[mgkimsal]

You know what else sucks? Driving in to an office for pointless meetings to take up half your day. Getting sucked in to office politics whether you like it or not. All those things suck.

I think you're underestimating the degree to which day to day office crap weighs on people and makes them far less effective than they might otherwise be, even if they get to have someone come over and "pair" with them.

Remote working is an approach that really needs to be embraced by the entire company, and refined over time to match the needs and skills of the team as they change. Some people need more one on one time, some need more group time, maybe you do some face to face meetings quarterly instead of annually. It's not a one-size fits all, but nothing (including f2f office work) is.

[ci5er]

I agree with your first paragraph 1000%.

One of my old start-ups had white boards everywhere (when we ran out, there were windows...) and ad-hoc bi-lateral marker-of-death struggles would spring up anywhere all day long. That was super handy.

I've mostly been an independent lone-ranger type for a long time now, and have rarely met most of my clients face-to-face -- but I do miss at-the-drop-of-a-hat white board sessions.

[mgkimsal]

Did you mean "disagree"? Can't tell what your point is.

I like f2f problem solving too - whiteboarding, high energy, etc - it has its place.

[ci5er]

I mean "agree". My point is that the hassle is a hassle -- the f2f problem solving sometimes makes it worth it. Not often enough to make the decision cut-and-dried.

[mgkimsal]

Gotcha. Agreed. There are times when I want/need that face to face - whether it's project team mates or just other tech/dev/biz folks, to brainstorm, troubleshoot, etc. It's part of the reason I'm in a coworking space.