| Hybrid working tips 15:43 - Jan 5 with 3716 views | TheChef |
One for the LFW hivemind.
Have just started a new job which is much more flexible than my old one, with the option to work either from home or in two other offices. My team is mainly in one office (which of course is further from home than the other one) and the team office day is Tuesday, but other than that people work from locations as they please the rest of the week.
For an old fogey like me who misses the days of everyone being in the office five days a week, I'm finding it a bit of a struggle to develop a rapport with new colleagues. So if anyone has any suggestions for how to best do that in this wonderful new normal of ours, do let me know. Cheers! [Post edited 5 Jan 2023 16:12]
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| Hybrid working tips on 16:09 - Jan 5 with 3117 views | GaxZE |
Pre-covid working from home was great, because it broke the week up and saved you money on food, travel etc.
Now however - I've found it's all dependent on your team. Whats the comms like, is there any togetherness / urgency to communicate?
I am a software engineer and now work from home every day. I will sometimes choose to go into the office in central london but, my direct colleagues don't really venture in. So makes the trip worthless.
Tips are:
- Take breaks at home. Get off your computer and out of wherever you sit. Go outside as much as possible.
- Make use of the new time you have which isn't travelling. I run my daughter to child minders before work every week. I also ensure that chores are sorted and done.
- Camera's on for meetings as it gives you the next best thing to being in the office.
- Stop at the end of the day and don't let your work over run your home life.
I've been working from home now about 4-5 years. It was great but now with EVERYBODY else working from home, it makes the office appealing.. that said if my colleagues ever went in.
Best of luck! |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 16:28 - Jan 5 with 3029 views | danehoop |
I find trying to get a fixed regular schedule into my and my teams diary each week really helps in bringing everyone together and ensuring people know when they will see their colleagues. I have a weekly meeting for the whole team once a week on a Monday morning which allows everyone to update on what they are doing along with a forward look piece for the week from senior leaders. After that I ensure that have a daily morning quick catch up with my smaller team leads for Tuesday - Friday, which tends to pick up on the more immediate stuff we are doing.
I found just getting that structure and frequency of meeting helped in getting people use to interacting and engaging.
I'd also recommend make a point of having a team in day a few times a month if possible, again to create a bit of structure and routine to plan around.
Similar things to earlier comments though on taking breaks. I always try and get away from the laptop for a short period at least once every hour or so if possible, to refresh my brain. If you can do also try and structure in a lunch break from your laptop. Even if it just means walking to the kitchen and making a sandwich and a cup or tea, do it as it will help keeping you fresh and focused. In a similar vein i have try and ensure that drink more water/tea when working from home as its easy to get lost at your laptop for long periods and become dehydrated and less effective if there isnt a natural break point in your routine. |  |
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| Hybrid working tips on 16:37 - Jan 5 with 2990 views | dmm |
I think everyone's up to their eyeballs with Zoom or Teams meetings, so don't arrange any more for social reasons.
Nothing beats face to face get togethers so if you can get people to be in the office on the same day for an after work drink, I think that works best of all.
A small thing but, when working from home, before starting go out for a short work as if going to work. Doing the same at the end of your working day is good too. Sounds silly, but it works quite well. |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 17:08 - Jan 5 with 2945 views | Juzzie |
I now WFH 4 days a week but having been with the same company for eons I haven't had to adjust like yourself in terms of a new job.
However, I have noticed that when new colleagues join there just isn't the same bond/rapport as when in the office. It takes longer to build up any relations.
We do try and arrange get-togethers but it's just so difficult. Quite a few people have moved out of London altogether, making the one day a week trip manageable, and our teams all come in on different days of the week so trying to get 25+ people together in one go just doesn't seem to work.
It's been pretty much three years now since WFH and I've forgotten what it was like before. There was an element of stir-crazy in the early days but that was more to do with lockdowns.
I'm lucky to have a garden so do try and get outside (even if cold) a couple of times each day just to avert my eyes from the screen.
I have found I've been able to get so much more little odd jobs done at home that can be done during lunchtime or once the kids are dropped off at school and I have a 45 minute window before starting work.
[Post edited 5 Jan 2023 17:10]
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| Hybrid working tips on 17:13 - Jan 5 with 2917 views | Lanhoop |
Obviously attend on the Tuesdays as much you can but then I agree with Danehoop.
Regular team Zoom call, we do it on a Friday, attend if you can but no pressure. Chat about your week, maybe about work but it's not mandatory. No host, no agenda, just a coffee and chin wag. | | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 18:18 - Jan 5 with 2811 views | Dixie_CT |
All great advice on here.
