I do miss the in-person interactions occasionally

As a business owner with a small, fully remote team, this is a major challenge. It becomes greater for junior staff and because we are a very small company in terms of headcount. Most of my current team are all based in the same country (the UK) and geographically close so we can meet up for a meal or other social activity a few times each year. But one of the reasons for building a remote team before the Pesky Pandemic is the ability to attract talent from anywhere globally.

I have a simple rule - everyone can work when and where they want subject to a few restrictions. In accessing those restrictions I ensure they are as few as possible. MS Teams is our office and I expect everyone to appear there at least three times each day unless they are on leave or have otherwise explained they won't be. We have a few channels (such as our virtual coffee machine) within Teams which are there to deal with some of the issues with not getting personal interactions - using them is not optional!

It takes some people a while to realise that it's OK to keep a voice-call going for a few hours with very little being said. Breaking the habit of putting the phone down at the end of a conversation can be hard.

But for all the difficulties, I would not have my team any other way. Looking back I cannot believe that 15 years ago I spend an hour sitting in the car most mornings before I got to work. No way would I go back to that and I would not expect any of my team to either.

Looking back I cannot believe that 15 years ago I spend an hour sitting in the car most mornings before I got to work. No way would I go back to that...

Yes, I agree that driving to work really sucks (especially through working class neighbourhoods ;-).

In my younger days, I'd get the job first, then rent nearby, close enough to walk to work. Looking back I cannot believe that I used to routinely stay up gallivanting till 3:00 am ... then drag myself out of bed at 9:50 to arrive in the office puffing at 10:00 am ... while an older family man, residing in the scenic (not working class) Blue Mountains, diligently arose at 5:30 am for his two-hour train journey to arrive in the office two hours before me! By the time I arrived, he'd done four hours work because he got a lot done sitting in a comfortable regional train with his headphones and laptop. We both found it hilarious. As you might expect, he was also the first to leave in the afternoon, so he could get home in time to spend some quality time with his young children.

Yes, I agree that driving to work really sucks (especially through working class neighbourhoods ;-)

Fortunately, I have never had to commute any distance through working class neighbourhoods!

In the days when I did most of my commuting it was through the rural and upper class Cheshire. Home to the wealthy and the landed. But when the main thought is about getting to work and the possible tribulations of the day ahead, the scenic beauty and surrounding affluence are overlooked.

In my younger days, I'd get the job first, then rent nearby, close enough to walk to work

I worked as a contractor in (definitely not working class) Farnborough and lived for the week in a grotty room above the town's worst pub. Thankfully the contract was not for too long. On the site I where I worked, another contractor had his caravan parked on the carpark close enough to the building to get electricity. I thought that was a great plan and intended to copy the idea for my next contract but that was close enough to home to commute in less than 30 minutes.