Working from home 3

[KutEng]

Considering how topical it is with the current global landscape, what's everyone's opinions on working from home in our industry?
Does anyone's employer successfully offer a work from home option?
How does it work?

I have heard in the past that it is very difficult for our profession to work from home... However, with all that has happened in the last few weeks, many big engineering firms have begun setting up staff to work from home

 

[bridgebuster]

We have two floors and about 150 people on each. There were 14 of us on my floor today; didn't go to the other floor. I got an email from HR today asking if any of the people who report to me can work from home. The message said they're trying to develop an action plan. In my reply, I didn't bother telling them I sent the info yesterday morning and only 1 out of 13 came in today.

I'm "sheltering in place" starting tomorrow.

 

[BUGGAR]

What are you all doing about AutoCad?

 

[JohnRBaker]

If they're using laptops, they can simply take it home with them. That's what I did with our CAD software (but it wasn't AutoCAD).

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[PeterStock]

I got the word today to ask for a token to be able to work remotely. I am not sure how well it will work logging into my computer at work using my not the best personal laptop. I suspect that many things will be a good deal slower. Somethings may be the same. I have done work from home using a company laptop on a previous job, I do know there was a hit due to the speed of the connection and I am sure that the connection I have here is not the best.

Peter Stockhausen
Designer / Checker

 

[PeterStock]

One of the jobs I interviewed with while looking for my current position would have involved working from home. My plan was if I got that job was to travel the country working from wherever I parked the RV.

Peter Stockhausen
Designer / Checker

 

[JohnRBaker]

In our case, my laptop was it's own single-user, license server, so we didn't need to use a 'token' or what we called 'borrowing' a license. 'Tokens' (borrowing a license) is used when a client has a central server with a limited number of licenses but which many people might have the software installed, just that they have to share the number of licenses on the company's network. But if you disconnect from the network, while the software might be installed on your laptop, if you can't link to the license server, it won't run. So you have to 'borrow' a license from the server, in this case by transferring temporarily a 'token' from the server to the laptop, which reduces the number of licenses that can be run on the network as long as that 'token' is active. Usually, they're time-limited, often measured in days or weeks, and will automatically expire, thus returning the server back to it's official license count. This is necessary to assure that the customer only gets to use the number of licenses that he actually paid for, which may be significantly less than the number of copies of the software that they've installed on the various company's desktops and laptops. In that kind of environment, there is always the incentive to log-off when not using the software, so as to free-up licenses, which is also why some customers are leery about letting employees 'barrow' licenses since, as far as the server is concerned, they're 'being used' 100% of the time, until the 'token' is returned or it times-out and expires.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[1gibson]

A VPN can resolve software network license issues, works just like when you're in the office.

I'm finding it's about the same, except that I'm making more progress on things that require big chunks of uninterrupted time. I do have a quiet space at home and no distractions (except eng-tips of course, helps warm up my brain in the morning.)

My commute was less than 10 minutes, and now I'm missing out on the free coffee, so no strong preference either way.

 

[bridgebuster]

[/quote
Our free coffee isn't anything to write home about. At least at home I can enjoy Café Bustelo.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Since I've never had a cup of coffee in my life and I've never worked for an employer who provided free soft drinks, I didn't have to give up many perks when working from home ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[IRstuff]

Hey! Not fair; you're already retired! ;-)

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[skeletron]

Production level goes way down.
Stress level also goes down.
Hours go up.
I feel like most of the stuff that I analyze I can do by spreadsheet (that I have developed over the years) or by hand. Very little of our stuff requires model analysis. If it did, I would anticipate needing licensing accommodations.

I love it, to be honest. Way better than leaving the house at 7am, driving for an hour, and then heading home at 4pm to drive another hour back.

 

[spieng89]

I feel we should all stop be good little worker bees and realize as a functioning adult you should have the option to work from home at least part of the week if there is no need to have a physical presence in an office or work site. Those who feel they work better in the office, come in. Work better at home, stay home. Work better at the library or starbucks, do that.

