Our new normal
The company I am at has confirmed that the way we are currently working will predominate the way we continue. They have gone as far as to significantly beef up the internal network speeds (all those VPN connections were really dragging the system down at first), provide a mobile WiFi dongle for those with crappy landline broadband (such as myself) and any necessary IT kit and even office furniture.
The office space has been converted to 'collaboration spaces'; that means meeting rooms will actually be available for the times it is actually necessary.
We have hired some people that have yet to actually visit the office and are not in commuting range (one new engineering manager lives in Northern Scotland and the office is in Plymouth) and others who live perhaps 2 to 3 hours drive away and it hasn't dented their effectiveness.
That means I work from home unless I actually need to go into the office, usually to see just what problems the hardware we are trying to fix is having (it is very old kit, so all those decades of experience are really useful here).
There are some people who need to be onsite all the time, but with fewer others, it is far safer for them and less noisy as well.
I am aware that this is not the best situation for a lot of people (young families for instance and young graduates who may be in shared accommodation come to mind) but there is an option to go to the office more frequently for people in those circumstances.
I am going into the office this week, for the second time this year and everything still seems to be getting done and product delivered.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
