Can't you do a rota? Must be a way of making sure there are always some staff in.
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I’m going to be going back one day a week from mid August and then full hybrid working from September (3 days in, 2 days WFH). I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine, I think it will help me feel like things are more back to normal 
Thats such a good way of working. Best of both worlds. I'd love that.I’m going to be going back one day a week from mid August and then full hybrid working from September (3 days in, 2 days WFH). I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine, I think it will help me feel like things are more back to normal
Yep I feel very lucky, best of both worlds like you say
I just hope everyone respects it and it lasts 
I guess the two days in the office will be Monday and Tuesday or Tuesday and Wednesday so people can get both office days out of the way in one go and have five days in a row away from the office which makes it seem like a long weekend every week. Nobody will want their two days to be like Monday or Tuesday with a Thursday for example.
I am full time in my workplace but yes I notice those part homeworking will all come into the office mon-tues. The rest of week is like a ghost town here
I think, with some exceptions obviously, you kind of have to expect to have little say in what days you go in really.
We’ve got 300 employees so would be up to teams and depts if they want to do a rota. Our Directors are saying it’s up to our employees when they come in. No one wants to be the bad guy it seems
We're doing 2 set days per week on a rota system with a third day every three weeks which will be a Friday - this gives the office guaranteed cover with at least 3 people in every day and means no one has to do every single Friday which I think is very fair.
exactly Iam in the office for the first day today and looking at my colleagues I don't understand how they are less productive at home. so much time wasting/chit chat. a lot of my work could be done in half the time at home without the distraction
I dislike my colleagues
Well, there are certainly some aspects that would benefit from some in person interaction -- e.g. regular meetings with one's manager and some group meetings that have an interactive element.
But Teams makes it pretty easy now. I know a lot of people will say putting your webcam on isn't the same as being there -- and I agree to an extent -- but I find it's enough for most meetings. Plus there's screen share, which is often better on Teams because everyone is logged in to their own machine. I remember some pre-pandemic meetings where I'd be presenting via my laptop and then we wanted to look at another document that a colleague had produced but it either wasn't possible - or a colleague would need to get their laptop out and log in while everyone would wait awkwardly, etc.
But I feel the costs far outweigh the benefits for most situations in my job. I actually find I work a bit more now because I'm not clock watching to make sure I time my commute home, etc.
The person you describe is my current supervisor lol, it feels odd to keep reminding a grown man that this and this and this needs doing. It puts us in a difficult spot too because for the majority of stuff, we either need his approval or his final check on things. It's not like this job is my passion either but at least do your share of work, you know? I wouldn't call myself the employee of the year but I make sure I do what's expected of me in the time that is needed or less, because I know that whatever I don't feel like doing, it'll be someone else's burden to sort out. It's not fair on others.Yes that is true, some people really just live life taking the piss everywhere they go don't they
How is it that some people can allways seem to get away with doing sweet f all?? I swear in every office there are people who do nothing and management turn a blind eye
Indeed. When I worked in a customer services admin type role, one of my team leaders was so lazy. She used to only do work that she couldn't get out of, and delegated everything else to the deputy team leader who -- in contrast to her -- was diligent and hardworking.
It used to make me angry that I was probably on half of what she was earning, yet worked much harder.
We are open now just for those who prefer to go in and take up has been very low but from September everyone is expected to do 3 days in the office, agreed in advance with their Line Manager. If we are still on limited desk space people will be expected to sort out within their teams who is in when, so that everyone does their 3 days. We have a set number of desks available, banks of desks have been assigned to specific teams, and there is a desk booking system in place. You need clear direction and some back up from HR and Senior Management or people will just carry on drifting about and doing whatever they want.
That's not how it's working out at our place - people tend to plan their WFH days around which days not having to commute works best for them - so if they've to collect their kids on certain days, or go to yoga on a certain day or have a course they do on a certain night, those are the days are they work from home. Some people also just prefer to break the week up. Some people have to be in on specific days because something in their role requires it. At the moment I go in on Tuesdays and Thursdays but from September I'll probably only have one WFH day most weeks and I'll always work on Thursday and Friday because that's when my boss will be in our office and I need to be there when he is.
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I work in the tech industry and we recruit people on home based contracts all the time. Everything is done through Teams. Half of my team are scattered around the country!
A friend of mine works for an investment bank and has wfh for years. I can't see many organisations going back full time.
We’re a national company and we’ve have moved some people to home working contracts if their role allows it and they want to do it, But in my industry there is definitely value in the kind of collaborative working that happens when people are actually in the same place together. I’m hoping that people don’t take the piss with the hybrid working so that the trial period is successful and it becomes the norm. I think it’s a good way to go.
Because Boris isn't pressuring companies to get people back, Rishi has taken it upon himself to open his mouth.
Rishi Sunak isn't wrong. Being in the office and being able to build professional relationships in person in very beneficial for younger workers. I don't agree that it will stop people being promoted though, that certainly hasn't been the case in my company.
We've had a lot of new starters in the last 15 months, varying in age, and all of them agree that starting a new job remotely made things much harder. Starting a new job is difficult enough as it is without having it all conducted via Teams. There are many advantages to being in the office.
Like everything to do with Covid, there is no 'one size fits all' answer to return to work issues. Everyones experience of the last 15 months has varied wildly and therefore their feelings about how things should be done going forward are different. Just because you (generic you, no one specific) feel the office is dead and you could happily work from home forever, doesn't make it so. Not everyone who's been working from home wants to do it forever and neither do all employers.
Like it or not, employers are the ones paying you to do your job, so actually you need to do that job where they want you to do it. Going forward if we want to work from home permanently we will need to seek out companies who offer that as an option, not just try and force a change in the culture of the companies we currently work for if that's not how they want to continue operating. The job market is buoyant at the moment so if people don't like what is being proposed for their working arrangements there should be other options available.
We've had a lot of new starters in the last 15 months, varying in age, and all of them agree that starting a new job remotely made things much harder. Starting a new job is difficult enough as it is without having it all conducted via Teams. There are many advantages to being in the office.
Like everything to do with Covid, there is no 'one size fits all' answer to return to work issues. Everyones experience of the last 15 months has varied wildly and therefore their feelings about how things should be done going forward are different. Just because you (generic you, no one specific) feel the office is dead and you could happily work from home forever, doesn't make it so. Not everyone who's been working from home wants to do it forever and neither do all employers.
Like it or not, employers are the ones paying you to do your job, so actually you need to do that job where they want you to do it. Going forward if we want to work from home permanently we will need to seek out companies who offer that as an option, not just try and force a change in the culture of the companies we currently work for if that's not how they want to continue operating. The job market is buoyant at the moment so if people don't like what is being proposed for their working arrangements there should be other options available.
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