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

 

[JohnRBaker]

Yes, that can be an issue. Of course, when I was working at home only one day a week, that wasn't all that much of the concern, however, I once was off for eight weeks when I tore up my right shoulder (I had to have a tendon rebuilt using a section from a cadaver) and since I couldn't drive, I was put on short-term disability. Granted, when on disability you're not supposed to be working at all, however, since, as I've stated before, 80% of what I did was on a computer and we have really good internet service, I was able to pretty much keep-up with all the stuff I was involved with. Of course, I had to keep those details from the insurance company nurse who contacted me each week to check on my progress ;-)

And before anyone asks, since I'm right-handed, how did I use my computer with my right-arm in a sling for eight weeks? Well, that's when I discovered the 'Trackball':

All I had to do was place my hand on the device and I could control the cursor movement and mouse buttons without having to move my arm at all.

The only real problem I had then was learning how to sleep sitting-up in a chair for six of those eight weeks ;-)

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

 

[Agent666]

I work quite differently when at home. In the office I'll bang out 10 hours straight with only a few small breaks for some chit-chat with colleagues, at home I can only manage several hours straight before getting distracted. So my 8 hour day turns into being spread over 12+ hours or so. But it does allow for some flexibility, do a few hours before breakfast, go for a run in the middle of the day, spend a few hours browsing EngTips, playing some playstation 'while at work', etc

I'm guessing I'm going to have to get used to it, government is asking everyone who can work from home to do so as of yesterday. In another week everyone is expecting further lock-down measures to be in place in these parts.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Being on the Left-Coast, when you get up in the morning, much of the world, at least Europe and the East Coast, have already been at work for some time. I normally got up around 6:00am and even before taking my shower, I would login and check my mail and answer anything that needed quick attention. Then I would shower, eat breakfast, and if I wasn't working at home, I would then head into the office, albeit maybe an hour or so later then most people, which helped with the traffic during my commute. This would drive my wife nuts, as she had always worked where you had set hours and people that you needed to see on a set schedule (she was the front-office manager in a large dental practice until she retired about eight years before me). And if it was a day that I was going to be working from home, often, while breakfast might not wait, the shower might be delayed a bit and I'd work half the day in my PJ's (note that our corporate laptops had their built in cameras disabled as it was company policy to limit teleconferencing to designated set-ups where they had better control over security and access) before getting dressed.

It's strange, now that I'm retired, while I'm still getting up around 6:00am or so, I now take my shower immediately, grab breakfast and then finally get around to logging in and checking my mail. Of course, now it's not stuff from customers/coworkers that I'm reading, but old friends and tons of adverts and political crap (make one donation to a campaign and before the next election cycle, you're on a dozen or more mailing lists).

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

 

[CWB1]

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.

I disagree that its not an overpowering argument, I believe its a very strong one. Every one of my (medium-large corp) employers has saw real value in putting junior engineers to work hands-on in the shop/plant through rotational development programs for exactly that reason - bc humans learn a lot by casual observation and conversation. IME the lack of interaction with production personnel is the missing link that makes many contract design firms' work mediocre, particularly smaller ones. The other example supporting the value of casual interactions is the power of the personal network, hence the old saying about life not being what but whom you know.

 

[3DDave]

One observation on the Logitech trackball. I am on the second one and would have been on a third. The micro-switches for the main buttons are garbage. Eventually they will multi-click, like 10 times per one push. The symptom will be that the software won't act right. It's because tiny fragments build up/break off. Some have ordered replacements from DigiKey and the part number is on the web, but I was curious as to the exact failure mode. I ended up disassembling the microswitches (watch out for the small parts) and then closing the contact on a piece of notebook paper and sliding the paper from between the still-closed contacts to clean them. Viola - fixed like new after becoming unusable. The alternative requires soldering and may be more reliable, but it's been two years of daily use and no repeated failure.

 

[Stick.]

