<story><title>Is going to the office a broken way of working?</title><url>https://www.newyorker.com/culture/office-space/is-going-to-the-office-a-broken-way-of-working</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>zmmmmm</author><text>I get a lot of what you say but this one drives me bonkers:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat&lt;p&gt;My work requires so much focus, having people randomly tap me on the shoulder to ask a question they could just drop in chat is debilitating.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m curious you phrase &amp;quot;having to ping them over chat&amp;quot; negatively? I would say the same sentence almost totally in reverse:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Now I no longer have to interrupt people to ask them a question, I &lt;i&gt;can just&lt;/i&gt; ping them over chat for a reply when they are ready&amp;quot;</text></item><item><author>gaoshan</author><text>I genuinely miss the office. Being in a different space for work (one that was pretty gorgeous), in a nice part of downtown, able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat, more spontaneous collaboration (right before we went remote again I overheard two people discussing an area I have some expertise in and was able to interject and provide useful insight), extra productivity (I do better when I&amp;#x27;m around others working, worse when I am alone), the occasional happy hour, the occasional lunch with others, the not horrible drive where I can jam tunes or listen to podcasts and have some time to myself.&lt;p&gt;Not being able to do all of that has brought me lower and lower as the months go by. Made a similar comment on reddit and got downvoted into oblivion but this is really how I feel and it really does impact me negatively. I&amp;#x27;m sure I&amp;#x27;m not the only one, though it does feel like I might be in the minority.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>distrill</author><text>Even for something quick, I will type up a question and then go over it a few times, make some edits, probably provide some links for context. It just feels like a bigger deal than just asking someone next to you.&lt;p&gt;In person they can cut me off when they start to get it, or I can tell from their face that I need to keep going with more context, it&amp;#x27;s just more more collaborative.&lt;p&gt;In chat I&amp;#x27;ll either end up having to answer a ton of follow up questions for detail, or I&amp;#x27;ll drown the question in context.&lt;p&gt;Yes, I can get better at asking questions. But tbh most of this complexity stems from me trying to ask questions well to begin with. IDK, pinging someone over chat seems like more of an intrusion than just asking a question.&lt;p&gt;Also, I won&amp;#x27;t, like, ask someone to take off their headphones for this. I&amp;#x27;ll ask them at lunch, or when we&amp;#x27;re grabbing coffee &amp;#x2F; snacks. Over chat there&amp;#x27;s no coffee break, it&amp;#x27;s all &amp;quot;headphone&amp;quot; time, from my perspective.</text></comment>
<story><title>Is going to the office a broken way of working?</title><url>https://www.newyorker.com/culture/office-space/is-going-to-the-office-a-broken-way-of-working</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>zmmmmm</author><text>I get a lot of what you say but this one drives me bonkers:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat&lt;p&gt;My work requires so much focus, having people randomly tap me on the shoulder to ask a question they could just drop in chat is debilitating.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m curious you phrase &amp;quot;having to ping them over chat&amp;quot; negatively? I would say the same sentence almost totally in reverse:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Now I no longer have to interrupt people to ask them a question, I &lt;i&gt;can just&lt;/i&gt; ping them over chat for a reply when they are ready&amp;quot;</text></item><item><author>gaoshan</author><text>I genuinely miss the office. Being in a different space for work (one that was pretty gorgeous), in a nice part of downtown, able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat, more spontaneous collaboration (right before we went remote again I overheard two people discussing an area I have some expertise in and was able to interject and provide useful insight), extra productivity (I do better when I&amp;#x27;m around others working, worse when I am alone), the occasional happy hour, the occasional lunch with others, the not horrible drive where I can jam tunes or listen to podcasts and have some time to myself.&lt;p&gt;Not being able to do all of that has brought me lower and lower as the months go by. Made a similar comment on reddit and got downvoted into oblivion but this is really how I feel and it really does impact me negatively. I&amp;#x27;m sure I&amp;#x27;m not the only one, though it does feel like I might be in the minority.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>QuercusMax</author><text>When I&amp;#x27;m sitting in close proximity to other humans, I can often tell what they are doing. People can give signals that they are currently occupied; this could be things like putting on headphones, etc. It&amp;#x27;s pretty easy to tell when someone is doing focused work vs. talking to a desk mate, etc.</text></comment>