Office Working

[Tigger71]

Since mid September we have to do 2 days per week in the office. They would have us doing more but we dont have capacity of enough desks due to nobody travelling, they closed of every second desk for social distancing and we had to close some buildings as ventilation not good enough.

It’s nice seeing people again but its not “normal” due to social distancing and other restrictions in place (meeting room capacity limited to 2, mask wearing when not at desk). I am happy with the restrictions as it makes me feel safer but still a bit of a faff.

We also take pcr tests every time we are in so thats good.

I dont find myself as effective in the office as home. Commuting time that when wfh I use for working so get more done. Less interruptions at home. A lot of the people I work with and majority of my direct reports are at other locations anyway so wfh has worked really well for me .

[disney1st timer]

Originally Posted by mitch84

I work for a company that is pretty big, employs over 75,000 people.
They found us all so productive at home that they are closing 2/3rds of their offices altogether

So my local office never reopened after lockdown, the lease ended so they just went and cleared the furniture.

My main client is a huge food retailer and I used to go there a lot, I’ve been asked to go in once a week to touch base with the team etc.

I like those days for a proper coffee and bit of variety, but love my 4 days a week at home with the dog

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I agree with productivity but I don’t think the overall impact on people’s mental health is good. My mum is allowed to permanently work from home now and she has become a recluse. Despite telling me she’s much happier at home she now hates driving anywhere and is happier doing nothing than seeing her friends!

[MOUSEMARSH]

I've been back in the office since mid August and find it much more productive despite the commute.

[evergreen]

Last week I had a day back in and I loved it, most of the time was spent catching up with colleagues who didn’t WFH, I am looking forward to hybrid as my job can be rather taxing and even though we’ve had lots of support it’s not the same! Good luck for today you’ll be fine.

[ginwithaslice]

I've been back one day a week for a while now, probably will go up to two days soon.
To be honest I was exhausted the first few times as so many people wanted to chat and I'm not really as productive as I am at home where I have no interruptions. I also got stuck in a traffic jam last week which was such a waste of time.
On the plus side its nice to reconnect with people in our division and catch up with our team properly.
I'm happy that hybrid working will give me a nice balance, I wish it had been an option years ago.

[neilhd]

We're back in 2 days a week now. I seem them more as "social" days than "productive" days really - I definitely get more done at home, but it can be useful to talk things through face-to-face with colleagues.

It's quite nice being there. Our office is basically normal. The only change is a few hand sanitiser things on the walls. If it was a hell-hole of taped-off desks and signs and perspex screens I'd hate every minute.

[novocastrian]

We go back globally from 4th Jan

personally i work from home anyway but our head office is fully reopening then

fwiw i think its a good thing , my niece got a job that was purely home based (would have been office based in the real world...) & hated it... no office chat/banter, no after work drinks, never really 'met' any of her colleagues just on zoom/phone etc

she quit & had gone back to do a masters at uni

[margyloveswdw]

I’ve been back alternate days since mid-April and sort of enjoy it. One week I’m in 2 days and the other 3 days. I’m often less productive in the office though. It’s nice but far from normal as we’re in 2 teams to minimise risk and I’m on a team of 3 (plus the office manger who is there also most days) and owing to leave and sickness within the team I’ve been on my own for large numbers of my office days so may well have been at home! I do like leaving on the dot at my finishing time rather than at home when I’m more likely to work on.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by neilhd

We're back in 2 days a week now. I seem them more as "social" days than "productive" days really - I definitely get more done at home, but it can be useful to talk things through face-to-face with colleagues.

It's quite nice being there. Our office is basically normal. The only change is a few hand sanitiser things on the walls. If it was a hell-hole of taped-off desks and signs and perspex screens I'd hate every minute.

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This is our office and it's truly awful. We're supposed to be back 3 days a week but they're running at reduced capacity so it's currently 1 day per week minimum.

I don't enjoy those days at all. Would rather not be there, most of my work is cloud based with remote (off shore) teams anyway so no reason to show up in an office to (not) socialise with random people.

[myaquarium]

I have worked in work everyday since the pandemic was announced. Really enjoyed the empty town centres and spaces tbh.
Now people are flocking back to the cities it feels very strange.to have people rushing around again.
I’m not sure if it’s the same in general but my relatives and friends who have and some still working from home don’t seem to be out and about as much as they use to be in their leisure time. Opting to walk at certain times for exercise and tend to visit the same places and people weekly. . On the other hand those not WFH seem to have carried on as pre pandemic.
I wonder if they are struggling to come to terms that it’s safer to get out or have become accustomed in their new way of life. As above poster has pointed out “ no reason to socialise” with strangers or in some cases family and friends.