Working From Home

[crazy canuck]

And then parents realized that being there, every second of the day of their child's life might actually be harmful to their child's development.

In my experience it's more about having the flexibility to pick the kids up from school and manage the occasional sick day and other curveballs, than about being there every second of every day.

I agree.  All of which can occur in a full work from office job.

[crazy canuck]

All those parents who thought they could now have a career while being able to be there for their kids are getting a rude awakening.

And then parents realized that being there, every second of the day of their child's life might actually be harmful to their child's development.

In my experience it's more about having the flexibility to pick the kids up from school and manage the occasional sick day and other curveballs, than about being there every second of every day.

Yeah hopefully not many parents thought they can take care of their children and work from home, that seemed impossible even before I have become a parent.

But nursery/school runs eventually, and for now just being able to go down a couple flight of stairs to be back with my kid is a huge thing for me.

If CC meant helicopter parenting, that predates whf by decades.

Well, helicopter parents were the last two decades.  Not really before that - although I am sure there were outliers.

Keep in mind I was responding to a post which implied that parents who work away from home can't "be there" for their kids.  Nonsense. 

[Valmy]

And then parents realized that being there, every second of the day of their child's life might actually be harmful to their child's development.

You just can't say anything about parenting these days without somebody swooping in and saying you are harming them in some way 

Bro, working from home so you are available if something happens is not the same as following your child around 24/7.

[Valmy]

Well, helicopter parents were the last two decades.  Not really before that - although I am sure there were outliers.

Keep in mind I was responding to a post which implied that parents who work away from home can't "be there" for their kids.  Nonsense. 

Dude stop. I am not shaming anybody. It is just we had decades of latch key kids and a lot of people liked being able to be there in the house. I don't see how that harms the kids, that is psychotic. People who do work outside the home can be great and present parents. Stop being weird.

It is just a lot of people really liked that feature. FFS.

[Jacob]

I agree.  All of which can occur in a full work from office job.

In theory yes, but IMEX there's a significant difference in how it works out between WFH and WFO - not the least because people's homes are typically closer to the other activity nodes involved compared to the office, lowering the logistical impact.

To give a personal example - working from home, I can take 30 to 45 minutes out of my workflow to pick up my kid from school and bring him home, then continue to work until dinner time while he minds his own business elsewhere at home.

If I'm at the office, it takes somewhere between 90 minutes to two hours to pick my kid up, drop him off at home, and return to the office. I'll also  \have to leave earlier too, to get home in time for dinner. It also means my boy will be at home by himself, which isn't really appropriate at his age. It basically kills productivity for the entire afternoon.

In practical terms it means that if I must be in the office, I'm only able to pick him up in special circumstances in a way that obviously impacts my workday and my team; while if I'm working from home, I can make picking him up part of my routine in a way that's low impact to my work and my team.

While it's anecdotal and personal, I think this represents the situation of many working parents with kids younger than teenagers.

EDIT: if it's about being a good parent, I agree there's no implication that parents WFH/WFO are better or worse than others because of that. IMO it's about the fact that the option to work from home provides significant and valuable flexibility to parents, which many of us value highly.

[crazy canuck]

And then parents realized that being there, every second of the day of their child's life might actually be harmful to their child's development.

You just can't say anything about parenting these days without somebody swooping in and saying you are harming them in some way 

Bro, working from home so you are available if something happens is not the same as following your child around 24/7.

Sure, but working from home is also not necessary to "be there" for your children.

[crazy canuck]

I agree.  All of which can occur in a full work from office job.

In theory yes, but IMEX there's a significant difference in how it works out between WFH and WFO - not the least because people's homes are typically closer to the other activity nodes involved compared to the office, lowering the logistical impact.

To give a personal example - working from home, I can take 30 to 45 minutes out of my workflow to pick up my kid from school and bring him home, then continue to work until dinner time while he minds his own business elsewhere at home.

If I'm at the office, it takes somewhere between 90 minutes to two hours to pick my kid up, drop him off at home, and return to the office. I'll also  \have to leave earlier too, to get home in time for dinner. It also means my boy will be at home by himself, which isn't really appropriate at his age. It basically kills productivity for the entire afternoon.

