Unless you believe managers don’t do useful work, that doesn’t even strike me as a very cynical take.
I disagree with it though, I manage a distributed team and I can do my work fine without the team being in the office.
I think the serendipity arguments for on-site are much stronger than “manager doesn't trust team member to be productive on their own” which the entire world discovered was bullshit during the corona lockdowns.
The serendipity thing is real. We have less of it. We have many other benefits and we think it’s worth it, but to think remote doesn’t have downsides is a bit short sighted IMO.
I disagree with it though, I manage a distributed team and I can do my work fine without the team being in the office.
I think the serendipity arguments for on-site are much stronger than “manager doesn't trust team member to be productive on their own” which the entire world discovered was bullshit during the corona lockdowns.
The serendipity thing is real. We have less of it. We have many other benefits and we think it’s worth it, but to think remote doesn’t have downsides is a bit short sighted IMO.