Lockdown/Covid Check In
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@taniwharugby I find I'm craving the routine of getting into the office. As much to get to the gym as anything else though. At home I am really shit at switching off or taking a break, but avoiding the commute has been great.
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@paekakboyz my drive is pretty good, 30 mins on a bad day, 20 on a good day (about 20km each way) so is neither here nor there.
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@barbarian said in Lockdown Check In:
I've been back five days a week for the last couple of months. I'm yearning to WFH, even if it's just a day or two each week.
I enjoy the office vibe and it's nice being around other people but having to trudge into the city everyday is just wearing me down. How did we use to do that every day?
Before Delta hit I had my work agree to allow me to do 2 days WFH every week. I sold them with "it allows me to get all of my admin type work done uninterrupted and will also provide me a better work life balance if I don't have to commute every day". Like you I just couldn't handle doing 5 days a week in the office with the commuting.
Now that Delta is out I've been at home for months, and they've just said I would need senior management approval if I want to come into the office under either red or orange, which I absolutely will not be seeking as I'm happy at home spending more time with my boys. So I'll be WFH for a fair while yet.
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There is no doubt I am more productive at home for certain tasks - reading a long document, writing a submission, a long period of concentration. But for the business, there is a massive benefit to us being back in the office for chunks of time - overhearing conversations, offline impromptu chats, mentoring juniors. Can't do that at home.
I don't ever see a world where people work 5 days in the office again. It's done. I reckon a 3/2 split works for me, whichever way it leans. I like not commuting and getting that time back, being able to be more flexible in my day for the kids and the dog.
I also think in-person meetings are not going to recover to more than 50% of what they were, even if we spend 4 days in the city - it's just more dead time walking/cabbing across town, longer intros and small talk (getting sparkling waters and coffees), inability to do back-to-backs
The key for us is finding what works for everyone individually, then balancing it with what works best for the growth of the business. I reckon structuring our week as a team to be in the office together 2-3 days makes sense, with the other days being used for task-orientated stuff at home.
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Apart from 7 days right at the start of lockdown when I had to self isolate I have been in the office all along.
I've really enjoyed it. Commute in lockdown is only ten minutes. It's been like WFH but in a more pleasant environment because for the first six weeks I was the only one here. I'd go for walks around the building and got so much more done without staff interruptions. I've been able to leave the office at 5 instead of 6 or 7.
Until last week there was only one other guy but the word came down from on high everyone had to go back to the office. I expressed my misgivings because some staff were uncertain and the business is screwed if anyone gets Covid and we have to shut down but was told effectively to shut up and toe the line.
No one is allowed to WFH. At least half the staff are scared to be here. Mask up all day long. It's quite depressing and I'm back to working 13 hour days.
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@dogmeat said in Lockdown Check In:
Apart from 7 days right at the start of lockdown when I had to self isolate I have been in the office all along.
I've really enjoyed it. Commute in lockdown is only ten minutes. It's been like WFH but in a more pleasant environment because for the first six weeks I was the only one here. I'd go for walks around the building and got so much more done without staff interruptions. I've been able to leave the office at 5 instead of 6 or 7.
Until last week there was only one other guy but the word came down from on high everyone had to go back to the office. I expressed my misgivings because some staff were uncertain and the business is screwed if anyone gets Covid and we have to shut down but was told effectively to shut up and toe the line.
No one is allowed to WFH. At least half the staff are scared to be here. Mask up all day long. It's quite depressing and I'm back to working 13 hour days.
Here's an example of a public service office policy under the traffic light system. We have it pretty good compared to you and I'm only posting this to show how it can be done. It really comes down to the thinking of the management I guess. Some still feel a loss of control when their people and under their noses. Ours changed their thinking quite quickly but I guess that yours have a way to go.
I have removed the detail but at RED if in the office it is face coverings when moving around. If at your workspace you don't need them
• At the RED setting, working from home is encouraged where possible.
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• At the ORANGE setting, workplaces are open with remote working encouraged for vulnerable staff or where staff live with vulnerable people:• At the GREEN setting, workplaces are open:
These are guidelines and at RED you need to justify office attendance (to control numbers)
At Level 2 we have basically been following RED so being in ORANGE now is a bit looser but anyone who said to their boss that they would rather WFH would probably be allowed to.
We are pretty good with remote working full stop and many people either WFH as their primary place now anyway (with expectations to come to office if requested) or have flexible arrangements where groups willset themselves 'anchor' days where everyone comes in.
In this respect Covid has really accelerated the thinking around WFH and when you combine that with a building move to a flexible 'hot desk' type system there is a mindset of flexibility.
Even in the space of 11 months I have gone from having flexibility to wfh if necessary (eg a tradie coming around) to being able to just get wfh cleared and go anywhere to do it (eg I will travel to the SI for personal reasons then wfh some of the days down there) to it now being quite accepted that I could just move down there permanently and wfh as standard with the odd self-funded trips to Wellington.