Lead a small team of five. We are all in once a week for a team day, which is a Tuesday. We have a 50/50 flexible working policy, which has ramped up from 40/60. Line manager has final say.
Whatever the structure, the approach is so dependent on individuals attitude to it all. I have colleagues who never mind coming into the office if asked and I’ve got some who act like I’ve asked them to walk over hot coals. The interpretation of flexible for some is to be as inflexible as possible.
Agree that bonding, work socials, and anything extra curricular, has become hard work to arrange and getting a suitable date is like pulling teeth.
Pros and Cons to it all. Try to protect your home space/life/time, as much as possible. |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 18:19 - Jan 5 with 2809 views | R_from_afar |
Hi, I work from home all the time now, mainly because most of the colleagues I work with regularly are overseas and because the company has closed my local office; it was small but what really sounded the death knell for it was the fact that one very senior manager, based overseas, resented the fact that the UK office was near Marlow and not close enough to Heathrow for his liking. The tw@t, grrr, he only came over once or twice a year. Anyway, I digress.
What has worked well for my team is a weekly online meeting which deliberately does not talk about work projects. It aims to focus on how people are feeling, what we are doing outside work, holidays, social stuff. We have other meetings to cover the status of work projects and so on. People show their gardens, their pets, talk about books they have read. It has been quite a success and has helped the team bond.
One WFH bonus I have enjoyed is that when my exile from the office began, I determined to play my guitar every time I boiled the kettle. Now I have 47 hot drinks a day 
Only joking, I only usually have two or three a day but those short interludes when I lose myself in my strumming and riffing give me something back - my playing is vastly improved since I started that regime - and also relax and destress me. They also take me away from my desk. |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| Hybrid working tips on 19:10 - Jan 5 with 2767 views | Toast_R |
Working from home all the time now and I don't miss the office one bit.
Start earlier
Work later
Get more work done
Take and collect the kids to school so no breakfast or afternoon club fees
Lower petrol costs because I'm not commuting
No paying £350 a year to park near work
Eat healthier
Sleep longer |  | | |
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| Hybrid working tips on 19:45 - Jan 5 with 2690 views | queensparker |
Personally I’ve really struggled with the working from home diktat, it’s not for me. My home is for my real life, not my work, and I’ve found it more like living at work.
But I think it depends on your job. I manage a big team and have found some people thrive on it, and some are without a doubt taking the p-ss. If you’re in a creative type job I really miss the random conversations that lead somewhere interesting but no longer happen.
A few things that have helped me:
- make every zoom/team meeting 25 mins or 45 mins, don’t fill up half and whole hour slots. Give everyone time away from endless meetings
- make time to meet individuals in person if you can, especially if you’re a manager. Doesn’t have to be at the office, go for a walk somewhere convenient or go down the pub, whatever suits
- camera on on zoom meetings
- for yourself, make sure you start at a certain time, clock off at a certain time, and insist that is respected.
- make sure you leave the house every day and eat properly |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 20:07 - Jan 5 with 2648 views | LimehouseR |
I think it is something that can depends on what industry you work in but quite often I get to do a work from home on a Friday.
If you know what you are doing then it is fine. But I have found sometimes you need the advice and opinion of colleagues and unfortunately if you're not in an office environment there are some that take the p*** and are hard to get hold of when you really need them and something that would take a few minutes to query ends up wasting half a day.
Maybe as I am getting older I find it is a generational thing but to be honest if you get the work done and get something positive from your time then working from home at least a few days a week is something I can't believe we haven't all been doing before. |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 20:46 - Jan 5 with 2599 views | aston_hoop |
I'd say it very much depends on the work, in my industry we hire a lot of staff internationally who are home based and we usually get everything done efficiently with daily catch up calls and then letting everybody get on with their work after that. Collaboration has always come naturally online but also we're mostly people in our 30s so its the life we've grown up with.
There are a couple of older people based in the office who absolutely cannot comprehend it and believe that we should all be in the office all the time, but now my work fits into my life rather than my life fitting into my work, things have never been better |  |
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| Hybrid working tips on 22:30 - Jan 5 with 2481 views | Match82 |
I haven't seen anyone who has created a perfect hybrid culture yet. When I moved to the US from the UK single and in my mid 20s it was a culture shock because most people would do work, then go home rather than (gasp) go to the pub every night with a bunch of work colleagues which is what I was used to. You ended up with a smaller group of people who were socially active with work colleagues and the majority who you really only knew as their work personalities.
This feels somewhat similar. Obviously there are also very private individuals in the UK too, but I think we are just at a point where we have to acknowledge that you're probably not going to know as many people well in a work environment as you used to.