 

[phamENG]

spieng89- What do you think this? A free country or something? Get back to work!

 

[phamENG]

Just kidding - I agree with you wholeheartedly. We're professionals. Once you've demonstrated your ability to do your job, then you should be given the freedom to your job the best way you know how. But I also think that it comes with the "enough rope to hang yourself" idea - if you screw it up, you'd better be ready and willing to take your licks.

 

[EnergyProfessional]

Working from home since this week. With my employer-issued tablet I remote into my desktop at work that has all my design software. The tablet also has a dockingstation for up to 3 monitors. So right now my home office looks like my desk at work with 3 27" monitors.
I already banned all paper, so that is easy for me.

As for printing on paper to review plans: why not get a large 43" 4K monitor or two? That is better for working anyway and pays back in no time for less time and material used for printing. The only time I print is for field-crews or if an JHA wants hardcopies. But that is ArchD, this isn't something I can have at home anyway.

I sometimes meet field-crews on job sites. for This week I have cancelled that to isolate. Protecting myself, but also others. I assume as this continues I will have to find a solution. Seeing the development in Europe (curfews etc.) I assume this decision will be made for us.

The silver lining is, this finally propels employers into the 21st century.

 

[phamENG]

The silver lining is, this finally propels employers into the 21st century.

This is something I've been thinking of a bit this week. Will that adaptation define, at least partially, who survives and who goes under? And how will the workplace be altered long term by this, at least for knowledge and professional workers like us? A formal place for meetings, etc. will always be needed, but I wonder how many firms will invest now in expanding telework infrastructure and then downsize in terms of physical real estate later.

 

[msquared48]

I’ve worked from home since 1986. This is the norm for me. No complaints from the clients.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA, HI)

 

[argotier]

I've worked from home this week, for the first time, and it wasnt a bad experience... once the VPN virtual desktop IT had prepared for me started to work properly.

It seems kinda strange at first, but I could get used to it. Most of my work its done through a computer anyway, but the office social aspect its missed (I have a good work environment I guess).

Home working does seems to be better for coding.

But the greatest con for me, its that I do not have a proper home set-up (there was no time to prepare or foresee anything), I miss my office chair a lot!!

 

[JohnRBaker]

That's one thing I invested in when I started to work at home on a regular basis, a office chair which was actually better than the one I had at work. It was worth every dollar I spent on it. The leather (naugahyde) is a bit worn now but it's still comfortable.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[Bill West]

The one catch I see to working at home is that it cuts off casual chatting about the work. We've got a thread at Engr'g Failures/Gas Main in Mass. (

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=466119

19 Mar '20) about the importance of professional experience. In my office we had many people doing similar work and our facilities dated back many decades. I feel a large portion of my experience there came to me and was subsequently passed on to others by:

1. Being able to walk into my boss's office, that of another designer, or that of staffers in other departments. This was all with no effort to initiate the visit and without the limitations of having to write my question down or of not being able to sketch or put drawings in front of us (I did half my talking with a pencil).

My work was design while a college classmate on the other side of the building supervised a construction force. In 5 minutes I could not only get feasibility and cost guess for an idea, I would end up with a mini lesson in construction practicalities that I never knew to ask about. Early on I learned that a fellow in our equipment contracts group had worked in a transformer factory, chatting with our supplier's designers was restricted by having to go through a sales rep to a factory on a another continent that spoke another language. No "20 questions" back and forth learning exchange there.

2. Dropping by someone's desk for a social chat and then noticing the project on their desk usually helped one or both of us.

3. Someone overhearing me and saying "oh I ran in to that last year" was another aid.

I feel more than half my experience was obtained through these casual interactions rather than formal ones.

It's not an overpowering argument but it's another case of the computer age making things easier but losing 10% of the quality along the way.

Bill