Office days are spent on video calls, not with colleagues
On the two anchor days most people sit at their desk on headphones, in calls with remote colleagues or the other site. The weekly planning call sits on Tuesday at 11:00, the busiest office day.
“I come in to see people and mostly I see them on screen.”Analyst, in the office four days a week
Show all 4 quotes and their conversations
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“I come in to see people and mostly I see them on screen.”
Analyst, in the office four days a week
Open the conversation
LontraWalk me through a normal office day.
AnalystI book a desk on Monday morning when it opens for the following week, come in for nine, and then most of the day is calls. There are eleven of us on my row, all on headphones, talking to people who are at home or in the other building.
LontraThis is your calendar for Tuesday. The 11:00 call is the planning call with the other site. What is that one like in the office?
AnalystThat one's the worst. Everyone on the row is on it from their own desk, so you hear the room, yourself and your neighbour. It's an hour in a room of people not talking to each other.
LontraHow many of your office hours are calls, roughly?
AnalystHonestly most. Maybe five hours of seven. I come in to see people and mostly I see them on screen.
LontraWhat would you change first?
AnalystPut the calls on the days people are at home. Or give us a room for them. Keep the Tuesday for things you do together.
LontraHow do you feel about the anchor days themselves?
AnalystGood. If it isn't fixed nobody turns up and then what's the point of the office.
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“Tuesday I was in nine hours and spoke to nobody except on screen, though.”
New joiner, 6 weeks in
Open the conversation
LontraWhat's it been like starting with this pattern?
New joinerTuesday and Wednesday are good. Everyone's there, you can ask. Tuesday I was in nine hours and spoke to nobody except on screen, though. I'd come in to meet people.
LontraWhat happens on the other days?
New joinerI work from home. If I'm stuck I don't know who to message and I don't want to bother anyone. I saved up the questions for Tuesday.
LontraHow did you find a desk?
New joinerMy first week there were none, I sat in the cafe area. On the second day someone had cancelled.
LontraHow do you find out when something changes?
New joinerSomeone mentions it. I missed the planning call twice because it moved and I wasn't told.
LontraWho tells you what's expected on which days?
New joinerNobody. I copied the others.
LontraWhat would help most?
New joinerSomeone to be my person on the home days. A set time. Even fifteen minutes.
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“Calls, mostly. I'm on headphones at my desk, which I could do at home.”
Analyst, three days a week in the office
Open the conversation
LontraHow is the hybrid pattern working for you?
AnalystHonestly the flexibility is the best thing about this job. I can choose my days, work around things, it's great.
LontraHow do you choose your days?
AnalystI book Tuesday and Wednesday every week, just in case. And Thursday if there's a desk. Then I don't always come.
LontraYou said you can choose your days, and also that you book the same days every week just in case. How do those fit?
AnalystHa. Yeah. I can choose, in theory. In practice if I don't book the anchor days in the first hour it opens, there's no desk. So I book and then decide. I'm not the only one.
LontraWhat do you do when you are in?
AnalystCalls, mostly. I'm on headphones at my desk, which I could do at home.
LontraWhat happens to the desk when you don't come?
AnalystIt sits there. I think there's an auto-release at ten but I've never checked.
LontraWhat would you change?
AnalystRelease it at nine. Or ask us on Monday who's actually coming.
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“Rooms booked all day with one person in each.”
Office and facilities coordinator
Open the conversation
LontraWhat does the office look like across a normal week?
Office and facilities coordinatorTuesday and Wednesday, full. Monday, Thursday, Friday, you could roll a ball down the middle. There are twenty-four desks for the department, and ten meeting rooms.
LontraThis is the booking export you shared. Tuesday shows 24 booked and 15 badged in. What do you know about the other nine?
Office and facilities coordinatorThat's the typical Tuesday. Twenty-four booked, and then you walk round at eleven and there are nine empty. Some are at home, some are in a room on a call. I don't know which.
LontraWhy can't you tell?
Office and facilities coordinatorBecause the booking is one thing and the door badge is another. Different systems. I don't trust either one fully.
LontraWhat do you see with the meeting rooms?
Office and facilities coordinatorRooms booked all day with one person in each. They're taking a call. And I get complaints that there are no rooms.
LontraWhat would help?
Office and facilities coordinatorRelease a desk if nobody's checked in by half nine. And tell me on Monday who's really coming.
