If there’s one odd thing that the country has learned this year then it’s this. An idea that would have been unthinkable a year ago now a very real operational headache for business.
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I’ve been in all week, basking in the quiet and the air con.
My room doesn’t have air con, if I went in I’d be baking even worse than the room in my house 
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Someone is onto a winner if they can solve this headache
I think a lot of people will miss out because of it.
“We need to have a meeting. George, Paul and Ringo are here, but Zippy and Bungle are at home. The room with the screen isn’t available, we’ll just catch up and email them the notes”
My friends company have said that all meetings have to be one or other other. Everyone is online or everyone in person.
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I work with a global team and even before any pandemic, pretty much all meetings were at our desk over Skype.
Sometimes if two or three of us were in the office we’d sit together in a room with a conference speaker, which worked okay, but never more than that.
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That’s pretty much how our place used to work, but replace Skype with Teams.
The only downside is that only our department is now 100% remote and when you’re in those kind of calls, people are not always in the frame (especially in larger calls) and you struggle to see when a good point is to interject.
I also get a feeling that little mini meetings happen before and after you’re dialled in, so you can feel like a bit of an outsider at times. Also, they all seem to get on the same page about things too so it makes it a bit harder to push your own agenda.
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Yes this happens unless there is a specific culture of avoiding it. We had very remote friendly working practices and this kind of thing was written into best practice and supported by management. Maybe you could encourage the same?
edit: not to say bias was avoided completely but it did help
Yeah I think it’s either Zoom/Meet/Teams etc - with everyone on their own device - or meeting in person (or, at a stretch, by phone).
The thing that’s struck me is that online meetings are actually v different. The chat bar adds another dimension and enriches the conversation, links are shared real time etc. All that is lost if some folk are in a room without their device.
Conversely, in person meetings can be better for cutting to the issue or workshopping.
It’s always been the case, but much more focus on the purpose of meetings, how they are arranged and planning them properly is super important.
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Perhaps, it sounds good but I can’t see how it can be enforced?
It’s generally all part of the pre-meeting chit-chat that happens as people come into the room and are getting setup / settling in. As well as just general chat in the office and in the kitchen while the kettle boils etc.
“Got that meeting soon about X, what are your thoughts”
Then in the call when you’re dialled in, you find that a few people are all on one side rather than everyone being neutral and you all collectively arriving at the same conclusion.
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I wouldn’t say it was ‘enforced’ so much as encouraged. People became aware of how small behaviours like discussing the content of meetings before the remote joiners joined, was a damaging behaviour and so we tried to stop doing it, because we could see the benefits of stopping.
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I’m still on the hunt for a really nice big piece of wood, with loads of character, cut to size for a desk top.
I think I’m too fussy 
In my head I know what I want but nothing seems to come close 
Have you looked on Etsy?
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Have you tried the forest?
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Have you tried becoming a lumberjack?
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Yeah they all seem to be pine. I saw a couple of oak ones but they were too small and looked a bit 
I think I’m leaning more towards wanting oak purely because I don’t want to regret it further down the line 
but maybe I’m being too fussy.
I think I need to start searching locally for timber and kitchen worktop places next 
They’ll likely be more helpful and will be able to produce exactly what I need.
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First idea - look at either wood desktops, reclaimed shelves, floorboards etc on Etsy, find the actual company website and give them a ring if it looks right. Quite a few of them are wood specialists who just put those things up because they could sell but could easily cut you a custom piece out.
Otherwise search your area for reclaimed wood I guess. If I run the search here in East London I find loads of suitable companies, hopefully it’ll be the same for you!
Final shout, you could scour the local tip for something suitable and restore it yourself
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Could always do a custom resin design piece, you can get them to throw in any kind of stone’s, shells etc etc
Seen some decent results admittedly not as desktops but as workshops and floor tiles. Same concept would work for a desk. Just be heavy I guess
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Like this epic masterpiece?
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Well that’s certainly something different, wasn’t thinking on that scale 