Editor's note: This article is part of The Water Cooler, a recurring column addressing technology executive discussion topics. Next up: What are the most overplayed IT trends you're sick of hearing about? Email us here.
A year ago, commutes, in-person meetings and business casual attire dropped from daily schedules for what was supposed to be a short-term remote work test. The trial has gone on much longer than anticipated.
Work-from-home fatigue has hit everyone differently. From burnout to technical outages, daily frustrations can build. And yet, there's no colleague down the hall to vent to (save for an errant pet or a plugged-in family member).
CIO Dive asked IT executives to share their biggest remote work peeves one year into the pandemic. Here's what they had to say.
(The comments below have been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Wendy M. Pfeiffer, CIO at Nutanix
"The time I've saved commuting has turned into a marathon workday, with specific time periods for interacting, and separate time periods for working."
Wendy M. Pfeiffer
CIO at Nutanix
As any IT leader knows, Zoom is a double-edged sword. But the real culprit for me is the lack of opportunity for a true transition between each meeting.
When on campus, time spent walking from meeting to meeting still feels like being at work. But at home, time spent walking around the neighborhood or into the back yard for a stretch between meetings seems like slacking off, somehow. IT’s challenge going forward is to build more natural transition enablers into our entire technology ecosystem.
The time I’ve saved commuting has turned into a marathon workday, with specific time periods for interacting, and separate time periods for working. The elongated workday and modified interaction design of video-connected remote workers will continue to be one of IT’s most impactful challenges to address as we move forward into our hybrid future of work.
Grant McCormick, CIO at Exabeam
"One of my biggest pet peeves about remote work is the false sense of cybersecurity people have in their own homes."
Grant McCormick
CIO at Exabeam
One of my biggest pet peeves about remote work is the false sense of cybersecurity people have in their own homes. It is not always in people's control, however. Socioeconomic differences can force lower income households to share corporate devices amongst family members.
Both of these factors could lead to an increase in malware and phishing incidents and even data exfiltration and privacy violations.
Ronda Cilsick, Group VP and CIO at Deltek
With virtual meetings, "I want to be able to walk in and socialize, have a conversation and chit chat with people prior to the meeting starting."
Ronda Cilsick
Group VP and CIO at Deltek
When the meeting organizer starts off the meeting asking the question of who's joining the call. That's a pet peeve of mine. It drives me crazy. You can easily look at the participant list and you can see who's on the call who's not on the call. These are questions, you don't have to ask anymore with the tools that we have available to us.
Another one in that same vein is that I don't like it when people set up a meeting that you have to wait for the organizer to join the meeting and you're in a waiting room.
In my mind, if I walk to the conference room, no one is holding the door closed until I can enter the room. I want to be able to walk in and socialize, have a conversation and chit chat with people prior to the meeting starting.
Colleen Berube, CIO and SVP Operations at Zendesk
"... The challenge we've yet to overcome is how you develop that true personal connection — especially during teamwork — via video."
Colleen Berube
CIO and SVP Operations at Zendesk
One year into full remote working and the challenge we've yet to overcome is how you develop that true personal connection — especially during teamwork — via video.
As I heard recently, there are no back-channels on Zoom. It requires much more work and purposeful intent to achieve team bonding and camaraderie.
Monica Caldas, CIO, global retail markets, at Liberty Mutual Insurance
I have spent 20 years working in a global environment where I didn’t always have the benefit of an in-person problem solving session with a colleague. Thus, when we pivoted to 100% remote work due to COVID, I had very little hesitation and quickly transitioned.
"For me, the biggest pet peeve is my own doing, but nevertheless, one worth mentioning – the blurred boundaries between work time and personal time."
Monica Caldas
CIO, global retail markets, at Liberty Mutual Insurance
For me, the biggest pet peeve is my own doing, but nevertheless, one worth mentioning – the blurred boundaries between work time and personal time. The fact that my work is only steps away from where I sleep makes it hard to disconnect and I find myself doing "just one last thing."
Reminding myself of my routine has been one way to enforce the boundaries, but sadly, adherence is still a work in process.
Francisco Fraga, CIO at Campbell Soup Company
I miss the informal interactions. The meeting after the meeting, the drop by in a colleague's office on your way to somewhere, the casual encounter in the cafeteria. Those I miss and I think have been difficult to replicate in a virtual setup.
"I miss the informal interactions. The meeting after the meeting, the drop by in a colleague's office on your way to somewhere, the casual encounter in the cafeteria. "
Francisco Fraga
CIO at Campbell Soup Company
We are all following such endless meetings schedules, and those schedules are so packed, that I think the opportunity for that casual interaction is difficult to replicate in the current environment.
Ajay Sabhlok, CIO and chief data officer at Rubrik
Even though we've managed to keep productivity levels high in Rubrik IT during the pandemic, we are unable to conduct effective cross functional swarming sessions to attack a post-production flare up or a complex design issue that requires participation and brainstorming from both business and IT team members.
"These in-person sessions were very effective in crushing the problem and finding a solution quickly. Remote collaboration is not as effective and takes much longer to achieve the same result."
Ajay Sabhlok
CIO and chief data officer at Rubrik
These in-person sessions were very effective in crushing the problem and finding a solution quickly. Remote collaboration is not as effective and takes much longer to achieve the same result.
Editor's note: This piece has been updated to add context to Grant McCormick's comments.