Argotier: If you're going to be working from home full time until this all passes and you can get back to the office quickly, I highly recommend just bringing your office chair home if you think that won't get you accused of stealing office furniture. If I'm going to be parked in a chair nearly 8 hours a day, it better be comfortable.

 

[moltenmetal]

I've been working from home a day a week for a decade or so.

It was once a chore- reconciling documents with the one on the server, downloading and uploading stuff the next day and making sure you didn't nuke other people's work. Having to give my home phone number to people I didn't want to have it. But with VPN and VoIP phones, all those problems have gone away.

Am I more productive, or less? There are some tasks which became impossible for me in cube-land, but an office with a door and a DND sign would have solved that. That office with a door is not on offer though.

Relationship building and maintenance suffers, for sure. Tough to really know what's going on if you aren't "there" physically.

The biggest problem with working from home by far is management. The real problem is setting goals, judging progress and productivity etc., which are admittedly tough things to accomplish. Some managers don't do any active management, and then think people will just start to goof off if they are left to work in a place where the manager can't just drop in and talk to them whenever they feel like it- even if they rarely or almost never do that anyway when people are in the office. They use the "fear" of being dropped in on in person as a proxy for setting goals, checking progress and holding people accountable. Works with some people, and not with others.

Working from home saves me over 2.5 hours of time spent in the car, wear and tear on the car and on my frayed nerves dealing with traffic, toxic and GHG emissions from the car etc. If I could do it full time, I would in a heartbeat.

 

[JohnRBaker]

3DDave, yes, once I got the full use of my arm back, I only continued to use the Trackball for a month or so, and then went back to a traditional mouse. I eventually found it harder to use and while it allowed you to work on cluttered desk (no need for a mouse-pad or some open space on your desk), it just didn't cut-it long term.

That being said, the first cursor interface that I ever used with computer graphics display was back in 1977 when we used 'thumb wheels' on a Tektronix DVST:

Now Tektronix did offer a 'Joystick', but I actually like the thumb wheels better:

Ah, the good old days ;-)

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]

Starting to work at home. Or will as soon as T-Mobile gets back to me so I can get my old phone reactivated as my new one chose today to leap into the toilet.

Peter Stockhausen
Designer / Checker

 

[PeterStock]

Took two hours for T-Mobile to help me out yesterday. Working at home is slow due to network speed on my end as well as not having the best laptop for the job. Had to drive to the office to restart my computer after lunch, some problem with my login after shutting down for lunch. Hope it does not repeat itself, I may not be able to get into the office later.

Peter Stockhausen
Designer / Checker

 

[moon161]

^This will probably cause a problem with automatic windoze updates, since some require or automatically reboot. Might talk with your IT department about that, they can change patch application from automatic to when they want it to happen.

 

[bones206]

I try to find levity where I can these days. Here's a comic strip version of the pros and cons of working from home:

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

 

[bridgebuster]

for some musical levity

Link

 

[argotier]

Update: One more week of home working for me and I'm still alive and mentally sound.

Luckily I've found a nice comfy chair and thus I've eliminated the worst part of my improvised workplace.

I'm started to notice what Bill posted above:

The one catch I see to working at home is that it cuts off casual chatting about the work.

I miss all the interaction with other areas and projects, that (now I realize) widened my knowledge... and also fed my curiosity

 

[Sparweb]

John,
I just retired that exact same logitech trackball, after many many miles of scrolling. About 10 years of daily use.
Note that the trackball did not adapt to growing screen size as well a mouse will. The targeting resolution is "fixed" with a trackball, but the distance that has to be rolled grows as screen sizes increase from 1024 to 1280, 1600, and now 2560. It took several rolls to get the cursor all the way across the screen.

I now have a Logi MX mouse. Very happy.

http://www.sparweb.ca

 

[MR_E30]

Been working from home for two years now, as a sole structural engineer in a predominantly manufacturing oriented organization.

