' seat/desk/office in the future.

 

2 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

I would class myself as an introvert but I've had enough working from home. At least on a full time basis, could maybe split my working week. I dislike some of the office banter and small talk, happy to just get on with my work but I miss just going out to work. My job needs face to face contact though so slightly different to some. 

I get that. If there's no variety and permanent WFH then people can suffer from 'cabin fever' if employers aren't careful.

 

If only businesses could trust their staff to decide for themselves where and when they work and then just measure them on their output and results. 

[Izzy]

7 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

I could probably work from home for a day or two a week, but doing it everyday would be a nightmare (not that my job can be done from home anyway). I remember when I used to work in an office, I lasted about 15 months before leaving, staring at the same four walls was my worst nightmare.

I think this is what will happen for many people. Most smart businesses worth their salt before Covid 19 allowed this anyway and it wasn't uncommon for employees to WFH one or two days a week - especially on a Friday when people are just counting down the hours anyway.

[Free Falling Foxes]

We have just discovered you can claim £6/week when working from home in the form of a tax break. Handy in the winter when you may have the heating on more.

 

An unexpected negative for me with WFH are the online team meetings. I hate MS Teams with a passion.  Online training is a pain too - especially as there isn't a slap - up feed laid on.

 

[Izzy]

P.S. If anyone on here manages people or is interested in work culture, have a read of this masterpiece:

 

 

First written over 30 years ago, the message is a true today as it was back then. Semler doubled the turnover and tripled the profits of one of Brazil's biggest businesses by introducing radical working practices. He empowered his employees to decide their own ways of working and even what they all paid themselves (more and more start up's are tech companies are doing this now)

 

One of my favourite quotes of his is on the lines of "I don't mind if my employees go to the cinema on a Monday afternoon - as long as they deliver the targets they set themselves" (and funnily enough when you ask staff to set their own targets, more often than not they're higher/more stretching than if their manager had set them)

[yorkie1999]

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

‘We're at a moment of real change in the world of work’

Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to allow 50,000 staff to work from home for the rest of 2020 underlines radical changes in the workplace, experts say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53484767

 

Gotta say I'm loving this shift in working practices and businesses finally waking up to the fact that people can be trusted to work remotely. I've been banging on about it for years and the only good thing about this pandemic is that it's opened people's eyes to a better way.

 

Keep challenging the norm people!!

Won’t last, the actual harm to the economy will come from people not travelling to work using public transport, their cars etc, and consequently money being spent in all the cafes, shops and bars, especially in London. If we take all those people out of the system, the knock on effects will be massive, plus it will eventually lead to automated systems, especially in banking and then those people who work for the banks won’t be needed or won’t be replaced after retiring therefore leading to greater unemployment and less money being generated in the system.

[Izzy]

4 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

We have just discovered you can claim £6/week when working from home in the form of a tax break. Handy in the winter when you may have the heating on more.

 

An unexpected negative for me with WFH are the online team meetings. I hate MS Teams with a passion.  Online training is a pain too - especially as there isn't a slap - up feed laid on.

 

 

 

I've spent the last month converting all my classroom training into a virtual offering by breaking down my one or two day programmes into various 2 hour modules.The trick I've found is to make them as interactive as possible - I get the participants to do all the work rather than listen to me blab on for ages. Can't help with the slap up lunch though unfortunately 

[bovril]

I quite enjoyed it at first and I've learned a lot of new things working online, but I am sick of staring at a screen and really miss face to face communication. I just need a change of scenery basically. 

[Heathrow fox]

19 minutes ago, Izzy said:

I think this is what will happen for many people. Most smart businesses worth their salt before Covid 19 allowed this anyway and it wasn't uncommon for employees to WFH one or two days a week - especially on a Friday when people are just counting down the hours anyway.

I was told it was common for 20% of office workers to wfh on any given Friday.The light traffic was proof of this+people having long wkends.Now it’s one long Friday morning + no kids.

