Five things I hope are new normal in a post-covid world.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

1. An end to handshakes.  Never been a fan both because of germs and the assholes who believe you "win" a handshake by crushing the other persons hand.

2. New birthday tradition of cutting the cake then singing and the birthday person blowing out a candle on their own piece of cake.  If I never have another 6 yo spit on food I am about to eat that would be a positive outcome from the pandemic.

3. Expansion of paid sick leave particularly to food service workers and retail employees.   Do you really want to have cooks that are sick preparing your food?

4.  A cultural shift to the responsible thing to do when sick is to stay home to prevent spreading to coworkers and others rather than take some dayquil and suck it up to avoid leaving coworkers shorthanded.

5. Wearing a mask when sick.  Notwithstanding
3 & 4, if you must go to work when sick or the drug store for cough medicine, wear a mask.  This is not wearing a mask all the time just when not feeling well.

4.

[Spider-Dan]

Speaking for myself, I did not like calling in sick on a Monday or Friday because of previous experiences with coworkers who would do that all the time.  I would have rather shown up to work and then went home sick.  I probably won't be doing that any more, though.

[dolphins4life]

I hope the reduced emissions continue when the virus is over, if it ever is over

[Pappy13]

I just hope working from home becomes the new normal for Tech Companies at least 3 days a week. There's absolutely no reason that programmers need to be in the office. If we want a face to face meeting we can have a Teams meeting. There's little difference and the more we get used to doing it that way the better it will get. Saves gas. Saves wear and tear on vehicles. Saves the environment. Few car accidents. Fewer cars on the road so that people that actually need to be out and about can get there without having to fight traffic. There's a smaller footprint at the office which saves on electricity, cleaning, rent and office supplies. There's a million reasons to do it. We've already proven it can work, there should be no going back now.

[Spider-Dan]

Unfortunately, in American culture there is a significant focus on making sure your employees are working at work and this impulse will override any potential gains in, you know, actual productivity.  One of the defining themes of American society is not "How can I benefit from this change?" but rather "Which beneficiaries of this change are undeserving?"  (This is a big reason why we don't have programs like universal healthcare that are present in every other major Western democracy.)

So ultimately, I think the idea of people working from home and not being miserable being lazy will cause the greater public to call for an end to teleworking, even if there is a resulting loss of productivity.  I can easily see it framed as "Why are these people allowed to work from home in their pajamas, when you still have to get up and go to work every day?"

As always, the most important part is keeping people in line and making sure they know their place.  It's as American as apple pie.

[Dave Gray]

Handshakes aren't changing.  I went to my first group gathering for my charity group and there was definitely some fist bumping, some people who did the hand-circle wave thing, some people did like an awkward bow thing, but about 25% put out their hand and shook it.  I didn't initiate shakes, but I accepted them.

I do think that masking is/will/should still be a thing and I think will be for me, for certain things -- when I'm sick and traveling to the doctor/pharmacy/for medicines, or when I'm in a super crowded tight-space with people from different places, namely airplane loading/unloading and in bottlenecked entrances for things like conventions.  ...anytime I start to feel like cattle being herded, I'll probably put on a mask.  ...not for COVID, but just germs in general, I have a greater appreciation for.  I told this story before, but pre-COVID, I started taking extra precaution for travel and conventions (trying not to use handrails, touch buttons, washing hands more than usual, carrying sanitizer, etc.) and in my anecdotal experience, it made a difference.  I did it because I didn't want to get sick on a trip and ruin my time, but I've also noticed that this year, I have felt great all year.  I, nor anyone in my circle except for my kids, has had even a sniffle for a year.

I am with Pappy about work.  I want to keep working without the grind.  The commute and rigidity of the schedule actually makes work less effective.  I am online and working considerably earlier than normal when I'm working from home -- I'm more present to handle crises when they arise.  It's cheaper.  There are down-sides, but it's definitely a net positive.  Our job is moving to a permanent hybrid model that I think will serve us well.  It will also cost the boss less to run the company.

This will also make Hoodie's suggestion about staying home when sick a given.  ...so sure -- work if you have the sniffles, but stay home to work that day....maybe check your emails, do a light day, and rest the remainder of it.  And save your "go into the office" days when you are gonna grind.

I could go on about work, but I think that putting employees in charge of their own quality of work and evaluating on that, rather than by stupid stuff like arrival time and number of hours worked will give you better output.  People take pride in their work and if they don't, then they probably shouldn't be working for you anyway.