No issues with VPN or tying into servers, as all of my required program licenses are docked into my company provided laptop, and all engineering documentation lives on the laptop as well.

I ditched paper a long time ago, so Bluebeam does everything I need, though I rarely need it, as I do all of my own drafting as well.

My work space is a bit less than ideal, simply due to not having a separate room for my desk/office. My wife is home at random hours of the day due to the nature of owning her own business, so this can be distracting at times. However, I can put headphones on and lock down when needed.

I feel more productive than when I was in an office, but I do miss the personal connection with other engineers and people in the office. I use Engtips to get my 'daily fill' of engineering topics to keep my knowledge base and experience wider than it would be without it.

My bosses really enjoy my workstyle. I prioritize always answering the phone when they call and always answering emails (or at least confirming the receipt and updating them with a timeline for a response) as fast as possible, to help them feel like I am staying focused and making work my main priority, even though I may swap over laundry, take out the trash, or cook up a quick meal while stewing on a problem in my mind.

I am beginning to miss the social aspect of an office though, and I am working on a way to work that back into my life. I live in a small town, so commuting is very easy and does not affect my thought process.

 

[mronlinetutor]

I was overpressured at work two years after school and now I have to take medication. I am on disability but I have acquired two years of construction experience.
Now, I am allowed to work and make more money. I have set up my own office for thirty-five years and there is no work. I am still an EIT. My sister says I should quit but there is nothing better to do than a structural engineer. My degree is in civil engineering and I am in the structural discipline. So I keep on going, keep on expanding my office, acquiring more reference texts, and reading on finite element analysis. I have acquired a structural program called Midas Gen 2014 and it can design structures. That is all you need. Midas Gen can select the optimal size of the structural members. I have Autocad 2010 and Office 2010 which includes Words and Excel. I use Smath Studio for my calculations. Although there is no work, I am enjoying life.

I am yet to give up on structural engineering. I live alone and I don't have any burdens. I have cable TV and I listen to the radio. If I am tired, I can make a cup of coffee or ly on my bed. It is a comfortable queen size bed.

The dreams of construction never die! My brother is a contractor. He built many houses and he is retiring.

Now I was thinking of pre-selling real estates. I work on conceptual projects and sell my ideas to investors. If the pre-selling is successful, I am going to hire a top-notch architectural firm to design my project on a turn-key contract. The architect does the hiring of engineers, contractors, and subcontractors. All I need is to have coffee with the owner. I am working on ideas from a simple residential house, hotels to large residential apartments.

I think I would work up to my eighties. Cheerios.

disclaimer: all calculations and comments must be checked by senior engineers before they are taken to be acceptable.

 

[PeterStock]

I had to go into the office to restart my desktop so I could get into it from my laptop. That was as of last week. This week we have been told not to go in without 24 hours notice. But the connection has improved. The last two days I have even not had to call the help desk. Which is a great improvement. The speed may be slightly better as well, but that may be due to perception on my part.

Peter Stockhausen
Designer / Checker

 

[JohnRBaker]

I just had a thought, what's going to happen next year when millions of Americans try to claim tax deductions for the cost of their home offices? After all, we were all (well those of use who still need a paying job to stay fed and dry) told to start working from home. Besides, I've been seeing a lot of adverts from businesses that sell office furniture and supplies who are already talking about equipping your home workspace with the latest in compact desks and other items that could be used by someone forced to suddenly work from home. I've also gotten notices from my internet provider reminding me that they offer upgraded levels of performance (we already have the highest throughput service that we can get over normal copper, as we don't yet have the option of going to fiber).

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]

There was always a clear requirement for home office deductibility was that it was required by the employer, not the employee. Since the stay-at-home orders essentially mandated home offices, it's fair game, and I think the IRS will have bigger issues to deal with, like whether someone was REALLY eligible for PPP or the loan forgiveness, etc.

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

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

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