[Izzy]

3 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

Won’t last, the actual harm to the economy will come from people not travelling to work using public transport, their cars etc, and consequently money being spent in all the cafes, shops and bars, especially in London.

The benefits to the environment and health service could be huge though. 

 

3 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

 

If we take all those people out of the system, the knock on effects will be massive, plus it will eventually lead to automated systems, especially in banking and then those people who work for the banks won’t be needed or won’t be replaced after retiring therefore leading to greater unemployment and less money being generated in the system.

I don't think it will take all those people out of the system - but definitely some. Automated systems are coming anyway whether we like it or not, so it's up to business to be more innovative and creative in how they use their people resources.

[fuchsntf]

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

Good point well made. Although you could argue that many have been taking the piss on rate hikes for years and this will be their comeuppance.
Hopefully the game changes and leases become more affordable as there could well be more space available in the future.
 

Well said..!!

[Free Falling Foxes]

Spare a thought for all those office workers who left dirty cups and plates in the office sink for others to tidy up. Now they are WFH,  they'll have to do their own washing up.............presumably .

[Izzy]

9 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

I was told it was common for 20% of office workers to wfh on any given Friday.The light traffic was proof of this+people having long wkends.Now it’s one long Friday morning + no kids.

If I was an employer, I'd have no issue with my staff taking Fridays off and having a long weekend - providing they got the job done during the rest of the week. 

 

I think the times of Monday-Friday 9-5 are old fashioned and dated now (unless it's business critical for people to work those set hours*) The culture of 'presenteeism' mixed with controlling micro management was/is still rife in many organisations.

 

*and I appreciate that for some businesses you still have to be at the place of work at set times. I'm on about businesses who think they have to, but really they don't

 

P.S. Sorry, I'm derailing the thread. I'll shut up now 

 

Edited 21 July 2020 by Izzy

[Guest Harrydc]

5 hours ago, don_danbury said:

you've only just heard this  ?

No I heard it 23 hours ago

[Free Falling Foxes]

2 minutes ago, Izzy said:

If I was an employer, I'd have no issue with my staff taking Fridays off and having a long weekend - providing they got the job done during the rest of the week. 

 

I think the times of Monday-Friday 9-5 are old fashioned and dated now (unless it's business critical for people to work those set hours*) The culture of 'presenteeism' mixed with controlling micro management was/is still rife in many organisations.

 

*and I appreciate that for some businesses you still have to be at the place of work at set times. I'm on about businesses who think they have to, but really they don't

I read a report last year that a couple of companies that shifted to a 4 day week found that productivity/output was the same as for 5.

[Izzy]

2 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

I read a report last year that a couple of companies that shifted to a 4 day week found that productivity/output was the same as for 5.

Indeed. Microsoft among others. Their productivity actually rose by +40% by going to a 4 day week. Work smarter not harder etc, etc...

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-4-day-work-week-boosts-productivity-2019-11?r=US&IR=T

[Free Falling Foxes]

Around the time I was leaving school, and that was a very long time ago, I remember a technology discussion saying one of the benefits would be shorter working hours and more leisure time.

I'm approaching retirement and still the 5 day week persists in a overwhelming majority of occupations.

[yorkie1999]

27 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Indeed. Microsoft among others. Their productivity actually rose by +40% by going to a 4 day week. Work smarter not harder etc, etc...

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-4-day-work-week-boosts-productivity-2019-11?r=US&IR=T

Which begs the question, why don’t Microsoft reduce their workforce by 20% 

[Paninistickers]

30 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

I read a report last year that a couple of companies that shifted to a 4 day week found that productivity/output was the same as for 5.

Try telling that to a colleague of mine, who's been trying to arselick our employer by COMPLAINING to senior management that they've given us Mondays off to reflect our 20% pay cut. 

 

(More amusingly, he recently took part in a zoom.meeting from his car  - phone stuck to the windscreen camera facing him -whilst driving on 'holiday'.... 'unintentional partridge')