[Pappy13]

I could go on about work, but I think that putting employees in charge of their own quality of work and evaluating on that, rather than by stupid stuff like arrival time and number of hours worked will give you better output.  People take pride in their work and if they don't, then they probably shouldn't be working for you anyway.

There are ways to measure productivity. For instance at work we use what's called the Agile methodology. One of the tools is measuring productivity of the group. There's no need to be looking over my shoulder to see if I'm working. There's better ways to do it that actually measure productivity and not work time which is irrelevant. If I can do my job better then the next guy and spend 5 less hours a week at it then he does, why should that matter? I've known guys that would work 45 hours a week and get 1/2 of what I would get done in 40 and in some cases they were praised for working 45 hours a week when in reality they needed to accomplish more.

Like Dave, I also start work earlier now then I did because I don't have the commute and I stop at the same time. During the day I take more breaks then I would at work, but it probably evens out. As a bonus because a lot of the tools that we use to communicate I can run from my PC in the background, I'm actually available for discussion anytime. Things often come up off hours or over the weekend that I get involved in and work for a few minutes because I'm aware that didn't happen when I was working from an office. The benefits outweigh the negatives 10 to 1 for me.

[Spider-Dan]

Again, I think you guys fundamentally misdiagnose the obstacle.  Micromanagement isn't caused by a lack of productivity; it's largely caused by power trips and a compulsion to treat your employees like children.

I would also caution you to be careful what you wish for.  I've had an opportunity to telework during the pandemic, and I've largely declined because at my job, micromanagement increases if I don't come in to the office.  There's a version of teleworking that I guarantee you won't like.

[Pappy13]

Again, I think you guys fundamentally misdiagnose the obstacle.  Micromanagement isn't caused by a lack of productivity; it's largely caused by power trips and a compulsion to treat your employees like children.

I'm not saying you're wrong Spider, I agree that HAS been the issue in the past, but I think some management has seen the error of their ways and have had a change of heart. I know there was a LOT of trepidation about what could be accomplished this year when the pandemic started and the Technology team totally blew that misconception out of the water. We accomplished more this year during the pandemic then was believed to be possible. Now maybe that reality will fade a bit over time but I think the misconception has been proven false at least for some.

I would also caution you to be careful what you wish for.  I've had an opportunity to telework during the pandemic, and I've largely declined because at my job, micromanagement increases if I don't come in to the office.  There's a version of teleworking that I guarantee you won't like.

You're absolutely right that it depends on the profession and the management in place, but maybe companies will actually start to focus on the management staff and not the rank and file employees and force them to work smarter not harder. Start using tools like Teams to collaborate rather than having cubes next to each other and face to face conversations. It's not just teleconferencing, it's sharing files, text messages, screenshots etc. There are ways to replace what happens at the office, people just have to learn how to use them.

[Dave Gray]

In this case, I am one of the managers pushing for this change.

There is some truth to what Spider is saying, in terms of micromanaging.  I don't think what I'm doing is THAT, but I definitely have gotten more hands-on with cases since COVID.  Because we're not doing as much standing around talking to each other, my role has moved to be more of an expeditor.  So, if I'm on the phone, I'm more apt to just deal with it, rather to seek out the right person to do that.  It's just the nature of the model change.

Also, we have gotten more pro-active in seeking out problems before they happen.  ...and it's for the same reason.  You're not seeing someone's face 10 times a day to say "oh, by the way, how's the XYZ case going", so you have to find other ways to force those interactions.

I will say, too, that as a manager of people, I'm using way less time managing personalities.  People don't get along or they need to go take care of some personal thing, or their phone rings and they aren't at their desk or whatever.  I don't have to spend time on any of that crap anymore, so it's way more results-based and from what I can tell, it's better for me.

[CF DolFan]

I like that it's becoming unfashionable to work sick. That's how I was brought up so I've worked sick many times and worked around sick people many more times. I also think there needs to be some sort of sick time for service industry because no one wants a sick waitress, waiter, or cook handling their food. The handshakes I still like especially when meeting someone for the first time. I like to look them in the eyes and shake their hand although like Hoodie ... I'm not a fan of the overzealous handshake. When I was muscular it seemed like many guys felt the need to want to squeeze my hand like I had just made a pass at their girlfriend. It's a freaking handshake and not a big dick contest.

[Spider-Dan]

Just to clarify: I agree that teleworking is more productive. I just don't agree that productivity is the goal.

In a teleworking world, how do you replace the kind of rigid timeclock enforcement that is fetishized among so much of middle management?  That doesn't have anything to do with productivity and never did; it's 100% about control.