In practical terms it means that if I must be in the office, I'm only able to pick him up in special circumstances in a way that obviously impacts my workday and my team; while if I'm working from home, I can make picking him up part of my routine in a way that's low impact to my work and my team.

While it's anecdotal and personal, I think this represents the situation of many working parents with kids younger than teenagers.

EDIT: if it's about being a good parent, I agree there's no implication that parents WFH/WFO are better or worse than others because of that. IMO it's about the fact that the option to work from home provides significant and valuable flexibility to parents, which many of us value highly.

Why do you include going back to the office in the time it takes to pick up your kid from school?  If you are doing that on a regular basis, go to the office earlier so you can put work a full day before you pick up your child.

[frunk]

When I used to have to go into the office I would have to drop off and pick up my daughter from preschool each day.  That would mean not getting into the office until 9:15 at the earliest and leaving by 5:30.  WFH I typically first check into work around 8 and will sometimes work after 5:30, and there isn't an hour chunk of my day chewed up by driving.

I like my job and I like working, but I don't like having extra risk and time attached to it that has nothing to do with my job.

[Tamas]

CC I think you are too used to running your own office. Some of us are employees, not employers.

[Jacob]

Why do you include going back to the office in the time it takes to pick up your kid from school?  If you are doing that on a regular basis, go to the office earlier so you can put work a full day before you pick up your child.

The scenarios being compared was "pick up your kid up from school during the work day, then continue working with minimal impact to your day."

Starting three hours earlier so you can cut out earlier doesn't match the scenario being considered. Additionally, it wouldn't work in this particular case because then I can't drop him off in the morning, since I'll be working then. The challenge is that the school day doesn't line up with the work day. Working from home gives greater flexibility and less stress with making those misaligned schedules fit.

Another example - this week and last is spring break (they get TWO weeks?!?! WTF!?!?!?). My wife and I have options to WFH, so the default is that my son hangs out at home while at least one of us works from home. If we didn't, we'd have to find some other solution (that'd probably cost a bunch of money and present logistical challenges).

Additionally, last week (first week of spring break) he was in weekly swimming lessons for one hour at lunch. WFH gave me and my wife the flexibility to bring him and pick him in the time surrounding lunch (taking an early and late lunch hour respectively - or add an extre 30 minutes on lunch that is made up during the same day for one person to do both pickup and drop off). This week he's in a half-day camp where one of us drops him off before work and picks him up during lunch. There's basically zero real impact to my work day from this. WFO neither of those arrangements would've been possible.

There's a significant impact on quality of life to have flexibility around WFH for parents (and, I imagine non-parents as well - but I think the schedule demands are less intense and potentially more negotiable).

[Grey Fox]

CC, when did you stop being a advocate for WFH?

[crazy canuck]

CC I think you are too used to running your own office. Some of us are employees, not employers.

I think that is a fair bust.

Also, my views are likely influenced by what we allow our employees to do.

[crazy canuck]

CC, when did you stop being a advocate for WFH?

When I saw the detrimental effects it had on our less senior employees. 

[garbon]

CC, when did you stop being a advocate for WFH?

When I saw the detrimental effects it had on our less senior employees. 

I wonder if that could be accounted for if we onboarded people differently. Not a cajoling but really come to me when you have questions, I won't bite - but rather you will struggle and you will fall behind if you don't regularly reach out to people.

[crazy canuck]

CC, when did you stop being a advocate for WFH?

When I saw the detrimental effects it had on our less senior employees. 

I wonder if that could be accounted for if we onboarded people differently. Not a cajoling but really come to me when you have questions, I won't bite - but rather you will struggle and you will fall behind if you don't regularly reach out to people.

I have often wondered about that.  But I think there is a fundamental generational difference at play.  And especially now that the Gen Zers are entering the work force.  Getting them to call to discuss matters is very difficult.  But they think nothing of coming into my office and sitting down to have a chat.  It is the main reason I went back to the office.  I could easily do all that I need to do from home now that I have made a shift in my practice.  But none (or very little) of the teaching and mentoring I do on a day to day basis would happen.