Working from home: How are you finding Zoom, virtual business meetings, etc.?

[cove]

Just one zoom call in the middle of this week.
Have run up about 500,000 Qantas points last month for our staff travel as we don’t need those points personally.Our Platinum Corporate Amex has started running.
The zoom call is a once a month and is reasonably informative for all participants.
I work part time and do 2.5 days at the office and go laptop and large screen when i am at home in Perth.
Yes we can leave Perth but getting back can be a big problem as our G2G passes can get cancelled. We expect this to change in March,2022

 

[Hvr]

When we go back in with more structure that person will just be on the teleconference / laptop in the bigger meeting room and if they can’t participate as easily it’s not the priority anymore to compensate.

We have a manager with that attitude as well. Trouble is we're spread across three states and can't all be in the same room even without COVID. Including someone in a business meeting is not compensating, it is part of being inclusive and valuing your employees.

They had to be gently reminded that exclusion from work activities is a form of bullying. We also have to deal with lots of snide comments about 'not really working' even though we have (and meet) exactly the same KPIs, When their office had to WFH due to COVID for a short period they demanded that their KPIs be lowered because WFH was so hard for them, whereas we were used to it. We laughed at them.

The attitude expressed above seems to be that failure to attend the office mean's you're not really working. As someone who has worked very hard on the road I totally reject the argument that not being in the office is having a bludge on company time. There are very legitimate reasons for WFH and talking about 'not the priority anymore to compensate' means that the work people do from home is not valued.

As a general return to office is being planned in Melbourne the talk from media commentators who rely on business advertising is basically, get back to the office and spend money in city businesses, the good times are over for you slackers. The hard work we've done, the additional expenses we've incurred etc are all ignored so that managers can stand over our shoulders and tell us to work harder. Whilst our EA allows for 2 days per week WFH it is rarely granted without a fight.

Any complaints about returning to the office are met with the comment, 'you're lucky to have a job'. Oh and we're short of seats so we'll have to hot desk as well,

 

[exceladdict]

We have a manager with that attitude as well. Trouble is we're spread across three states and can't all be in the same room even without COVID. Including someone in a business meeting is not compensating, it is part of being inclusive and valuing your employees.

They had to be gently reminded that exclusion from work activities is a form of bullying. We also have to deal with lots of snide comments about 'not really working' even though we have (and meet) exactly the same KPIs, When their office had to WFH due to COVID for a short period they demanded that their KPIs be lowered because WFH was so hard for them, whereas we were used to it. We laughed at them.

The attitude expressed above seems to be that failure to attend the office mean's you're not really working. As someone who has worked very hard on the road I totally reject the argument that not being in the office is having a bludge on company time. There are very legitimate reasons for WFH and talking about 'not the priority anymore to compensate' means that the work people do from home is not valued.

As a general return to office is being planned in Melbourne the talk from media commentators who rely on business advertising is basically, get back to the office and spend money in city businesses, the good times are over for you slackers. The hard work we've done, the additional expenses we've incurred etc are all ignored so that managers can stand over our shoulders and tell us to work harder. Whilst our EA allows for 2 days per week WFH it is rarely granted without a fight.

Any complaints about returning to the office are met with the comment, 'you're lucky to have a job'. Oh and we're short of seats so we'll have to hot desk as well,

The main struggle for me, having worked remotely for 2.5 years now (in a mixture of interstate office / WFH), is dialing into a meeting when the in-room tech isn't ideal, or the meeting isn't chaired appropriately i.e. multiple side conversations, making it impossible for those on the screen to connect effectively.

Of course those on the screen need to support those in the office too, such as remembering to book a meeting room for them to dial in, allowing them to participate in text chat if necessary, etc.

Having effective hybrid workforce policies and practices brings so many benefits to a company, from accessing a broader talent pool to being able to split customer service across time zones etc. And that's before you think about the benefits and choice it brings to the employees.

But it does require intention and investment, both in effective zoom room systems, and policies / training so that people on both sides (wfh/remote or in person) remember to be inclusive.

 

[jakeseven7]

We have a manager with that attitude as well.

I think you’ve missed the point slightly for my circumstance at least - but it does sound like your company had some passive bullying problems!

We were just all sick of being banished to our individual offices for zoom meeting after zoom meeting, so the policy is (will be) now that physical attendees can all sit in the room together. It makes for a much more conducive and organic meeting. People who don’t happen to be there including interstate teams can still dial in but we are all now in the boardrooms together rather than all on zoom in our seperate offices - which everyone universally hated - what’s the point of coming in then?

 

[Hvr]

Well as life moves on and the talk in Melbourne is to return to the office. However, the word from the national office is to continue to WFH if possible.

I see there is chatter about workers forced back to the office resenting it because they feel that it is done to prop up failing CBD businesses.

 

[daft009]

We've been back at the office since late October.
Has been great on everyone's mental health.
Now it's really the ones with kids who do the 2 days from home and 3 from office.

I'm back to the office too 9 days a fortnight. 1 day to catch up while WFH..

We're no where near the CBD though. Sydney CBD would be 40KM, Parra CBD 10KM