Find a smaller group, that you can be really close with - those close connections can be built via zoom as well as in person although it takes more willing, as well as more time (without alcohol fueled nights out accelerating the process)
But most of all, make the most of that one day in the office and ensure everyone has a lighter schedule of work that day. |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 00:43 - Jan 6 with 2361 views | SydneyRs |
| Hybrid working tips on 19:10 - Jan 5 by Toast_R |
Working from home all the time now and I don't miss the office one bit.
Start earlier
Work later
Get more work done
Take and collect the kids to school so no breakfast or afternoon club fees
Lower petrol costs because I'm not commuting
No paying £350 a year to park near work
Eat healthier
Sleep longer |
This is a good summary and pretty in line with how I see it.
I was already working from home two days a week before covid as my employer is pretty flexible. This increased to full time and now we go to the office once a fortnight which is the day you basically write off any productivity as its mostly catching up with people, banter etc. I plan my work around not getting much done on that day.
Working from home has made me even less tolerant of commuting, as the pointlessness of it is so much more obvious. I can go for a run in the local park before work rather than spending that time on a train listening to people coughing, a no brainer for me. I'm also far less tired than I used to be when going in every day. I do however miss the lunchtime football games we used to have a couple of times a week in a park near the office which were always great fun.
Being more introverted I don't really miss the socialising aspect. We still manage to have plenty of banter online. I guess if you are more social and/or younger where going out after work is more of a thing then you would see it differently. Also if your home environment isn't great for work (young kids, flat sharing etc) then working from home is a very different experience. | | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 01:08 - Jan 6 with 2344 views | lave16 |
| Hybrid working tips on 00:43 - Jan 6 by SydneyRs |
This is a good summary and pretty in line with how I see it.
I was already working from home two days a week before covid as my employer is pretty flexible. This increased to full time and now we go to the office once a fortnight which is the day you basically write off any productivity as its mostly catching up with people, banter etc. I plan my work around not getting much done on that day.
Working from home has made me even less tolerant of commuting, as the pointlessness of it is so much more obvious. I can go for a run in the local park before work rather than spending that time on a train listening to people coughing, a no brainer for me. I'm also far less tired than I used to be when going in every day. I do however miss the lunchtime football games we used to have a couple of times a week in a park near the office which were always great fun.
Being more introverted I don't really miss the socialising aspect. We still manage to have plenty of banter online. I guess if you are more social and/or younger where going out after work is more of a thing then you would see it differently. Also if your home environment isn't great for work (young kids, flat sharing etc) then working from home is a very different experience. |
Have been working at home since pandemic
Things I've learned most of which I fail to do correctly.
Take breaks - don't accept lunchtime meetings - quit at a decent time - don't start earlier because you don't have to travel - switch laptop off on Friday evening when you finish work - avoid checking work what's app groups over weekends
Other things I've noticed some people struggle with working from home as work is literally their only social interaction apart from TV and keyboard - some people are bluffing - some are double jobbing - some value their time a lot more than yours when arranging meetings - random stuff you get pulled into still happens it may just be different random stuff.
Best advice I have seen and aim to follow - one guy quits at 5 on the dot no matter what on a Tuesday to have a date night whether this is your thing or not what I took from it is if working from home your work needs boundaries - work to live don't live to work.
I also miss the gym and 5 asides but am to old now to make any other impact than emptying so young pup in fancy couloured boots | |
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| Hybrid working tips on 08:11 - Jan 6 with 2218 views | wombat |
| Hybrid working tips on 01:08 - Jan 6 by lave16 |
Have been working at home since pandemic
Things I've learned most of which I fail to do correctly.
Take breaks - don't accept lunchtime meetings - quit at a decent time - don't start earlier because you don't have to travel - switch laptop off on Friday evening when you finish work - avoid checking work what's app groups over weekends
Other things I've noticed some people struggle with working from home as work is literally their only social interaction apart from TV and keyboard - some people are bluffing - some are double jobbing - some value their time a lot more than yours when arranging meetings - random stuff you get pulled into still happens it may just be different random stuff.
Best advice I have seen and aim to follow - one guy quits at 5 on the dot no matter what on a Tuesday to have a date night whether this is your thing or not what I took from it is if working from home your work needs boundaries - work to live don't live to work.
