I (try) to make conversations with people about non-work, over chat, to see if they want to make a connection with me. Those that do, always end up being stronger work related connections.
However, the majority of people do not want to reach back, and to those people I don't press the issue with repeated attempts. I think that a lot of people are put off by small talk, or are just too busy for it; I hope with them that not having a memory of me as being annoying is the best relationship I can have.
Sometimes they will just say "Sorry I'm just really busy" - this is great information too just as a barometer. It's less often, but a poke with a joke can get you onto some side work that improves your reputation if you're able to genuinely assist someone having a bad month.
I have the option to work remotely but I take the 40 minute commute in, because I get a lot better mileage off people by reading their body language, faces, where they are looking, holding their arms, how far they stand from me, et cetera. It's like running a program with the -debug flag, for me, and remotely I have no access to it.
And I hate to say it, but I feel that you hope one level up the stack just by being present. It's almost a digital caste system. Some useless kid texting his friends in the conference room has equal clout as the seasoned principal dialed in on the phone.
Also - since we're in this thread - is it just me, or does a time delay on a conference call make the speaker seem less intelligent? I get embarrassed when I learn I am on a 1.5 second audio delay. I will often dial in over PSTN to get that second back.
I agree with OP about letting results be the message, but it is a frustrating way to communicate technical ability because there is no short term payoff. Team members that give impressive, meaningless, daily updates fall flat at the end of a development sprint during a demonstration. Make that the time for your results to speak for you to the people you want to impress, because that is the only time during the sprint that they are probably paying attention to you.
To try and round out my claims above, I've also been the person being annoyed by a chatty remote coworker. Being gracious to them in times of duress is the same game triggered by callback.
Comments
I (try) to make conversations with people about non-work, over chat, to see if they want to make a connection with me. Those that do, always end up being stronger work related connections.
However, the majority of people do not want to reach back, and to those people I don't press the issue with repeated attempts. I think that a lot of people are put off by small talk, or are just too busy for it; I hope with them that not having a memory of me as being annoying is the best relationship I can have.
Sometimes they will just say "Sorry I'm just really busy" - this is great information too just as a barometer. It's less often, but a poke with a joke can get you onto some side work that improves your reputation if you're able to genuinely assist someone having a bad month.
I have the option to work remotely but I take the 40 minute commute in, because I get a lot better mileage off people by reading their body language, faces, where they are looking, holding their arms, how far they stand from me, et cetera. It's like running a program with the -debug flag, for me, and remotely I have no access to it.
And I hate to say it, but I feel that you hope one level up the stack just by being present. It's almost a digital caste system. Some useless kid texting his friends in the conference room has equal clout as the seasoned principal dialed in on the phone.
Also - since we're in this thread - is it just me, or does a time delay on a conference call make the speaker seem less intelligent? I get embarrassed when I learn I am on a 1.5 second audio delay. I will often dial in over PSTN to get that second back.
I agree with OP about letting results be the message, but it is a frustrating way to communicate technical ability because there is no short term payoff. Team members that give impressive, meaningless, daily updates fall flat at the end of a development sprint during a demonstration. Make that the time for your results to speak for you to the people you want to impress, because that is the only time during the sprint that they are probably paying attention to you.
To try and round out my claims above, I've also been the person being annoyed by a chatty remote coworker. Being gracious to them in times of duress is the same game triggered by callback.