The current crisis presents us with a rare opportunity to study the impact of telecommuting at scale. Specifically, it is an interesting opportunity for local tech companies to record e.g. software productivity metrics such as code check-ins/checkouts, rates of bug fixes, and Agile story completions while their workforce is telecommuting. Many tech companies already track productivity metrics. It may be interesting for local tech companies to review such metrics during this Corona-enforced period of telecommuting to see the impact(s) on productivity. I encourage the Mountain View City Council to take advantage of this rare opportunity, and to discuss with local tech companies the impact/possibility of coordinated telecommuting to reduce traffic congestion in Mountain View.
Town Square
Rare Opportunity to Study Telecommuting?
Original post made by Ron, Blossom Valley, on Mar 15, 2020
The current crisis presents us with a rare opportunity to study the impact of telecommuting at scale. Specifically, it is an interesting opportunity for local tech companies to record e.g. software productivity metrics such as code check-ins/checkouts, rates of bug fixes, and Agile story completions while their workforce is telecommuting. Many tech companies already track productivity metrics. It may be interesting for local tech companies to review such metrics during this Corona-enforced period of telecommuting to see the impact(s) on productivity. I encourage the Mountain View City Council to take advantage of this rare opportunity, and to discuss with local tech companies the impact/possibility of coordinated telecommuting to reduce traffic congestion in Mountain View.
Comments (8)
Posted by Look back to the 90's
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 16, 2020 at 8:34 am
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 16, 2020 at 8:34 am
Most tech co's in the fisrt .com boom encouraged telecommuting with both words and $.
Traffic was much better.
The current crop of big tech co's have fought the idea of telecommuting tooth and nail.
Traffic has never been worse.
Don;t blame Google for getting big, blame them for insisting all their workers come in each and every day.
Posted by And online schooling
a resident of Castro City
on Mar 16, 2020 at 11:28 am
a resident of Castro City
on Mar 16, 2020 at 11:28 am
And online schooling. Much as school employees might fight it TOOTH AND NAIL. They don't want to become obsolete.
Posted by Except
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 16, 2020 at 12:55 pm
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 16, 2020 at 12:55 pm
Most kids want to go to school and those who don't already have lots of have home-school opportunities.
Posted by And online schooling
a resident of Castro City
on Mar 16, 2020 at 3:38 pm
a resident of Castro City
on Mar 16, 2020 at 3:38 pm
@Except: Most kids have a few friends - not 100 or 2000. They do not need to congregate in big schools. Small groups can and do get together in organized activities and at houses with available parents. The people who benefit most from big schools are the employees - like the ones that gave a "thumbs up" to your post.
Posted by Except
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 16, 2020 at 5:04 pm
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 16, 2020 at 5:04 pm
"They do not need..."
Thanks, but I'll take things kid by kid.
" like the ones that gave a "thumbs up" to your post."
Sorry others agreed, I can't control them.
Anyway, it is good time to see how well, telecommuting works as so many are doing that now.
Please send out links so those who want to can begin the process you're suggesting. Be the change you want to see.
Posted by Me
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 18, 2020 at 9:12 am
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 18, 2020 at 9:12 am
Remote working only really works in limited situations. There is evidence that when working at home uninterrupted, you get a lot more solo work done. It's the collaboration aspect that suffers.
Posted by Ron
a resident of Blossom Valley
on Mar 18, 2020 at 10:13 am
a resident of Blossom Valley
on Mar 18, 2020 at 10:13 am
Thanks everyone for the comments. I suspect a lot of us miss the comradery and ad how collaboration in this season of working from home. I have young kids, so I get a lot of interruptions on days the kids are home from school. However, I do believe many of us could work effectively from home for part of our work week on an ongoing basis. Perhaps local tech companies could suggest their workforce target, say, 1 day at home a week as it works with their schedules, something like that?
Posted by Yes, 1-2 days is good
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 18, 2020 at 1:40 pm
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Mar 18, 2020 at 1:40 pm
I agree that it's not reasonable to have everyone at home 5 days a week.
1-2 days is great though. we would also see a marked traffic reduction at peak times.
Don't miss out
on the discussion!
Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic.
Post a comment
Stay informed.
Get the day's top headlines from Mountain View Online sent to your inbox in the Express newsletter.
