Comments on: Teleworking http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/ Thoughts of a software engineer Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:37:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Alisdair http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-51 Alisdair Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-51 I think the solution to teleworking problems is a physical avatar in the office. This should be reasonably large, though not necessarily human-sized. It should have a wig of the right colour and hairstyle, and glasses if appropriate; this minimum will easily allow colleagues to recognise the person the avatar represents. This would be good for 3 reasons:<ul> <li>It gives the teleworker a physical presence which cannot be ignored. <li>It allows more subtle communication via gesture & facial expression etc. in at least one direction. <li>Robots are cool. </li></li></li></ul> I think the solution to teleworking problems is a physical avatar in the office. This should be reasonably large, though not necessarily human-sized. It should have a wig of the right colour and hairstyle, and glasses if appropriate; this minimum will easily allow colleagues to recognise the person the avatar represents.

This would be good for 3 reasons:

  • It gives the teleworker a physical presence which cannot be ignored.
  • It allows more subtle communication via gesture & facial expression etc. in at least one direction.
  • Robots are cool.
]]> By: Andrew Birkett http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-52 Andrew Birkett Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-52 Wow, you mean something like <a href="http://www.nobugs.org/mt-static/images/sidebar-singe.jpg">this</a> Wow, you mean something like this

]]> By: Anthony Bailey http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-53 Anthony Bailey Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-53 Thanks for the write-up. Interesting. I guess a (ecologically acceptable) solution to your finding you hated the commute might gave included investing travel cash in fancy technical kit to help solve communication problems (e.g. always on video conferencing) and to meet the need to truly be in one place together sometimes through taking longer trips, but less frequently. Of course, getting a job in Edinburgh probably works pretty well too. Another possibility is to squeeze together the part of the week when you work. I worked thirty hours per week for a year at a place two hours from my home (but, usefully, two minutes from my folks) travelling down early on Monday, working three long days, back on Wednesday evening. So I wrote off three-sevenths of my week, but the rest was great. Thanks for the write-up. Interesting.

I guess a (ecologically acceptable) solution to your finding you hated the commute might gave included investing travel cash in fancy technical kit to help solve communication problems (e.g. always on video conferencing) and to meet the need to truly be in one place together sometimes through taking longer trips, but less frequently.

Of course, getting a job in Edinburgh probably works pretty well too.

Another possibility is to squeeze together the part of the week when you work. I worked thirty hours per week for a year at a place two hours from my home (but, usefully, two minutes from my folks) travelling down early on Monday, working three long days, back on Wednesday evening. So I wrote off three-sevenths of my week, but the rest was great.

]]> By: Andrew Birkett http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-54 Andrew Birkett Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.nobugs.org/blog/archives/2003/12/16/teleworking/#comment-54 Actually, I think having always-on videoconferencing would've made quite a significant difference. It wasn't something we explored deeply, having been put off by an early low-quality videoconferencing experience! It would provide a good background flow of information ("Andrew's gone off to lunch" or "Anthony looks like he is concentrating on something"). Now I can't get the scene from "Alien" out of my head where you can see the video feeds from the various characters ... Actually, I think having always-on videoconferencing would’ve made quite a significant difference. It wasn’t something we explored deeply, having been put off by an early low-quality videoconferencing experience! It would provide a good background flow of information (”Andrew’s gone off to lunch” or “Anthony looks like he is concentrating on something”).

Now I can’t get the scene from “Alien” out of my head where you can see the video feeds from the various characters …

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