[john_other_john]

Possibly your last description of good fit, "long uninterrupted stretches of focus" is the best advantage one can look for, when hiring, as well. If I can be forgiven a few possibly unnecessary words, I got to mismanage remote working and remote employees, a food long time before something very obvious dawned on me:

Although many managers gripe about the possibility for distraction at a home position, I simply cannot believe that a good candidate, who is therefore thoughtful, methodical, consistent, analytical, competent communicator, is going to have more distractions in a environment they control, compared with a office.

Often the most important aspects of any project design, require multi discipline technique and thought, consideration of the problem at deeper levels than the implementation, and long stretches of attention.

My ability to remain concentrated, in the sense of having a problem set or exercise or contemplation loaded in my head, over long periods, is almost always far greater at home, where those around me are usually attuned to my moods, able to accommodate me when I grunt I'm not really available, and I can filter these situations well enough to not become disassociated with my family. Even kids do not really pose a major distraction, when at home, because I attune to them, and can mentally prepare, e.g. for "invasions" such as the end of school day: if you pay attention enough to your kids to know what their day will be like, you can blend in your attention to them, until they have your full preoccupation. I'd far rather have a serious deadline or a crunch problem working around my family, than in any office.

And yet, I like offices, very much. I enjoy office life, not because I no longer lead a primarily office led existence. But the utility I can get from a office, from rapid interaction, from meetings whether formal or at the water cooler are a different structure and utility which I try to appreciate as a different tool set. The office is a tool for me, and I trunk differently when there. I bring everything that requires direct interaction, survey of opinion, consensus or confrontation, of rapid action and installation of need, to the office.

Basically, if you try to apply interchangeability to both office and remote working, maybe you should not expect great results. For a very long time now, it's known to my colleague that when I'm in the office, I am fully theirs, subject usual behavioral norms, that I am there to do something specific, that they can dump things in me if they want, but I will probably work on them if I cannot resolve in the office context, until I come back, and so on. I just present a different "me" by presenting a different activity bias, and even a different language style. You won't find me in deep contemplation in the office, unless others have joined me to hit some long hours together for a specific reason.

Offices are about activity, and programming is not the mind of activity that offices have grown up with, throughout the history of modern workplaces. I dislike to such a degree the standoffishness of donning noise cancelling headsets, of bunker mentality in cubicles, of being present but erecting barriers, that rather than rail against it (even this feels too much the rant) I exclude as much of that possibility by my own actions and behavior.

I couldn't function without my family (maybe too melodramatic, but I've been through divorce once, thanks, before) and yet i'd get withdrawal symptoms from the office. Admittedly, it's "my" office, or rather I was instrumental enough to be heeded and possibly even to set cues for behavior, but I don't think seniority or anything like that alone cues better behaviors, on the contrary I think more junior or even new hires have more influence than they realize. I've sat there as I realize that I have been "losing authority" because new hires are simply leading by - effective - example, which is a feeling that sucks if you don't grasp what are the reasons, i.e. what is being done better. It's not always "just better" but this authority loss experience early on, attuned me to the idea maybe we were expecting the wrong things of people, when really bright talent would rather code on their laptop in the office kitchen, as if it were a Starbucks... only then a colleagues, then another, and the headphones on... so it was time to realize, there was a fundamental impedance mismatch: send people home, but tell them the point is to work on that home balance not to go be isolated. I've no opinions much as to working with anyone remotely exclusively, though I have done in the past, only think that if you have a office, it's possibly rather silly to mandate any way of working.

The upshot when it works, is great: when someone comes into the office, it's because a job is done, because they've got news we need to hear (including not great news, but I feather like the physical drama of the entrance which gains attentive minds) or they have (naturally my favorite) a new idea to present. This keeps the place from stinking of sweat and takeaway food, as much as it has any other benefit. Club house, not doss house.

None of this seems to work for the finance crew as well as it does for production code, but I think it just highlights you have to think differently according to each job. Maybe we don't study ourselves as well as we should: the office is getting to be a old idea, but camping out in Starbucks is pretty tired also. If I could, I'd take a office with a courtyard of garden. In our city, that's a dream for now. But the ne thing I know would make things go better, if not more productively in KLOC or sales, would be fresh air space that's private to us. The immediate thing we're doing, is rigging a better Skype conference setup, using their broadcast edition, so we can use proper cameras - I think poor videoconferencing is awful nervous twitchy time, but a clear fast frame rate on a decent screen is almost relaxing and enjoyable. That's something I think that matters for remote work. Our plan is to buy as close to broadcast kit, hooked up through Skype, as makes sense, to give to everyone who works remotely. I'm that convinced the ease of communication and even intimacy breaks down the remote barrier. I'm convinced also, that if I was contracted and had to conference with management via Skype, I would lay for my own installation. What value is that guy, in the fuzzy stuttery window? I don't know what other practical considerations one can allow remote workers, but to me, anything which makes the relationship smoother, is something I would immediately consider. That went for nice microphones, also, and will probably extend to at least subsidizing new desks for home use. When I think of all the days I got up on the right side of bed, in a great mood, sun shining, birds singing and all that, and by the time I was through the traffic and greeted by who knows what random disgruntlement of petty politics, I cringe. Those great days transformed into a day at home feeling top, writing well, thinking all the better.. they are the real payoff. What I don't know, is how best to integrate a new hire if they are genuinely remote, as in will visit rarely. I loathe enforced office "holidays" ("training days", whatever you call them, they just are not in my experience done in a straight up fashion, there's something dishonest because of trying to mix the objectives, in my mind) but when in the past we nearly were joined by who was happily living abroad, I figured we'd go see him, regular, plain socially half the time, and anyone working with him could, for all I cared, take that as a holiday. I'm that against artificial "bonding" things I put my neck out on that one.

Anyhow, sorry if I went on far too long. There's so much work that just requires pottering about your own home or garden or even playing with the kids, to get to sit with the creative part of one's mind, that I think the mega cute offices of the Google's of this world still miss the point, almost grate even with the conflicting signals of it all. I just happen to really like a smart office like office. I think more people would agree with me, if they had provided a genuinely smart office. Even if we've hard cored all week and are unshaven, why not bust out a new tee (ahem, oxford collar, whatever! )and take a power trip into the office, to deliver I person? I think it works great too, if we have customers about, because they too often have the idea a young firm is going to be slovenly, and worse of remote employees, they genuinely can and do often enough, think we'd all be in mom's basement still, had we not been kicked out. Bottom line, a remote employee can be the best asset, if you realize everything around them and you is part of the capital investment. Theatrics like I like, are just icing on the cake. When time to time we have visitors, I clean out my (very minimal) stuff and put the project / objective lead's name plaque on my door, so it's like they come to meet Bob, to see his new feature, he's lead on, and, yeah, we treat people who write neat new features that well ... would do , if they needed a office full time ~> The salesman in me does this to mess with customer heads...

Ninja edit, will edit better after a cup of tea, lots of silly autocorrect typos, my apologies, I'm actually rather passionate about office and remote working situations...