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Why can't I just stay home and work?

VizionVR
Rising Star
I have a desk job (graphic design), yet my employer insists I drive to the office to work.

The computer and software at my office are inferior to anything I have at home. We have zero walk in clients, all our clients are contracted through negotiations handled via phone or email. Each job time is logged electronically and scrutinized twice, so really no chance of my fudging hours, besides I get salary, so fudging hours does nothing for me personally. Even when I wish to speak with someone inter-office it's done through the phone. Driving to work is the reason I was seriously injured last year. Now my employee health insurance is helping pay for a long list of specialist checkups and physical therapy.

So here I sit wondering why I'm here and not working from home. Can someone offer me a logical reason?
Is it just because that's they way it's been done, and now we're just mimicking our own outdated conveyances to keep alive that old psychological comfort level?
Not a Rift fanboi. Not a Vive fanboi. I'm a VR fanboi. Get it straight.
27 REPLIES 27

VizionVR
Rising Star
*sigh* Time to pack up my pencil and call it a day.
If I was working at home, I'd be home already. 😞
Not a Rift fanboi. Not a Vive fanboi. I'm a VR fanboi. Get it straight.

zork2001
Heroic Explorer
I don’t see why you cannot talk with your boss about working from home a few days a week.

brantlew
Adventurer
I telecommuted between my home city and work city for about 5 years - only went to office about 3 days a month. It definitely has its advantages, but at the same time there is no substitute yet for fluid and casual interpersonal interaction. I ended up getting a telepresence robot just to maintain that sense of presence in the office both for my sake and especially for others (just to remind everyone you are "there"). That helps but the few days actually in the office were invaluable for really communicating designs, strategies, plans, etc. I was glad to return to the office for my current job. But I think there is a happy medium - maybe half-in and half-remote that would be best.

VizionVR
Rising Star
"brantlew" wrote:
I telecommuted between my home city and work city for about 5 years - only went to office about 3 days a month. It definitely has its advantages, but at the same time there is no substitute yet for fluid and casual interpersonal interaction. I ended up getting a telepresence robot just to maintain that sense of presence in the office both for my sake and especially for others (just to remind everyone you are "there"). That helps but the few days actually in the office were invaluable for really communicating designs, strategies, plans, etc. I was glad to return to the office for my current job. But I think there is a happy medium - maybe half-in and half-remote that would be best.


I'd be fine with going into the office occasionally for personal interaction...and pizza days.
A telepresence robot. Now THERE'S an idea! If only it could eat pizza and fart up the office it'd be just like I never left! 😄
Unfortunately, I don't see my boss changing his mind anytime soon. 😞
Not a Rift fanboi. Not a Vive fanboi. I'm a VR fanboi. Get it straight.

brantlew
Adventurer
"vizionvr" wrote:
A telepresence robot. Now THERE'S an idea!


Those things are getting "almost" in reach cost-wise for a consumer these days. Purchasing a real one would offer the best experience. But if anyone is interesting in building their own on the cheap (relatively speaking) - I posted all the build plans a few years ago (likely out of date nowadays)

http://teledev.blogspot.com/2011/07/diy-telepresence-robot-part-1.html.

Skelator
Honored Guest
Propose a Trial Basis

If your boss is unwilling to let you work at home, ask to do it on a trial basis. You can say, “Let’s try this option for one month and see how it goes.” During that month, keep your work performance at an all-time high to illustrate that working from home is no different than you working in the office.
Everything I do, is for the sake of evil. Almost>;{} Tianhe-2|1,375 TiB|12.4 PB|OS Kylin Linux|VR Input Marmalade Jars All my "POSTs" in this forum are fictitious. Any resemblance to real "FACTs", living or dead, is a miracle. 😉

M1L0
Honored Guest
We probably need an anthropologist and a psychologist to fully explain this one, but I'd say that your boss and/or the organizational structure of the company in question are stuck in the last century.

"vizionvr" wrote:
Is it just because that's the way it's always been done?

I modified your phrase a little :mrgreen:
It's interesting to point out that humanity worked at home for most of it's existence, the majority of humans worked at home 99% of the time, actually. And maybe in a few decades, thanks to technologies like VR, most of us will go back to our roots.

What's more, I think our grand-childen will be amazed at the fact that we had to grab a wheel and "press buttons" for vehicles to work, not only that we were socially compulsed to use them every day to get to work.
And don't let me get started on the benefits of advanced public transport.

Calanar
Honored Guest
I do work from home. It took over 10 years to be trusted enough to work from home. I am easily more productive here than I am there. It also means I am available for 3 more hours in a day if needed because commutes to the city were 1.5 hours each way. Right now for instance I have 2 compiles going and a pre-compile merge. The sad thing is my employer has removed this program for anyone else. I and the others who are in the program are grandfathered in. There have been rumors for years they would pull a yahoo and remove it altogether, which is their right. But so far they haven't. I think one day the entire concept of commuting to a job will seem quaint and frankly stupid.
Michael Tenery, Software, RPG and Game Developer. Imagine Role Playing: http://www.role-playing.com

Better working atmosphere in the office - collaboration, team spirit.

A thousand ideas come in to my head each day (seriously - i'm amazing 😄 ) - at work i just spin my chair around and share them.

At home i often slide across the room to play with my home PC/Gear VR/anything else not so boring.

That's why.
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

VizionVR
Rising Star
"andyring" wrote:
Better working atmosphere in the office - collaboration, team spirit.

A thousand ideas come in to my head each day (seriously - i'm amazing 😄 ) - at work i just spin my chair around and share them.

At home i often slide across the room to play with my home PC/Gear VR/anything else not so boring.

That's why.


Maybe for you, but for me it's not an issue really. My home office is far more conducive to output than the stuffy, dead silent office environment I'm forced to work in right now. The most common way of corporate thinking is that most office environments cannot suit everyone, so they must appeal to no one. And so here I sit, stressed out. Thinking of the traffic I need to face on my trek home, wishing I could take a minute to pet my dog, wondering if I left the oven on or if my home will be burgled due to my easily trackable 9 hour absence every day.

Besides, as I said above, my work is reliant on output that's monitored, controlled and diligently logged to the minute. Deviation of that output would place me in a dire situation. In other words: If I don't work, I get canned! :lol:

I really believe that, given our modern conveniences, working in an office is no more beneficial than working at home. And that the ONLY reason I work in an office is because of an antiquated work ethic based on our ancestors instinctual need of pack survival.

Working in an office - Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Live group interaction

Cons:
- Traffic jams
- Pollution
- Accidents
- Parking
- Adverse weather conditions
- Stress with no stress management
- Company overhead costs (office space rental, electricity, etc.)
- Higher consumer prices / lower employee wages due to company overhead costs
- Home break-ins, burglary, fire
- You can't raise your kids from an office

The list, I'm sure goes on and on, but I can't continue. I need to get back to work. 😉
Not a Rift fanboi. Not a Vive fanboi. I'm a VR fanboi. Get it straight.