Joining the great WFH brigade

[hrj]

 Being on multiple social media channels in parallel means losing track of what I've posted where...

My employer has strongly advised that anyone who can work from home should do so. (Since we're a pharmaceutical production facility, lots of employees need to be physically present, so those of us with purely office jobs are helping protect the production folks from potential exposure.)

My previous single-day instances of working from home have tended to be unsatisfactory due to the differences in workstation set-up, but knowing this was going to be relatively long term, I picked up an additional monitor (so that I have two large external monitors, plus the laptop screen, which is only marginally worse than my office set-up) plus picked up a cheapo full size keyboard (I never bother with a separate keyboard for my Mac). And it's being quite functional. Enough that it may spoil me! The quiet is a bit unnerving (other than the cat water fountain, the traffic outside, etc.) but I've been running classical music to offset that. I don't have the trainees asking questions at random intervals, which you might think would be a productivity plus, but overall it's probably a minus since the idea is to get them fully up to speed. And that won't happen if they're floundering on things where a quick check-in could help. (I'm doing proactive check-ins with my primary trainee.) The morning staff meeting is actually much more productive since the need to unmute your mic to make comments is discouraging random chitchat.

And I'm taking the opportunity to do some serious cooking, since the kitchen is just steps away. Currently the slow cooker has a beef chuck roast braising with onions, dry cider, and plum puree. (Hey, you improvise with what you have.) I'm not self-quarantining to the point of not going to the grocery store, and the ability to get out on my bike at lunchtime can get combined with that on occasion.

And, of course, I have social media to keep me connected with the world. I suppose it's not that much different than usual, given my fairly low level of face-to-face social interactions outside of work.

The one item I'm hoping to improve is sleep habits. So far I'm enjoying the just-in-time wake-up time, but I don't feel like I've actually improved my overall sleep yet. That may come.

Comments

[zeborah]

I've seen suggestions for working-from-home that lots of proactive check-ins and even just chats are really useful, to keep up the working relationships that otherwise kind of happen by osmosis when you're physically around each other.

Also after a certain point may help with retaining sanity. :-)

I've done occasional work-from-home days - enough that I know I could definitely use a better set-up if it was for an extended time. Hopefully if it comes to that here I'll have enough advanced warning to take some of my work gear home. I *might* be able to manage it in one trip but over two days would be easier.

[hrj]

Yeah, we've finally started using Microsoft Teams due to this! And there's always at least one person from the group on site, for running documents around and whatnot. I'd hate to lug all the equipment back and forth all the time for WFH, but now that I have the equipment it wouldn't be so bad.

[kareina]

Yay for an improved home-office set up! You will benefit from that long term. I too enjoy cooking while I work, so I love working from home whenever I can.

I echo the suggestion of using IM to keep in touch with your work colleagues for all of the places where there would have been a quick chat if you were in the office, both the on-topic, and the off-topic stuff.

[hrj]

I've been reaching out to my trainee on chat regularly. When we were in the office, there was a specific shifting of posture that meant she had a question but didn't want to interrupt me. That doesn't work any more!

[hudebnik]

"lots of employees need to be physically present, so those of us with purely office jobs are helping protect the production folks from potential exposure"

See, that makes sense. shalmestere's employer, a large public library system, has refused for years to let the people without public-contact jobs telecommute because "it wouldn't be fair". Whether they'll reconsider that now in terms of "it reduces risk for the people who are coming in," I don't know. Whether they'll close the doors and furlough everybody except the ones who can telecommute ("unfair" in the other direction), I also don't know.

Meanwhile, Google has allowed WFH for many years, although you're technically supposed to clear it with your manager in advance. A week and a half ago they went to "voluntary WFH" (whatever that means) in NYC, and "recommended WFH" in Seattle. A few days later they went to "recommended WFH" for all US and Canada sites. I was in the office on Wednesday to pick up a package at the mailroom, and it was pretty deserted.

My team has gone from a weekly "stand-up" meeting (in which each person has a minute to describe current work and blockers) to a daily update of a shared doc, and an optional teleconference, to keep everybody in sync. In addition to the usual e-mails, team chat room, bug-tracker threads, etc.

[hrj]

Some of my co-workers have been working from home more regularly (in one case, I believe it's part of a medical accommodation, but I haven't asked). I think it's easier for the management aspects because we're all doing it currently. We have a daily meeting that is rather awkward to do as part in-person part online, but it seems to be working well with everyone online. If we get used to all the tools during this period, they might open it up more. Back before we got consolidated into a single department, our individual managers set WFH policy and I know several people did split days (part from home, part in the office) to work around childcare duties. But after the consolidation there was something of a crackdown (and I think some people were considered to be unacceptably not productive enough when working remotely).

[hrj]

It has occurred to me that this would be a good place to track things like social contacts and my baseline temperature. So, starting from Wednesday, my first work from home day:
3/11: temperature (did not record). Spoke face-to-face with neighbor Mike O. regarding tree cutting, but no physical contact. At lunch went shopping at Fry's (for monitor) and Ranch 99 on willow Pass Rd, after work went shopping at PetCo and Trader Joe's on Concord Ave by the airport. Dinner with Denise at my house.
3/12: temperature 98.0 (look, evidently this is my baseline, useful information). At lunch, biked to CVS for shopping. No other contacts.
3/13: temperature 98.1. At lunch, biked to Safeway on Willow Pass for shopping. After work went to the 7pm showing of Emma at Pleasant Hill theater (few people, 2 or more empty seats between me an the nearest other viewer).