Working from home policies

[abogada]

8 minutes ago, Jaggers said:

I can’t wait to get back. I don’t like working from home. I like being in a downtown tower with my colleagues and friends close by. I like having great lunch options, or grabbing a beer after work. Working from home is fine once in a while but it’s a pale shadow compared to a good office environment. 

Same, I really miss the office environment. I started a new job during COVID and I still have not met most of my colleagues since we have been WFH the entire time. It's been so difficult to get to know people, understand the office "vibe", develop mentorship relationships, etc. There's something to be said for grabbing a coffee or lunch with a colleague that breaks down the barriers and makes it more comfortable to pop in and ask them a quick question later on (zoom coffees do not even remotely compare). 

[disgruntledpelican]

Well I found it extremely difficult to grow and learn completely working from home. I spent a year in the physical office before we went to full time working from home and it was challenging especially as it was a completely different practice area. It became so much harder to keep tabs on what others were doing and to get some spontaneous brainstorming or sanity checks and it became a game of phone/Zoom/Webex/Teams or whatever chasing people that were juggling 300 different things. I also found it challenging to mentor students because I was worried about being overbearing and sending the wrong message.

I hope for some kind of return to the new office soon to have a better chance at developing those more casual/informal relationships with colleagues and to learn by osmosis through the hallway/drop-in conversations. 

However, I do hope firms will relax dress codes.

[Jaggers]

I am pretty settled in with 13 years under my belt, so while mentoring is still important, it's not the primary way I learn and grow any more. But we hired someone to report to me in the middle of last year and I've found it really difficult to connect and share my experience. I am looking forward to being across the room (but not too close for now!) so we can just share stories, bounce ideas off each other spontaneously, go grab a coffee, etc. And we have people with double and more my experience who still offer a lot to learn from.

We didn't have any specific dress code before covid, but I suspect things will be even more relaxed when we're back.

I get that a lot of people hate commuting, and that WFH removes a major irritant from their life. I hate commuting too. That's why I live close to the office!

Edited August 10, 2021 by Jaggers

[Vizslaw]

9 minutes ago, Jaggers said:

I am pretty settled in with 13 years under my belt, so while mentoring is still important, it's not the primary way I learn and grow any more. But we hired someone to report to me in the middle of last year and I've found it really difficult to connect and share my experience. I am looking forward to being across the room (but not too close for now!) so we can just share stories, bounce ideas off each other spontaneously, go grab a coffee, etc. And we have people with double and more my experience who still offer a lot to learn from.

We didn't have any specific dress code before covid, but I suspect things will be even more relaxed when we're back.

I get that a lot of people hate commuting, and that WFH removes a major irritant from their life. I hate commuting too. That's why I live close to the office!

I'm the same way. Can't wait to get back to the office and be able to collaborate. I've found it incredibly difficult to work from home, which we've been doing full time since mid-March last year. We have a small office, so being able to connect with the other lawyers and student/admin is really valuable, plus we generally like each other and always socialized. Drinking wine out of a box at home just doesn't have the same feel. I've also found it challenging to mentor our articling student and new associate the way I normally would in person. WhatsApp groups, Zoom calls and teleconferences don't compare to being in the same room and talking things through or sharing stories about our files. I'm pushing for a suuuper casual dress code with an emergency suit/court attire in the closet just in case.

[ZineZ]

I also need to mention that working from home when things were extremely busy during my articles was a horrific experience. I'm talking about March/April of the pandemic. I loved the office where I articled, and I found it to be a really supportive atmosphere. Similar to what has been mentioned above - I really benefitted from being able to go up to mentors and management during the workday. It kept me connected and allowed for me to bond with these individuals. When things were exceptionally busy, my Legal Director/mentors would notice the hours I was pulling and would check-in and try to make sure I was holding up okay. 

It felt like the floor fell under me when I swapped to working from home. I no longer had the ability to break up a stressful day with a chat or know more about what was happening in the office generally - which can be important in a government atmosphere. I was working 14+ hours /day from home in a fair amount of isolation. I knew almost nothing about what was happening in my ministry outside of what I was specifically working on.  While my mentors did try to keep in touch, it was a wholly different experience and so much more isolating. 

I do love working from home on an occasional basis - but having it as the default isn't for me. 

 

 

[Jaggers]

I was in the office today and I chatted about matters with my colleague, said hello to people I hadn't seen in person in more than a year, got a nice coffee and terrible sandwich for lunch, went out for a patio beer at the end of the day. It was weird, but pretty nice. I suspect Ontario's rising case counts will have our permission revoked within the next few weeks, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

[Rashabon]

I'm looking forward to going back part time when things are safe (packing into an elevator at this stage is not a strong desire) so I can see colleagues in person and mentor my juniors a bit better. But I'm never going to want to go back full time or wear a suit most of the time so we'll see how that goes.

As a senior lawyer, working from home has been great for the most part since I don't need as much random drop in question time as I did when I was a junior, and partners pick up my calls and I can teams if I want a brainstorming session. But I'd be much less happy if I was a junior.

Also I have a house which makes a big difference.

[Jaggers]

I am in the office again today. It's wonderful. Might be my last time in a while, though. So far in my few times in, I haven't seen anyone else in the lobby at the same time as me, never mind the elevator. 

The dress code has definitely declined. The one other guy I can see from the desk I have is wearing a shirt with a collar, but it's not tucked in. I'm wearing a t-shirt with an octopus riding a bicycle.