Piers Cawley wrote:
>
> Greg Cope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > David Cantrell wrote:
> > >
> >
> > That should read there's too many distractions at home for me .... (or
> > you as the case may be).
> >
> > I am about 150% more productive at home - 25 % because I save the
> > journey, and the other 25% due to not having to go to meetings /
> > going for long lunches / the chat that turns into a tangenical
> > discussion on XZY / some Luser or PBH asking a stupid question that
> > they could have worked out themselves if I was not there / <insert
> > any other activity that takes me away from the task in hand>.
>
> The vision I have is of a team (or teams) working in *our* premises,
> with customers working with us. We avoid pointless meetings. The
> customer is there because they know what we're supposed to be doing
> for them, and they know what's important. When you're only working a
> 35 hour week (40 tops...) then you should have enough free time
> outside work that there's less inclination to piss off for a long
> lunch. And the whole point about setting this up is to get rid of the
> PHB.
>
> > Sorry the above turned into a rant, I just get a bit pissed off with
> > closed minds that assume that having people in an office =
> > productivity.
>
> *Ahem*. Were I to be the sort of person who takes things personally,
> I'd take that personally. Or something.
>
> Seriously, I tried working from home when the trains were up the
> spout, and for a couple or three days it was great. However, one or
> two points.
>
> 1. As a sole developer, working from home is/can be good, especially
> when your head is down and you're turning out the code for a
> particular bit. But working from home means you're away from the
> customer, and the customer is the only person who can make business
> decisions about what your code is supposed to be doing.
I've never said that I do not meet customers on a face to face basis
arround once a week.
Working as I do means that the customer and I focus on the specs, and
iterative developement - as they need to be clear that I know what I am
supposed to do.
>
> 2. You are away from the team. Again, sole developer, this is not a
> problem. Consultancy where we're supposed to be doing the synergy
> thing, not quite so good. Time you spend away is time in which you
> aren't plugged into what's happening and (and this is *really*
> important), time spent away is time in which you aren't doing the
> mentor thing. I strongly believe that, in a joint consultancy deal,
> it is *really* important that gurus help to enlighten students,
> otherwise how do we get our partners up to speed so we can go out
> and get more fun work and make more fun money?
Agreed that if you need to teach - guru and student need to be in the
same place.
>
> 3. Every time I need to ask you something and you're not there and I
> have to phone you, there's a chance I'll think 'ah fuck it' and not
> bother. And there's a chance that that will be a *really* bad idea.
But if you are confortable phoneing (|emailing|irc) me then you would -
as that is how we would need to comunicate. I've wasted so much time
being in an office being asked and asking lame questions just because I
am next to someone.
I have much less distractions at home.
>
> I'm not saying that offices (especially client offices) don't suck.
> But they don't have to. If we're going to do this, lets do it right.
>
> Now, I freely admit that I have partaken of the Extreme Programming
> Kool-Aid, and dammit I want to do it. But dammit again, it makes
> *sense*. Also bear in mind that when I made the decision (having tried
> it) that I'd rather commute in and be near the customer rather than
> work from home (in my *very* comfortable home office...) that meant
> adding another 4 hours (count 'em) of travelling time to my day. If
> I work from home I work too long. If work too long my code starts to
> suck. If my code starts to suck I get embarrassed and my reputation
> starts to slip. I want to work with copilots. I want to be able to
> *have* that tangential conversation that'll turn out to be useful in
> six months time. And table football's no fun if you're playing with
> yourself.
>
> > Yes there are advantages to working in an office - i.e the team can
> > be greater than the sum of its parts.
>
> This is *so* important.
>
> > But working from elsewhere also allows idividuals to be productive -
> > often alot more.
>
> How are you measuring productivity?
>
An assumption on real hours worked - i.e when I was in London I was ever
working more than about 6 hours a day (on a long day) due to lost time
... At home I regualarly hit 6 hours on a day that is 4 hours shorter.
I have not measured this as their is no use benchmark qw(:gregs_time);
> > Why not combine the two - i.e have a day a week where everyone meets to
> > brainstorm / ask questions / do what needs to be done to take advantage
> > of a group.
>
> Because groups don't work like that. All of a sudden I'm taking notes.
> And trying to remember the questions I needed to ask. And having to
> plan further ahead than I want to. And I'm not cutting code.
But at least when you do met you discuss important things, and if you
forget something then it was obviously not that important, or your've no
good at taking notes. Having to write down a question focuses the mind.
>
> > Rant over.
>
> Time to wrap up the counter-rant too.
The above bit on my part is calmer now ...
Greg
>
> --
> Piers
