We have all gone through Covid and have learnt that flexible work for desk jobs really works. Working from home means you have more time and a better work life balance. But because 3% of workers suffer from isolation or alcoholism they have decided that not just the 3% who were showing the problem, but the whole office needs to go back in…
This causes numerous problems as the people who saw the added office space when everyone was working from home started surreptitiously renting out office space and desks to other organisations or agencies. To stop people noticing the 100 odd desks had been reduced to 24 they then told everyone that used to have a desk that they would be hot desking…. anyone else remember how bad that turned out when they tried it last time? So when everyone is forced back into the office, I hope they have rented back some desks and chairs to make sure people have a place to actually work…
Next we have micro-managers, the poor ineffective people who have no idea what their staff does or ability to recognise free thinking is a vital part of what makes people come up with amazing ideas. These managers are really dangerous as they love criticizing their workers but find it hard when they have no clue about how they do their jobs. They will then land on criticizing the way their workers are dressed, if they don’t arrive through the office door exactly on time and if they really need to they will criticize their personality (anyone else recognising a schoolyard bully here?). This was really hard to do for these poor insecure managers during Covid, so now they will need you to come into the office so they can degrade you in person, not about work, just personal things…
Workplace etiquette I have talked about before, please see here. People have actually gotten ruder since Covid. Not really sure how it happened but perhaps being a bit self involved and adapting to not being around people constantly may has made a few people lose the camouflage ability or masking technique? Or maybe they have always been loud, annoying, smelly people that we never noticed before because we had a form of stockholm syndrome and only now we spent time away from them we can see how bad they really are?
My worst type of person I like to call the “blabberer”. These people talk non-stop, they will go from one subject to the next without pausing. They do ask questions and I open my mouth to answer but they have continued talking and what I was going to say is now not part of the subject any longer. They won’t shut up… The worst part is that they aren’t even talking about anything you need to know, it is an endless sea of nothingness that won’t stop. I once was asked about presenting a small instructional talk to my team and I stood up to start and I introduced it, then a blabberer started talking… I stood up there for an hour as the blabberer continued talking. No one learnt anything that day except to not invite a blabberer to presentations? These people are dangerous in an office environment as you don’t have the ability to blame computer troubles for cutting them off… Maybe a shiney object to distract them, then I can hide in the ladies room for the rest of the day to avoid them?
The office is filled with annoyances. I hate people interrupting me when I’m busy working. It’s easy to deal with on the computer because you can set your status to busy and people don’t annoy you unless it’s urgent. When in an office situation. though, I find it difficult as everyone decides they need to ask me questions constantly. If I say politely, “Sorry, I’m really busy at the moment.” They will continue to hang around like a bad smell and you can feel their insipid little eyes drilling into the back of your head for the time. I end up spending 8 hours answering people’s questions and never having time to do my own work. It really annoys me because I then end up working more hours due to others being able to see me in person. It’s why I have developed the needed survival technique to arrive at work at the break of dawn to stop people annoying me until they eventually roll in at 9am I have at least done 3 hours of uninterrupted work.
Noise to me is impossible to deal with, I have misaphonia and certain sounds are very debilitating and annoying. In an office the likelihood of numerous sounds which heighten my anxiety and frustration are multiplied ten fold. The nose whistle, the printer, the tapping nails, the squeaky chair, someone rummaging through their bag, person coughing, person sniffing, beeping on the computer for notifications, numerous small noises which you cant place but keep happening and then the numerous voices all chatting at once at differing volumes…. Why can’t you go into a meeting room to not pollute the whole floor with your loud conversation? It’s fucking rude!
Now as said for the micro-managers up above, they sometimes think that without them staring at a worker from start to end of day, the worker might not be working! They have already proven that people have been achieving more work since we started working at home. The projection timelines have decreased due to higher productivity and as an added bonus people are feeling happier with their work/life balance. So, there is no downside…
Okay, I’m fair and will look at the arguments for wanting people to go into the office –
Isolation is apparently a source of concern. I do not see the need for social activities to be the responsibility of the workplace. Maybe go out and meet people who share interests with you. Don’t blame people not coming into the office for the fact you don’t have a social life. It actually makes me concerned if a person’s only communication occurs at work where people are forced to respond to you. Please see a psychologist before you start trapping people in your basement because you’re lonely…
Old people not understanding how to use computers or applications. At work this is now a need for everyone, it is a job requirement not optional. You need to learn how to use the technology or you should not be working anymore. The constant slowness and incorrect button pushes and inability to understand technology is frustrating in the office. We use applications to communicate now and can have a conversation which is not face to face. Please retire, we are not going to stop using computers because you want us to go back to chisel and rock.
Businesses losing money – now this one I can actually understand as you can see the proven economic changes from people working from home. The coffee places, lunch takeout, bars, gas stations, public and private transport money all no longer was needing to be spent during Covid. Now this was a bonus, especially to the poor people who had their mortgages triple suddenly and having to survive on stale toast and water for the next thirty years. But now they are straining the already struggling people to pay more for travel to and from the office and due to the fact we have remote workers who need to travel 3 plus hours to get to and from the office, working in the office actually is inefficient due to travel time and too much cost for the average wage earner to be able to have a healthy work/life balance.
People apparently drinking more alcohol during isolation. Yep, would happen while they are adjusting. Most of that is due to sudden change and people’s proven inability to deal with it. If you look at the studies it stopped as people adapted. Change is often met with this reaction and anxiety due to change makes most people “numb” or ignore the bad feelings with alcohol or illicit substances. It calms down. If it doesn’t that is the individuals need to seek help. Now you are trying to force the adapted change to revert back… should we just set up a meeting room for daily interventions?
The one thing I hate is when a workplace treats every worker like they are the exact same. We were not created on assembly lines and we all have individual strengths, weaknesses, abilities, wants, conditions, interests and personalities. All these things affect how we work. Would you treat a person with a disability the exact same way as you treat someone without one? No – you can’t because they have special needs and requirements. If you switch it the other way around and you decide to then give everyone the same special needs, then the people actually requiring the needed help are ignored. We are individuals, please do not lump us together because you have no empathy or understanding. People are allowed to be different, it makes the world a much more vibrant and interesting place.
I see the news and media about offices trying to force everyone back into the office and guess what? 97% of the people this affects are complaining… what should that say to the people who are trying to force people back?
As has been proven by numerous studies articles and surveys:
1. Flexible work increases employee happiness.
2. Flexible work increases productivity.
3. Flexible work allows for better work/life balance. Especially for families and spending quality time with loved ones.
4. People who have social anxiety, autism and asperger’s feel better able to work as interaction is controlled.
5. Mental health has improved with flexible work. Less stress and anxiety during work hours.
6. Workplace complaints have decreased due to better communication channels in place from flexible work.
7. Less sick leave being taken due to people not coming to work sick and infecting the entire floor with the flu or cold.
8. Managers are held accountable for misinformation and incorrect behaviour (everything is recorded so it is safer for employees when a person in a higher position is acting inappropriately).
Now compared to the reasons they want people back in the office being:
1. Only 3% of people feeling like they need to be in proximity to a person to talk with them.
2. Economy as they think that all the living expenses, higher mortgages and travel costs will mean that if people go into the office they will strain their already tight budget and buy a single $20 coffee?
3. It will stop alcoholism, which we all know isn’t true due to it being an addictive disorder and they need psychological help. What should we say next, not working in the office is causing obesity, heart disease, illiteracy?
Now to a logical person which number is bigger? The 8 points as to the benifits to working at home or the 3 insubstantial points that say you need to only work in an office?
Maxine the Magnificent 