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@dogmeat said in Lockdown Check In:
Apart from 7 days right at the start of lockdown when I had to self isolate I have been in the office all along.
I've really enjoyed it. Commute in lockdown is only ten minutes. It's been like WFH but in a more pleasant environment because for the first six weeks I was the only one here. I'd go for walks around the building and got so much more done without staff interruptions. I've been able to leave the office at 5 instead of 6 or 7.
Until last week there was only one other guy but the word came down from on high everyone had to go back to the office. I expressed my misgivings because some staff were uncertain and the business is screwed if anyone gets Covid and we have to shut down but was told effectively to shut up and toe the line.
No one is allowed to WFH. At least half the staff are scared to be here. Mask up all day long. It's quite depressing and I'm back to working 13 hour days.
I've been WFH since March. 2020. I don't miss the commutes and the office has only recently permitted us to come back in, but we have to book a space which sounds like hotdesking. And I don't do that. I don't envisage going back in until next year.
One element I have noticed (especially as Mrs Antipodean is contracting to a govt dept) is the wasted time with needless meetings hasn't changed. In fact it seems that Zoom/ Teams meetings have proliferated so people can waste other people's times.
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@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
@dogmeat said in Lockdown Check In:
Apart from 7 days right at the start of lockdown when I had to self isolate I have been in the office all along.
I've really enjoyed it. Commute in lockdown is only ten minutes. It's been like WFH but in a more pleasant environment because for the first six weeks I was the only one here. I'd go for walks around the building and got so much more done without staff interruptions. I've been able to leave the office at 5 instead of 6 or 7.
Until last week there was only one other guy but the word came down from on high everyone had to go back to the office. I expressed my misgivings because some staff were uncertain and the business is screwed if anyone gets Covid and we have to shut down but was told effectively to shut up and toe the line.
No one is allowed to WFH. At least half the staff are scared to be here. Mask up all day long. It's quite depressing and I'm back to working 13 hour days.
I've been WFH since March. 2020. I don't miss the commutes and the office has only recently permitted us to come back in, but we have to book a space which sounds like hotdesking. And I don't do that. I don't envisage going back in until next year.
One element I have noticed (especially as Mrs Antipodean is contracting to a govt dept) is the wasted time with needless meetings hasn't changed. In fact it seems that Zoom/ Teams meetings have proliferated so people can waste other people's times.
Remember when "conference calls" were a thing? When you'd get a bunch of people on the PHONE and talk about some stuff? These days everyone has to see your face for some reason, it's bloody annoying.
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this is another reason why work is way better than home
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@taniwharugby I have better coffee at home than work unless I pop out and buy one from somewhere good.
My first of the day is always from home but the second adds up $ wise if at the office. -
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
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@mariner4life we just have a Nespresso at home.
Not that I need more coffee!
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
My friend has one and we are talking about making the change from Nespresso to one of those. Is it worth it?
Is the cleaning a bitch (my friends moans about that with his but its a few years old)?
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@gt12 said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
My friend has one and we are talking about making the change from Nespresso to one of those. Is it worth it?
Is the cleaning a bitch (my friends moans about that with his but its a few years old)?
ah, is it? i haven't cleaned it yet. It cleans itself out before and after use. i have to clean the milk system once a week or so but that's an automated process.
it's a fucking great machine. the cold brew is excellent
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@mariner4life our one gets a hammering at work (20+ in our office) the milk clean is done daily and there is a dude that comes in weekly to do a full clean (the company we hire it from) we have the little fridge for the milk too....on looking ours is a slightly bigger and different model than that pic.
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
Look at moneybags here. I'd be shot if I spent that for coffee at home, and that from a woman who started a business exporting coffee from PNG.
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@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
Look at moneybags here. I'd be shot if I spent that for coffee at home, and that from a woman who started a business exporting coffee from PNG.
she bought it, not me
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@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@gt12 said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
My friend has one and we are talking about making the change from Nespresso to one of those. Is it worth it?
Is the cleaning a bitch (my friends moans about that with his but its a few years old)?
ah, is it? i haven't cleaned it yet. It cleans itself out before and after use. i have to clean the milk system once a week or so but that's an automated process.
it's a fucking great machine. the cold brew is excellent
We had a very similar one in the office in London. Worked out that if you ran one shot then topped it with what they called a latte and stopped the milk flow part way through you got a quite drinkable approximation of a FW.
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@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
One element I have noticed (especially as Mrs Antipodean is contracting to a govt dept) is the wasted time with needless meetings hasn't changed. In fact it seems that Zoom/ Teams meetings have proliferated so people can waste other people's times.
Working for a global company it seems the Board has decided Pandemic = strategy meeting time. I spend around 3 hours / week in the evenings in Teams meetings.
My PB is 4 in a week totally 11 hours. Once / month the meeting starts at 00:30!