I also miss the gym and 5 asides but am to old now to make any other impact than emptying so young pup in fancy couloured boots |
closed the office pre covid so was already set up to work from home , dont mind it to be honest , do miss the monday morning pi$$ taking on football matters though.
walk the dogs every lunchtime in local woods for an hour , well did until i broke my leg before xmas which has stoppped most things for a period of time .
u get odd days when its boring as hell and motivation goes out of the window but overall cant ever see myself going back to the office full time |  |
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| Hybrid working tips on 08:51 - Jan 6 with 2154 views | loftupper |
Anyone trying out taking on a second work from home job? Seen a few articles recently of bosses getting the right hump with Software Engineers taking on multiple contracts but not sure where I stand on it. I run multiple remote teams and providing I get what I feel is value from each then good luck to them. | | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 09:09 - Jan 6 with 2098 views | TheChef |
Cheers all for the tips!
I think for now I'm just going to have to make more of an effort to get into the main team office other than just Tuesdays, and perhaps I'll suggest to my boss on Fridays to have an informal half an hour Teams chat about weekend plans etc. (nothing work related!) to help get to know everyone a bit better. | |
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| Hybrid working tips on 09:59 - Jan 6 with 2011 views | robith |
My two main pieces of advice that I don't think have been mentioned here
1. Don't think of the office as a place to be, think of it as a tool to help you.
I get really mad that people think just being in the office is better - it's better for some things. So focus your time in on those things - coffees, little chats, in person status, client presentations. Hell sometimes I'll go in on a Monday cos the office is quieter than home (plus we have a works darts teams and we play on Monday nights)
2. "People are taking the p*ss"
This statement always gets me - not least cos in my experience it's more senior staff not coming in - our younger team members are in loads. But in my experience - the people unreliable on home working were unreliable in the office.
People not doing their job is not a WFH issue - it is a performance management issue. I hear managers complaining that people aren't coming in on set days and we should abandon the whole thing, but when pressed on if they've escalated it as a discipline issue, they've barely mentioned it to the person in question.
Rather than moan about a new way, we simply have to be candid and direct about our expectations, our vision for why in person is good (this meeting needs to be IRL because it will be conversational, this meeting can be hybrid because it is more directional for example). Communication is more important than ever, it just takes a bit more effort
A sub point - a little banter channel on Slack/Teams goes a long way. I started one called "Real Football" for the fans of championship clubs in the office |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 10:01 - Jan 6 with 1997 views | daveB |
I love working from home, have found one tip though is when you do go in the office arrange something other than work for part of it, we usually do a lunch out and few hours in the pub just catching up and people more likely to tell you what they really think after a few drinks, I find out more from those than I do the hundreds of zoom meetings |  | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 10:06 - Jan 6 with 1974 views | Juzzie |
"not least cos in my experience it's more senior staff not coming in" - our management chain going upwards live in these locations;
Kent (& London) > London > Wales > central USA > west coast USA
The first two come in. The last two understandably don't (and visited the UK once every few months before covid)
The one in Wales, who moved out of London during lockdown, is the one who a few months ago told everyone he wants to see an increase in us coming into the office from one to three days a week. Yet he won't.
You lead by example, no wonder everyone went "yeah, right...". | | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 10:10 - Jan 6 with 1961 views | E17hoop |
| Hybrid working tips on 09:09 - Jan 6 by TheChef |
Cheers all for the tips!
I think for now I'm just going to have to make more of an effort to get into the main team office other than just Tuesdays, and perhaps I'll suggest to my boss on Fridays to have an informal half an hour Teams chat about weekend plans etc. (nothing work related!) to help get to know everyone a bit better. |
I do a lot of work in this space; helping organisations adapt to hybrid, supporting managers, understanding cultural and structural impacts, etc.
Happy to chat if you want - DM me an email address. |  |
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| Hybrid working tips on 10:37 - Jan 6 with 1930 views | robith |
| Hybrid working tips on 10:06 - Jan 6 by Juzzie |
"not least cos in my experience it's more senior staff not coming in" - our management chain going upwards live in these locations;
Kent (& London) > London > Wales > central USA > west coast USA
The first two come in. The last two understandably don't (and visited the UK once every few months before covid)
The one in Wales, who moved out of London during lockdown, is the one who a few months ago told everyone he wants to see an increase in us coming into the office from one to three days a week. Yet he won't.
You lead by example, no wonder everyone went "yeah, right...". |
I was in a leadership meeting where people were complaining about youngsters not coming in, when half of our cohort hadn't come in for the meeting. Place went silent when I pointed that out | | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 10:39 - Jan 6 with 1923 views | Superhoop83 |
| Hybrid working tips on 09:59 - Jan 6 by robith |
My two main pieces of advice that I don't think have been mentioned here
1. Don't think of the office as a place to be, think of it as a tool to help you.
I get really mad that people think just being in the office is better - it's better for some things. So focus your time in on those things - coffees, little chats, in person status, client presentations. Hell sometimes I'll go in on a Monday cos the office is quieter than home (plus we have a works darts teams and we play on Monday nights)
2. "People are taking the p*ss"
This statement always gets me - not least cos in my experience it's more senior staff not coming in - our younger team members are in loads. But in my experience - the people unreliable on home working were unreliable in the office.
People not doing their job is not a WFH issue - it is a performance management issue. I hear managers complaining that people aren't coming in on set days and we should abandon the whole thing, but when pressed on if they've escalated it as a discipline issue, they've barely mentioned it to the person in question.
Rather than moan about a new way, we simply have to be candid and direct about our expectations, our vision for why in person is good (this meeting needs to be IRL because it will be conversational, this meeting can be hybrid because it is more directional for example). Communication is more important than ever, it just takes a bit more effort
A sub point - a little banter channel on Slack/Teams goes a long way. I started one called "Real Football" for the fans of championship clubs in the office |
Christ, I wish you were in charge of my firm.
Our head honcho is an absolute dinosaur who was encouraging everyone back to the office before the first lockdown had even ended. He and our number two still pride themselves on the fact that they came into the office every day during the pandemic and think that anyone working from home is skiving. They also thought that all the people they rushed to furlough in March 2020 were having a good time while they sat at home bored and worried about their jobs.
It is depressing beyond words and I'm part of the management! I have tried to speak up for flexible working as much as I can, but none of the other managers ever back me up, so the dinosaur and his sidekick effectively call the shots. Some flexible working is allowed/tolerated for a select few but those few, including me one day a week, are not seen as giving their all to the firm. |  |
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| Hybrid working tips on 10:44 - Jan 6 with 1901 views | Juzzie |
| Hybrid working tips on 10:39 - Jan 6 by Superhoop83 |
Christ, I wish you were in charge of my firm.
Our head honcho is an absolute dinosaur who was encouraging everyone back to the office before the first lockdown had even ended. He and our number two still pride themselves on the fact that they came into the office every day during the pandemic and think that anyone working from home is skiving. They also thought that all the people they rushed to furlough in March 2020 were having a good time while they sat at home bored and worried about their jobs.
It is depressing beyond words and I'm part of the management! I have tried to speak up for flexible working as much as I can, but none of the other managers ever back me up, so the dinosaur and his sidekick effectively call the shots. Some flexible working is allowed/tolerated for a select few but those few, including me one day a week, are not seen as giving their all to the firm. |
Someone in one of the other departments next to us had a similar experience to this. The dinosaur boss, based in New York, wanted everyone back in the office 5 days a week (not sure if he did the same though) once lockdown was over.
What it seemed to smack of is more a case of insecurity and a lack of trust on his part. For nigh on two years all the work got done and if anything, productivity was up. The team were rewarded with their boss effectively telling everyone he doesn't trust them. What a cnt. | | | |
| Hybrid working tips on 11:07 - Jan 6 with 1861 views | Bluce_Ree |
I never ever used to work from home and always felt there was a stigma attached. Like people would think you're doing fk all. Then I did it once, mainly because I had a cold but it wasn't bad enough to stop me doing stuff, I just didn't want to give it to my co-workers.
That was suddenly a huge deal that day. Even though every boss I'd ever had had always taken WFH days because they were getting something repaired/delivered in the house. One rule for us, one for the bosses.
Then it all became about hot desks in the office. So suddenly every time you come in, you're trying to find a desk, organise your stuff. It'd take like 15 mins for me to get set up. Absolute faff.
Then suddenly they take away the car parking and now you're either walking a mile to get some free parking or paying £4.50 a day to park on some gravelly piece of shit over the road.
So when Covid came in and WFH became the thing, I was well up for it. I've used the time wisely too. The hour I'd be travelling home is now an hour where I'm cooking a proper meal rather than just shoving some bullshit in the microwave. At lunch I'm going to the gym.
I'm still getting all my work done but now I don't have to hear about some woman's fking medical ailments all day or what a piece of shit the girl in Finance's husband is. I don't have to hear about Strictly C*nts Dancing.
Honestly, WFH has been the greatest thing ever. I could never go back. And luckily I don't have to as we've not got the office space anymore.
Also, in an office setting I'm not the person I was. I was always the one who'd be chatting shit and having a laugh with people who got it. Now I've got co-workers who've never heard of The Prodigy (for example). Like how can you be so young that you've never heard of The Prodigy and be old enough to work?
Cameron's Britain, fam. Innit? |  |
| ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH MARTI THE REDEEMER WHO STRENGTHENS ME. |
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